fbpx
Wikipedia

Oba Chandler

April 14, 2023

Oba Chandler (October 11, 1946 – November 15, 2011) was an American serial killer and mass murderer who was convicted and executed for the June 1989 murders of Joan Rogers and her two daughters, whose bodies were found floating in Tampa Bay, Florida, with their hands and feet bound. Autopsies showed the victims had been thrown into the water while still alive, with ropes tied to a concrete block around their necks. The case became high-profile in 1992 when local police posted billboards bearing enlarged images of the suspect's handwriting recovered from a pamphlet in the victims' car. Chandler was identified as the killer when his neighbor recognized the handwriting.

Oba Chandler
Chandler's 1992 mugshot
Born(1946-10-11)October 11, 1946
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
DiedNovember 15, 2011(2011-11-15) (aged 65)
Florida State Prison, Raiford, Florida, U.S.
Cause of deathExecution by lethal injection
Other names
  • Dave Posner
  • Dave Posno
OccupationAluminum siding contractor
Years active1989–1990
Criminal statusExecuted
Conviction(s)First degree murder (3 counts)
Armed robbery (2 counts)
Being a felon in possession of a firearm
Criminal penaltyDeath (November 4, 1994)
Details
Victims4
  • Ivelisse Berrios–Beguerisse
  • Joan "Jo" Rogers
  • Michelle Rogers
  • Christe Rogers
CountryUnited States
State(s)Florida
Date apprehended
September 24, 1992

Prior to his arrest, Chandler worked as an unlicensed aluminum-siding contractor. Against the advice of his attorneys, he testified in his own defense, saying he had met the Ohio women and had given them directions. Chandler said he never saw them again, except in newspaper coverage and on the billboards set up by authorities. Police originally theorized that two men were involved in the murders, but this was discounted once Chandler was arrested. Following his conviction, Chandler was incarcerated at Union Correctional Institution. During his seventeen years of incarceration until his execution, he did not have a single visitor.

Chandler was executed on November 15, 2011. He wrote a last statement to prison officials: "You are killing a [sic] innocent man today". The statement was read at a post-execution news conference. In February 2014, DNA evidence identified Chandler as the murderer of Ivelisse Berrios-Beguerisse, who was found dead in Coral Springs, Florida, on November 27, 1990.

Early life

Background

Chandler was the fourth of five children born to Oba Chandler Sr. and Margaret Johnson, and was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio.[1] When he was ten years old in June 1957, his father hanged himself in the basement of the family's apartment.[1] At the funeral, Chandler jumped into his father's open grave as the gravediggers were covering the coffin with dirt.[1][2] Between May and September 1991‍—‌concurrent with the police investigation of the Rogers family triple murder‍—‌Chandler was an informant for the U.S. Customs Bureau's Tampa office.[2][3]

Crimes and incidents

When Chandler was fourteen, he began stealing cars and was arrested twenty times as a juvenile.[1] As an adult, he was charged with a variety of crimes, including possession of counterfeit money, loitering, burglary, kidnapping, and armed robbery.[4] He was also accused of masturbating while peeping through a woman's window. In one incident, Chandler and an accomplice broke into a Florida couple's home, held them at gunpoint, and robbed them. Chandler told his accomplice to tie up the man with speaker wire and took the woman into the bedroom, where he made her strip to her underwear, tied her up, and rubbed the barrel of his revolver across her stomach.[2]

Murder victims

 
Courtney Campbell Causeway from the Clearwater side of the bridge where the bodies were found

On May 26, 1989, Joan "Jo" Rogers, 36, and her daughters‍—‌Michelle, 17, and Christe, 14‍—‌left their family dairy farm in Willshire, Ohio, for a vacation in Florida.[5][6] It was the first time they had left their home state. Authorities believe Joan became lost on June 1 during the return drive from Orlando to Willshire, and had decided to take an extra vacation day in Tampa.[7] While looking for their hotel they encountered Chandler, who gave them directions and offered to meet them again later to take them on a sunset cruise of Tampa Bay.[1] Joan and her teenage daughters had left Orlando around 9:00 a.m.[8] and checked into the Days Inn on Route 60 at 12:30 p.m.[9]

Photographs retrieved from a roll of film found in a camera in the Rogers' hotel room showed Michelle sitting on the floor. The last photograph was taken from the hotel balcony and showed the sun beginning to set over Tampa Bay, confirming that all three family members were alive and had not left their hotel room as the sunset began.[10] They were last seen alive at the hotel's restaurant at around 7:30 p.m. It is believed they boarded Chandler's boat by the dock on the Courtney Campbell Causeway—part of Route 60—between 8:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., and that they were dead by 3 a.m. the next day.[11] Chandler may have used the fact that he was born in Ohio to lure them into feeling a connection to him.[12] Chandler knew Joan and her daughters were not from Florida because he saw the Ohio license plates on their car.[13][14]

 
Sunshine Skyway over Tampa Bay where the first body was found on June 4, 1989

The victims' bodies were found floating in Tampa Bay on June 4, 1989.[15] The first body was found when several people on board a sailboat crossing under the Sunshine Skyway saw an object in the water.[16] The second body was seen floating off the pier in St. Petersburg, two miles (3 km) north of the first. While the Coast Guard were recovering the second body, a call about a third, which was seen floating 200 yards (200 m) to the east, was received. All three female bodies were found floating face down, bound with a rope around the neck, and naked below the waist.[17]

Autopsies showed all three victims had water in their lungs, proving they had been thrown into the water while still alive.[18] Michelle, who was identified as the second body found, had freed one hand from her bonds before she drowned. The partially dressed state of the three bodies indicated the underlying crime was sexual assault.[5][18] Ropes with a concrete block at the other end had been tied around the victims' necks to ensure they died from either suffocation or drowning, and that their bodies would never be found.[19][20] The bodies, however, bloated as a result of decomposition, and floated to the surface.[18][21]

Investigation

 
One of the body bags used at the scene on June 4, 1989

The Rogers' bodies underwent decomposition while underwater due to hot weather. Because of this, they were not identified for a week after their remains were located.[22]

Joan Rogers and her daughters were not positively identified until a week after their bodies' discovery, by which time Joan's husband and the girls' father, Hal Rogers, had reported them missing in Ohio.[23] On June 8, a housekeeper at the Days Inn said the Rogers family's room had not been disturbed and the beds had not been slept in. The hotel manager contacted the police.[18] Fingerprints found in the room were matched to the bodies, and final confirmation of their identities came from dental records.[24] Marine researchers at the University of South Florida estimated from currents and patterns that the victims were thrown from a boat‍—‌and not from a bridge or dry land‍—‌between two and five days before they were found. The Rogers' car, a 1984 Oldsmobile Calais with Ohio license plates, was found at the boat dock by the Courtney Campbell Causeway.[23]

Facts and arrest

 
The writing on the note written on Joan Rogers's map, which was used to identify Chandler as the killer

The case remained unsolved for over three years, partly due to the volume of tips received by police investigators. The biggest tip came from a Madeira Beach police bulletin that described a similar rape of a 24-year-old Canadian tourist that occurred two weeks before the Rogers' murders.[25] Chandler was arrested for the murders on September 24, 1992.[16][25] His handwritten directions on a brochure found in the Rogers' vehicle and a description of his boat written by Jo Rogers on the brochure were the primary clues that led to him being named a suspect.[26][27] Local police posted images of Chandler's handwriting on the brochure on billboards in the Tampa Bay area, leading to a call from a former neighbor who provided a copy of a work order Chandler had written.[28][29] This use of billboards by law enforcement in the US was unusual at the time.[30]

Through handwriting analysis, the two samples were matched.[25] A palm print on the brochure was also matched to Chandler, who had sold his boat and left town with his family soon after the billboards appeared.[31] Police reported that Chandler and his then-wife moved from their home on Dalton Avenue in Tampa to Port Orange near Daytona Beach.[25]

Second suspect theory

Investigators originally thought two men were involved in the murders of the Rogers family. This theory was used for an enaction shown in a 1991 episode of Unsolved Mysteries.[32] This theory was dismissed when Chandler was arrested. No evidence of a second man‍—‌other than a former prison cellmate's claim that Chandler said another man, whose identity the cellmate claimed to know but would not reveal‍—‌has ever surfaced.[33] The second-suspect theory was belied by Chandler's approach of two Canadian female tourists‍—‌that he was willing to approach multiple potential targets by himself.[34]

Hal Rogers's brother John was also considered a suspect, even though he was serving a prison sentence for the rape of a woman at the time of the murders.[34] Police investigating the woman's rape allegation found evidence indicating John had also sexually assaulted Hal's daughter Michelle, although charges involving this assault were later dropped because of her reluctance to testify.[35] The St. Petersburg Times said John may have planned the murder during a visit to his parents' property near Tampa a month before the murders. Once the police established John could not have hired a contract killer, did not have accomplices, and could not have known the timing of his sister-in-law's and nieces' trip, he was dismissed as a suspect.[5][34]

