IN LOVING MEMORY OF JOAN ROGERS AND HER TWO DAUGHTERS (DIED: JUNE 1, 1989)

          We, the comrades of Unit 1012, will remember Joan Rogers and her two daughters who were murdered by Oba Chandler on this date, June 1, 1989. Justice was served 22 years later when he was executed by lethal injection in Florida on November 15, 2011.

Joan Rogers and her two daughters

Summary: On Sunday, June 4, 1989 at approximately 9:30 a.m. boaters discovered three decomposed female bodies floating in South Tampa Bay. The bodies were later identified as Mrs. Joan Rogers and her daughters, Michelle and Christe. At the time of their deaths in 1989, Joan was 36, Michelle 17 and Christe was 14. Dr. Edward Corcoran, an Associate Medical Examiner, performed autopsies on all three women on June 4 and determined that the cause of death to each was asphyxiation caused either by strangulation from the ropes tied around their necks or by drowning. Dr. Corcoran estimated that the women had died sometime between the evening of June 1 and the morning of June 2, 1989. He described the bodies as being bloated and decomposed. Each was nude from the waist down. There was duct tape on the face or the head of Christe and Michelle. Christe and Joan's hands were each tied behind their backs with clothesline-type rope. Michelle's right hand had clothesline-type rope around the wrist but the left hand was free with only a loop of rope. Michelle's ankles were bound with clothesline-type rope. Joan and Michelle each had a yellow nylon rope around their neck which was attached to a concrete block. The concrete block around 1 Joan's neck had three holes in it. The object tied to the yellow nylon rope around Christe's neck had been cut.  Christe and Joan's ankles were each tied together with yellow nylon rope. There were no fractures of the hyoid bones. Besides ligature marks and discoloration behind the upper esophagus and darkening and hemorrhaging in the neck tissues of each woman, no other injuries were determined. Dr. Corcoran looked for and did not find any genital injuries. He did not look for semen nor did he expect to find any as semen would have decomposed or been washed away by the action of the water. From the contents of Joan Rogers' stomach, Dr. Corcoran was able to estimate that she last ate four to eight hours prior to her death. Dr. Bernard Ross, an expert regarding the characteristics of water movement in Tampa Bay, testified that all three of the bodies were dumped in Tampa Bay at the same location. Based on his study, Dr. Ross opined that none of the bodies could have been thrown from a land mass such as Gandy Bridge or Howard Frankland Bridge. At the time of their deaths, the Rogers were vacationing in Florida. The evidence showed that on Thursday, June 1 at 9:34 a.m. the Rogers checked out of the Gateway Inn in Orlando and went to Tampa, They checked into the Days Inn in Tampa shortly after the noon hour on June 1, 1989. Phone records from the hotel show that two calls made from the Rogers' room on June 1. One was placed at 12:37 pm for nine minutes and another call was placed locally in Tampa at 12:57 pm for less than a minute. Harold Malloy, a guest at the Days Inn, saw the Rogers in the hotel's restaurant on June 1, between 7:00 and 7:30 p.m. The Rogers left the restaurant at about 7:30 or 7:35 p.m. The general manager of the Days Inn, Rocky Point on the Courtney Campbell Causeway was alerted by housekeeping on June 8 that the Rogers' room did not appear to have been inhabited for a few days. After an inspection of the premises, he contacted law enforcement who came out, secured the scene and obtained records from the hotel regarding the occupants. Officers identified numerous personal articles, clothing, suitcases and papers belonging to the occupants. There were canisters of film which had been exposed. These were developed and the last three pictures on the last roll of film showed the Days Inn Hotel, Room 251 and one of Michelle standing on the balcony of the hotel. Dr. Kendal Carder, a professor of oceanography at the University of South Florida opined at trial that the photograph of Michelle was taken sometime between 6:20 p.m. and 8:20 p.m. on June 1, 1989. Neither the camera nor the clothing depicted in the picture of Michelle was found in the victims' vehicle or among the evidence seized from Room 251 of the Days Inn. The police found the Rogers' locked car parked at a boat ramp on the causeway. There was sand wedged around the tires of the vehicle indicating it had been there for some time. Detectives later found a set of car keys belonging to the victims' car in a purse known to belong to Michelle Rogers in the motel room. A search of the vehicle revealed several exhibits, including a piece of Days Inn, Rocky Point stationery; an index card with directions to Gateway Inn, Orlando; notebook paper with personal notes; a key to Days Inn Room 251; a Clearwater Beach brochure; a Hampton Inn coupon; a Jacksonville Zoo receipt and a road atlas. FBI Agent James Henry Mathis determined that a note handwritten on Days Inn stationery found in the victims' car was written by Joan Rogers. The note read, "Turn right. West W on 60, two and one-half miles before the bridge on the right side at light, blue w/wht." Theresa Stubbs, an examiner of questioned documents for the FDLE at the Tampa Regional Crime Laboratory, examined the handwriting on the Clearwater Beach brochure and identified Oba Chandler as the writer. From her analysis, Ms. Stubbs determined that the "Boy Scout, Columbus" portion of the writing on the brochure may have been written by Joan Rogers. Rollins Cooper worked as a subcontractor for Oba Chandler in 4 the spring of 1989 for 3-6 months. He testified that on June, 1,1989, between eleven and twelve a.m. Chandler brought him some screen. Cooper asked Chandler why he was in such a big hurry and Chandler told him he had a date with three women. Cooper met Chandler the next morning at 7:05 a.m. Cooper thought Chandler was kind of grubby. When Cooper asked him why he looked like that he said that he had been out on his boat all night. Oba had a place next to his house where the scrap aluminum from the different jobs would be left. There were also some eight-by-sixteen building blocks laying there and a boat trailer. The state also presented the testimony of Judy Blair and her companion Barbara Mottram concerning Chandler's sexual battery of Judy Blair in Madeira Beach. Judy Blair testified that she and Barbara were in Florida on vacation from Ontario, Canada, when they met Chandler at a convenience store. Chandler told them that he knew the area and that he worked in the area; that it was a highcrime area and that two young girls should be very careful. He said his name was "Dave" and he worked in the aluminum-siding business. He said that he had a boat and