Forensic Files - Season 10, Episode 14 - A Leg Up on Crime - Full Episode | Forensic Files

[music playing] NARRATOR: One man's fascination with ladies of the evening terrorized a community.
Had it not been for his arrogance, an old running shoe, and an unusual bullet fragment, he
might never have been caught. [theme music] Farming is big business in Bakersfield, California.
The area boasts warm weather, flat terrain, and a sophisticated canal system for irrigation.
In 1986, some hikers found evidence of a crime in one of those canals. It was the decomposed body of a young woman.
MIKE LAGE: I thought it was possible that the body had been dumped into the canal further up,
and it had floated down to the place where it was discovered. NARRATOR: The body had been in the water for several days,
and any trace evidence had been washed away. JOHN SOLIZ: No physical evidence other than the clothing
that she was wearing when the body was retrieved. NARRATOR: An autopsy left no doubt.
She had been murdered. ARMAND DOLLINGER, M.D.: There were multiple gunshot wounds that were discovered.
One, the bullet was recovered from the spine, from the spinal canal. And the other one, the bullet was
recovered from the chest wall. NARRATOR: The bullets were from a .38 caliber pistol.
MIKE LAGE: And these two bullets we recovered, but there was one hole. So both of those bullets entered through the same hole.
And that would lead me to believe that it was a type of an assassination going on here.
NARRATOR: Decomposition made visual identification impossible, so the medical examiner
relied on her fingerprints. ARMAND DOLLINGER, M.D.: You can use the dusting powder,
like they use for picking up latent fingerprints, and the prints can be developed that way.
NARRATOR: Her fingerprints were compared to thousands on file in the California State database,
and there was a match. The victim was 21-year-old Kay Bradley, who had an earlier arrest for prostitution.
A background check revealed she had grown up in Los Angeles, was an A student in school, an accomplished horseback
rider and dancer. Her aunt, who asked not to be identified, said Kay was destined for success.
KAY BRADLEY'S AUNT: She was very artistic and loved to sing, loved to dance as a child, and never misbehaved.
I don't think she was ever grounded or punished. She was always very close to her family.
NARRATOR: In the years after high school, Kay made some unfortunate choices. MIKE LAGE: A young girl that had become
involved with the wrong crowd, with drugs, and which led to her being involved with certain people
that were not really what I would say the type of people I would want my daughter to hang out with.
KAY BRADLEY'S AUNT: The whole family was devastated, because you try to figure out how this could
happen, or why this happened, or if someone was responsible. NARRATOR: Prostitution may have been
how Kay financed her drug habit. Unfortunately, none of the other Bakersfield prostitutes
recalled seeing her around the time she disappeared. After several months and hundreds of interviews,
the trail of Kay's killer turned cold, but investigators didn't give up. Eventually, they got a break, but it came with a price, when
the body of a second young woman was found in the very same canal. GREG LASKOWSKI: And at that point,
you start thinking maybe it's a serial killer. Maybe there's something in the calendar or something
or the moon that causes a person to-- to do this. NARRATOR: One year after the murder of Kay Bradley,
the body of a second young woman was discovered in the same irrigation canal on the outskirts
of Bakersfield, California. She appeared to be a teenager, but there was no identification on the body.
MIKE LAGE: It was a, "who done it?" "Who is it?" Which is one of the hardest ones in homicide to work.
NARRATOR: The autopsy revealed the girl was killed by three shots from a .38 caliber weapon.
ARMAND DOLLINGER, M.D.: She received several wounds from the right front and was down.
And while she was down, the final shot would have been the one in the back. -On the cement curbing of the canal,
we noticed that there was more blood. And so in reading the crime scene, we know that the vehicle pulled off, parked on the shoulder,
that there was some activity. The victim was hurt. The victim was bleeding. We're assuming that it was the victim's blood.
And somebody, in the end, dragged the victim over to the canal and pushed her in.
NARRATOR: Police found three different shoe impressions in the soft dirt near the canal.
They were identified as Adidas brand running shoes. Forensic expert Greg Laskowski analyzed the bullets
from the victim's body, specifically, for lands and grooves created when the bullet passes through the barrel.
