Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Marietta, OH: Ex-wife testifies in Smith murder trial

November 30, 2011
By BRAD BAUER , The Marietta Times

MARIETTA - An accused murderer's ex-wife testified Tuesday that when she found her father stabbed to death at his Cutler home on June 19, 2010, there was no question in her mind who had committed the act.

"He had told me he was going to kill my father," said Gerald Smith's ex-wife, Lynn Rogers, of Vincent. "He had told me if I was ever to leave him or go out of state I would be bringing myself home to a funeral."

Rogers, who was separated from Smith at the time of the murder, said she was out with another man the night of her father's murder. She said she had a contentious phone call with Smith that evening that may have led to the death of her father, Homer Rogers, 66.

"I said, 'Gerald, I'm not coming home. I'm done. I've done this 20 years and our kids are grown and I'm just not coming home,'" she said.

Rogers said her husband then demanded to know where she was and who she was with.

"I told him it was none of his business where I was at or who I was with and I hung up," she said.

Washington County Prosecutor Kevin Rings told jurors that when Smith's wife hung up, the man made good on those threats.

Rings said Smith grabbed a knife and walked 3.1 miles from his home to 1270 Burnett Road, Cutler, the home of his father-in-law.

"He entered the house without permission, had brought a steak knife or kitchen knife with him, and he stabbed Homer Rogers in the right side of the neck with such force it transected his spinal cord," Rings said.

Smith, 49, of 390 Kennedy Road, Cutler, is facing life in prison on the charges. Testimony in the trial is expected to last through Friday and is set to resume at 9 a.m. today before Common Pleas Judge Ed Lane.

Smith had previously pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but his defense argued Tuesday the man couldn't have committed the crimes because he was too drunk. Washington County Public Defender Ray Smith, no relation to his client, said Gerald Smith had consumed nearly 40 beers and prescription medication in the hours leading up to the murder.

"Gerald Smith didn't walk 3.1 miles over those hills and roads with potholes," he said. "Our puzzle box says that didn't happen."

After opening statements on Tuesday, the jury was taken to view the area of the murder and the location of the homes.

Ray Smith also seemed to be targeting Lynn Rogers and members of her family, who are in line to inherit more than $400,000 from Homer Rogers' death.

Lynn Rogers dismissed the notion, saying she loved her father and never wanted for anything while he was alive.

Smith seemed to get irritated at some of his ex-wife's statements, often leaning over to discuss her responses with his attorneys. He appeared to be wearing the same white button-down shirt and jeans he wore Monday.

During Tuesday's testimony, Lynn Rogers also identified the 99-cent steak knife she and Smith had bought together and that prosecutors claim was used to kill her father.

About a dozen members of the Rogers family watched Tuesday's proceedings, which included testimony from four witnesses. A few family members wiped tears from their eyes as a forensic pathologist described the fatal injuries to Rogers' neck.

Dr. Robert Shott, a pathologist from the Montgomery County Coroner's Office, said Rogers died from a single stab to his neck. He said the blade of the knife cut though the spinal cord and scored bone.

"That would have taken a significant amount of force," Shott said.

During jury selection on Monday, Rings told jurors a forensic scientist was expected to testify later in the trial about a knife that was recovered. He said Rogers' DNA is on the blade and Smith's DNA is on the handle.

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