Hal was also considered a suspect because he had posted bail for his brother, he states in an episode of On the Case with Paula Zahn, that he posted bail prior to knowing his brother had abused Michelle.[35] Hal later said he had promised the family he would post bail and would not renege on his promise.[21] Investigators from Florida and Ohio also discovered Hal had withdrawn US$7,000 from his bank account at the time of the disappearance,[34] which he was able to account for. He had planned to use it to look for his wife and daughters before he was notified of their deaths. Investigations proved conclusively Hal had not left Ohio during that period.[32] The assaults of Michelle Rogers by her uncle and gossip by local people was one of the reasons for the Florida trip; Joan and her daughters wanted to distance themselves from the incident.[35]

Trial

Chandler's testimony

At his trial in Clearwater, Florida, Chandler said he met Joan, Michelle, and Christe Rogers and gave them directions but he never saw them again except in newspaper coverage and on billboards.[36][37] He acknowledged he was in Tampa Bay that night‍—‌the police had evidence of three ship-to-shore telephone calls made from his boat to his home during the time frame of the murders‍—‌but Chandler maintained he was fishing alone. He said he had returned home late because his engine would not start, which he attributed to a gas line leak.[36] He also said he had called the Coast Guard and the Florida Marine Patrol, and had flagged down a patrol boat, but both were too busy to help.[37] He said he subsequently fixed the line with duct tape and returned safely to shore.[38]

There were, however, no records of distress calls from Chandler to either the Coast Guard or the Marine Patrol that night, nor were there any Coast Guard boats on the bay the following morning that could have helped him.[16] According to a boat mechanic who testified for the prosecution, Chandler's explanation of repairing the boat's alleged gas leak was not tenable because the fuel lines in his boat‍—‌a Bayliner‍—‌were directed upward.[36] A leak would have sprayed fuel into the air rather than into the boat and the gasoline would have dissolved the adhesive of the duct tape Chandler maintained he had used to repair a leak.[16] Under questioning from Pinellas County prosecutor Douglas Crow, Chandler then said he could not remember.[36][39]

Witnesses

A woman named Judy Blair testified that on May 15, 1989, two weeks before the Rogers murders, Chandler invited her onto his boat in nearby Madeira Beach for a boat trip on Tampa Bay, raped her and then returned her to shore. Blair had been with her friend Barbara Mottram, who refused Chandler's offer to join them on the boat. After Blair was raped, she told the court she returned to her hotel room where Mottram was waiting.[40] Chandler was not charged with this crime.[40] Blair testified during Chandler's murder trial to help establish his pattern of attack and show the similarities between the two crimes.

Blair stated that Chandler, on May 14, had given his name as Dave Posner or Dave Posno when the three first met at a convenience store in Tampa.[40] He told Blair and Mottram he was in the aluminum-siding contracting business, which later helped lead investigators to him.[41] It also inspired the name of the investigation; "Operation Tin Man".[42] The facial composite produced from Blair's description was posted on the billboards along with the handwriting samples.[43][44]

A former employee of Chandler's testified that he bragged about dating three women on the bay on the night of the murders, and that the next morning he arrived by boat and delivered materials for a job and immediately set out again.[45] In an attempt to establish Chandler's whereabouts on that night, investigators found records of several ship-to-shore telephone calls made from his boat to his home between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., which may have been attempts to explain his absence to his wife[46] and to provide himself with an alibi for the time of the murders. Chandler's daughter Kristal May Sue testified that her father had talked about killing three women and that he was afraid of returning to Tampa.[47] A woman who worked as a maid at the Days Inn said she walked past Chandler on June 1 as she was going to the Rogers' room for room service. She said she did not realize the significance of this sighting until Chandler's arrest in 1992; this sighting has never been confirmed.[40] Michelle Rogers' boyfriend and Hal Rogers also gave evidence during trial.[47]

Sentence and aftermath

Joan, Michelle, and Christe Rogers were buried in their hometown on June 13, 1989, after a funeral service attended by about 300 family members and friends.[48][49] Numerous police officers were present to keep reporters and television crews out of the church during the service.[49]

Chandler was found guilty of the murders and was sentenced to death on November 4, 1994.[50][51][52] He maintained his innocence and continued to pursue legal appeals while on Florida's death row.[53] He admitted to the Madeira Beach incident but said the sex was consensual and that the victim had changed her mind during the act. Because Chandler had already been sentenced to death for the Rogers murders and because prosecutors did not want to subject Blair to the emotional trauma of a rape trial, he was never prosecuted for her rape.[50]

 
Union Correctional Institution where Chandler served his prison sentence

Chandler awaited execution of his sentence at the Union Correctional Institution.[54] Shortly after the trial and conviction, his wife Debra filed for divorce and their marriage was dissolved a year later. Chandler was no longer allowed to see his daughter Whitney and in accordance with his ex-wife's wishes, he was not allowed to see later photographs of her.[55] In July 2008, Chandler was on Florida's short list of executions.[56]

Profiling experts speculated Chandler may have killed previously, based on the belief that a first-time killer would not be experienced or bold enough to abduct and kill three women at once. Chandler remained a suspect in the 1982 murder of a woman whose body was found floating off Anna Maria Island[57] until 2011, when the body was identified as 29-year-old Amy Hurst and her husband was arrested and charged with her murder.[58] Chandler was never charged with another murder.[59] All of his appeals of his 1994 conviction were denied; his last was in May 2007.[60]

After his conviction, Chandler was named by media as one of Florida's most notorious criminals.[61] He said his last words before his execution would be, "Kiss my rosy red ass".[62] In May 2011, comparisons were drawn between Chandler's case and trial in 1994, and the murder case of Caylee Anthony. In both cases, heightened media attention forced the selection of jurors who lived outside the county where the crime had been committed.[63] One of the jurors in Chandler's 1994 trial said, "He scared some of the jurors when he would sit there and stare at you and have that stupid grin on his face. He would make your skin crawl."[63]

Judge Susan F. Schaeffer, who presided over the 1994 trial and ultimately sentenced Chandler[64] described him in a 2011 interview as "a man with no soul". She said, "It's the worst case as far as factually, and as far as a defendant without saving grace, that I ever handled. And I represented plenty of people who were not necessarily good people."[65]

Execution

 
Prison mugshot of Chandler

On October 10, 2011, Governor Rick Scott signed Chandler's death warrant. His execution was set for November 15, 2011, at 4:00 p.m.[66][67] His lawyer Baya Harrison said Chandler asked him not to file any frivolous appeals to keep him alive. Harrison said:

He is not putting a lot of pressure on me to go running around at the end to find some magic way out. He is not going to make a scene. He's not going to bemoan the legal system. What he has told me is this: if there is some legal way that I can find to try to prevent him from being executed, he would like me to do what I reasonably can.[66]

Harrison also said Chandler suffered from high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, problems with his kidneys, and arthritis.[68]

On October 12, 2011, Harrison said although he was preparing to file a motion regarding the violation of his client's Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights in the case, he was unsure whether Chandler was willing to travel to Clearwater for the court hearing or would agree to the filing of the motion. "He hates coming down to Clearwater. He doesn't like the ride and he's not well", Harrison said.[69] On October 18, Harrison filed a motion against the execution on grounds that the way Florida imposes the death penalty is unconstitutional.[70] A jury may recommend a life sentence or a death sentence, but under Florida law, the judge makes the final decision.[70] A hearing on Chandler's motion was set for October 21 at 1:00 pm; Chandler did not attend.[70] On October 24, Chandler's appeal was rejected because he had already filed an appeal to the Florida Supreme Court prior to the decision.[71] Although the Florida Supreme Court initially scheduled Chandler's appeal to be heard on November 9, 2011, they later cancelled oral argument.[72] On November 7, 2011, the Florida Supreme Court denied Chandler's appeal of his death sentences and death warrant.[73] The Florida Supreme Court had upheld Chandler's death sentence in 1997 and 2003.[71] Chandler's subsequent petition to the United States Supreme Court was also denied.[74]

On November 15, Chandler at 4:08 pm was executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Raiford.[75][76] Chandler declined to make a last statement before being executed[77] but left a written statement with prison officials: "You are killing a (sic) innocent man today."[78][79] Shortly after signing Chandler's death warrant, Governor Scott said; "[Chandler] killed three women, so I looked through different cases, and it made sense to do that one. There's never one thing. It was the right case."[80]