because he knew the area so well, he would take them out on the boat and show them the area from the water. After they told him they were from Canada, he told them he was from upstate New York. His demeanor was very friendly, very warm. They made plans for the next day and what time he would pick them up. Chandler invited both Judy and Barbara out on the boat. The next morning Barbara insisted that she did not want to go and Judy told her that the plans were made and that she had no way to get hold of the person. Chandler had told Judy that he would be coming from approximately two hours away. She decided to go even though Barbara would not be going. Wearing a white T-shirt, a pair of cotton shorts, sneakers and a bathing suit underneath, Judy met Chandler at 10:30 a.m. He was in an older blue and white boat. The interior bottom was white or off-white. There was a space under the bow; a storage area with equipment. She saw white ropes in the compartment down below. Judy did not remember seeing any concrete blocks on the boat. When Judy explained that Barbara wasn't coming, Chandler seemed disappointed. He pulled some duct tape from the storage area and taped the steering wheel. He told Judy that he kept his boat lifted up out of the water on davits. At approximately 4:30 he returned Judy to the docks. He said that he had some difficulty with his boat and he had to attend to it. He told her to go home and get dinner, her camera so she could take pictures of the sunset and get Barbara. He specifically asked Judy to get Barbara. They were to meet back later at the same dock after dinner. Judy could not convince Barbara to go and Judy went back to the dock by herself. She took her camera with her. The man was already at the dock. He seemed "ticked off" that Barbara did not come. It was still daylight when they got on the boat and went under the bridge into the gulf. They drove through the gulf and stopped to take pictures of the sunset. Dave was in some of the pictures and Judy was in some of the pictures. They started to fish and Judy expressed concern that it was getting dark and she needed to get back; that people were waiting for her back on land. He started complimenting her and asked for her to give him a hug, She thanked him for the compliments and declined to give him a hug. He pulled Judy towards him and started touching her arms and around her body. He told her he was going to have sex with her. She told him "no" and asked him to take her back home. She started screaming and he said, "You think somebody is going to hear you? " Judy was panicky and was pleading with him to take her back. At one point he started the boat; she thought to return to the shore. He took her further out in the water instead. Chandler stopped the boat and told her, "You're going to have sex with me. There's no way around it. What are you going to do, jump over the side of the boat?" Judy continually screamed and tried to get away from him. He sat on the passenger seat and pulled his pants down and took the back of Judy's head and made her perform fellatio on him. He put a towel down on the bottom of the boat and forcibly put her down. Judy was screaming and crying and he told her to "Shut up. Shut up. If you don't shut the fuck up, I'm going to tape your mouth. Do you want me to tape your mouth?" He pulled down the bottom half of what she was wearing and said, "You're going to have sex with me." Judy was kicking and screaming and crying and he was saying, "I'll tape your mouth. I'll tape your mouth." At that point she became fairly quiet. He also made reference to the fact that, "Is sex really something to lose your life over?" He started fondling her vaginal area. She was menstruating and he found the tampon and he pulled it out. At some point Chandler rolled Judy over onto her knees and attempted to penetrate her anally. She pleaded with him not to do that; that she had rectal cancer. He turned her over and penetrated her vaginally. He ejaculated, immediately pulled out, pulled his pants back up. He threw her a thermos bottle filled with water and told her to wash herself out. He took the camera, ripped the film out and threw it overboard. Then he wiped down the camera. He told Judy, "I know you're going to report this, but please give me a chance to go home to tell my little old mother." He took her back to shore. He dropped her off on the other shore of the channel from Don's Dock. Judy walked home. She did not say anything to her mother or aunt or uncle when she got back. She just wanted to have a bath and go to bed. After her mother and aunt and uncle left the condominium, Judy told Barbara what happened. She ultimately reported it to the police later that evening of the 16th. Judy gave a description of the clothing "Dave" was wearing the evening he assaulted her and identified it at trial. Barbara confirmed Judy's testimony concerning how they met Chandler, that he was driving a black or very dark vehicle which resembled a Jeep Cherokee, that he was from upstate New York but resided in Florida and that he had to travel a little bit of a ways to get to Madeira Beach. Barbara confirmed that Judy came back to retrieve Barbara to go out on the boat. Judy said that both she and "Dave" (Chandler) wanted her to go on the sunset cruise. Barbara declined this second invitation. Judy took a camera with her. The next morning Judy related to Barbara what had happened to her the night before on the boat. Barbara testified that Judy was devastated. She was in shock. She was in tears and sobbing all day long. Barbara picked Oba Chandler's photograph out of a photo pack, identified him in a lineup of people and in the courtroom. Barbara also identified a photograph of Chandler's car and a photograph of Chandler as being more consistent with the what he looked like in 1989 than in the courtroom. Detective James Kappell, of the St. Petersburg Police Department testified that in September, 1989 he became aware that a rape had occurred in Madeira Beach involving two Canadian tourists. Kappell traveled to Canada to interview Judy Blair and Barbara Mottram. Kappell obtained a composite drawing of "Dave" . The description of the suspect's vehicle, boat and his composite was released to the press and seen by Chandler's neighbor Joann Steffey. Ms. Steffey thought of Chandler when she saw the composite. She was aware that Chandler had a boat. It was blue and white with a blue top cover. Chandler had a black four-wheel drive vehicle. In May, 1992 Ms. Steffey observed another newspaper article talking about the rape and the Rogers' homicides. The article contained a picture of the handwriting involved on a brochure. Upon seeing this second newspaper article, Ms. Steffey obtained a sample of Chandler's handwriting and concluded that it was the same. Ms. Steffey called the Task Force in