These are unique to every gun. He compared them to the bullets recovered from Kay Bradley.
They lined up perfectly. GREG LASKOWSKI: The bullets from the first homicide victim
and the bullets from the second homicide victim had the same class characteristics.
That is, they had the same caliber, same make, and type. They also had rifling characteristics on the them
that were identical. NARRATOR: The murder weapon was a Colt .38 caliber handgun.
-I'm very familiar with those because I own one myself. NARRATOR: The ammunition was unusual too.
GREG LASKOWSKI: They were a lighter weight caliber than normal .38 calibers at the time.
There were 110-grain, semi-jacketed, hollow points, which are typical of law enforcement ammunition.
-It did occur to me at that time, again, we're possibly looking for someone in law enforcement,
security work, a prison guard, that type of thing. Because the perpetrator hadn't disposed of that weapon.
They kept it. NARRATOR: The first task facing investigators was to identify the young girl.
Her description didn't match anyone listed in missing persons reports. And her fingerprints didn't match any on file
with the California State database. Since there was a condom wrapper near the victim's body,
and because of the way she was dressed, investigators suspected she was working as a prostitute.
JOHN SOLIZ: We started showing this Polaroid photograph of our victim's face. And on that first night that we were out there,
we actually, by luck, found this prostitute who recognized the photograph. PROSTITUTE: I think she was here--
And she said that she recalled seeing the victim. NARRATOR: She was identified as 15-year-old Tracy Clark,
a runaway from Seattle, Washington. Tracy's friend, a fellow prostitute, last saw her leaving with a customer
driving an unusual vehicle. MIKE LAGE: She seen Tracy Clark get into this vehicle,
and that was the last time she was seen alive. She described this vehicle as a light-colored pickup truck
with a camper shell with bubble windows on the side. NARRATOR: But there were thousands
of similar trucks in California. But the murder weapon, the type used by law enforcement,
was a definite clue. On a hunch, Bakersfield Police looked inside their own community and discovered
one of their colleagues owned a pickup truck matching that description. It belonged to Sheriff's Deputy Dave Rogers.
Ironically, Rogers was Detective Soliz's former partner. JOHN SOLIZ: We worked side by side
for, I don't know, I'm guessing, you know, two or three years on the same beat. He would back me up on calls, and I would back him up.
We would have coffee together. NARRATOR: Deputy Rogers, an 11-year veteran of the force,
was well liked and highly respected. To see if Rogers' truck was the one Tracy got in to,
investigators tried an unusual experiment. MIKE LAGE: I went and picked up the witness.
And I told her, I'm going to take you for a drive, and I want you to see if you recognize any vehicles.
NARRATOR: Investigator Lage showed her a number of similar-looking vehicles in Bakersfield.
But the one she identified was the one parked outside Deputy Rogers' house. MIKE LAGE: She immediately started hollering,
that's the truck, that's the truck. Go arrest him. Go arrest him. And I says, are you sure?
And she said, I'm positive. NARRATOR: When questioned, Rogers denied any involvement in the murders.
His service revolver, a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum, was clearly not the murder weapon,
and there was no record Rogers ever owned a Colt .38 caliber handgun. Both investigators and prosecutors
needed much more than just their suspicions that Rogers was somehow involved. SARA RYALS: My job is to present enough evidence to satisfy
the standard of beyond a reasonable doubt. There's a jury instruction on what reasonable doubt is.
And it's not just any doubt, but it's not beyond any doubt. It's just a reasonable doubt.
That is, it really couldn't be anybody else but this man. NARRATOR: Bakersfield detectives had two unsolved murders,
a suspect who was a member of law enforcement, but little else. So investigators went back to the witness who
saw the second victim, Tracy Clark, getting into a light-colored truck and asked her if she could identify the driver.
They showed her a photographic lineup consisting of six individuals. MIKE LAGE: I advised the witness that I was going to show her
a series of photographs that she may or may not recognize. Don't be afraid to say that you don't recognize anybody.
You don't have to. NARRATOR: It didn't take long. MIKE LAGE: She said that's the guy that drove that pickup
truck that I seen Tracy get into the last time she was seen alive. And she pointed to Rogers.