Chandler's daughter Valerie Troxell said in an interview after the execution; "I believe they did execute an innocent man. I don't think my father alone could have pulled off such a heinous crime. It would have to have been more than one person ... The palm print would prove he did meet them and gave them directions, but it didn't mean he killed them. I think the prosecution had a very weak case."[78] Troxell also said she had sent a letter to Governor Scott asking him to commute Chandler's sentence to life imprisonment.[81] Chandler's son Jeff said; "I truly believe he was tried and convicted by the media long before he went to trial. The media can pretty much convict you. I don't think he got a fair trial."[81] After his execution, Chandler was described as the "loneliest man in the loneliest place on earth, death row"; he did not receive a single visitor during his years in Florida's death row unit.[81] Another of Chandler's daughters, Suzette, said her father was a monster who got what he deserved.[82][83]

Coral Springs murder

On February 25, 2014, investigators revealed that DNA evidence identified Chandler as the murderer of 20-year-old Ivelisse Berrios-Beguerisse, who was raped and strangled in Coral Springs, Florida, on November 27, 1990.[84]

Berrios-Beguerisse, a 20-year-old newlywed, was last seen at Sawgrass Mills Mall where she worked at a sporting goods store. When she did not return home, her husband went to the mall and found her car, a 1985 Ford Tempo, with the tires slashed. It is believed Chandler, after watching the victim for two days, slashed the tires, arrived in the guise of a helpful stranger, and offered to help. Three hours after she was reported missing, her body was found under a residential mailbox in a local neighborhood by two men returning from a fishing trip.[85][86]

Berrios-Beguerisse's body was naked and had ligature marks on both wrists and legs, and brown tape stuck to her hair.[87] The case is considered solved and closed according to police. Law enforcement agencies across Florida investigated other cold cases in areas Chandler was known to have resided.[88]

Media coverage

The Discovery Channel devoted a one-hour episode of its series Scene of the Crime, titled "The Tin Man", to the murder of the Rogers family.[89] In 1997, a series of articles titled "Angels & Demons", written by Thomas French – which told the story of the murders, the capture and conviction of Chandler, and the impact of the crimes on the Rogers' family and their community in Ohio – was published in the St. Petersburg Times.[90] The series won a 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing.[2]

The Rogers murders were featured in a 1991 episode of Unsolved Mysteries, which speculated that there were two attackers.[2][91] The 2000 book Bodies in the Bay by Mason Ramsey is a fictionalized adaptation of the Chandler case.[2] Author Don Davis in 2007 published the book Death Cruise covering the murders.[92][93]

The case was featured in a 1999 episode of Cold Case Files on A&E titled "Bodies in the Bay," which also focused on the evidence in the case.[94]

In 1995, Chandler, some members of his family, and Hal Rogers appeared in an episode of the Maury Povich Show featuring the case. Chandler appeared via satellite link.[6] Chandler's case was featured in a full-hour episode of Crime Stories.[94] The case was shown on an episode of Forensic Files titled "Water Logged" in December 2010. In 2012 Investigation Discovery show On the Case with Paula Zahn aired two episodes called "Murder at Sunset" covering the case.[95] In August 2014, the ID series Murder in Paradise covered the case.[96][97]

On February 11, 2022, the Oxygen Channel aired an episode of Family Massacre called "The Rogers Family".[98]