St. Petersburg to notify them of her belief. Her neighbor FAX'd the handwriting sample to the police for their comparison. Derek Galpin testified that he sold Chandler his boat. When he sold the boat to Chandler he told him that the English translation for the German name on the back of the boat meant GYPSY * The steering wheel was in pretty bad shape and had a black, very tacky sort of covering. Galpin also sold the residence to Chandler. There were six, seven, or eight rough gray concrete blocks with two square holes in them on the side of the house. Robert Carlton bought the blue and white boat from Chandler in July/August, 1989. The boat trailer was parked on the side of Chandler's house and was sold with the boat. The boat had a V-6 engine in it and a VHF radio in it. When Carlton got the boat from Chandler the interior was real clean. "It was spotless". Carlton recalled seeing concrete blocks at the Chandler house and that some of the concrete blocks had three holes and some had two. Oba Chandler's daughter, Kristal Mays testified that she lived in Ohio. Chandler left when she was 7 and she did not see him again until the mid-eighties when she hired a detective to find her him. When the detective found Chandler he was incarcerated in Florida. Kristal and her sister, Valerie Lynn Troxell, visited him in the Spring of 1986. Lynn was also Chandler's daughter. Kristal was closer to Chandler than her sister. After Chandler was released from prison, Kristal and her family visited with the Chandler's in Florida. In November of 1989 Chandler called her in Cincinnati and left a number at a Cincinnati motel where he could be reached. Kristal did not know he was coming to visit. Chandler told her that he wanted her and her husband to come to the motel; it was very important. Chandler's Jeep was backed in front of another building, not the building he was staying in. The license plate was up against the building. Kristal remembered that Chandler had a dark colored Jeep vehicle in 1989. Upon entering the motel room, she observed numerous coffee cups, the ashtrays were overflowing with cigarette butts and her father was very anxious and nervous. She had not seen him act like that in the past. Chandler told them he couldn't go back to Florida because they were looking for him for a rape of a woman. Kristal remembered that Chandler's words were "I can't go back to Florida because the police are looking for me for the rape of a woman." Chandler later called and apologized for the way he had been acting. Chandler did not have luggage or appropriate clothing for that time of year. They had to buy him some clothes. He later told Kristal, she couldn't remember whether he said "dock or pier, but he said that he picked a woman up, and she got away." Chandler did not give Kristal any further explanation of that statement. He told Kristal, "I can't go back to Florida because the police are looking for me because I killed some women." During none of these conversations did Chandler indicate that he was innocent of the things he was talking about. He never once indicated that the police had the wrong man. Chandler never said, "I am 12 innocent of the crime and never said I am the one who murdered the women." Kristal said that Chandler "did not directly to me say, I murdered the women. He did not say that directly to me." After that night, Kristal did not talk about this any more with her father. Chandler directed Kristal not to tell anyone where he was, including his wife, Debbie. Chandler wanted to trade the Jeep he had for the car Kristal had. Chandler did not indicate why he wanted to get rid of his vehicle. While he was there, Chandler sold Kristal some jewelry. At a later point in time, Chandler contacted Kristal and asked her to set up a phone call between he and his wife Debbie. According to the telephone tolls for Kristal's number in 1989, there were a series of phone tolls to Tampa on November 10. Oba had called Kristal and wanted her to call Debbie and tell her to go to a phone booth. He said he couldn't call her at home; he was afraid his lines were tapped. (V91, T1148) After Kristal called her, Debbie went to the phone booth, called Kristal and told her she was at the phone booth. Chandler called Kristal back, told her to tell Debbie to go to another phone booth because he thought someone might be following her. Kristal saw Chandler again in October, 1990. Chandler had Kristal's husband set up a drug deal. Chandler wound up taking some money from the drug dealers and leaving her husband literally holding the bag. Kristal's husband was badly beaten up and almost killed. Their house was attacked by the drug dealers at some point. She was in nursing school at the time and she had to drop out and move her family out of the house. Prior to Chandler's going back up to Cincinnati in 1990 and the incident with her husband, Kristal talked with Debra Chandler and Lula Harris about what her father had told her. Kristal asked them if there was any such crime in the state of Florida. They said there was nothing like that going on. Debbie thought he was having a nervous breakdown and told Kristal to tell him to go home. As a result of what they told her, Kristal told her sister Valerie Troxell, but did not call the police. Kristal said that she was upset with her father for what he had done but that she did not hate her father. Kristal wanted Rick to call the police on Chandler; to report to the police that he had put a gun on him. She said that she still did not understand why he did it, but that she was not angry with him anymore. stop Chandler was arrested on September 24, 1992 and this incident occurred in October, 1990. After Chandler was arrested Kristal cooperated with law enforcement to try to tape conversations that she had with him. Kristal admitted lying to her father by denying to him that she had cooperated with law enforcement. The purpose of taping the conversations was to try to get some sort of an admission out of Chandler that he had done "this". Kristal had previously been convicted of a crime involving dishonesty. She went on national television, Hard Copy, on January 26, 1994. They paid her $1,000 for her story. Kristal declined an offer to appear on the Maury Povich show. She was aware there was a $25,000 reward for Chandler's conviction but she did not consider herself "in the running for that".Two years before, on October 6, 1992, she gave a sworn statement to the State Attorney's Office concerning the case. Valerie Lynn Troxell was Kristal Mays' sister and lived in Ohio. She was also Oba Chandler's daughter. Valerie recalled a time in the fall of 1989 when Chandler appeared unexpectedly in Ohio. She remembered him being very anxious. He was extremely upset. He was chain-smoking cigarettes and was different than he was on other occasions when she contacted