I know I first saw the case of the murders of Rogers girls on UM and I don't remember it ever having an update. In fact, I didn't even know this one was solved until about 4 or 5 years ago when I saw the Scene of the Crime episode on the case on the Discovery Channel.

I know I first saw the case of the murders of Rogers girls on UM and I don't remember it ever having an update. In fact, I didn't even know this one was solved until about 4 or 5 years ago when I saw the Scene of the Crime episode on the case on the Discovery Channel.

I can picture Lifetime running a brief update, I don't know if a proper one was done or not.

Yes, this case was solved in 1994. Oba Chandler was given the death penalty. I'm not sure if Unsolved Mysteries ever did an update on the case. I don't even remember this case airing on Lifetime.

One question I have about this case is, does anyone think Chandler had an accomplice? A cellmate of Chandler's supposedly told the prosecutors during his trial that Chandler had told him he had help with this crime but either Chandler didn't give him a name or the informant didn't give the name to the prosecutors. I go back and forth on this issue. On one hand, Chandler had tried to do this before with other women, by apporaching women and offering them a "sunset cruise" with him so it would seem to indicate that he may have acted alone. Also, in the Madeira Beach rape case where he raped a woman but did not kill her, the rape victim believes that if her friend had come (as had originally been the plan), they would have been murdered, but she believes he did not murder her because her friend could identify him.

On the other hand, he could have very easily made an appointment to take the Rogers women out on this "sunset cruise" and then when they showed up, he brings a buddy (accomplice) with him and the Rogers women continue on with the "cruise" as they may think they are harmless.

Either way, Oba Chandler is a very sick and demented person. To kill a mother and her two children and then throw them into the water, still alive, to drown is probably one of the most heinous crimes ever shown on Unsolved Mysteries.

Also, he has been on death row in Florida for almost 16 years. Does anyone know if he has been executed?

Yes, this case was solved in 1994. Oba Chandler was given the death penalty. I'm not sure if Unsolved Mysteries ever did an update on the case. I don't even remember this case airing on Lifetime.

One question I have about this case is, does anyone think Chandler had an accomplice? A cellmate of Chandler's supposedly told the prosecutors during his trial that Chandler had told him he had help with this crime but either Chandler didn't give him a name or the informant didn't give the name to the prosecutors. I go back and forth on this issue. On one hand, Chandler had tried to do this before with other women, by apporaching women and offering them a "sunset cruise" with him so it would seem to indicate that he may have acted alone. Also, in the Madeira Beach rape case where he raped a woman but did not kill her, the rape victim believes that if her friend had come (as had originally been the plan), they would have been murdered, but she believes he did not murder her because her friend could identify him.

On the other hand, he could have very easily made an appointment to take the Rogers women out on this "sunset cruise" and then when they showed up, he brings a buddy (accomplice) with him and the Rogers women continue on with the "cruise" as they may think they are harmless.

Either way, Oba Chandler is a very sick and demented person. To kill a mother and her two children and then throw them into the water, still alive, to drown is probably one of the most heinous crimes ever shown on Unsolved Mysteries.

Also, he has been on death row in Florida for almost 16 years. Does anyone know if he has been executed?

I hate Oba Chandler with all my heart, I have three daughters so when I first heard about this case I got sick to my stomach

I have read "Death Cruise" a couple times and have read everything online about Chandler and the case

My personal thought is that he acted alone, just like with the Canadian woman he raped

Im positive he had a gun and probably made the mom tape/tie the girls hands behind their backs then he bound the mom all the time holding the gun on them

I have read that Chandler is on the short list for being put to death

I want Chandler to be put to death more then anybody (sans Richard Speck whos death sentence was commuted and lived to do drugs and have sex in prison before having a heart attack)

http://www.floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us/c-inmate-status.cfm

Hambone

Please go check this website out

It is an amazing website and im sure you will spend hours looking at it

Click on Chandler and you can see his mug shot, case history, everything

Tommy Zeigler is there also

You can read about all of Floridas Death Row inmates and their crimes (In detail)

I hate Oba Chandler with all my heart, I have three daughters so when I first heard about this case I got sick to my stomach

