An infamous death row inmate shared unsettling final words with his victims’ families before referencing Donald Trump in a statement that left many bewildered.
Glen Rogers, who identified himself as a ‘serial killer’, spent nearly 30 years on death row prior to his execution on Thursday, May 15.
The 62-year-old was executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison for the murder of two mothers in 1995. Rogers allegedly confessed to law enforcement that he had killed around 70 people over the course of his life.
According to the Daily Star, the notorious criminal chose pizza, chocolate cake, and soda for his last meal. His parting words left those present, including the families of his victims, feeling both confused and disturbed.
Moments before his execution, Rogers made a puzzling reference to the president, stating: “President Trump, keep making America great.”
“I’m ready to go,” he continued.
Rogers also expressed gratitude to his wife, who visited him at the prison earlier that day.
Randy Roberson, whose mother, Andy Lou Jiles Sutton, fell victim to the so-called ‘Casanova killer’, was present at the execution and noted the perplexity caused by Rogers’ mention of Trump.
“I was like, ‘Where did that even come from?'” he remarked, as reported by USA Today.
His wife, Amy Roberson, shared her own bewildered reaction: “What the hell?”
Prior to his unexpected praise of the president, Rogers addressed the families of his victims directly.
He stated: “I know there’s a lot of questions that you need answers to. I promise you in the near future the questions will be answered and I hope in some way will bring you closure.”
Earning the moniker ‘Casanova killer’ due to his supposed good looks and blonde hair that helped lure his female victims, Rogers was also known as the ‘Cross Country Killer’, as his victims hailed from various states including California, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida.
He was initially sentenced to death in 1997 for the first-degree murder of Tina Marie Cribbs, aged 34, along with charges of armed robbery and grand theft of a motor vehicle.
Rogers met the mother of two at a Tampa bar, persuaded her to give him a ride, and subsequently stabbed her to death.
Her body was discovered in a motel bathtub, while police apprehended Rogers in a highway pursuit in Kentucky as he drove her stolen vehicle.
In 1999, Rogers received another death sentence in California for strangling Sandra Gallagher, 33, whom he encountered at a Van Nuys bar.
Gallagher’s badly burned body was discovered in her burning car near Rogers’ apartment.
He was also implicated in the murder of Mark Peters, a 72-year-old retired electrician in Ohio, whose body was found in a shack owned by Rogers’ family in 1994.
Linda Price, 34, another mother of two, was fatally stabbed in the bathtub of her Jackson, Mississippi, home in 1995.
Sutton, whose son attended Rogers’ execution, was a 37-year-old mother of four when Rogers killed her in her bed in Bossier City, Louisiana, in 1995.
“He’s an animal,” one of Rogers’ victims’ sisters said during court proceedings prior to his sentencing, according to an archived Associated Press report. “He’s about the evilest thing I think I’ve ever imagined.”
In the 2012 documentary, My Brother the Serial Killer, Rogers’ brother Clay claimed Glen was responsible for the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson, O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife, and her friend, Ron Goldman. However, the Los Angeles Police Department denied this claim, as noted by Fox News.
Rogers was declared dead at 6:16 p.m. on May 15, marking him as the fifth inmate executed by the state of Florida this year and the 16th across the United States.