On November 19, 2022, the true crime podcast Casefile detailed the case of Jo, Michelle & Christe Rogers in their 232nd episode.[99]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e French, Thomas. . St. Petersburg Times. p. 2. Archived from the original on December 22, 2008. Retrieved June 2, 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d e f French, Thomas. . St. Petersburg Times. p. 3. Archived from the original on February 27, 2010. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
  3. ^ "Triple-Murder Suspect Worked as Informant". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Associated Press. October 2, 1992. p. 6B. from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved February 24, 2010.
  4. ^ U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals (December 18, 2006). "Oba Chandler v. James McDonough, Charlie Crist". FindLaw. from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved November 2, 2008.
  5. ^ a b c "Community Grieving Over Mysterious Deaths of Three Florida Vacationers". Associated Press News. June 10, 1989. from the original on April 22, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  6. ^ a b Saunders, Jim (June 10, 1989). "Vacation turned into a nightmare". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. p. 4. from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2009.
  7. ^ Sampson, Zachary T.; Gomez, Melissa (October 20, 2017). . Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on October 24, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  8. ^ French, Thomas. . St. Petersburg Times. p. 3. Archived from the original on April 15, 2009. Retrieved June 2, 2009.
  9. ^ "Tourist killings leave police with no leads". Lakeland Ledger. June 25, 1989. p. 18A. from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
  10. ^ French, Thomas. . St. Petersburg Times. p. 1. Archived from the original on September 24, 2008. Retrieved December 23, 2008.
  11. ^ Benson, Mildred (June 8, 1994). "Telephone records link murder suspect to bay". Toledo Blade. p. 13. from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
  12. ^ Saunders, Jim (June 10, 1989). "One-stoplight town jolted by 3 slayings in Florida". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. p. 1. from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2009.
  13. ^ French, Thomas. . St. Petersburg Times. p. 9. Archived from the original on January 21, 2010. Retrieved July 2, 2009.
  14. ^ "Bodies of 3 Women Found In Tampa Bay". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Associated Press. June 5, 1989. p. 6BVS. from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
  15. ^ "Detectives seek public help in murders". The Bryan Times. Vol. 41, no. 142. United Press International. June 17, 1989. p. 1. from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
  16. ^ a b c d Nealy, Jounice L. (November 3, 2000). . St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved June 26, 2009.
  17. ^ . St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on September 6, 2012. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
  18. ^ a b c d French, Thomas. . St. Petersburg Times. p. 10. Archived from the original on January 22, 2010. Retrieved July 1, 2009.
  19. ^ "Community Grieves Over Slain Friends". The Victoria Advocate. Associated Press. June 11, 1989. from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
  20. ^ "Man convicted in three drownings". The Tuscaloosa News. Associated Press. September 30, 1994. p. 14A. from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
  21. ^ a b "Dental records confirm three in bay from Ohio". Lakeland Ledger. Associated Press. June 10, 1989. p. 8A. from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
  22. ^ Bourdett, Paul, prod. "Water Logged." Forensic Files. Dir. Michael Jordan. HLN. December 10, 2010. Television
  23. ^ a b French, Thomas. . St. Petersburg Times. p. 12. Archived from the original on January 22, 2010. Retrieved July 1, 2009.
  24. ^ "Oba Chandler #1275: Executed November 15, 2011 04:25 p.m. EST by Lethal Injection in Florida". Office of the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney. from the original on April 12, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  25. ^ a b c d Lis, John (September 26, 1992). "Farmer who lost kin bitter about rumours". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. p. 1. from the original on November 25, 2015. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  26. ^ "Prints link suspect to Rogers trio". Toledo Blade. October 3, 1992. p. 9. from the original on November 25, 2015. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
  27. ^ "Police think Tampa tourists' killer wrote directions". Gainesville Sun. Associated Press. May 14, 1992. p. 6A. from the original on November 25, 2015. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
  28. ^ "Oba Chandler Billboard | Handwriting is on billboard for suspect Far-fetched idea meets with success: Accused murderer is behind bars". The Baltimore Sun. Knight-Ridder Newspapers. November 17, 1992. from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
  29. ^ Thalji, Jamal; Pittman, Craig (November 14, 2011). . Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on August 31, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
  30. ^ Clary, Mike (September 30, 1992). "Billboards Help Police Get Suspect in Triple Murder : Crime: Officers display a handwritten note and map believed used to lure woman and daughters to drownings in Tampa Bay". Los Angeles Times.
  31. ^ Montaldo, Charles. . About.com. Archived from the original on March 22, 2009. Retrieved June 26, 2009.
  32. ^ a b French, Thomas. . St. Petersburg Times. p. 11. Archived from the original on February 25, 2008. Retrieved June 2, 2008.
  33. ^ "Alibis eliminate slayings suspects". Lakeland Ledger. September 27, 1991. p. 5B. from the original on November 25, 2015. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
  34. ^ a b c d French, Thomas. . St. Petersburg Times. p. 4. Archived from the original on August 24, 2007. Retrieved June 2, 2008.
  35. ^ a b c French, Thomas. . St. Petersburg Times. p. 6. Archived from the original on March 1, 2010. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
  36. ^ a b c d Allen Jr., Eddie B. (September 22, 1994). "Chandler". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. p. 6. from the original on November 25, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
  37. ^ a b "Accused triple killer will testify". Boca Raton News. Associated Press. September 20, 1994. p. 2B. from the original on November 25, 2015. Retrieved August 14, 2009.
  38. ^ Pittman, Craig (August 3, 1994). "Prosecutors: Chandler's talk is his undoing". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved June 26, 2009.[dead link]
  39. ^ Pittman, Craig (August 3, 1994). "Prosecutors%3A Chandler%27s talk is his undoing". Tampa Bay Times. Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. Retrieved August 26, 2012.(subscription required)[dead link]
  40. ^ a b c d Supreme Court of Florida (April 17, 2003). "Oba Chandler v. State of Florida". FindLaw. from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
  41. ^ Douglas, John; Olshaker, Mark (1995). Mindhunter. London, UK: Random House. pp. 317–318. ISBN 978-0-09-943567-9. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
  42. ^ French, Thomas (November 15, 2011). . Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved July 24, 2013.
  43. ^ "Man, boat sought in triple homicide of mom, daughters". Gainesville Sun. Associated Press. November 4, 1989. p. 4B. from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
  44. ^ "CHANDLER v. STATE, No. SC01-1468., April 17, 2003". Florida Supreme Court. from the original on September 28, 2012. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
  45. ^ Farlow, Rita (October 12, 2011). . Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on October 14, 2011.
  46. ^ "Man identifies slain wife, daughters". Ocala Star-Banner. Associated Press. September 21, 1994. p. 3B. Archived from the original on January 24, 2013. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
  47. ^ a b Allen Jr., Eddie B. (September 22, 1994). "Testimony implicates Chandler". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. p. 1. from the original on November 25, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
  48. ^ Carr, Donald D. (June 1, 1990). "Triple murder still haunts the small town of Willshire". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. p. 1. from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved February 24, 2010.
  49. ^ a b Weiss, Mitch (June 14, 1989). "Murder victims buried in Ohio". Gainesville Sun. p. 3B. from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
  50. ^ a b "Man Found Guilty of Killing 3 Tourists". The New York Times. Associated Press. October 1, 1994. from the original on August 27, 2020. Retrieved February 25, 2009.
  51. ^ "Chandler gets three death sentences in Bay slayings". Boca Raton News. Associated Press. November 5, 1994. p. 5B. from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
  52. ^ French, Thomas. . St. Petersburg Times. p. 2. Archived from the original on January 24, 2010. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
  53. ^ Lis, John (September 26, 1992). "Slain family". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. p. 5. from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
  54. ^ . St. Petersburg Times. June 29, 2001. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
  55. ^ French, Thomas. . St. Petersburg Times. p. 6. Archived from the original on April 3, 2009. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
  56. ^ . St. Petersburg Times. July 3, 2008. Archived from the original on July 30, 2008. Retrieved July 31, 2008.
  57. ^ Brassfield, Mike (June 22, 2001). . St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on September 24, 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
  58. ^ Leskanic, Todd (September 22, 2011). . The Tampa Tribune. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
  59. ^ . Florida Commission on Capital Cases. August 25, 2009. Archived from the original on December 18, 2010. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
  60. ^ "Condemned killer, who dumped 3 bodies in bay, loses appeal". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Associated Press. April 18, 2003. from the original on November 25, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
  61. ^ Word, Ron (December 28, 1994). "Florida sends notorious criminals to death row in 1994". The Ledger. Lakeland, Florida. p. 8B. from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved August 14, 2009.
  62. ^ "Killer chooses defiant last words for execution day". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Associated Press. February 20, 1995. from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved February 24, 2010.
  63. ^ a b Shaw, Rob (May 23, 2011). . The Tampa Tribune. Archived from the original on October 9, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  64. ^ McNeill, Claire; Marrero, Tony (April 12, 2016). "Retired Pinellas Circuit Judge Susan F. Schaeffer dies at 73". Tampa Bay Times. from the original on April 15, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
  65. ^ Carlton, Sue. . Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on May 5, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  66. ^ a b Fineout, Gary; Farrington, Brendan. . Wane.com. Associated Press. Archived from the original on October 12, 2011. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  67. ^ Thalji, Jamal. . St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on October 12, 2011. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  68. ^ Thalji, Jamal (October 11, 2011). . Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on July 3, 2013. Retrieved July 24, 2013.
  69. ^ Krueger, Curtis (October 12, 2011). . The Tampa Tribune. Archived from the original on October 14, 2011. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  70. ^ a b c Arja, Tanya (October 19, 2011). . MyFoxTampaBay. Archived from the original on December 30, 2014. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  71. ^ a b Thalji, Jamal (October 24, 2011). . Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on October 27, 2011. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  72. ^ "- Florida Supreme Court Docket".
  73. ^ "Court verdict. SC11-2055 Order" (PDF). supremecourt.flcourts.gov. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  74. ^ "Search - Supreme Court of the United States".
  75. ^ Burrage, Gregg (November 15, 2011). . ABC Action News. The E.W. Scripps Company. Archived from the original on January 18, 2012. Retrieved July 24, 2013.
  76. ^ . ABC Action News. The E.W. Scripps Company. November 16, 2011. Archived from the original on November 19, 2011. Retrieved July 24, 2013.
  77. ^ Peltier, Michael; Leckrone, Jim (November 16, 2011). "Florida and Ohio execute men over two triple murders". Reuters. from the original on January 8, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  78. ^ a b Shaw, Rob (November 27, 2011). . The Tampa Tribune. Archived from the original on December 31, 2011. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  79. ^ Good, Meaghan (November 15, 2012). "2011: Oba Chandler". Executedtoday.com. from the original on April 2, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  80. ^ Sanders, Katie (March 2, 2017). . Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on March 3, 2017. Retrieved July 24, 2013.
  81. ^ a b c Shaw, Rob (November 13, 2011). . TBO.com/ The Tampa Tribune. Archived from the original on December 16, 2011. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
  82. ^ Smith, Chad (November 15, 2011). "Chandler executed for 1989 triple murders". OcalaStarBanner.com. from the original on October 27, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  83. ^ . WCJB TV-20. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  84. ^ "Florida police crack 23-year-old strangulation case with DNA testing". Fox News Channel. February 25, 2014. from the original on November 27, 2015.
  85. ^ Codd, Carey (February 24, 2014). "Coral Springs PD: Cold Case Solved, DNA Points To Executed Man As Killer". CBS Miami. from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
  86. ^ Roustan, Wayne (February 25, 2014). . Sun Sentinel. Archived from the original on March 1, 2014. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
  87. ^ . 7 News. February 25, 2014. Archived from the original on March 2, 2014.
  88. ^ Levesque, William R. (February 25, 2014). . Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on July 19, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
  89. ^ . LocateTV.com. Archived from the original on December 7, 2011. Retrieved November 20, 2007.
  90. ^ "Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas French returning to teach at the IU School of Journalism". Indiana University School of Journalism. August 28, 2008. from the original on October 27, 2011. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  91. ^ Lednicer, Lisa Grace (November 5, 1991). "Mystery of three bodies in bay remains unsolved". St. Petersburg Times. p. 38. from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
  92. ^ Davis, Donald A. (April 1, 2007). Death Cruise. ISBN 9781429903455. from the original on August 27, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  93. ^ RHale (January 23, 2013). "Death Cruise". Barnes & Noble. from the original on January 5, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  94. ^ a b Hale, Mike (November 19, 2001). . The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 30, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2009.
  95. ^ . On the Case with Paula Zahn. September 16, 2009. Investigation Discovery. Archived from the original on January 31, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  96. ^ Wynne, Sharon Kennedy. . Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on October 11, 2014. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
  97. ^ . Journal Gazette. Archived from the original on October 12, 2014. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
  98. ^ "Handwritten Note Helps Investigators Discover Who Massacred Family Vacationing In Florida". Oxygen Official Site. February 11, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  99. ^ Szymanska, Paulina (November 15, 2022). "Case 232: Jo, Michelle & Christe Rogers - Casefile True Crime". Casefile: True Crime Podcast. Retrieved November 20, 2022.

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oba Chandler.

