A Killer Hides in Plain Sight, in the Sheriff’s Office
“A Leg Up on Crime,” Forensic Files
California sheriff’s deputy David Keith Rogers was a full-on psychopath who fooled his colleagues and family into thinking otherwise.
The respectable-seeming middle-aged man not only patronized prostitutes but also occasionally killed them — two of them for certain, in 1986 and 1987.
What’s even stranger about Rogers’ story is that years before the murders, an incredibly sleazy incident should have put all who knew him on pervert alert. But somehow, his reputation stayed intact between then and the time bodies began showing up in the Arvis-Edison Canal.
Street walkers. For this week, I looked into where David Keith Rogers, known as Dave to his friends, is today. So let’s get going on the recap of the Forensic Files episode “A Leg Up on Crime,” along with extra information from internet research:
Dave Rogers originally come from West Virginia and did a 10-year stint in the Navy before moving to Kern County, California, and nabbing a position in the sheriff’s office in 1976.
He worked the so-called prostitute beat for several years.
To show what “scumbags” prostitutes were, Rogers took his son on a tour of the poor side of Bakersfield so he could set his eyes upon them himself, according to information from Murderpedia.
Lawman’s disgraceful behavior. In addition to the affront to his personal values, work at the sheriff’s office caused him physical woe. Rogers was exposed to PCP on two occasions and needed medical treatment as a result. He was finding his work stressful in general, according to the San Francisco Examiner. He had fainting spells and blackouts, his wife, Joyce, known as Jo, said.
Maybe he was looking to unwind when, in 1983, he took a sex worker named Ellen Martinez to a cemetery, had her disrobe, and photographed her, according to habeas corpus documents dated 2017.
The county fired him once the abuse of power incident came to light, but Rogers appealed to the Civil Service Commission, which got his punishment reduced to a 15-day suspension after Ellen Martinez failed to show up at his hearing.
She later disappeared entirely, according to the Metropolitan News-Enterprise.
Bully as a guard? The slight slap on the wrist hurt Rogers’ psyche so much that “he got headaches and ate aspirins like candy,” according to a colleague, the San Francisco Examiner reported.
Next up, his employer put him on jail duty. In 1984, an inmate accused Rogers of beating him up, but Rogers never faced disciplinary action over it, according to Murderpedia.
He eventually got back on street patrol in Bakersfield, a city lined with irrigation canals needed by the many farms in the area.
Sweet girl goes astray. In February 1986, the body of a 21-year-old woman with long blond hair who’d been shot to death turned up in the Arvis-Edison Canal. Forensic Files calls her “Kay Bradley” and shares photos of her as a young girl in dance recital outfits and a cheerleader uniform.
According to newspaper accounts and court papers, her real name was Janine Benintende.
Born on Feb. 13, 1965, Janine originally came from Rhode Island and later lived in Los Angeles with her family. Her aunt, who appeared in shadow on Forensic Files, explained that Janine, who looked as though she belonged on the Mickey Mouse Club rather than in the red-light district, was a well-behaved, studious, much-loved child, but somehow she ended up as a heroin user.
On Jan. 22, 1986, she appeared nervous and told her mother she was heading to Bakersfield, according to court papers.
Watery grave. The last time anyone saw her alive, she was working as a prostitute on Union Avenue and dressed in pants, boots, and a white rabbit fur coat.
Janine was murdered on February 21, 1986, and found floating in the water.
Someone had shot her three times with a .38-caliber gun, with two of the bullets fired into the same wound, suggesting an execution-style death.
Still, Dave Rogers evaded suspicion.
Then, in February 1987, some small-game hunters found the body of a pregnant teenager named Tracie Joanna Clark in the canal.
Keen eye for details. Like Janine Benintende, Tracie worked as a prostitute along Union Avenue in Bakersfield. Little biographical information came up about Tracie, except that she was a runaway from Seattle. Clearly, she’d had a rough life. At age 15, she looked 40.
Fortunately, one of Tracie’s fellow prostitutes recalled seeing her get into a truck with a camper top and she helped police locate it — parked right in front of Dave Rogers’ residence. The woman identified the milky-faced Rogers from a photo lineup. Footprints next to the canal matched shoes worn by Rogers during his subsequent police interview.