him. Valerie asked him several times why he was acting that way and Chandler avoided the conversation. Then, he finally said that he had to get rid of a woman in Florida. That she was trying to say that he raped her. He never gave her any more details and he did not indicate that he was innocent or that he hadn't done it. Chandler had not brought any luggage or clothing with him to Ohio that was appropriate for that time of year. He was trying to trade or sell his vehicle. Valerie recalled that it was one of the all-terrain, Jeep-type vehicles. He gave instructions for them to say that they had not seen him if anyone was trying to find him or look for him. Valerie said that Kristal related to her what her father had said to her during his visit to Ohio in 1989. Valerie went on national television, Hard Copy, and received $1,000. She went on the show for the money. The only reason Valerie was upset with Chandler at the time of the trial was because he wrote a letter to her employer telling her the things she had disclosed to the FBI and put Kristal's job in jeopardy. James Rick Mays lived in Cincinnati and was Kristal Mays's husband. He vacationed at Chandler's house in late July and early August, 1989. While Rick was visiting, Chandler took him on a couple of aluminum jobs during the day. Chandler took Rick to John's Pass on Madeira Beach. During their travels, Chandler at some point began to talk about sex. As they were crossing the bridge, Chandler pointed off to the right, which was John's Pass and said that he picked up a lot of women at that point. He said that he had forcible sex with a lady that he had picked up from that area. Chandler told Rick that he raped somebody and one of them got away. Rick recalled a time in the fall of 1989, approximately November 7 or 9th, when Chandler showed up unexpected in Cincinnati, Ohio. Over the next day or two Rick had contact with Chandler. They rode together on an errand to Dayton. Kristal was not in the car. On the way to Dayton, Rick remembered Chandler saying that he told him they were looking for him for the murder of three women in Florida. The way Chandler talked, Rick thought that he actually did it. In none of the conversations did Chandler indicate to Rick that he was innocent or that the police were looking for the wrong man. Another time during this period Chandler came to their house one evening and Kristal was there. Chandler said he could not go home because of the murders of the women in Florida. When they got back to the house, Chandler was talking a little bit about the either the rape or murders although Rick did not recall exactly what he said at that time. Chandler told them to tell anyone who called looking for him that they hadn't seen him. Rick was aware that his wife arranged a phone call between Mr. Chandler and his wife. Subsequently, in 1990, Chandler went back to the Ohio area. He showed up at the door and said he ripped off the Coast Guard for some marijuana and that he had it tucked away and he wanted to know if Rick knew anybody that he could sell it to. Chandler said he'd pay Rick $6,000 to help him. Rick put Chandler in touch with a guy and they worked out a deal. Rick's role in the transaction was to pick up the money ($29,000) and bring it back to his house. When Rick arrived with the money, Chandler was sitting in the front yard in his pickup and he had his gun out. Rick said, "You know, this isn't the way it's supposed to go." The guy walked around the other side and dropped the money into the other side of the truck and Rick was trying to get the keys away from Chandler so he couldn't start the truck and take off. Chandler brought the gun up to Rick's forehead and said, "Family don't mean shit to me." Chandler hit Rick with the gun and he had to let go. Chandler got the truck started and left with the money. m91, T1.239) The guys took Rick back to their place. They thought Rick and Chandler were partners. They put a shotgun in Rick's mouth and threatened him. During this time, Chandler called and said, "Guess you know by now, you have been ripped off" and again, "Family don't mean shi+ to me." Chandler wanted to trade the money back for cocaine. The guys who were the purchasers let Rick go. When Chandler visited Mays in November, 1989, Rick said that Chandler may have said "accused" or "looking" for the raping of three women, Mr. Kebel testified as to the phone bill of March 31, 1989 for the telephone number 813-854-2823. There was a collect call from Gypsy One in Clearwater billing area on May 15, 1989. The call was placed by the marine operator. There were four calls made on November 10, 1989 from Kristal Mays to the 813-854- 2823 number subscribed to Debra Chandler. Ms. White discussed a toll ticket dated July 5, 1989. A marine call was placed from the boat Cigeuner to 813-854-2823 in Tampa, Florida. The ticket was filled out by the operator at the time the vessel was providing the information to make the call. The name given was Obey, O-b-e-y. The call started at 12:38 a.m. and was a two-minute-and-thirty-one second call. Ms. White testified as to a toll ticket for May 15, 1989 showing a toll call of two minutes eight seconds. This particular call connected at 5:49 p.m. Ms. White testified as to a toll ticket for June 2, 1989 showing a toll call made at 1:12 a.m. Ms. White testified as to a toll ticket for June 2, 1989 showing a connect time of 1:30 a.m. The call was a one-minute call. The length of the call made at one-twelve was five minutes. There was another call made on June 2, 1989 at 8:11 a.m. and the duration was for four minutes. Another call on that same date was made at 9:52 a.m. That call was for one minute. According to the phone bill for 813-854-2823, subscriber Debra Chandler, several marine calls were indicated. The first one was for May 15, 1989. There were others for March 17, 1989 and five calls on June 2, 1989. There was one marine call on July 5, 1989.  