April 14, 2023
chandler, october, 1946, november, 2011, american, serial, killer, mass, murderer, convicted, executed, june, 1989, murders, joan, rogers, daughters, whose, bodies, were, found, floating, tampa, florida, with, their, hands, feet, bound, autopsies, showed, vict. Oba Chandler October 11 1946 November 15 2011 was an American serial killer and mass murderer who was convicted and executed for the June 1989 murders of Joan Rogers and her two daughters whose bodies were found floating in Tampa Bay Florida with their hands and feet bound Autopsies showed the victims had been thrown into the water while still alive with ropes tied to a concrete block around their necks The case became high profile in 1992 when local police posted billboards bearing enlarged images of the suspect s handwriting recovered from a pamphlet in the victims car Chandler was identified as the killer when his neighbor recognized the handwriting Oba ChandlerChandler s 1992 mugshotBorn 1946 10 11 October 11 1946Cincinnati Ohio U S DiedNovember 15 2011 2011 11 15 aged 65 Florida State Prison Raiford Florida U S Cause of deathExecution by lethal injectionOther namesDave Posner Dave PosnoOccupationAluminum siding contractorYears active1989 1990Criminal statusExecutedConviction s First degree murder 3 counts Armed robbery 2 counts Being a felon in possession of a firearmCriminal penaltyDeath November 4 1994 DetailsVictims4 Ivelisse Berrios Beguerisse Joan Jo Rogers Michelle Rogers Christe RogersCountryUnited StatesState s FloridaDate apprehendedSeptember 24 1992Prior to his arrest Chandler worked as an unlicensed aluminum siding contractor Against the advice of his attorneys he testified in his own defense saying he had met the Ohio women and had given them directions Chandler said he never saw them again except in newspaper coverage and on the billboards set up by authorities Police originally theorized that two men were involved in the murders but this was discounted once Chandler was arrested Following his conviction Chandler was incarcerated at Union Correctional Institution During his seventeen years of incarceration until his execution he did not have a single visitor Chandler was executed on November 15 2011 He wrote a last statement to prison officials You are killing a sic innocent man today The statement was read at a post execution news conference In February 2014 DNA evidence identified Chandler as the murderer of Ivelisse Berrios Beguerisse who was found dead in Coral Springs Florida on November 27 1990 Contents 1 Early life 1 1 Background 1 2 Crimes and incidents 1 3 Murder victims 2 Investigation 2 1 Facts and arrest 2 2 Second suspect theory 3 Trial 3 1 Chandler s testimony 3 2 Witnesses 3 3 Sentence and aftermath 4 Execution 5 Coral Springs murder 6 Media coverage 7 See also 8 References 9 External linksEarly life EditBackground Edit Chandler was the fourth of five children born to Oba Chandler Sr and Margaret Johnson and was raised in Cincinnati Ohio 1 When he was ten years old in June 1957 his father hanged himself in the basement of the family s apartment 1 At the funeral Chandler jumped into his father s open grave as the gravediggers were covering the coffin with dirt 1 2 Between May and September 1991 concurrent with the police investigation of the Rogers family triple murder Chandler was an informant for the U S Customs Bureau s Tampa office 2 3 Crimes and incidents Edit When Chandler was fourteen he began stealing cars and was arrested twenty times as a juvenile 1 As an adult he was charged with a variety of crimes including possession of counterfeit money loitering burglary kidnapping and armed robbery 4 He was also accused of masturbating while peeping through a woman s window In one incident Chandler and an accomplice broke into a Florida couple s home held them at gunpoint and robbed them Chandler told his accomplice to tie up the man with speaker wire and took the woman into the bedroom where he made her strip to her underwear tied her up and rubbed the barrel of his revolver across her stomach 2 Murder victims Edit Courtney Campbell Causeway from the Clearwater side of the bridge where the bodies were found On May 26 1989 Joan Jo Rogers 36 and her daughters Michelle 17 and Christe 14 left their family dairy farm in Willshire Ohio for a vacation in Florida 5 6 It was the first time they had left their home state Authorities believe Joan became lost on June 1 during the return drive from Orlando to Willshire and had decided to take an extra vacation day in Tampa 7 While looking for their hotel they encountered Chandler who gave them directions and offered to meet them again later to take them on a sunset cruise of Tampa Bay 1 Joan and her teenage daughters had left Orlando around 9 00 a m 8 and checked into the Days Inn on Route 60 at 12 30 p m 9 Photographs retrieved from a roll of film found in a camera in the Rogers hotel room showed Michelle sitting on the floor The last photograph was taken from the hotel balcony and showed the sun beginning to set over Tampa Bay confirming that all three family members were alive and had not left their hotel room as the sunset began 10 They were last seen alive at the hotel s restaurant at around 7 30 p m It is believed they boarded Chandler s boat by the dock on the Courtney Campbell Causeway part of Route 60 between 8 30 p m and 9 00 p m and that they were dead by 3 a m the next day 11 Chandler may have used the fact that he was born in Ohio to lure them into feeling a connection to him 12 Chandler knew Joan and her daughters were not from Florida because he saw the Ohio license plates on their car 13 14 Sunshine Skyway over Tampa Bay where the first body was found on June 4 1989 The victims bodies were found floating in Tampa Bay on June 4 1989 15 The first body was found when several people on board a sailboat crossing under the Sunshine Skyway saw an object in the water 16 The second body was seen floating off the pier in St Petersburg two miles 3 km north of the first While the Coast Guard were recovering the second body a call about a third which was seen floating 200 yards 200 m to the east was received All three female bodies were found floating face down bound with a rope around the neck and naked below the waist 17 Autopsies showed all three victims had water in their lungs proving they had been thrown into the water while still alive 18 Michelle who was identified as the second body found had freed one hand from her bonds before she drowned The partially dressed state of the three bodies indicated the underlying crime was sexual assault 5 18 Ropes with a concrete block at the other end had been tied around the victims necks to ensure they died from either suffocation or drowning and that their bodies would never be found 19 20 The bodies however bloated as a result of decomposition and floated to the surface 18 21 Investigation Edit One of the body bags used at the scene on June 4 1989 The Rogers bodies underwent decomposition while underwater due to hot weather Because of this they were not identified for a week after their remains were located 22 Joan Rogers and her daughters were not positively identified until a week after their bodies discovery by which time Joan s husband and the girls father Hal Rogers had reported them missing in Ohio 23 On June 8 a housekeeper at the Days Inn said the Rogers family s room had not been disturbed and the beds had not been slept in The hotel manager contacted the police 18 Fingerprints found in the room were matched to the bodies and final confirmation of their identities came from dental records 24 Marine researchers at the University of South Florida estimated from currents and patterns that the victims were thrown from a boat and not from a bridge or dry land between two and five days before they were found The Rogers car a 1984 Oldsmobile Calais with Ohio license plates was found at the boat dock by the Courtney Campbell Causeway 23 Facts and arrest Edit The writing on the note written on Joan Rogers s map which was used to identify Chandler as the killer The case remained unsolved for over three years partly due to the volume of tips received by police investigators The biggest tip came from a Madeira Beach police bulletin that described a similar rape of a 24 year old Canadian tourist that occurred two weeks before the Rogers murders 25 Chandler was arrested for the murders on September 24 1992 16 25 His handwritten directions on a brochure found in the Rogers vehicle and a description of his boat written by Jo Rogers on the brochure were the primary clues that led to him being named a suspect 26 27 Local police posted images of Chandler s handwriting on the brochure on billboards in the Tampa Bay area leading to a call from a former neighbor who provided a copy of a work order Chandler had written 28 29 This use of billboards by law enforcement in the US was unusual at the time 30 Through handwriting analysis the two samples were matched 25 A palm print on the brochure was also matched to Chandler who had sold his boat and left town with his family soon after the billboards appeared 31 Police reported that Chandler and his then wife moved from their home on Dalton Avenue in Tampa to Port Orange near Daytona Beach 25 Second suspect theory Edit Investigators originally thought two men were involved in the murders of the Rogers family This theory was used for an enaction shown in a 1991 episode of Unsolved Mysteries 32 This theory was dismissed when Chandler was arrested No evidence of a second man other than a former prison cellmate s claim that Chandler said another man whose identity the cellmate claimed to know but would not reveal has ever surfaced 33 The second suspect theory was belied by Chandler s approach of two Canadian female tourists that he was willing to approach multiple potential targets by himself 34 Hal Rogers s brother John was also considered a suspect even though he was serving a prison sentence for the rape of a woman at the time of the murders 34 Police investigating the woman s rape allegation found evidence indicating John had also sexually assaulted Hal s daughter Michelle although charges involving this assault were later dropped because of her reluctance to testify 35 The St Petersburg Times said John may have planned the murder during