I have read "Death Cruise" a couple times and have read everything online about Chandler and the case

My personal thought is that he acted alone, just like with the Canadian woman he raped

Im positive he had a gun and probably made the mom tape/tie the girls hands behind their backs then he bound the mom all the time holding the gun on them

I have read that Chandler is on the short list for being put to death

I want Chandler to be put to death more then anybody (sans Richard Speck whos death sentence was commuted and lived to do drugs and have sex in prison before having a heart attack)

I completely agree. I wrote a paper on this case in college and I cant think of another person (except for maybe Kenneth McDuff who is now dead, thank God) that deserves the death penalty more than Chandler. His Wikipedia page says he is still alive and I have contacted Bob Andelman, who covered this story for the St. Petersburg Times when I was in college and he said he is still alive and on death row.

Your probably right about him acting alone, but (and I don't mean for this to seem crude or blunt) but when their bodies were found, they were all found naked from the waist done. Did he sexually assault all three of them? Was that ever determined?I wonder how many other unsolved crimes are out there that he is responsible for because I am sure this is not the only murder he committed.

http://www.floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us/c-inmate-status.cfm

Hambone

Please go check this website out

It is an amazing website and im sure you will spend hours looking at it

Click on Chandler and you can see his mug shot, case history, everything

Tommy Zeigler is there also

You can read about all of Floridas Death Row inmates and their crimes (In detail)

Thanks for the link, Alvis. I had read his information on there a few years back. That jackass still says he is innocent.

I completely agree. I wrote a paper on this case in college and I cant think of another person (except for maybe Kenneth McDuff who is now dead, thank God) that deserves the death penalty more than Chandler. His Wikipedia page says he is still alive and I have contacted Bob Andelman, who covered this story for the St. Petersburg Times when I was in college and he said he is still alive and on death row.

Your probably right about him acting alone, but (and I don't mean for this to seem crude or blunt) but when their bodies were found, they were all found naked from the waist done. Did he sexually assault all three of them? Was that ever determined?I wonder how many other unsolved crimes are out there that he is responsible for because I am sure this is not the only murder he committed.

Im sure Chandler raped all three woman, no doubt in my mind

He taped up everything but their eyes, it was said because Chandler wanted them to see what he was doing to each of them

Im not sure if Chandler has killed before, but he most likley has, and it could have been has plan all along to kill them

But he did let the Canadian woman go

Maybe he knew they would identify him so he decided to kill them

IMO he knew he was going to kill them the whole time (after he had raped and tourtured them for hours)

I hope he is put to death very soon

Yes Chandler is on the short list. He is out of appeals.

Yes Chandler is on the short list. He is out of appeals.

Where can we find that type of information at, kadrmas?

Where can we find that type of information at, kadrmas?

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/article657533.ece

Here you go Hambone

There or the site Alvin Karpis came up with earlier. I write a couple of guys that in my opinion are innocent on Florida's death row. But if you go to the Florida capital cases website that Alvin posted the link to, that is a very good site. I have been on that site many times doing research and it is a great tool. Oba Chandler is one of about 40 men or so right now on Florida's death row that is completely out of appeals. The two guys I write on Florida's death row, they both know Oba, obviously his cases are pretty well known but they have both met him in person there. They played volleyball with him on the yard at Union Correctional Institution. No they do not have a sand pit but they have the volleyball nets and stuff and I guess it is a pretty popular game. But yes they played volleyball with him there and have met him before.

There or the site Alvin Karpis came up with earlier. I write a couple of guys that in my opinion are innocent on Florida's death row. But if you go to the Florida capital cases website that Alvin posted the link to, that is a very good site. I have been on that site many times doing research and it is a great tool. Oba Chandler is one of about 40 men or so right now on Florida's death row that is completely out of appeals. The two guys I write on Florida's death row, they both know Oba, obviously his cases are pretty well known but they have both met him in person there. They played volleyball with him on the yard at Union Correctional Institution. No they do not have a sand pit but they have the volleyball nets and stuff and I guess it is a pretty popular game. But yes they played volleyball with him there and have met him before.

