HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. (AP/CLARKSVILLENOW) – A Kentucky man has been convicted of stabbing his two sisters to death.
The Kentucky New Era reports 66-year-old Robert Jerry Rogers was found guilty, but mentally ill, on Tuesday. Judge John Atkins ruled Rogers was not insane when he killed Joanne Rogers and Francis Carolyn Coleman in August 2016, but acknowledged his mental illness.
Atkins sentenced Rogers on Thursday to 20 years on both murder counts, to be served concurrently. Family members and Rogers’ defense team had requested leniency because of Rogers’ mental illness. Commonwealth’s Attorney Lynn Pryor had asked for a harsher sentence, pointing out that the case would have been eligible for the death penalty.
Rogers’ attorney Clay Beineke says he’s disappointed with Tuesday’s ruling but satisfied with the sentence as it’s the minimum.
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