MS White actually went through and found the toll tickets on the microfiche in 1994. Soraya Butler was a marine operator for GTE in 1989. Ms. Butler received a call on May 15, 1989 at about 5:49 p.m. The caller identified himself as Oba and his boat at Gypsy One. She placed a call for him to Tampa. Elizabeth Beiro was a marine operator for GTE for 31 years. Ms. Beiro received a call on June 2, 1989 at about 1:12 a.m. The caller identified himself as being boat Gypsy One. The caller did not give a first name. The call was placed to 854- 2823. Toll ticket for 1:30 a.m. on June 2, 1989 was placed by Gypsy One. The caller did not identify himself with a personal name. The collect call was sent to the same number as before. The boat that placed the call on July 5, 1989 at 12:38 a.m was the Zigeuner. The caller gave a personal name of Obey. The call went to 854-2823. Carol Voeller was a marine operator for GTE in 1989. She testified as to toll ticket dated June 2, 1989 at 8:11 a.m. The name of the boat calling was the Gypsy and the person calling did not give a personal name. The collect call was to Tampa number 854-2823. Frances Watkins was a marine operator for GTE in 1989. She testified that a collect call was made on June 2, 1989 at 9:52 a.m. from the boat Gypsy One. The caller identified himself as Obie. In September, 1992 Detective Halliday interviewed the victim, Judy Blair in the rape case that occurred in Madeira Beach. She described the shirt, shoes and hat that Chandler wore on that occasion. Subsequent to that interview in September, 1992, Detect ive Hall day participated in a search pursuant to warrant of Chandler's residence in Port Orange. During the search law enforcement located a shirt matching the description given by Judy Blair. Detective Halliday also removed a hat and shoes that matched the general description given by Ms. Blair. The search warrant was issued in the Madeira Beach rape case. It was the next morning that he returned to Mr. Chandler's house and searched. Law enforcement performed a meticulous search of the house. They did not find any ladies' purses, material coming from the purses, or clothing relating to the Rogers' case. The green mesh shirt, hat and shoes were seized in the Madeira Beach case based on Judy Blair's description. Arthur Wayne Stephenson, an inmate in the Florida State Prison System was in the same cell as Chandler on October 23, 1992 and November 3, 1992. At a point in time something was mentioned on the TV concerning the three women they found in the bay and the fact that a note had been found in their car by whoever had given them directions. There was a period of about 3-4 days when the TV would show pictures of recovering the bodies and the note and the handwriting. Chandler would say that he had met these three women somewhere in the area of the stadium on Dale Mabry and sometimes talked about the note. Chandler openly told Stephenson that he had met the three women. Chandler said he gave the women directions to a boat ramp on the Courtney Campbell Causeway. Chandler said he lived in the area of the causeway. Chandler talked about having a boat. Chandler was questioned by detectives about duct tape and the rape case that was mentioned on TV. Chandler told Stephenson that when he met the three women they were from the same state or the same area as he was. Chandler said one of the girls was very attractive. Stephenson identified Oba Chandler in the courtroom. All of the statements made by Chandler to Stephenson were made in a period of about a month. William Katzer, an inmate in the Florida State Prison system shared a jail cell pod with Chandler from January 16, 1993 to February 25, 1993. It was a four-man pod. Katzer shared a room with Daniel Toby and Chandler and David Rittenhouse shared the other room. At some point in time the program A Current Affair came on the TV. All four inmates were present. After the program aired, Chandler said that "if the bitch didn't resist" he "wouldn't' be here". Chandler said that he had an alibi to cover himself. He said that he had a duped videotape that his wife had where they were going to falsify the date so he would have an alibi for the case that was pertaining to the murders. Katzer became a witness after detectives approached him at the facility where he as at. Katzer identified Chandler in the courtroom. Blake Leslie, an inmate at the Pinellas County Jail with Chandler in the fall of 1992, testified that Chandler told him that 22 he took a young lady from another country for a ride in this boat. Her friend didn't want her to go. Once he got out 20-30 miles, he told her, "f*ck or swim." He said the only reason she is still around is because somebody was waiting at the boat dock for her. Leslie was approached by law enforcement officers to see if he knew something about been convicted heard Chandler Chandler and he initially lied to them. Leslie had of 9 felonies. Leslie never say anything about any murder, just about rapes. Oba Chandler took the stand and testified that at the end of May, beginning of June, 1992 he was living with his wife, Debra, and daughter, Whitney, at 10709 Dalton Avenue, Tampa, Florida. At the time, he was an aluminum contractor and the name of the business was Custom Screens. The boat that he owned at the end of May and June, 1989, was a 21-foot Bayliner. It had a blue hull, white interior, blue canvas top. His only hobby was fishing. He said that he did not drink. He bought this 1976 Bayliner from Mr. Derek Galpin for $2,100 and sold it to Mr. Carlton for $5,000. Bob Foley went over to Chandler's house on Memorial Day, 1989. They went out in the boat. It had a marine radio and Chandler knew how to use it. That weekend Chandler sold Mr. Foley a couch and when he returned home, Chandler, his wife and his daughter followed him back to about Sanford because the lights weren't working on his trailer. They turned right around and drove home. Chandler testified that he worked the week after Memorial Day, but he could not remember exactly what he did on May 31 or on June 1, 1989. Chandler did recall meeting Michelle Rogers on June 1. According to him Christe was hanging out of the car and he never met Joan. He only spoke with Michelle; he never spoke with anyone else. Chandler was returning from an estimate and he stopped at a gas station on 50th and I4. When he came back out, Michelle asked him if he knew where the Days Inn on Sixty was. There was a Days Inn right there where they were talking. He pointed it out to her and Christe stuck her head out of the car hollering, "Rocky Point. Rocky Point." Chandler told them they did not want this one. They wanted the one on Courtney Campbell Causeway. He said that he was very familiar with it. He gave them directions. He said to take the expressway and go around. He did not pay any attention to where they went. He said the conversation took a total of two minutes. Chandler indicated on a map introduced by defense counsel the directions he gave to the women. According to the map and his directions, in order to get on the interstate, one would have to go onto Columbus Drive; which was less than a mile away. Chandler said that he did not write the directions. That they had a pamphlet and he just wrote it on top of the pamphlet. He simply printed on the top of the brochure, "Route Sixty, Courtney Campbell Causeway, Days Inn." That's all he said he did. He did not draw any directions. Chandler testified that he never saw those people again in his life. He did not kill those people. He did not take them out on his boat. Chandler testified that he probably gave screens to Rollins Cooper on June 1 but he could not say so for sure because his memory was not like that, Chandler never told