What do they say about him? Does he maintain his innocence to them or has he said anything incriminating to them? Also, which guys on death row do you write to? (if you don't mind my asking)

I have studied the following cases (in depth) of these men on Florida's Death Row

1. Kosta Fotopoulos (Read "Perfect Husband" and "Sex Money and Murder in Daytona Beach)
2. Jeremiah Rodgers and Jon Lawrence (Read "Flesh Collectors")
3. Oba Chandler (Read "Death Cruise")
4. Oscar Bolin
5. Tommy Ziegler
6. George Trepal (Read "Poison Mind")

Kadrmas I would love to discuss your opinions of the men that I listed

I also am sure I have an opinion on the men that you write or have studied

I have studied the following cases (in depth) of these men on Florida's Death Row

1. Kosta Fotopoulos (Read "Perfect Husband" and "Sex Money and Murder in Daytona Beach)
2. Jeremiah Rodgers and Jon Lawrence (Read "Flesh Collectors")
3. Oba Chandler (Read "Death Cruise")
4. Oscar Bolin
5. Tommy Ziegler
6. George Trepal (Read "Poison Mind")

Kadrmas I would love to discuss your opinions of the men that I listed

I also am sure I have an opinion on the men that you write or have studied

I too have read up on and studied Kosta Fotopoulos. While in college in one of my criminal justice classes, we were shown the video footage of Kevin Ramsey being tied to tree and shot while Kosta filmed it. It was the most gruesome thing I have ever seen. If you don't believe in evil, you will after you see that footage. His screams were horrifying. I had trouble sleeping that night after watching that. I hope that no one believes in his innocence since he is on camera when it happened.

I too have read up on and studied Kosta Fotopoulos. While in college in one of my criminal justice classes, we were shown the video footage of Kevin Ramsey being tied to tree and shot while Kosta filmed it. It was the most gruesome thing I have ever seen. If you don't believe in evil, you will after you see that footage. His screams were horrifying. I had trouble sleeping that night after watching that. I hope that no one believes in his innocence since he is on camera when it happened.

I have seen the footage on "Faces of Death" and the way that Ramsey screams out in pain is the most horrible sound I have ever heard in my life. In fact I hate even thinking about it, I watched it one time and thats it, I will never watch it again.

Fotopoulos is 100% guilty IMO

I have seen the footage on "Faces of Death" and the way that Ramsey screams out in pain is the most horrible sound I have ever heard in my life. In fact I hate even thinking about it, I watched it one time and thats it, I will never watch it again.

Fotopoulos is 100% guilty IMO

Yea the screams were horrible. Plus seeing her take the gun to his head was even more troubling.

Did Kosta's girlfriend get put to death? I believe that women on death row are executed alot quicker than men.

Fotopoulous is another one that is out of appeals on FL's death row. He actually was given a new penalty phase a few years ago by the U.S. District Court in Orlando but a year later the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta overturned that ruling and reinstated the death sentence. Had they not done this and had Fotopoulous got a new penalty phase, even if he would have got death again, his appeals would have started all over again. But he is another on Florida's death row that is completely out of appeals. One of about 40-45 men or so that are completely out.

Fotopolous girlfriend Deidre Hunt, was originally sentenced to death but she later had her death sentences and convictions reversed and she was convicted again but this time after the 2nd trial was sentenced to life in prison and she is serving multiple life sentences at Homestead Correctional Institution in South Florida.

Jeremiah Rodgers was initially sentenced to death in 2000. However on direct appeal to the Florida Supreme Court, his death sentence was reversed. The matter was tied up in court for years and in 2007 he was sentenced to death again but his appeals started all over again. His new direct appeal was denied by the Florida Supreme Court last year but it is the first step. He still has gosh, at least 4 or 5 steps left in appeals. Jon Lawrence was also sentenced to death in 2000. Lawrence is much more further along in his appeals than Rodgers is because his death sentence was never tossed. Direct appeal to the Florida Supreme Court denied in 2003, state 3.850 motion to the circuit court denied in 2006, state 3.850 appeal to the Florida Supreme Court denied in 2007. His state habeas was denied the same year. So in essence he is out of appeals at the state level. He has a habeas corpus petition pending in the U.S. District Court in Penascola that has been pending two years. After that, if it is denied, the only steps he really has left are to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta and to the United States Supreme Court and then he will be out of appeals.