On Feb. 13, 1987, authorities arrested Rogers as he and Jo were headed out to run an errand.
Admits he did it, kind of. Investigators found a large amount of pornography in his apartment — although it’s not clear why Forensic Files implied it was evidence of his guilt. It’s a free country and plenty of law-abiding men purchase it.
Rogers also had a sizable collection of women’s underwear. Again, no law against that.
But prosecutors didn’t need to rely on that evidence anyway. Dave Rogers told police that he killed Tracie Clark.
Excuses galore. “He gave us an admission, not a confession, by which I mean he is indicating there were other circumstances than we are implying that led to the killings,” Sgt. Gary Davis said, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
Media accounts vary regarding the justification Rogers gave: He argued with Tracie over the price of her services — he offered $30 but she wanted $50 — or she insulted his sexual prowess, or both. Tracie had exited his vehicle and pointed her finger at him, which made him feel threatened, he also claimed at one point. And Rogers worried that she would report him.
Oh, and his gun went off accidentally, he said.
Portrait of himself. According to an AP account, Rogers said he didn’t realize Tracie was only 15 and was stricken by guilt when he found out.
Rogers had had plenty of time to think up his excuses and rehearse his remorse. He had actually participated in the investigation into Tracie’s death and carried in his briefcase the composite photo of the suspect — himself — according to a the San Francisco Examiner‘s account of Feb. 27, 1987.
The .38-caliber Colt that police said Rogers used in the murders had an interesting history. A diner owner had reported it missing after a 1982 robbery. Investigators believe Rogers discreetly helped himself to the gun while investigating the restaurant theft.
Double trial. Authorities later concluded that Janine Benintende and Tracie Clark had been shot with bullets consistent with the ammunition available to deputies in the Kern County Sheriff’s Office.
Although Rogers admitted to Tracie’s shooting, he consistently maintained that he had nothing to do with Janine Benintende’s homicide.
Regardless, Kern County tried Dave Rogers for both murders, in a single court action. with Sarah Ryles prosecuting. (If Ryles — memorable for the marionette-like movement of her mouth during her on-camera interview — looks familiar, it’s because she appeared on an earlier episode of Forensic Files called “Over a Barrel.”)
Co-workers had no idea. Rogers’ defense relied on claims that he was sexually abused as a child. Mental health professionals testified that Rogers killed Tracie Clark while he was in an “impulsive, highly emotional state” and that he suffered from dissociative identity disorder (once known as multiple personality or split personality).
The revelations about Rogers came as a surprise to those who knew and worked with him. At the trial, seven law enforcement officers testified that the defendant was a skilled, conscientious deputy adept at defusing emotionally charged situations, according to 2006 court papers. Several of the officers testified that the defendant had always appeared normal.
Nonetheless, on March 16, a jury found Rogers guilty of the murders of Tracie Clark and Janine Benintende.
Wife still loves the guy. Upon hearing the verdict, Dave Rogers remained expressionless, but Jo wept in the courtroom, the AP reported.
Jo, who was Rogers’ third wife, and his four children stayed loyal to him, the San Francisco Examiner reported: “In my heart, it wasn’t the man I know and love,” Jo said. “It was another person. And the one I know and love I’m going to help all I can.”
In the penalty phase, jurors recommended the death penalty, and off Rogers went to San Quentin.
Testimony voided. Rogers has successfully avoided the gas chamber, however.
In July 2019, the California Supreme Court voided his death sentence because a witness for the prosecution named Tambri Butler recanted her testimony, saying she wasn’t sure that Rogers was the man who assaulted her while she was working as a prostitute.
Today, Rogers is still in San Quentin, serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. It was never proven whether or not he really suffered sexual and other physical abuse at the hands of his parents.
Bad apples will turn up. In addition to the tragedies he caused, Rogers left some of his former colleagues emotionally scarred, according to the San Francisco Examiner. They had known him only as an “excellent” deputy they never imagined would betray public trust or bring shame to the sheriff’s office. In fact, some of Dave Rogers’ co-workers reported having nightmares and sought counseling to cope, according to the San Francisco Examiner.
Perhaps the situation is best explained by YouTube commenter Paul Murray: “Well cops are folks too. They have their fair share of psychos.”
That’s all for this post. Until next time, cheers. — RR
Watch the Forensic Files episode on YouTube.
