HIGHEST PRAISE FOR M. WILLIAM PHELPS
“M. William Phelps dares to tread where few others will: into the mind of a killer.”
—TV Rage
THE KILLING KIND
“In this true crime book, Phelps focuses on unrepentant killer Danny Hembree . . . [who] seizes the chance to take center stage with lurid confessions of a decades-long career of violent robbery, assault, rape, and murder.... Fans of the author’s Discovery TV series, Dark Minds, will be rewarded.”
—Publishers Weekly
OBSESSED
“True-crime junkies will be sated by the latest thriller from Phelps, which focuses on a fatal love triangle that definitely proved to be stranger than fiction. The police work undertaken to solve the case is recounted with the right amount of detail, and readers will be rewarded with shocking television-worthy twists in a story with inherent drama.”
—Publishers Weekly
BAD GIRLS
“Fascinating, gripping . . . Phelps’s sharp investigative skills and questioning mind resonate. Whether or not you agree with the author’s suspicions that an innocent is behind bars, you won’t regret going along for the ride with such an accomplished reporter.”
—Sue Russell
NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN
“This riveting book examines one of the most horrific murders in recent American history.”
—New York Post
“Phelps clearly shows how the ugliest crimes can take place in the quietest of suburbs.”
—Library Journal
“Thoroughly reported . . . the book is primarily a police procedural, but it is also a tribute to the four murder victims.”
—Kirkus Reviews
TOO YOUNG TO KILL
“Phelps is the Harlan Coben of real-life thrillers.”
—Allison Brennan
LOVE HER TO DEATH
“Reading anything by Phelps is always an eye opening experience. The characters are well researched and well written. We have murder, adultery, obsession, lies and so much more.”
—Suspense Magazine
“You don’t want to miss Love Her To Death by M. William Phelps, a book destined to be one of 2011’s top true crimes!”
—True Crime Book Reviews
“A chilling crime . . . award-winning author Phelps goes into lustrous and painstaking detail, bringing all the players vividly to life.”
—Crime Magazine
KILL FOR ME
“Phelps gets into the blood and guts of the story.”
—Gregg Olsen, New York Times best-selling author of Fear Collector
“Phelps infuses his investigative journalism with plenty of energized descriptions.”
—Publishers Weekly
DEATH TRAP
“A chilling tale of a sociopathic wife and mother . . . a compelling journey from the inside of this woman’s mind to final justice in a court of law. For three days I did little else but read this book.”
—Harry N. MacLean, New York Times best-selling author of In Broad Daylight
I’LL BE WATCHING YOU
“Phelps has an unrelenting sense for detail that affirms his place, book by book, as one of our most engaging crime journalists.”
—Katherine Ramsland
IF LOOKS COULD KILL
“M. William Phelps, one of America’s finest true-crime writers, has written a compelling and gripping book about an intriguing murder mystery. Readers of this genre will thoroughly enjoy this book.”
—Vincent Bugliosi
“Starts quickly and doesn’t slow down.... Phelps consistently ratchets up the dramatic tension, hooking readers. His thorough research and interviews give the book complexity, richness of character, and urgency.”
—Stephen Singular
MURDER IN THE HEARTLAND
“Drawing on interviews with law officers and relatives, the author has done significant research. His facile writing pulls the reader along.”
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Phelps expertly reminds us that when the darkest form of evil invades the quiet and safe outposts of rural America, the tragedy is greatly magnified. Get ready for some sleepless nights.”
—Carlton Stowers
“This is the most disturbing and moving look at murder in rural America since Capote’s In Cold Blood.”
—Gregg Olsen
SLEEP IN HEAVENLY PEACE
“An exceptional book by an exceptional true crime writer. Phelps exposes long-hidden secrets and reveals disquieting truths.”
—Kathryn Casey
EVERY MOVE YOU MAKE
“An insightful and fast-paced examination of the inner workings of a good cop and his bad informant, culminating in an unforgettable truth-is-stranger-than-fiction climax.”
—Michael M. Baden, M.D.
“M. William Phelps is the rising star of the nonfiction crime genre, and his true tales of murder are scary-as-hell thrill rides into the dark heart of the inhuman condition.”