Oba Chandler as we have talked about is out of appeals completely as is Tommy Zeigler. Chander will eventually get his death warrant signed although I would be surprised if Zeigler is ever executed I think there is enough doubt there that it would be too controversial for the state to execute him.

Oscar Bolin, interesting story there. The two guys I know on Florida's death row know him too. What is interesting about Bolin is how he got a wealthy Greek woman, who was married to a Tampa defense lawyer to dump her husband to marry Bolin. She is still married to him and he has a lot on his canteen account and in fact this woman paid for all the prisoners at Florida State Prison (the guy I write were at Union Correctional Institution in the past but are now at Florida State Prison which is just down the road) but she paid for all the prisoners there to get converter boxes for their TV's for the digital turn over.

In terms of legally, Bolin, he is like Chandler, he has killed more women than what we know about. Bolin's case though is one that has also had many problems legally. He was initially sentenced to death in 1992. In 1995, the Florida Supreme Court granted a new trial. In 1996 he was convicted again and again sentenced to death. In 1999 on the second direct appeal, the Florida Supreme Court again granted a new trial. In 2001 he was convicted for a third time and sentenced to death again. On his third direct appeal in 2004, the Florida Supreme Court this time upheld the conviction and death sentence. Circuit Court 3.851 motion was denied in 2008. His State Supreme Court 3.851 motion is currently pending. That is just for one murder.

For the second murder he is on death row for. He was initially convicted and sentenced to death in 1991. In 1994 the Florida Supreme Court granted a new trial. In 1999 he was convicted and sentenced to death again for that matter. In 2001, on direct appeal the Florida Supreme Court granted a retrial for that murder. In 2005 at re-trial he was acquitted of first degree murder but convicted of second degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison. However last year, the 2nd District Court of Appeals in Florida overturned that conviction. However since he is already on death row plus has a life sentence for this conviction it really does not matter.

The 3rd murder for which he was convicted. He was originally sentenced to death for that crime too. However his conviction was overturned on direct appeal in 1995 and after being convicted again and sentenced to death again, in 2001 he was granted another new trial but the re-trial for this murder has yet to take place.

Finally George Trepal, he is out of state appeals. He has a writ of Habeas Corpus pending in the U.S. District Court in Tampa that has been pending for over 4 and a half years. I will get more into my opinions a bit later.

Thanks for all the info, I look forward to your opinions on the cases

Here is my updated list, after #6 I have studied the cases but not to the extent of the first 6

1. Kosta Fotopoulos (Read "Perfect Husband" and "Sex Money and Murder in Daytona Beach)
2. Jeremiah Rodgers and Jon Lawrence (Read "Flesh Collectors")
3. Oba Chandler (Read "Death Cruise")
4. Oscar Bolin
5. Tommy Ziegler
6. George Trepal (Read "Poison Mind")

7. Manny Pardo
8. Kevin Foster (Read "Someone Has To Die Tonight")
9. Marty Puccio and his co-defendents (Puccio is no longer on Death Row but I wrote to Puccio and the other two Derek Kaufman and Donny Semenec and have 100s of letters from all three, I stopped writing to them in 2002)

And here are my quick opinions

1. Kosta Fotopoulos: 100% Guilty, I hope he is put to death soon
2. Jeremiah Rodgers and Jon Lawrence: 100% Guilty and I hope both are put to death in the next 10 years
3. Oba Chandler: 100% Guilty I hope he is the next death row inmate in Florida to be put to death
4. Oscar Bolin: Im 95% sure Bolin is guilty, I have small doubt
5. Tommy Zeigler Im 100% positive Zeigler is NOT guilty, I think Zeigler should be relaesed and paid millions of dollars by the state of Florida, I feel very strongly that he is not guilty
6. George Trepal: Im 50% on Trepal, I think his wife either A. Did it herself or B. Made George Poison the Carr's
7. Manny Pardo: 100% Guilty, former Police Officer who killed drug dealers
8. Kevin Foster : 100% Guilty no doubt, needs to be put to death
9. Marty Puccio: 100% Guilty, I agree that his sentence of Life in Prison instead of death was a good choice

Manuel Pardo, he is another one that is now out of appeals. Interestingly both guys I write on FL's death row, know him too. In fact, as both call him 'Manny' one guy I write arrived on death row in 1988, the same year as Pardo did so they got to know each other pretty well. On FL's death row, their visiting room is a great big room or as the prisoners call it 'the park' because it is like going to the park compared to being in a cell most of the time.

