Florida executes suspected serial killer once eyed for possible link to the OJ Simpson case

STARKE, Fla. — A suspected serial killer once scrutinized for a possible link to the O.J. Simpson case that riveted the nation in the 1990s was executed Thursday in Florida for the murder of a woman found dead in a Tampa motel room.

Glen Rogers, 62, received a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke and was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m., authorities said. He was convicted in Florida of the 1995 murder of Tina Marie Cribbs, a 34-year-old mother of two he had met at a bar.

He also had drawn a separate death sentence in California for the 1995 strangulation killing of Sandra Gallagher, a mother of three whom he had met at a bar in Van Nuys in that state. That killing came weeks before the Cribbs murder. Rogers was stopped after a highway chase in Kentucky while driving Cribbs' car soon after her death.

In a final statement, Rogers thanked his wife, who visited him earlier in the day at the prison, according to visitor logs. He also somewhat cryptically said that ''in the near future, your questions will be answered'' without going into detail. He also said, ''President Trump, keep making America great. I'm ready to go.'' Then the lethal injection began, and he lay quietly through the procedure.

Rogers was named as a suspect but never convicted in several other slayings around the country, once telling police he had killed about 70 people. He later recanted that statement, but had been the subject of documentaries including one from 2012 called ''My Brother the Serial Killer'' that featured his brother Clay and a criminal profiler who had corresponded extensively with Rogers.

The documentary raised questions about whether Rogers could have been responsible for the 1994 stabbing deaths of Simpson's ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.

During a 1995 murder trial that drew intense media attention, the former football star and celebrity Simpson was acquitted of all charges. Los Angeles police and prosecutors subsequently said after the documentary's release that they didn't think Rogers had any involvement in the Simpson and Goldman killings.

Simpson had always professed innocence but was later found liable for the deaths in a separate civil case, and subsequently served nine years in prison on unrelated charges. The 76-year-old Simpson died in April 2024 after battling cancer.

Rogers, originally from Hamilton, Ohio, had also been labeled the ''Casanova Killer'' or ''Cross Country Killer'' in various media reports. Some of his alleged and proven female victims had similar characteristics: ages in their 30s, a petite frame and red hair.

Hours before his execution, Rogers awoke at 3:45 a.m. and later received one visitor, said Department of Corrections spokesman Ted Veerman. He said Rogers had a meal of pizza, chocolate and soda.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied Rogers' final appeals on Wednesday without comment.

Rogers' lawyers have filed several appeals with state and federal courts, none successful. One argument was that newly enacted state legislation authorizing the death penalty for trafficking in young children makes clear that the abuse he suffered as a child is now taken seriously and should result in a life prison sentence for Rogers. That argument was rejected.

Rogers became the fifth inmate put to death in Florida this year.