Accused killer draws 8 felonies on indictment

By Greg Johnson

Frontiersman

PALMER — A man accused of using a machete to kill his father and assault his father’s fiancee has been indicted on eight felony charges, including first-degree murder.

The indictment came down Friday for Christopher Erin Rogers Jr., who allegedly confessed to police his 26-hour spree of violence that left two people dead and three others in critical condition beginning early last Sunday morning.

Rogers was indicted in Palmer on two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, motor vehicle theft and second-degree theft — all felonies.

Anchorage police say Rogers, 28, admitted using a machete to attacking his father, 51-year-old Christopher Erin Rogers Sr., and his father’s fiancee, Elann Moren, 55, killing his father. He then stole his father’s pickup truck and the .357 magnum handgun inside the truck and drove to Anchorage. Rogers Jr. allegedly said he knew he’d be arrested soon and “just wanted to kill a few more people along the way,” an Anchorage court complaint says.

Upon arriving in Anchorage, Rogers Jr. then allegedly shot and killed 27-year-old graduate student Jason Wenger while Wenger sat in his Ford Bronco, the complaint says. Scared off by the report of his gunshots, Rogers Jr. didn’t steal the Bronco as he intended. Later Sunday at about 7 p.m., he shot 33-year-old Elizabeth Rumsey in the back while she was jogging. He was captured Monday morning after a 911 call alerted police to the shooting of Tamas Deak, 43, and a carjacking while Deak’s Jeep idled in his driveway.

Rogers Jr. was caught after a chase. “He alleged he no longer worried about being apprehended and just wanted to kill a few more people along the way,” the complaint says. The suspect also allegedly described crossing paths with Rumsey and shooting her because she “looked as though she was made nervous by the contact.”

The eight-count indictment handed down Friday in Palmer includes only those crimes involving the machete attack on his father and Moran. He is set for an 8:30 a.m. arraignment Monday in Palmer District Court on the indictment. Rogers Jr. has not yet been indicted on the Anchorage shooting death and assaults. A pre-indictment hearing that began Thursday was continued to 9:30 a.m. Dec. 14.

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2268.