Anyway, these visiting rooms fit 40 prisoners at a time plus their visitors so if you go to visit there, you would sit in a room with 40 death row inmates, unshackled and unrestrained. Of course you have to sign various waivers saying you are visiting at your own risk and that if God forbid a hostage situation were to arise that the state of Florida would not trade so much as a carton of cigarettes to save your life. But the guy I write that has been on the row in FL since 1988, he talked about how the first time he went to the visiting room, he saw none other than Ted Bundy sitting at the next table having a visit.

Kevin Foster, he is still in the early stages. I never wrote Foster, I did write to Derek Shields a couple time. He is an overall good kid who got involved in some bad stuff. I am one that would support him being eligible for parole someday and find it unfortunate he is serving LWOP. I always felt Shields was the only one of the four defendants that had any real remorse about what happened. In fact you can tell Shields felt and feels awful about it, that it happened at all and that he was involved in any way, shape or form. I did not write Shields to develop a pen pal relationship, rather just to tell him I supported him and his bid for clemency and he sent me a thank you letter.

He actually said overall he agreed with Jim Greenhill who wrote the book, he overall agreed with Greenhill's version of events and said it was overall accurate. He said it was certainly by far the most accurate portrayal of the case he has seen in either books or on tv. He said the reason he went on Dateline NBC to interview was after he learned the show was going to be based on Greenhill's book so thus he felt the show would be overall accurate. Not perfect, but more accurate than not accurate. I certainly feel Derek Shields actually has remorseful and think it is crap that he got LWOP while Pete Magnotti got 32 years.

But getting back to guilt, yeah Pardo is guilty, no doubt. Hell, he himself admitted doing it and seemed proud of it. He felt like he was justified in the killings saying he was ridding society of garbage. Pardo's co-defendant had an interesting story. Sentenced to death like Pardo originally but got a new trial after it was ruled that he and Pardo should have not been tried together at the same time. He was tried again but this time acquitted of several of the murders although he was convicted again of four murders and sentenced to death. However he received yet another new trial was convicted again and once again sentenced to death. His conviction was reversed for a fourth time and finally the state ended up pleading out the co-defendant. The co-defendant pled guilty to four counts of second degree murder, was given four concurrent sentences of time served and was released from prison. I have also wrote Ted MacArthur, the lead detective on the case who several years after the Pardo case was himself sentenced to life in prison in Florida after being convicted of murdering his wife.

But Alvin or Hambone or anyone else, if you want to know who I write on FL's death row, send me a PM, I would prefer not to broadcast their names here if I can avoid it.

Let's look at who all is out of appeals on FL's death row:
Gary Alvord
Richard Anderson
Robin Archer
Mark Asay
Jeffrey Atwater
Elmer Carroll
Oba Chandler
Loran Cole
Eddie Davis
Mark Davis
Noel Doorbal
Ernest Downs
John Ferguson
James Ford
Charles Foster
Konstantin Fotopoulous
John Freeman
Guy Gamble
David Gore
Michael Griffin
Patrick Hannon
Robert Hendrix
Paul Howell
Bryan Jennings
Jose Jimenez
Ronnie Johnson
Terrell Johnson
Randall Jones
William Kelley
Darius Kimbrough
Thomas Knight
Anthony LaMarca
Gary Lawrence
Ian Lightbourne
Douglas Meeks
Gerald Murray
Dominick Occhicone
Duane Owen
Bruce Pace
Manuel Pardo
Robert Patton
Daniel Peterka
Richard Randolph
Grover Reed
Manuel Valle
William Van Poyck
Peter Ventura
Curtis Windom
Edward Zakrzewski
William Zeigler

