Texas Man Allegedly Murdered Wife, Put Body in Garage Freezer Before Killing Himself
A Texas man is accused of murdering his wife and stuffing her body in his freezer before killing himself in what authorities believe to be a murder-suicide.
On Monday, Arlington police found 66-year-old Edward Rogers dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his home. They also found a body believed to belong to his wife, 24-year-old Alyssa Marie Mejia Rogers, stuffed in his garage freezer.
A newly released search affidavit reveals that police were tipped off by a former colleague and friend of Rogers who told officers Rogers had invited him over to show him his wife’s body, according to the Fort Worth Star Telegram, CBSDFW and the Dallas Morning News.
The friend told police that when Rogers opened the freezer door, he “grabbed the buttocks of the deceased person, smirked, and stated that it was cold,” according to the affidavit.
Alyssa’s cause of death is undetermined. It is unclear how long she has been dead, but family told the Star Telegram she had been frozen for days.
“She was in the freezer for eight days,” Rogers’ ex-mother-in law Jackie Lee, 71, said. Lee’s daughter, Jennifer Rogers, was married to Edward Rogers for nearly a decade. The pair had a son.
Lee learned the news from Rogers’ son in California, who told her his father had called him a week earlier and confessed what he’d done.
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In June, Rogers pleaded guilty to choking Alyssa twice— once while brandishing a knife. His sentencing was scheduled for August. As part of his bond conditions, he was prohibited from any contact with his wife.
Alyssa, who was originally from the Philippines, had been married to Rogers for more than two years. At the suggestion of police, Alyssa moved out of the home she and Rogers shared. She had even brought their young son back back to the Philippines to live with her family.
“I want to say it wasn’t a surprise,” Lee told the Star-Telegram, noting that she had witnessed Rogers be violent. “I was afraid that one day this was going to come to somebody was going to die.”
In 2004, Rogers was charged with murder for killing his coworker, 41-year-old Dwight Dorough. Rogers stabbed Dorough at a pool party during a fight.
After the jury on that case became deadlocked, a judge declared a mistrial. Rogers pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to eight years of deferred-adjudication probation. In 2014 the case was dismissed after he finished his probation.