Rollins Cooper that he had a date with three women. Nor did he have a date with three women. Chandler did not recall whether he paid Rollins Cooper that day for the Betancur job but that based on the records, he obviously did. Chandler was surprised to see the records which indicated that he was out on his boat that night. He thought it was the weekend before the Fourth of July. He recalled the night the calls were made and he was out fishing at the Gandy Bridge. He did not kill anybody that night. He went out about 9:30 or 10:00 that night. He doesn't remember exactly what time it was when he got ready to go home, but when he started his engine up and was pulling his anchor in, the engine died. He started it again, it ran for a second and stopped. He got out his spotlight and started looking to see if he had an electrical problem. He started smelling gas. He pulled his big hatch away from my engine section and could smell a lot of gas in the bilge. It was obvious the bilge pump was pumping, he had busted a hose and was totallIy out of gas. A The boat had an inboard/outboard; with the inboard tank bu ilt into it. It had a forty-gallon tank below the deck. The top on the boat was fiberglass. He had a cover over the top of the engine which was hinged. The hinges would have to be loosened and the whole section would slide. He slid it forward and at that time he smelled a lot of gas. He called home about three times. His purpose was to get assistance and none came. He did not have anyone he could contact to go and get him and tow him. He was stuck on the boat and he just sacked out on the boat. It got daylight and he called home. The Coast Guard came by and he flagged them down. They told him they would come back to give him assistance if they could. They couldn't. Another boat went by and he asked them for a tow to the marina. With daylight, Chandler could see what his problem was and he proceeded to tape the hose where it was leaking. It didn't hold too well, but it did okay. Two guys gave him a tow to the Gandy Bridge Marina, he got five bucks of gas and went back home. He called home again. Chandler testified that he kept tape and spare parts on his boat. The next day was June 2 and Chandler picked up two orders for jobs. Eventually Chandler sold his boat to Mr. Carlton and bought a 26-footer with a cabin cruiser. Before he sold the boat he replaced the steering wheel because it was broken. Chandler said there were no concrete blocks at his house. When he bought the house it was immaculate.  During the next week, Chandler testified that he and his wife went to a Fourth of July party, birthday parties, Memorial Day parties, out to dinner once or twice. Normal, everyday living.  In the beginning of June, 1989 the only child around Chandler was his daughter, Whitney. His wife's son, Jay, came down later in the summer from school in Rhode Island. To Mr. Zinober's final direct question, "Did you kill these ladies?" Chandler answered, "I have never killed no one in my whole life. I have never--it's ludicrous. It's ridiculous." On cross examination, Chandler admitted that he had been convicted of a felony six times. He had been in custody since September, 1992. He said that he was not on the stand to talk about the rape trial; that he was not answering "no questions of the rape trial". He said he would talk about the Rogers homicide but that the rape case was still pending. Assistant State Attorney Doug Crow asked Chandler if he was taking the Fifth Amendment and he replied, "Yes, I am." To which Mr. Crow replied, "You are afraid your answers may incriminate you, is that why you refuse to answer?" Chandler responded, "I have invoked my Fifth Amendment from the rape case from Madeira Beach. I will answer no questions, sir, that relates to that case." Mr. Crow continued, "You are afraid your answers may incriminate you?" Chandler, "NO." "Then you can't take the Fifth Amendment." At this point during the exchange between the prosecutor and Chandler, the court injected, "That is correct." Chandler was directed, "Answer the question, or else you will have to invoke the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination." To which Chandler replied, "I invoke the Fifth Amendment." Chandler testified that he left his fingerprints and handwriting on the pamphlet that the Rogers women had. He recalled the driver was Michelle as she had been standing on the driver's side of the car. Chandler remembered reading in the paper about three bodies floating up in Tampa Bay. Four days later he recalled seeing the two girls' pictures, along with the mother's, in the paper. He did not realize that they were two of the same women he had met on June 1. He thought the pictures looked entirely different from the people he met. In November, 1989 Chandler saw a composite in the paper and it was only then that he realized that the women were the ones he had given directions to. The composite related to the Madeira Beach rape. Until May, 1994 when Chandler saw the marine toll bills for the evening of June 1, 1989 and the morning of June 2, he did not have any idea where he was. Chandler testified that his boat has broken down before and he a has stayed out all night in Tampa Bay numerous times. He would go out fishing all night probably two nights a week. Chandler believed that it was about fifteen minutes from the time the boat died and he could not restart it that he made the first phone call. He did not think that he knew the line was broken until the morning when it got daylight, He kept his tanks topped off and a forty-gallon tank was empty. He knew he had not used forty gallons of gas. He knew he had a leak. After Chandler called home, there was another six or seven hours and that he slept during that time.  He said he called the Coast Guard and they told him to call a towing service. That it would cost $100 an hour to tow him. He declined.  Chandler did not call any commercial services nor any of his friends who had boats.  Chandler admitted that he had known since November, 1989 that he was a suspect in the murders.  He admitted that he fled the state because he was afraid of the Madeira Beach case. It's connection to the homicide did not worry him that much. Chandler testified that after the composite came out in the paper and on TV he went to Deltona for three days to visit Leslie Hicks, a prior live-in girlfriend. He did not tell her that he was a suspect in a rape and murder.  He said that he went up to Ohio to make money to obtain an attorney. He was afraid the police were looking for him and had his phone tapped.  