There might be even a few more that are out of appeals but there are at least these 50 men out of appeals give or take a few more. Elmer Carroll is a child killer as is Bryan Jennings, Oba Chandler, Manuel Pardo, David Gore are serial killers. Edward Zakrewski murdered his family. William Van Poyck killed a correctional officer as did Thomas Knight. Robert Patton and Manuel Valle are cop killers. Some of these guys have been on death row for 30 years or more. John Ferguson, Manuel Valle, Tommy Zeigler, Gary Alvord have all been there more than 30 years. Alvord is the longest serving death row inmate in the United States. He has been on the row since 1974 although due to his suffering from schizophrenia, it is basically well known he will never be executed as it would be too controversial due to his mental illness. Zeigler is another one that I do not think will ever be executed. There is just too much doubt about his guilt there and it would be too controversial.

Very nice Kadrmas

A small little factoid, Gary Lawrence is Jon Lawrence's uncle

Well the thing with the row, at least in Florida, the men on the row there largely do no discuss their cases with each other or why they are there. They only talk about their appeals to each other. However they did say that Oba has never denied his guilt. He plays coy, he has never admitted guilt but never denied. They said as corny as it sounds, you can tell behind the scenes most of the time who is innocent and who is guilty. They said most guys there do not claim to be innocent, at least off the record. Yes if the media were there or something they would say they were innocent but most would at least say they were not innocent off the record. There are innocent guys there but only a few, as in 10 or less.

But they said Oba and guys like him, if you met them just in passing, they would come off as normal to you. They basically said you could stand in line next to him at the grocery store, and if you had no idea what he had done, you would not think anything unusual about him. Just another guy. Most of the guys there are pleasant enough to deal with but fights to happen. One guy that recently got a new trial, Alwin Tumblin, both the guys I write described him as a 'miserable human being' who even they wouldn't feel sorry for if he got the needle. They described him as 'low life trash' and said that he is the type that most guys on the row even steer clear of due to his behavior.

But they said Oba and guys like him, if you met them just in passing, they would come off as normal to you. They basically said you could stand in line next to him at the grocery store, and if you had no idea what he had done, you would not think anything unusual about him. Just another guy. Most of the guys there are pleasant enough to deal with but fights to happen.

I think that is alot similar to some of the witnesses Oba Chandler's defense team used when speaking of him. Saying he was as nice as good be and Obie could fix anything.

BTW, I remembered reading that the show "Scene of the Crime" did a special on Oba Chandler called The Tin Man. Does anyone know where I could find that at? I have searched the video website and googled it but I cannot find it.

I think that is alot similar to some of the witnesses Oba Chandler's defense team used when speaking of him. Saying he was as nice as good be and Obie could fix anything.

BTW, I remembered reading that the show "Scene of the Crime" did a special on Oba Chandler called The Tin Man. Does anyone know where I could find that at? I have searched the video website and googled it but I cannot find it.

Hambone I have that episode saved on my DVR ("The Tin Man"), but my DVD recorder is broken :(

I also have the episode of "New Detectives" with the Oba Chandler segment saved on my DVR as well

And last I have "The Investigators" with the Chandler segment "Overboard"

My wife wants to buy a new DVD player, if I can get one with a recorder I will burn all three programs for you

Hambone I have that episode saved on my DVR ("The Tin Man"), but my DVD recorder is broken :(

I also have the episode of "New Detectives" with the Oba Chandler segment saved on my DVR as well

And last I have "The Investigators" with the Chandler segment "Overboard"

My wife wants to buy a new DVD player, if I can get one with a recorder I will burn all three programs for you

That would be awesome if you could do that. PM me if you end up getting the new dvd player. I'll pay you for your troubles. Do these three programs still come on every now and then? I can never seem to find them.

I saw this after doing a google search to see if Oba Chandler had been put to death yet:

http://www.sptimes.com/News/062201/SouthPinellas/Body_raises_specter_o.shtml

Apparently back in 2001, they were trying to determine the identity of a woman kilkled in Florida the same way the Rogers women were killed and they believe Chandler may be responsible. Has anyone heard of this or if they were ever able to identify the deceased woman?