STARKE, Fla. — Nearly three decades after his arrest, Glen Rogers was executed by lethal injection Thursday in Florida.
The convicted serial killer and Hamilton native is also known as the Casanova Killer and the Cross Country Killer. Rogers was convicted in 1997 of murder in a Tampa motel room and sentenced to death.
WCPO 9 captured the moment when Kentucky State Police arrested Rogers in Waco, Kentucky. Moments after his arrest, photographer Chic Poppe questioned Rogers.
"How many people have you killed, Mr. Rogers?" Poppe said. "Huh? How many people?"
We met up with Poppe on Thursday to ask him about that day.
WATCH: WCPO 9 captures the moment police arrested Rogers in 1995:
"I was just so busy making sure that, 'Hey, I got to get this,'" Poppe said. "There was nothing that could stop me from getting it."
Poppe said he and a reporter happened to be in Waco to interview Rogers's aunt when they heard that police were chasing him.
"I got in the parade of, I bet you it was probably 20 police cars," Poppe said. "I was doggone lucky."
Rogers was also found guilty of murder in California, and suspected in killings in Ohio, Mississippi and Louisiana.
He is suspected of the murder of Mark Peters of Hamilton, who went missing in October 1993. Peters, a 71-year-old retired electrician and veteran, was found bound to a chair in a Kentucky cabin that belonged to the Rogers family in January 1994, according to the Associated Press. Authorities say Rogers either stabbed or strangled Peters.
Peters’ family reported him missing in October 1993, along with his car, antiques, weapons and a collection of coins.
Rogers once claimed to have committed more than 70 murders, but he later recanted that claim, saying it was a joke and he never killed anyone. He also once said he was responsible for the death of Nicole Brown Simpson.
Poppe said, even after 30 years, he remembers everything about the day that Rogers was arrested.
"Luck was on my side," said Poppe. "It wasn't on Glen Rogers's side, but it was on my side."