While in Ohio he got with Rick and Kristal and obtained about a thousand dollars and two ounces of cocaine. He did not give it to a lawyer. He returned to Deltona. He had Kristal arrange to have a phone call made to his wife, Debbie, through a pay phone. He wanted to see if the cops had been to his house on the Madeira Beach case. He was concerned about the Rogers' case, but he was more concerned about the Madeira Beach case. Chandler did not recall whether it was he who asked his wife to go to a second pay phone or if it was Kristal's idea. Chandler admitted to Kristal that he was a suspect in a rape case. He said that he also mentioned to her that they were trying to link the Rogers homicide to the rape case. He told her that because he was nervous about it. He was scared. He did not want to go to jail. He needed money. He was not afraid of going to jail on the Rogers homicide. Chandler said that he told Kristal that he was innocent of both crimes. He denied that Kristal ever went to the bathroom. He said that she never left the room.  Chandler testified that neither Kristal nor Rick were shocked or upset with what he was telling them. He thought they were concerned about helping him obtain a lawyer. He was chain-smoking cigarettes, but he said that he always did. He smoked two, three packs a day. He said he also always drinks a was positive that he did not back his car up that the tag wouldn't be visible.  Chandler denied tell ing Rick and Kristal to lie if anybody lot of coffee. He to the building so called looking for him. He was concerned that the police might have had his phone tapped, but he did not think they might try to contact his two daughters in Cincinnati.  To the prosecutor's question, "Were you on Madeira Beach on May 14, 1989, Chandler replied, "I plead the Fifth, sir." He did admit to being familiar with the John's Pass area.  He said that he had been out to that area prior to May, 1989. He did not have any jobs or friends in that area. Chandler plead the Fifth on response to five consecutive questions regarding the Madeira Beach rape.  Chandler admitted to keeping duct tape over the broken steering wheel of his boat. Chandler invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege twice more in the presence of the jury regarding the rape case. The court admonished Chandler for refusing to answer the State's questions. He was told that because he had taken the stand, the State could ask him questions. He could plead the Fifth Or answer the questions. The State asked another question regarding the Madeira Beach rape and, once again, Chandler plead the Fifth. Defense counsel requested a side-bar conference and asked for a continuing objection. This request for a standing objection was overruled because the court maintained that she had heard him answer some questions when she thought he might have taken the Fifth. He was not taking the Fifth every time.  Chandler said that he kept a knife on the boat but that he did not keep any other weapons on the boat. He said the knife was not a weapon; that it was used for fishing, cutting line, cutting rope, He kept anchor line on the boat. He had two 100-foot anchors on the boat. He also had tie-off line which he kept up front on the boat. The Bayliner boat did not have any carpet in it at any time that Chandler knew of. The boat had a Volvo engine. On the morning of June 2, in daylight Chandler discovered he had a broken fuel line and he put tape over it. His bilge pump had pumped out forty gallons of gasoline into the bay. He said that he did not know when the gas had leaked out. It could have leaked out at his dock. Chandler said that he had an automatic bilge on his boat. At daybreak he said that he saw three Coast Guard people in a Zodiac, two men and a woman. He flagged them down with his shirt. They came over to him and he asked them if the could tow him in. They replied that they had to--something like a body was on the rock or something was on the rock; and that they'd be right back. In the meantime, after about ten to twenty minutes, two guys came by Chandler in a boat. He flagged them. They came over and pulled him over to Gandy. He put five or six bucks of gas into the boat and went home. Chandler did not recall the time he was towed. The boat towed him to the Gandy Bridge Marina on the east side of Tampa Bay. He had been out about a quarter of a mile from where the boats have to go underneath the bridge. They towed him about three to four miles at idle speed. It took maybe an hour. Chandler testified that he arrived home probably twenty minutes to half an hour after he left the marina. Chandler said that after he got home, he went to work. Based on the documents Chandler previously looked at, he had shown up between 7:15 and 7:30 on June 2, 1989 at Ms. Capo's house. However, Chandler did not recall being there at that period of time. Chandler recalled that there were a series of phone tolls made while he was still out on the boat between one and two a.m. and eight fifteen to nine fifty-two.  Chandler could not say for sure what time of day he went to Ashley Aluminum or Ms. Capo's. He did not recall talking to Ms. Capo that morning. He said that Rollins Cooper could have picked up the materials that morning. However, Cooper's signature was not on the material sheets for June 2. At some point after his return to Deltona from Cincinnati, Chandler returned to his wife and daughter. He said that he didn't know why he returned. Chandler testified that he was still concerned that he could be arrested. He did not do anything to try to keep people from finding him. He went back to work. He admitted that he had fear in his head that he was a suspect and that his photograph was in the paper to the day he was arrested. In July, 1990 Chandler and his wife and daughter tried to move to California. He did not tell his friends, even Mr. Foley.  Chandler did not tell his daughter. He said that his sister did not know. That he was not close to his sister. He was not close to anyone in his family. They went to California for fifteen, twenty days. They found it was too expensive so they came back. They did not return to Dalton Avenue.  