a visit to his parents property near Tampa a month before the murders Once the police established John could not have hired a contract killer did not have accomplices and could not have known the timing of his sister in law s and nieces trip he was dismissed as a suspect 5 34 Hal was also considered a suspect because he had posted bail for his brother he states in an episode of On the Case with Paula Zahn that he posted bail prior to knowing his brother had abused Michelle 35 Hal later said he had promised the family he would post bail and would not renege on his promise 21 Investigators from Florida and Ohio also discovered Hal had withdrawn US 7 000 from his bank account at the time of the disappearance 34 which he was able to account for He had planned to use it to look for his wife and daughters before he was notified of their deaths Investigations proved conclusively Hal had not left Ohio during that period 32 The assaults of Michelle Rogers by her uncle and gossip by local people was one of the reasons for the Florida trip Joan and her daughters wanted to distance themselves from the incident 35 Trial EditChandler s testimony Edit At his trial in Clearwater Florida Chandler said he met Joan Michelle and Christe Rogers and gave them directions but he never saw them again except in newspaper coverage and on billboards 36 37 He acknowledged he was in Tampa Bay that night the police had evidence of three ship to shore telephone calls made from his boat to his home during the time frame of the murders but Chandler maintained he was fishing alone He said he had returned home late because his engine would not start which he attributed to a gas line leak 36 He also said he had called the Coast Guard and the Florida Marine Patrol and had flagged down a patrol boat but both were too busy to help 37 He said he subsequently fixed the line with duct tape and returned safely to shore 38 There were however no records of distress calls from Chandler to either the Coast Guard or the Marine Patrol that night nor were there any Coast Guard boats on the bay the following morning that could have helped him 16 According to a boat mechanic who testified for the prosecution Chandler s explanation of repairing the boat s alleged gas leak was not tenable because the fuel lines in his boat a Bayliner were directed upward 36 A leak would have sprayed fuel into the air rather than into the boat and the gasoline would have dissolved the adhesive of the duct tape Chandler maintained he had used to repair a leak 16 Under questioning from Pinellas County prosecutor Douglas Crow Chandler then said he could not remember 36 39 Witnesses Edit A woman named Judy Blair testified that on May 15 1989 two weeks before the Rogers murders Chandler invited her onto his boat in nearby Madeira Beach for a boat trip on Tampa Bay raped her and then returned her to shore Blair had been with her friend Barbara Mottram who refused Chandler s offer to join them on the boat After Blair was raped she told the court she returned to her hotel room where Mottram was waiting 40 Chandler was not charged with this crime 40 Blair testified during Chandler s murder trial to help establish his pattern of attack and show the similarities between the two crimes Blair stated that Chandler on May 14 had given his name as Dave Posner or Dave Posno when the three first met at a convenience store in Tampa 40 He told Blair and Mottram he was in the aluminum siding contracting business which later helped lead investigators to him 41 It also inspired the name of the investigation Operation Tin Man 42 The facial composite produced from Blair s description was posted on the billboards along with the handwriting samples 43 44 A former employee of Chandler s testified that he bragged about dating three women on the bay on the night of the murders and that the next morning he arrived by boat and delivered materials for a job and immediately set out again 45 In an attempt to establish Chandler s whereabouts on that night investigators found records of several ship to shore telephone calls made from his boat to his home between 1 00 a m and 5 00 a m which may have been attempts to explain his absence to his wife 46 and to provide himself with an alibi for the time of the murders Chandler s daughter Kristal May Sue testified that her father had talked about killing three women and that he was afraid of returning to Tampa 47 A woman who worked as a maid at the Days Inn said she walked past Chandler on June 1 as she was going to the Rogers room for room service She said she did not realize the significance of this sighting until Chandler s arrest in 1992 this sighting has never been confirmed 40 Michelle Rogers boyfriend and Hal Rogers also gave evidence during trial 47 Sentence and aftermath Edit Joan Michelle and Christe Rogers were buried in their hometown on June 13 1989 after a funeral service attended by about 300 family members and friends 48 49 Numerous police officers were present to keep reporters and television crews out of the church during the service 49 Chandler was found guilty of the murders and was sentenced to death on November 4 1994 50 51 52 He maintained his innocence and continued to pursue legal appeals while on Florida s death row 53 He admitted to the Madeira Beach incident but said the sex was consensual and that the victim had changed her mind during the act Because Chandler had already been sentenced to death for the Rogers murders and because prosecutors did not want to subject Blair to the emotional trauma of a rape trial he was never prosecuted for her rape 50 Union Correctional Institution where Chandler served his prison sentence Chandler awaited execution of his sentence at the Union Correctional Institution 54 Shortly after the trial and conviction his wife Debra filed for divorce and their marriage was dissolved a year later Chandler was no longer allowed to see his daughter Whitney and in accordance with his ex wife s wishes he was not allowed to see later photographs of her 55 In July 2008 Chandler was on Florida s short list of executions 56 Profiling experts speculated Chandler may have killed previously based on the belief that a first time killer would not be experienced or bold enough to abduct and kill three women at once Chandler remained a suspect in the 1982 murder of a woman whose body was found floating off Anna Maria Island 57 until 2011 when the body was identified as 29 year old Amy Hurst and her husband was arrested and charged with her murder 58 Chandler was never charged with another murder 59 All of his appeals of his 1994 conviction were denied his last was in May 2007 60 After his conviction Chandler was named by media as one of Florida s most notorious criminals 61 He said his last words before his execution would be Kiss my rosy red ass 62 In May 2011 comparisons were drawn between Chandler s case and trial in 1994 and the murder case of Caylee Anthony In both cases heightened media attention forced the selection of jurors who lived outside the county where the crime had been committed 63 One of the jurors in Chandler s 1994 trial said He scared some of the jurors when he would sit there and stare at you and have that stupid grin on his face He would make your skin crawl 63 Judge Susan F Schaeffer who presided over the 1994 trial and ultimately sentenced Chandler 64 described him in a 2011 interview as a man with no soul She said It s the worst case as far as factually and as far as a defendant without saving grace that I ever handled And I represented plenty of people who were not necessarily good people 65 Execution Edit Prison mugshot of ChandlerOn October 10 2011 Governor Rick Scott signed Chandler s death warrant His execution was set for November 15 2011 at 4 00 p m 66 67 His lawyer Baya Harrison said Chandler asked him not to file any frivolous appeals to keep him alive Harrison said He is not putting a lot of pressure on me to go running around at the end to find some magic way out He is not going to make a scene He s not going to bemoan the legal system What he has told me is this if there is some legal way that I can find to try to prevent him from being executed he would like me to do what I reasonably can 66 Harrison also said Chandler suffered from high blood pressure coronary artery disease problems with his kidneys and arthritis 68 On October 12 2011 Harrison said although he was preparing to file a motion regarding the violation of his client s Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights in the case he was unsure whether Chandler was willing to travel to Clearwater for the court hearing or would agree to the filing of the motion He hates coming down to Clearwater He doesn t like the ride and he s not well Harrison said 69 On October 18 Harrison filed a motion against the execution on grounds that the way Florida imposes the death penalty is unconstitutional 70 A jury may recommend a life sentence or a death sentence but under Florida law the judge makes the final decision 70 A hearing on Chandler s motion was set for October 21 at 1 00 pm Chandler did not attend 70 On October 24 Chandler s appeal was rejected because he had already filed an appeal to the Florida Supreme Court prior to the decision 71 Although the Florida Supreme Court initially scheduled Chandler s appeal to be heard on November 9 2011 they later cancelled oral argument 72 On November 7 2011 the Florida Supreme Court denied Chandler s appeal of his death sentences and death warrant 73 The Florida Supreme Court had upheld Chandler s death sentence in 1997 and 2003 71 Chandler s subsequent petition to the United States Supreme Court was also denied 74 On November 15 Chandler at 4 08 pm was executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Raiford 75 76 Chandler declined to make a last statement before being executed 77 but left a written statement with prison officials You are killing a sic innocent man today 78 79 Shortly after signing Chandler s death warrant Governor Scott said Chandler killed three women so I looked through different cases and it made sense to do that one There s never one thing It was the right case 80 Chandler s daughter Valerie Troxell said in an interview after the execution I believe they did execute an innocent man I don t think my father alone could