LOYSVILLE, PA — A Pennsylvania has been arrested and charged with the cold case murder of his wife more than 30 years ago.
Investigators say that they believe Carl Rodgers, now 62, fatally beat his 23-year-old wife, Debra Rodgers, to death and then slashed her wrists to stage her apparent suicide.
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Debra’s body was discovered in April 1983 in woods near the couple’s dairy farm in Loysville, Pennsylvania. The couple had a five-year-old daughter.
“For more than three decades, the family and friends of Debra Jane Rodgers have sought justice, and wondered if this day would ever come,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in a statement on Tuesday. “Thanks to a strong collaboration between the Pennsylvania State Police and our office, and the effective use of a statewide investigating grand jury, Carl Rodgers stands charged with murder.”
On April 22, 1983, Debra disappeared after coming home home late from her job at Little Buffalo State Forest.
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Carl Rodgers gave a statement to police in which he claimed his wife suffered from depression. He also said that they had argued that night and he admitting to grabbing her by the arm. According to police, his statements were inconsistent — and friends and family contradicted Carl’s account and said that Debra had been happy.
The day after her disappearance, Carl Rodgers called Debra’s family and told them she was missing. They found her car in the forest, and Carl insisted that he drive Debra’s car back to their home, despite pleas from the family to keep it there in case Debra was using it for shelter, according to the district attorney’s statement.
During the second day of searching, Debra’s mother found the body in a heavily wooded area several hundred yards from where her vehicle had been parked. Investigators noted Debra’s body appeared to have been dragged to the location, and a knife was found near the scene with a sheath inscribed with the name “Carl.”
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A coroner later determined that Debra had died of blunt force trauma to the head — and stated that her wrists had been cut after the fact “to imply suicidal activity.”
“The grand jury finds that Carl Rodgers concocted all the claims that Debra was depressed, as well as the claims that she was struggling at work in order to support his efforts to make her death appear to be a suicide and not a homicide. He was the only individual with the motive to make her death appear to be a suicide,” the grand jury said.
The grand jury did not hear any evidence that was unavailable to police and prosecutors in 1983, and it was unclear why charges were not brought at the time.
Carl Rodgers was arrested by Pennsylvania State Police Monday on murder charges and is being held without bail.
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Main photo: Carl Rodgers [Pennsylvania Attorney General]
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