BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The penalty phase retrial of a former Kern County sheriff’s deputy who killed a woman and teen girl in separate shootings in the 1980s was postponed Wednesday to early 2025.
David Keith Rogers, 77, had been set for a second penalty phase retrial in October, but court records show the retrial was moved to Feb. 18.
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A status conference is set for January.
Rogers’ first penalty phase retrial was held last year and ended with a jury deadlocked 10-2 in favor of him being sentenced to death. The only alternative is for Rogers to serve life in prison with no possibility of parole.
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In 1988, Rogers was convicted of killing Janine Benintende, 20, in 1986 and Tracie Clark, 15, a year later, shooting them multiple times then dumping their bodies in the Arvin-Edison canal. Both Benintende and Clark — who was three months pregnant when killed — were picked up by Rogers while working as prostitutes.