have pulled off such a heinous crime It would have to have been more than one person The palm print would prove he did meet them and gave them directions but it didn t mean he killed them I think the prosecution had a very weak case 78 Troxell also said she had sent a letter to Governor Scott asking him to commute Chandler s sentence to life imprisonment 81 Chandler s son Jeff said I truly believe he was tried and convicted by the media long before he went to trial The media can pretty much convict you I don t think he got a fair trial 81 After his execution Chandler was described as the loneliest man in the loneliest place on earth death row he did not receive a single visitor during his years in Florida s death row unit 81 Another of Chandler s daughters Suzette said her father was a monster who got what he deserved 82 83 Coral Springs murder EditOn February 25 2014 investigators revealed that DNA evidence identified Chandler as the murderer of 20 year old Ivelisse Berrios Beguerisse who was raped and strangled in Coral Springs Florida on November 27 1990 84 Berrios Beguerisse a 20 year old newlywed was last seen at Sawgrass Mills Mall where she worked at a sporting goods store When she did not return home her husband went to the mall and found her car a 1985 Ford Tempo with the tires slashed It is believed Chandler after watching the victim for two days slashed the tires arrived in the guise of a helpful stranger and offered to help Three hours after she was reported missing her body was found under a residential mailbox in a local neighborhood by two men returning from a fishing trip 85 86 Berrios Beguerisse s body was naked and had ligature marks on both wrists and legs and brown tape stuck to her hair 87 The case is considered solved and closed according to police Law enforcement agencies across Florida investigated other cold cases in areas Chandler was known to have resided 88 Media coverage EditThe Discovery Channel devoted a one hour episode of its series Scene of the Crime titled The Tin Man to the murder of the Rogers family 89 In 1997 a series of articles titled Angels amp Demons written by Thomas French which told the story of the murders the capture and conviction of Chandler and the impact of the crimes on the Rogers family and their community in Ohio was published in the St Petersburg Times 90 The series won a 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing 2 The Rogers murders were featured in a 1991 episode of Unsolved Mysteries which speculated that there were two attackers 2 91 The 2000 book Bodies in the Bay by Mason Ramsey is a fictionalized adaptation of the Chandler case 2 Author Don Davis in 2007 published the book Death Cruise covering the murders 92 93 The case was featured in a 1999 episode of Cold Case Files on A amp E titled Bodies in the Bay which also focused on the evidence in the case 94 In 1995 Chandler some members of his family and Hal Rogers appeared in an episode of the Maury Povich Show featuring the case Chandler appeared via satellite link 6 Chandler s case was featured in a full hour episode of Crime Stories 94 The case was shown on an episode of Forensic Files titled Water Logged in December 2010 In 2012 Investigation Discovery show On the Case with Paula Zahn aired two episodes called Murder at Sunset covering the case 95 In August 2014 the ID series Murder in Paradise covered the case 96 97 On February 11 2022 the Oxygen Channel aired an episode of Family Massacre called The Rogers Family 98 On November 19 2022 the true crime podcast Casefile detailed the case of Jo Michelle amp Christe Rogers in their 232nd episode 99 See also EditPortals Biography Law Florida Ohio Capital punishment in Florida Capital punishment in the United States List of people executed in Florida List of people executed in the United States in 2011References Edit a b c d e French Thomas Angels amp Demons Chapter 4 The Tin Man St Petersburg Times p 2 Archived from the original on December 22 2008 Retrieved June 2 2009 a b c d e f French Thomas Angels amp Demons Chapter 5 Silver Bullet St Petersburg Times p 3 Archived from the original on February 27 2010 Retrieved May 6 2010 Triple Murder Suspect Worked as Informant Sarasota Herald Tribune Associated Press October 2 1992 p 6B Archived from the original on February 20 2016 Retrieved February 24 2010 U S 11th Circuit Court of Appeals December 18 2006 Oba Chandler v James McDonough Charlie Crist FindLaw Archived from the original on June 16 2011 Retrieved November 2 2008 a b c Community Grieving Over Mysterious Deaths of Three Florida Vacationers Associated Press News June 10 1989 Archived from the original on April 22 2016 Retrieved April 11 2016 a b Saunders Jim June 10 1989 Vacation turned into a nightmare The Blade Toledo Ohio p 4 Archived from the original on February 20 2016 Retrieved August 8 2009 Sampson Zachary T Gomez Melissa October 20 2017 Infamous killers of Tampa Bay a region familiar with horror Tampa Bay Times Archived from the original on October 24 2017 Retrieved November 2 2017 French Thomas Angels amp Demons Chapter 1 Sunset St Petersburg Times p 3 Archived from the original on April 15 2009 Retrieved June 2 2009 Tourist killings leave police with no leads Lakeland Ledger June 25 1989 p 18A Archived from the original on February 20 2016 Retrieved September 22 2014 French Thomas Angels amp Demons Chapter 1 Sunset St Petersburg Times p 1 Archived from the original on September 24 2008 Retrieved December 23 2008 Benson Mildred June 8 1994 Telephone records link murder suspect to bay Toledo Blade p 13 Archived from the original on February 20 2016 Retrieved September 22 2014 Saunders Jim June 10 1989 One stoplight town jolted by 3 slayings in Florida The Blade Toledo Ohio p 1 Archived from the original on February 20 2016 Retrieved August 8 2009 French Thomas Angels amp Demons Chapter 1 Sunset St Petersburg Times p 9 Archived from the original on January 21 2010 Retrieved July 2 2009 Bodies of 3 Women Found In Tampa Bay Sarasota Herald Tribune Associated Press June 5 1989 p 6BVS Archived from the original on February 20 2016 Retrieved September 22 2014 Detectives seek public help in murders The Bryan Times Vol 41 no 142 United Press International June 17 1989 p 1 Archived from the original on February 20 2016 Retrieved September 22 2014 a b c d Nealy Jounice L November 3 2000 Killer tries again for new trial St Petersburg Times Archived from the original on June 6 2011 Retrieved June 26 2009 Angels amp Demons Chapter 1 Sunset St Petersburg Times Archived from the original on September 6 2012 Retrieved August 26 2012 a b c d French Thomas Angels amp Demons Chapter 1 Sunset St Petersburg Times p 10 Archived from the original on January 22 2010 Retrieved July 1 2009 Community Grieves Over Slain Friends The Victoria Advocate Associated Press June 11 1989 Archived from the original on February 20 2016 Retrieved September 22 2014 Man convicted in three drownings The Tuscaloosa News Associated Press September 30 1994 p 14A Archived from the original on February 20 2016 Retrieved September 22 2014 a b Dental records confirm three in bay from Ohio Lakeland Ledger Associated Press June 10 1989 p 8A Archived from the original on February 20 2016 Retrieved September 22 2014 Bourdett Paul prod Water Logged Forensic Files Dir Michael Jordan HLN December 10 2010 Television a b French Thomas Angels amp Demons Chapter 1 Sunset St Petersburg Times p 12 Archived from the original on January 22 2010 Retrieved July 1 2009 Oba Chandler 1275 Executed November 15 2011 04 25 p m EST by Lethal Injection in Florida Office of the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney Archived from the original on April 12 2016 Retrieved March 2 2017 a b c d Lis John September 26 1992 Farmer who lost kin bitter about rumours The Blade Toledo Ohio p 1 Archived from the original on November 25 2015 Retrieved August 30 2009 Prints link suspect to Rogers trio Toledo Blade October 3 1992 p 9 Archived from the original on November 25 2015 Retrieved September 22 2014 Police think Tampa tourists killer wrote directions Gainesville Sun Associated Press May 14 1992 p 6A Archived from the original on November 25 2015 Retrieved September 22 2014 Oba Chandler Billboard Handwriting is on billboard for suspect Far fetched idea meets with success Accused murderer is behind bars The Baltimore Sun Knight Ridder Newspapers November 17 1992 Archived from the original on August 19 2014 Retrieved September 30 2012 Thalji Jamal Pittman Craig November 14 2011 Oba Chandler s execution stirs emotions for those who sought justice Tampa Bay Times Archived from the original on August 31 2012 Retrieved September 30 2012 Clary Mike September 30 1992 Billboards Help Police Get Suspect in Triple Murder Crime Officers display a handwritten note and map believed used to lure woman and daughters to drownings in Tampa Bay Los Angeles Times Montaldo Charles Oba Chandler Florida Death Row Inmate About com Archived from the original on March 22 2009 Retrieved June 26 2009 a b French Thomas Angels amp Demons Chapter 1 Sunset St Petersburg Times p 11 Archived from the original on February 25 2008 Retrieved June 2 2008 Alibis eliminate slayings suspects Lakeland Ledger September 27 1991 p 5B Archived from the original on November 25 2015 Retrieved September 22 2014 a b c d French Thomas Angels amp Demons Chapter 2 Haunted St Petersburg Times p 4 Archived from the original on August 24 2007 Retrieved June 2 2008 a b c French Thomas Angels amp Demons Chapter 1 Sunset St Petersburg Times p 6 Archived from the original on March 1 2010 Retrieved April 8 2010 a b c d Allen Jr Eddie B September 22 1994 Chandler The Blade Toledo Ohio p 6 Archived from the original on November 25 2015 Retrieved September 1 2009 a b Accused triple killer will testify Boca Raton News Associated Press September 20 1994 p 2B Archived from the original on November 25 2015 Retrieved August 14 2009 Pittman Craig August 3 1994 Prosecutors Chandler s talk is his undoing St Petersburg Times Retrieved June 26 2009 dead link Pittman Craig August 3 1994 Prosecutors 3A Chandler 27s talk is his undoing Tampa Bay Times Pqasb pqarchiver com Retrieved August 26 2012 subscription required dead link a b c d Supreme Court of Florida April 17 2003 Oba Chandler v State of Florida FindLaw