—Douglas Clegg
LETHAL GUARDIAN
“An intense roller-coaster of a crime story . . . complex, with twists and turns worthy of any great detective mystery. . . reads more like a novel than your standard non-fiction crime book.”
—Steve Jackson
“True crime at its best—compelling, gripping, an edge-of-the-seat thriller. Phelps packs wallops of delight with his skillful ability to narrate a suspenseful story.”
—Harvey Rachlin
“A compelling account of terror . . . the author dedicates himself to unmasking the psychopath with facts, insight and the other proven methods of journalistic leg work.”
—Lowell Cauffiel
Also By M. William Phelps*
Perfect Poison
Lethal Guardian
Every Move You Make
Sleep in Heavenly Peace
Murder in the Heartland
Because You Loved Me
If Looks Could Kill
I’ll Be Watching You
Deadly Secrets
Cruel Death
Death Trap
Kill For Me
Love Her to Death
Too Young to Kill
Never See Them Again
Kiss of the She-Devil
Bad Girls
Obsessed
The Killing Kind
She Survived: Melissa (e-book)
She Survived: Jane (e-book)
I’d Kill For You
To Love and to Kill
One Breath Away
*Available from Kensington Publishing Corp.
IF YOU ONLY KNEW
M. WILLIAM PHELPS
PINNACLE BOOKS
Kensington Publishing Corp.
http://www.kensingtonbooks.com
All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.
Table of Contents
HIGHEST PRAISE FOR M. WILLIAM PHELPS
Also By M. William Phelps*
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
PART 1
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
PART 2
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
PART 3
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
CHAPTER 55
CHAPTER 56
CHAPTER 57
CHAPTER 58
CHAPTER 59
CHAPTER 60
CHAPTER 61
CHAPTER 62
CHAPTER 63
CHAPTER 64
CHAPTER 65
CHAPTER 66
CHAPTER 67
CHAPTER 68
CHAPTER 69
CHAPTER 70
CHAPTER 71
CHAPTER 72
CHAPTER 73
CHAPTER 74
PART 4
CHAPTER 75
CHAPTER 76
CHAPTER 77
CHAPTER 78
CHAPTER 79
CHAPTER 80
CHAPTER 81
CHAPTER 82
CHAPTER 83
CHAPTER 84
CHAPTER 85
CHAPTER 86
CHAPTER 87
CHAPTER 88
CHAPTER 89
CHAPTER 90
CHAPTER 91
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
DON’T TELL A SOUL
Teaser chapter
Teaser chapter
Notes
Some names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals connected to this story.
PINNACLE BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2016 by M. William Phelps
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
Pinnacle and the P logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
ISBN: 978-0-7860-3724-7
ISBN-10: 0-7860-3724-5
First Kensington Mass Market Edition: August 2016
eISBN-13: 978-0-7860-3725-4
eISBN-10: 0-7860-3725-3
Kensington Electronic Edition: August 2016
For Cherry . . . I miss you.
January 26, 2004–December 13, 2014
PART 1
She would defend herself, saying that love, no matter what else it might be, was a natural talent. She would say: You are either born knowing how, or you never know.
Gabriel García Márquez,
Love in the Time of Cholera
CHAPTER 1
SOME THINGS IN LIFE are not what they appear to be at first glance. Take, for example, the quiet stillness of the night inside her patrol car, interrupted only by the crackling static of a police scanner every so often. It was that sound, rolling over her relaxed breathing and the occasional shuffle and leathery crunch of her well-oiled duty belt, that had misled Patrol Officer Lynn Giorgi into thinking it just might be a slow night, devoid of any major public evils.
Officer Giorgi had worked for the City of Grand Rapids, Michigan, before becoming a police officer in Troy, about a 150-mile drive east, two years prior. Troy is sandwiched between slices of Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie. Troy is, essentially, part of the metro Detroit region, within Oakland County. A family-oriented city, one of the largest in the state, Troy bills itself as the “most dynamic and livable” metropolitan area in the Wolverine State. It’s the schools, everyone says, that attract the yuppies and hipsters to settle down with their snobby kids and live the good life in suburbia.
