Jurors spare killer of retarded woman

A jury on Saturday spared the life of a man convicted of killing a 33-year-old retarded woman during a 2001 burglary in Henderson.

While spared the death penalty, 42-year-old Cornelius Rogers will spend the rest of his life behind bars without the chance of parole. He has already spent at least 20 years in prison or jail for various offenses, including sexual assault and pistol-whipping a woman.

"We had our fingers crossed for mercy," said public defender Jeff Banks after the verdict was read.

The jury convicted Rogers on Dec. 21 of first-degree murder in the killing of Julie Holt, who was found dead in the family's Henderson residence on March 13, 2001. Holt was hog-tied and had a sock stuffed in her mouth.

A medical examiner ruled that she had suffocated.

Rogers didn't testify during the trial, but on Friday he spoke briefly in open court to Holt's family. "I'm sorry for what Mrs. (Kathy) Holt is going through," he said.

Kathy Holt, Julie Holt's mother, attended the sentencing hearing but declined to comment. She had previously said that she wanted Rogers to receive the harshest punishment.

Although prosecutors were pushing for the death penalty, Deputy District Attorney Tracey Brierly said she saw the sentence as a victory.

"The goal of the state was to protect the community by never having Cornelius Rogers be out again. We met that goal," she said. "Justice was served for the community and the Holt family today."

Saturday's sentencing hearing brought an end to Rogers' six-week-long trial. Rogers, dressed in a suit, was led from the courtroom in handcuffs.

The jury considered mitigating circumstances in sparing Rogers' life, including a rough upbringing.

During a two-day sentencing hearing, Rogers' attorneys and others told the jury that he grew up in poverty with an abusive father who was in and out of Rogers' life and a mother who was ill-equipped to care for him and his five sisters.

Rogers spent time in foster care and at the age of 15 was shot in a drive-by shooting in California. The shotgun blast took out one of Rogers' eyes and he dubbed himself "Popeye."

Public defender Scott Coffee, who also represented Rogers, said the jury must have been swayed from the death penalty by learning of Rogers' difficult childhood.

"They considered the struggles and horrors of the defendant's childhood in reaching this decision. I know it's not a decision they made lightly," he said.

On Sept. 21, 1985, Rogers robbed and raped a woman who sold candy out of her home in California, authorities said. Eight days later, he robbed a woman in her 60s. He was about to sexually assault the 60-year-old woman before she told Rogers that she had cancer, authorities said.

Rogers eventually served six years of about a 12-year sentence related to those crimes. Authorities in California paroled Rogers in 1992.

Six months later, he pistol-whipped a female employee at an insurance company in Las Vegas. Police arrested Rogers and he was sentenced to about seven years in prison.

Rogers was released in 2000 after completing his sentence. Four months later he burglarized and killed Julie Holt, authorities said.

Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara@reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-1039.