Trial begins for man accused of killing 67-year-old woman

Kim Smith

Thursday, Sept. 12, 2002 | 9:49 a.m.

Brett Jones was so drunk when he beat and strangled 67-year-old Shirley Rogers to death that he didn't know what he was doing, his attorney told jurors Wednesday.

Deputy Public Defender Will Ewing said that when Rogers slapped Jones in the face on Sept. 22, 2001, Jones just "snapped."

"What happens after that is a crime. What happens after that is a tragedy, but it is not first-degree murder," Ewing said.

Wednesday was the first day in Jones' trial.

Prosecutors hope to prove Jones acted "willfully, deliberately and with premeditation" when he killed Rogers. Each element is needed for a first-degree murder conviction.

Ewing told jurors that Jones was incapable of acting willfully and must be convicted of something other than first-degree murder. If he is unable to sway jurors, Jones could face the death penalty.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Robert Daskas said that Jones, a 25-year-old Colorado native, was homeless when Rogers agreed to take him into her home in exchange for his carpentry and mechanic skills.

On the evening of Sept. 21, 2001, Jones came home after spending a few hours at a bar drinking rum and Cokes and was seen arguing with Rogers on her driveway.

Jones was heard saying "I don't know why you're mad at me. I stopped at PT's for the first time in a month and a half. You're acting like my mom."

When a police officer arrived a short time later, no one answered the door and he left.

The next evening, Rogers' badly battered body was found by a neighbor and her truck was missing.

"He hit her so hard, he literally knocked her dentures out of her mouth," Daskas said. "He hit her so completely, he fractured her jaw and broke her nose. She had lacerations on her face and both of her eyes were swollen shut."

The beating would have killed her, but Daskas said an autopsy revealed Jones spent at least five minutes manually strangling Rogers as well.

Jones then ransacked Rogers' home, stealing money, guns, power tools and her pickup truck, Daskas said.

Rogers' truck was found stuck in the sand a few steps away from Mexico in Yuma, Ariz., and Jones was arrested a short time later in Mexico.

DNA tests proved blood found on Jones' jeans belonged to Rogers, Daskas said.

Ewing told jurors his client genuinely appreciated Rogers taking him in, but she could be controlling and manipulating. On the night she died, she repeatedly called Jones on the cell phone she gave him, demanding he come home.

Rogers threatened to report her truck stolen if Jones, who had the truck, did not return home immediately, Ewing said.

Ewing said Rogers slapped Jones as he knelt before her, begging her not to throw him out of her house.

"He never thought in his mind 'I'm going to kill Shirley Rogers,' " Ewing said.

The trial was scheduled to continue today before District Judge Valorie Vega.