As Officer Giorgi patrolled through downtown during the early-morning hours of August 12, 2000, near the halfway point of her midnight to 8:00 A.M. shift, the otherwise quiet radio in her cruiser buzzed with a voice. It was dispatch: “Man down . . . not breathing. . . .”
A second request then came in for an ambulance.
CPR run, Giorgi thought.
Some poor bastard probably had a heart attack, was fighting for his life.
Up until then, it had been an inconsequential night in Troy. Generally was.
As Giorgi hit the lights on her patrol car and took off toward 2090 Grenadier Drive, a rather swanky end of town, she expected to arrive at the scene and find a man she needed to perform first aid on. In two years with the Troy Police Department (TPD), Giorgi had answered maybe ten of these same calls.
As Giorgi pulled into the driveway at 4:25 A.M., colleague, friend and fellow officer Pete Dungjen pulled in right behind her. The single-family home, with four bedrooms and three and a half baths at about three thousand square feet, was spacious and well-kept. The area had a reputation for plotting half-million-dollar homes. Not necessarily the ultrarich, but most of the people in this neighborhood did not have to worry about money.
Giorgi went directly into her trunk and took out the first aid CPR kit and ran toward the front door.
When she reached the stoop, the door opened. There were two females, Giorgi later said, standing in the foyer, waiting on the TPD to arrive. Both women seemed “calm,” but also in great need of someone to help the victim inside the house.
One of the women, whom Giorgi would later come to know as Billie Jean Rogers, said, “He’s in there—in the kitchen.” Billie Jean pointed the cop in the right direction.
Billie Jean was the man’s wife.
Inside the kitchen, Giorgi’s training kicked into action. On the floor was a man “in his fifties,” she later guessed (he was much older), lying on his back, on the floor. There was a chair turned over on its side next to him. Without any other information, she surmised that the man had grabbed for the backrest of the chair on his way down to the floor, flipping the thing over as he hit the ground.
Donald Rogers was seventy-four years old. Billie Jean’s husband was a local business owner, who had made quite a bit of money manufacturing a line of automotive assembly tools. In the “car capital of the world,” Don Rogers and his business partner, Don Kather, had started the business together back in 1977. Kather actually bought Rogers out in 1990, but Rogers had still invested in the company and went into the office every day, helping to keep it afloat after the car industry boom left only ashes in its wake. Kather had gotten together with Rogers on August 11, as they did daily, to meet for lunch. Rogers looked and sounded good, Kather later said. Rogers was “very frugal” with his spending habits, Kather explained. He had plenty of money, but he never went on vacations or bought luxurious items or drove glamorous cars. Same as when he went out to eat, Don Rogers chose middle-of-the-road restaurants, always forgoing the four-star hot spots. He lived life simply. And yet, there was one thing Don never skimped on—something he spared no expense at and did every day: drink.
Billie Jean was quite the polar opposite when it came to spending money—most of which was her husband’s.
“Well, if she saw something she liked,” her daughter later said, “she would just buy it.” Billie Jean had no real “concept of money,” the daughter added. “She saw money as fun . . . that was what it was for, in her mind.” More than that, Billie Jean was a “very poor money manager.”
Billie Jean had lived both sides of the coin: In Tennessee, where she grew up with seven siblings, she was “dirt poor.” There was not even running water in the house; she literally lived hand to mouth; hand-me-downs and handouts were a way of life.
As Officer Giorgi prepared to work on Don Rogers, Billie Jean Rogers, Don’s wife for a second time—they had married once, divorced and then remarried—stood over her, explaining what she thought had happened.
“He’s been drinking—he has a problem with alcohol,” Billie Jean said. “He’s a chronic alcoholic.” Then, oddly enough, Billie Jean added, “He suffers from rectal bleeds.”
Apparently, the drinking had gotten so out of hand, she was saying, Don often bled from his rectum, all over the place.
Giorgi noticed that Don Rogers had very slight bruising on his face and one small abrasion on his upper lip. But one would expect some mild scuffs and scrapes on a guy who had supposedly passed out drunk and fallen on the floor. Suffice it to say, he probably fell into that chair, which was on its side lying next to him, and had probably made a habit of falling down and into things if, in fact, he drank as much as his wife claimed.