Archived from the original on June 16 2011 Retrieved June 25 2009 Douglas John Olshaker Mark 1995 Mindhunter London UK Random House pp 317 318 ISBN 978 0 09 943567 9 Retrieved November 5 2015 French Thomas November 15 2011 Watching Oba Chandler die brings relief but no justice for tormented husband and father Tampa Bay Times Archived from the original on November 5 2013 Retrieved July 24 2013 Man boat sought in triple homicide of mom daughters Gainesville Sun Associated Press November 4 1989 p 4B Archived from the original on February 20 2016 Retrieved September 22 2014 CHANDLER v STATE No SC01 1468 April 17 2003 Florida Supreme Court Archived from the original on September 28 2012 Retrieved August 26 2012 Farlow Rita October 12 2011 Detective in Oba Chandler case spent years working to find killer Tampa Bay Times Archived from the original on October 14 2011 Man identifies slain wife daughters Ocala Star Banner Associated Press September 21 1994 p 3B Archived from the original on January 24 2013 Retrieved September 26 2009 a b Allen Jr Eddie B September 22 1994 Testimony implicates Chandler The Blade Toledo Ohio p 1 Archived from the original on November 25 2015 Retrieved September 1 2009 Carr Donald D June 1 1990 Triple murder still haunts the small town of Willshire The Blade Toledo Ohio p 1 Archived from the original on February 20 2016 Retrieved February 24 2010 a b Weiss Mitch June 14 1989 Murder victims buried in Ohio Gainesville Sun p 3B Archived from the original on February 20 2016 Retrieved January 3 2010 a b Man Found Guilty of Killing 3 Tourists The New York Times Associated Press October 1 1994 Archived from the original on August 27 2020 Retrieved February 25 2009 Chandler gets three death sentences in Bay slayings Boca Raton News Associated Press November 5 1994 p 5B Archived from the original on February 20 2016 Retrieved June 5 2009 French Thomas Angels amp Demons Chapter 7 The Magic Kingdom St Petersburg Times p 2 Archived from the original on January 24 2010 Retrieved September 26 2009 Lis John September 26 1992 Slain family The Blade Toledo Ohio p 5 Archived from the original on February 20 2016 Retrieved July 14 2009 Judge rejects killer s appeal St Petersburg Times June 29 2001 Archived from the original on March 3 2016 Retrieved June 5 2009 French Thomas Angels amp Demons Chapter 7 The Magic Kingdom St Petersburg Times p 6 Archived from the original on April 3 2009 Retrieved June 5 2009 5 bay area killers on short list for execution St Petersburg Times July 3 2008 Archived from the original on July 30 2008 Retrieved July 31 2008 Brassfield Mike June 22 2001 Body raises specter of notorious case St Petersburg Times Archived from the original on September 24 2008 Retrieved November 22 2008 Leskanic Todd September 22 2011 Almost 3 decades later arrest made in homicide The Tampa Tribune Archived from the original on September 27 2013 Retrieved July 2 2012 Oba Chandler inmate status Florida Commission on Capital Cases August 25 2009 Archived from the original on December 18 2010 Retrieved November 26 2010 Condemned killer who dumped 3 bodies in bay loses appeal Sarasota Herald Tribune Associated Press April 18 2003 Archived from the original on November 25 2015 Retrieved January 3 2010 Word Ron December 28 1994 Florida sends notorious criminals to death row in 1994 The Ledger Lakeland Florida p 8B Archived from the original on February 20 2016 Retrieved August 14 2009 Killer chooses defiant last words for execution day The Daytona Beach News Journal Associated Press February 20 1995 Archived from the original on February 20 2016 Retrieved February 24 2010 a b Shaw Rob May 23 2011 Long before Casey Anthony Pinellas was the one importing a jury The Tampa Tribune Archived from the original on October 9 2012 Retrieved May 24 2011 McNeill Claire Marrero Tony April 12 2016 Retired Pinellas Circuit Judge Susan F Schaeffer dies at 73 Tampa Bay Times Archived from the original on April 15 2016 Retrieved April 17 2016 Carlton Sue Judge Susan Schaeffer recalls Oba Chandler as a man with no soul Tampa Bay Times Archived from the original on May 5 2016 Retrieved March 2 2017 a b Fineout Gary Farrington Brendan Oba Chandler execution date set for November Wane com Associated Press Archived from the original on October 12 2011 Retrieved March 31 2013 Thalji Jamal Oba Chandler execution set St Petersburg Times Archived from the original on October 12 2011 Retrieved March 31 2013 Thalji Jamal October 11 2011 Hal Rogers unsure if he will witness Oba Chandler execution Tampa Bay Times Archived from the original on July 3 2013 Retrieved July 24 2013 Krueger Curtis October 12 2011 Triple murderer Oba Chandler may not come to Pinellas hearing on his execution The Tampa Tribune Archived from the original on October 14 2011 Retrieved October 12 2011 a b c Arja Tanya October 19 2011 Chandler appeals execution cites recent ruling MyFoxTampaBay Archived from the original on December 30 2014 Retrieved October 19 2011 a b Thalji Jamal October 24 2011 Oba Chandler s last appeal rejected by Pinellas judge next stop is Florida Supreme Court Tampa Bay Times Archived from the original on October 27 2011 Retrieved October 24 2011 Florida Supreme Court Docket Court verdict SC11 2055 Order PDF supremecourt flcourts gov Retrieved March 6 2023 Search Supreme Court of the United States Burrage Gregg November 15 2011 Death penalty dealt to infamous Tampa Bay rapist and killer Oba Chandler ABC Action News The E W Scripps Company Archived from the original on January 18 2012 Retrieved July 24 2013 Minute by minute account of the execution of Oba Chandler ABC Action News The E W Scripps Company November 16 2011 Archived from the original on November 19 2011 Retrieved July 24 2013 Peltier Michael Leckrone Jim November 16 2011 Florida and Ohio execute men over two triple murders Reuters Archived from the original on January 8 2012 Retrieved January 14 2012 a b Shaw Rob November 27 2011 Chandler s daughter wanted to say goodbye The Tampa Tribune Archived from the original on December 31 2011 Retrieved March 31 2013 Good Meaghan November 15 2012 2011 Oba Chandler Executedtoday com Archived from the original on April 2 2013 Retrieved March 31 2013 Sanders Katie March 2 2017 Scott on signing Oba Chandler s death warrant It was the right case Tampa Bay Times Archived from the original on March 3 2017 Retrieved July 24 2013 a b c Shaw Rob November 13 2011 Tuesday execution could bring end to 1989 triple killings case TBO com The Tampa Tribune Archived from the original on December 16 2011 Retrieved September 30 2012 Smith Chad November 15 2011 Chandler executed for 1989 triple murders OcalaStarBanner com Archived from the original on October 27 2019 Retrieved October 27 2019 Oba Chandler Executed Denied Murders to the End WCJB TV 20 Archived from the original on May 18 2015 Retrieved May 10 2015 Florida police crack 23 year old strangulation case with DNA testing Fox News Channel February 25 2014 Archived from the original on November 27 2015 Codd Carey February 24 2014 Coral Springs PD Cold Case Solved DNA Points To Executed Man As Killer CBS Miami Archived from the original on August 19 2014 Retrieved August 18 2014 Roustan Wayne February 25 2014 Davie woman s 1990 slaying linked to executed killer Sun Sentinel Archived from the original on March 1 2014 Retrieved February 25 2014 Coral Springs PD solve 23 year old cold case 7 News February 25 2014 Archived from the original on March 2 2014 Levesque William R February 25 2014 Police Notorious killer Oba Chandler s DNA links him to 1990 South Florida murder Tampa Bay Times Archived from the original on July 19 2014 Retrieved August 18 2014 Scene of the Crime season 1 episode 8 The Tin Man LocateTV com Archived from the original on December 7 2011 Retrieved November 20 2007 Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas French returning to teach at the IU School of Journalism Indiana University School of Journalism August 28 2008 Archived from the original on October 27 2011 Retrieved October 12 2011 Lednicer Lisa Grace November 5 1991 Mystery of three bodies in bay remains unsolved St Petersburg Times p 38 Archived from the original on February 20 2016 Retrieved September 22 2014 Davis Donald A April 1 2007 Death Cruise ISBN 9781429903455 Archived from the original on August 27 2020 Retrieved January 2 2015 RHale January 23 2013 Death Cruise Barnes amp Noble Archived from the original on January 5 2015 Retrieved January 2 2015 a b Hale Mike November 19 2001 Cold Case Files Bodies in the Bay Mail Order Murder The New York Times Archived from the original on March 30 2012 Retrieved July 1 2009 Murder at Sunset On the Case with Paula Zahn September 16 2009 Investigation Discovery Archived from the original on January 31 2012 Retrieved October 6 2012 Wynne Sharon Kennedy Notorious Tampa Bay murder case to be featured on Investigation Discovery Tampa Bay Times Archived from the original on October 11 2014 Retrieved September 22 2014 Documentary looks at Florida slayings Journal Gazette Archived from the original on October 12 2014 Retrieved September 22 2014 Handwritten Note Helps Investigators Discover Who Massacred Family Vacationing In Florida Oxygen Official Site February 11 2022 Retrieved March 11 2022 Szymanska Paulina November 15 2022 Case 232 Jo Michelle amp Christe Rogers Casefile True Crime Casefile True Crime Podcast Retrieved November 20 2022 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oba Chandler Inmate information Florida Capital Cases Oba Chandler v James McDonough Charlie Crist 471 F 3d 1360 U S 11th Circuit Court of Appeals December 18 2006 Oba Chandler v James R McDonough et al 127 S Ct 2269 Supreme Court of United States May 14 2007 Oba Chandler v James V Crosby Jr et al 454 F Supp 2d 1137 U S District Court for Middle Florida February 8 2006 Oba Chandler v State of Florida 702 So 2d 186 Supreme Court of Florida December 11 1997 Oba Chandler v State of Florida 848 So 2d 1031 Supreme Court of Florida June 24 2003 Oba Chandler Inmate Details Archived from the original on December 30 2014 Retrieved May 21 2009 at the Florida Commission on Capital Cases Scene of the Crime at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Oba Chandler amp oldid 1146127094, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.