Jury finds man guilty of murder

An ex-convict was found guilty of first-degree murder on Friday for killing a mentally retarded woman during a burglary more than six years ago in Henderson.

In a trial that started in early December in District Court, the Clark County jury found 42-year-old Cornelius Rogers guilty of murdering Julie Holt, 33, who had the mental capacity of a 10-year-old.

"Finally," said Kathy Holt, Julie Holt's mother, after the guilty verdict was read.

Kathy Holt and one juror wept after the verdict was delivered.

"It's just too bad it's taken so long," she said.

Rogers, dressed in a blue suit, didn't show any emotion when the verdict was announced.

The jury also found Rogers guilty of first-degree kidnapping with substantial bodily harm, robbery, burglary and possession of stolen property. Rogers' sentencing hearing is scheduled to begin Thursday. He faces a potential death penalty.

"We'll respect their (the jury's) decision and move forward with the next phase of the trial," said county public defender Scott Coffee, who defended Rogers along with public defender Jeff Banks.

On March 31, 2001, Rogers burglarized the Holts' house and bound and gagged Julie Holt to keep her quiet, authorities said.

Julie Holt's father, John Holt, met Rogers while working as a supply warehouseman at the Southern Nevada Correctional Center in Jean, where Rogers was serving about seven years in prison for burglary, robbery and battery convictions.

Holt agreed to help Rogers get on his feet after he got out of prison and gave him maintenance work to do at their home.

During the trial, a neighbor, Tara Bidwell, testified that she saw a man, later identified as Rogers, back a brown station wagon into the Holts' garage on the day of the killing.

Police later found property stolen from the Holts' residence at the apartment that Rogers shared with his mother and at his sister's apartment.

Although Rogers didn't testify during the trial, tapes of his interviews with police were played for the jury. In the recorded interviews, Rogers admits to being in the house but denies hurting Julie Holt.

He said he was burglarizing the house with another man but got scared and left when he heard her stirring in a bedroom, according to the taped interviews. "I didn't know all this was going down," he said during one interview.

Henderson police, however, didn't believe Rogers' story because he had lied to them multiple times, testified Sgt. Todd Wellman, one of several Henderson officers who investigated the case.

Rogers first told police that a friend of the Holts', Kevin Fisk, sold him the stolen goods from the Holts' house. Police later found that Fisk was out of the state at the time of the burglary. Rogers then told police that another man, Howard Miller, was responsible for the burglary. Police determined that Miller was in downtown Las Vegas at the time of the killing.

Rogers then said two other men were responsible, but authorities determined that the men were incarcerated at the time of the burglary and killing.

Rogers finally told authorities that a man identified only as "Feet-a-whack" was responsible for the burglary. Feet-a-whack got the name because his feet were too small for his body, giving the impression that his feet were "out of whack," Rogers told police.

Police never found Feet-a-whack.

During the trial, Coffee criticized Henderson police for mishandling or mislabelling evidence. Police didn't properly label a pair of boots confiscated from Rogers' apartment. Police also placed a pair of speakers in an evidence bag meant for a video game console.

During the trial, Coffee also raised the question of whether Rogers acted alone. A few days before the burglary, an unidentified black man went to the Holt house and to Bidwell's house asking about John Holt, he said.

But Holt, who died about a year ago from natural causes, had told authorities that he knew only one black man: Rogers.

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