Execution Report: Earl Heiselbetz Jr.

Earl Carl Heiselbetz Jr., 48, was executed by lethal injection on 12 January 2000 in Huntsville, Texas, for the murder of his neighbor and her daughter.

On 28 May 1991, Bob Rogers returned home from work to find his two dogs missing. The dogs were watchdogs who guarded the secluded house while the family was away.

On 30 May, Rena Rogers, 27, confirmed plans over the telephone for her and her daughter, Jacy, 2, to take a trip with her sister-in-law, Natalie Whitton. When Rogers failed to meet with Whitton at the appointed place and time, Whitton drove to the Rogers' home. Rena's car was parked in the driveway, but she and Jacy were not at home, and her purse and car keys could not be found. There was no sign of foul play. Rena and Jacy were never seen alive again.

Police questioned Earl Heiselbetz, who lived on the adjacent lot, about two-tenths of a mile away, about their disappearance. Police knew that Heiselbetz had previously broken into the Rogers home, before they moved in. They considered him to be evasive in his answers about his whereabouts that day, and regarded him as a suspect in their disappearance.

On 2 June, Bob Rogers discovered the body of one of his missing dogs near his property. The dog had been shot.

On 27 June, the skeletal remains of Rena and Jacy Rogers were discovered in a barn in the next county. Rena Rogers appeared to have died by asphyxiation, as if she was strangled. Jacy's cause of death could not be determined.

Police questioned Heiselbetz again, and he confessed to the murders in the presence of his wife. He said that on the morning of 30 May, Rena Rogers came over to his house and accused him of shooting her dogs. He said that she shot him in the leg and threw something at his head, and he blacked out. When he came to, both Rena and Jacy were dead. He said that he assumed he killed them, but he had amnesia and didn't know how he did it. He put their bodies in the trunk of her car, drove to the barn, hid their bodies, and returned the car back to the house. Heiselbetz also led police to a pond en route to the barn, where Rena Rogers' purse was recovered.

Telephone records from the Rogers house showed that on 28 May, calls were made to a "900" telephone sweepstakes number. Heiselbetz's wife said that he told her he wanted to call the 900 sweepstakes number, but she discouraged him because of the cost. She also said that on 28 May, her husband had bites and scratches on his hands and arms, and he told her he had been bitten by a dog.

Rena and Jacy Rogers were murdered just after returning from the grocery store and just before their appointment to meet Natalie Whitton for their trip. While prosecutors could not disprove Heiselbetz's claim that Rena Rogers came to his house to provoke an argument with him, they said it was more likely that he broke into their house again, intending to make more 900 sweepstakes calls, and they surprised him when they returned from the grocery store. At his trial, a physician testified that while Heiselbetz did have a wound on his leg, it was at least a year or two old.

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