It was Rogers. JOHN SOLIZ: At that point, I didn't quite soak in. Like, you know, I can't believe that we're
looking at a deputy on the murder of two prostitutes. NARRATOR: Deputy Dave Rogers once again
denied any involvement in the murders. Since these were his colleagues, Rogers may have felt more comfortable during his interrogation
than others would, and he did something consistent with that. He put his foot up on the desk.
And Detective Mike Lage remembered something. -And I looked down and looked over,
and there was the shoe tracks, the shoe that resembled the shoe tracks that was taken at Tracy Clark's scene.
NARRATOR: Was it possible that Rogers, an experienced law enforcement officer, would wear the same shoes to a murder
interrogation he wore to commit the crime? Detectives sent Rogers' shoes to forensic analyst Greg
Laskowski. GREG LASKOWSKI: There was the center logo, which identified the shoe as being Adidas, and the overall size of the shoe
was consistent. But there was a chunk out in the tread pattern. NARRATOR: Laskowski pressed the tread pattern of Rogers' shoe
into a mixture of fingerprint powder, Comet cleanser, and very fine clay. And sure enough, Laskowski saw the same tread patterns
and same nicks and indentations in Rogers' shoe impression that he saw in the impressions found at the crime scene.
GREG LASKOWSKI: I was astounded to be able to identify David Roger's shoe as having been at the crime scene.
NARRATOR: But to prosecutor Sara Ryals, it wasn't enough. SARA RYALS: I mean, you can put the three scoops of ice cream,
and then that's fine, but it's not a banana split. But you've got to add the bananas.
You've got to add the whipped cream and the cherry. The whipped cream and the cherry are the fluff.
They're what makes it look good. The bananas are what makes the case. NARRATOR: In the back of Rogers' truck,
police found dozens of pairs of women's underwear, nude pictures of prostitutes, and a .38
caliber Colt revolver. GREG LASKOWSKI: That was just unbelievable. It-- you couldn't put words what one was thinking at that point.
It's-- it's as if, is this really all true? Is this a coincidence? NARRATOR: To see if it was the murder weapon,
it was fired into a water-filled tank to stop the bullet. GREG LASKOWSKI: It slows down the bullet.
And relatively quickly, within a matter of 1 to 2 feet, the bullet falls harmlessly to the bottom
of the tank where it can be collected. NARRATOR: A comparison of that bullet and those found
at both crime scenes left no doubt that this gun was used in both murders. Now, Sara Ryals was satisfied.
SARA RYALS: You know, it was all so clear then. Once we had all that laid out. I mean, there was nothing else it could be.
And it was extremely important. NARRATOR: And from the serial number, investigators discovered the gun was
registered to the owner of a local diner. Interestingly, several years earlier, Deputy Rogers
had investigated a burglary call at that same diner. Behind the cash register was the owner's
Colt .38 caliber pistol. Apparently, Rogers stole it. MIKE LAGE: It was Rogers went in there and picked that thing up
and put it in his pocket. And he wrote down the theft report on it. And he had that gun ever since, and he
used it to kill two human beings with. So that, yeah, that made me angry. NARRATOR: Dave Rogers was arrested and charged
with two counts of first-degree murder. -When Dave Rogers was identified and arrested, I was angry.
I was shocked. You know, I trusted him with my life. You know? Who knows, you know, for whatever reason, you know,
I could've been the victim. I mean, those kind of crazy thoughts, at one point in time,
went through my head. NARRATOR: Once in custody, he offered some chilling insights
into why a seemingly-normal family man could not control his compulsion to kill.
-My-- my head goes crazy. It spins. You know what I mean? I get to thinking about something--
PRISON PSYCHOLOGIST: Yeah. -and it-- and it keeps going and going and going. And uh--
NARRATOR: The citizens of Bakersfield were shocked to learn that a law enforcement officer was charged
for the murder of 21-year-old Kay Bradley and 15-year-old Tracy Clark. Dave Rogers' wife had difficulty believing it.
DAVE ROGERS' WIFE: Great family man, um, great human being. And this was the Dave Rogers that I knew.
MICHAEL TRIHEY: It's hard to imagine that a guy like that is a killer and, presumably, a pretty cold-blooded killer.
NARRATOR: But the forensic evidence was overwhelming. MICHAEL TRIHEY: When it came to trial,
this case was not a "who done it." The question was, what motivated this defendant?
And what was his degree of guilt? What was his state of mind at the time of the killing?
NARRATOR: In a taped interview with the prison psychologist, Rogers admitted soliciting prostitutes.
-I'm not prejudiced. I have solicited blacks. I have solicited whites. I have solicited Mexicans.
PRISON PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, that sounds so formal when you say solicit. -Well, that's what I've done, you know.
I've gone out and solicited prostitutes. NARRATOR: And eventually, Rogers admitted
taking Tracy Clark to the canal. He claimed the two had a disagreement. JOHN SOLIZ: She made some comment to him
that, I've been here too long. Now you have to give me more money, or something like that.
-I don't think she called me a queer or a faggot or something like that, but I think she brought up me
having different sexual preferences. NARRATOR: Rogers claimed he threw Tracy out of the truck,
but that she stood in front of it and refused to move. He also claimed she threatened to file a police report.
TRACY CLARK: What are going to-- -He was making it sound like a self-defense, because he
claimed that Tracy Clark was screaming and hollering and scratching him and that sort of thing at the-- at the scene.
NARRATOR: Rogers' mistake was getting out of the truck to drag Tracy's body into the canal,
leaving his shoe impressions in the soft dirt. His second mistake was wearing those same shoes
to his interrogation. JOHN SOLIZ: As luck would have it, for us, as the investigators, that he was careless.
He was very careless, and he left a lot of evidence at the scene. He left evidence in his truck.
He left evidence at home. NARRATOR: Rogers had no explanation for why he killed his first victim, Kay Bradley.
JOHN SOLIZ: Ah, he made a comment, if they did match my gun, then I must have done it.
But I don't remember. NARRATOR: Rogers claimed his actions were caused by parents
who emotionally and physically abused him as a child. SARA RYALS: You know, to say that he was some sort of really
nice guy who was just reacting to his childhood, just kind of makes you want to throw up.
NARRATOR: Rogers also hinted he welcomed the death penalty. -I-- I can't deal with having killed this other person.
I do not believe I should live. I'm not-- PRISON PSYCHOLOGIST: Are you saying, though,
in some ways, you-- you plotted your own demise? -I just gave them what they needed.
PRISON PSYCHOLOGIST: So you knew you-- you had a plan? -Yes. NARRATOR: Dave Rogers went on trial
for the murder of Kay Bradley and Tracy Clark. It took the jury two days to find him guilty.
He was sentenced to death. SARA RYALS: Juries like to be able to figure out things for themselves.
They like to play-- not play detective, but play detective story writer, in which they have a lot of clues,
and they can put them together, and say, this can only be this man. -As far as I'm concerned, he's as
worthless as a-- as there is. But he'll probably outlive me. He's sucking my air, and I'm paying for his room and board
up there as a taxpayer. MICHAEL TRIHEY: Well, I think that this case, the thing that
really comes to my mind is how he really led that double life, how he seemed to be one thing and was accepted
as that respectable law enforcement officer. And yet at night, like Jekyll and Hyde,
he'd go out and have a completely different side. And how he seemed to have fooled everybody in his life
until the criminalists and the forensics caught up with him. [theme music]

The decomposed body of a young woman was discovered in a Bakersfield irrigation canal. If there was trace evidence, it had been washed away.

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Brief Summary

Deputy Dave Rogers was arrested for the murders of Kay Bradley and Tracy Clark after forensic evidence linked him to the crimes.

Key points

The Discovery of Kay Bradley's Body. In 1986, hikers found the decomposed body of Kay Bradley in a canal, leading to a murder investigation.
A Second Victim. One year after Kay's murder, a second young woman's body was found in the same canal, raising fears of a serial killer.
The Shocking Arrest of Deputy Rogers. Investigators discovered that Deputy Dave Rogers owned a truck matching the description of the vehicle seen with Tracy Clark before her disappearance.
Forensic Evidence Links Rogers to the Crimes. Forensic analysis matched shoe impressions and bullets found at the crime scenes to Deputy Rogers, leading to his arrest.
Trial and Sentencing. Dave Rogers was found guilty of murdering Kay Bradley and Tracy Clark and sentenced to death.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

One man's fascination with ladies of the evening terrorized a community.

NARRATOR

WatchJan 14, 2022

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