Chandler testified that his business was going under and he said that he couldn't afford the house. His wife's income was about a fourth of what she normally made. He had too many bills to pay. He had to let them foreclose on his house. Chandler testified that he left Cincinnati with twenty or thirty thousand dollars in his pocket as a result of the drug rip-off that he and Rick Mays did. He did not go to a lawyer to hire him. At that time getting money for a lawyer on the Madeira Beach rape case was of no concern of his. After the drug deal, Chandler took the money and they moved to Sunrise. After that they moved to Ormond Beach. They stayed there a year. Then they moved to Port Orange. He did not tell Mr. Foley, who was living in Port Orange, that he was there. His family did not know where he was. The phone was in his daughter's name. The phone was in her name because they had bad credit and couldn't get it in their name. He was concerned about being arrested in the Rogers homicide but he always thought it would be solved. He was more worried about doing a life sentence for a rape case. The Days Inn on Courtney Campbell Causeway was in the area where he lived when he lived on Dalton Avenue. Chandler testified that he had been in the canals back where the dock was at the Days Inn once or twice, but that he was not real familiar with it. With the aid of a photograph of the full view of the engine of the boat, Chandler testified that the broken line was in the front of the engine. The gas line came up from the gas tank which was under the floor. The gas tank was below deck. Although he repaired the gas line, he did not know whether it was busted before the gas tank or not. Chandler had not ever heard of an antisyphon valve. He was aware of a device that would prevent the gas from leaking out but that was with the engine, not the tank. The line went only to the fuel pump. There was no valve there that stopped it from coming out. Although he did not know if it was the top or the bottom of the gas tank, Chandler said that the break in the line was where it went to the gas tank. Chandler testified that when he gave directions to Michelle and Christe, Michelle was out of the car and Christe was coming out over top of the driver's side window. Then Chandler corrected himself and said that although he did not know where Christe was sitting, she stuck her head out of the front window. Chandler could not recall whether it was the passenger or backseat window. Michelle handed him the brochure he wrote the directions on. The Rogers were parked down by the pumps at the gas station and that is where he had pulled up. Chandler said that in giving Michelle directions, he never mentioned Boy Scout to them. He never mentioned Columbus to them. He could not recall what time of day it was. And he did not remember if they drove off while he was still there. He did not recall writing anything else on the brochure. He identified his handwriting in pencil on the brochure. He had used their pencil. His handwriting was in pen at the bottom also. He had used their pen. Oba denied switching from pencil to pen. He said that he may have written both in pen. Could have been either. Chandler denied drawing a line, the circle, the X, or the words on the brochure. They were not a part of the discussion with the girls.  He did not have any casual conversation with them about Busch Gardens; where they were from. He did not notice that the tags on their car were from Ohio. He estimated Michelle's age to be anywhere from seventeen to nineteen. She was pretty. He did not pay much attention to Christe. He did not give them directions to the Westshore Mall. Chandler had contact with Customs agents in 1991. He denied making repeated inquiries to them as to the status of the Rogers homicide investigation. The only case Chandler said he ever discussed with Customs was making money from selling drugs. He never discussed the Madeira Beach rape case with them. The State questioned Chandler twice about the Madeira Beach rape and he plead the Fifth both times in the presence of the jury. Defense counsel's motion for mistrial based upon Mr. Chandler being required to go over the privilege was denied in side-bar conference.  Chandler totally disputed what Kristal and Rick May said; it never happened. He also disputed what some of the people from the jail testified as to what he had said. The state presented several rebuttal witnesses. Among these witnessess was Detective Ralph Pflieger who testified that he reviewed all the evidence from the Rogers' hotel room and did not find any Maas Brothers receipts, bags, or merchandise tags. A cellmate of Chandler's, Edwin Ojeda, testified that he overheard Chandler tell another prisoner, Daniel Maxwell, that his biggest mistake was leaving the note in the car. Coast Guardsman Robert Wesley Shidner was recalled to the stand. He disputed Chandler's claim that on the morning after the Rogers were killed, he flagged down three Coast Guard people in a Zodiac, two men and a woman and that they told him they had "to-- something like a body was on the rock or something was on the rock; and that they'd be right back." Shidner testified that the Coast Guard does not make routine patrols and that on June 2, 1989, there was not a crew out on Tampa Bay looking for a body. He also testified that the standard crew is two on a boat at a time, but that they had a three-person crew on June 4 to help retrieve the Rogers' bodies and that on June 2, 1989, the Coast Guard boat never left the St. Petersburg station. To rebut Chandler's claim that he was out all night because he ran out of gas, the state presented a certified boat mechanic, James Hensley, who testified that Chandler's fuel line was possibly still the original, it was in good shape and showed no signs of repair. He also testified that gas dissolves tape so it would not repair a leaking gas line. Further, fuel does not leak out when there is a hole in the gas line because of the anti-syphoning valve. Even if the anti-syphoning valve failed, it would not have leaked because Chandler's tank was on the bottom of the boat with the gas line coming out of the top of the motor. If the gas line broke, the engine would suck air and stop, but the gas would stay in the tank. Customs Officer Whitney Azure testified that Chandler asked him several times about the Rogers investigation. At the close of the evidence the jury returned a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree, as charged. The penalty phase was scheduled for the next day. Chandler waived the presentation of any mitigating evidence. 38 Defense counsel put on the record that he would have called a mental health expert, as well as family members. Chandler confirmed that he did not wish to present any mitigating evidence. The state presented judgment and sentences for prior armed robberies. The state also presented the armed robbery victims, Peggy Harrington and Robert Plemmons, who testified as to the underlying facts of the prior armed robberies. Peggy Harrington testified that while she was at a jeweler's remount show Chandler robbed her and a partner at gunpoint of $750,000 in jewelery. FDLE agent John Halliday testified that the gun, as well as some of the jewelery, was recovered during the search of Chandler's house on September 25, 1992. Robert Plemmons testified that Chandler and another man kicked in the front door of his home in Holly Hill. Chandler hit him in the head with a pistol. Chandler took Plemmons' girlfriend in the bedroom where she was tied up on the bed and stripped from the waist down. Judge Schaeffer sustained an objection to Plemmons' testifying as to what his girlfriend told him had happened in the bedroom. Chandler presented some documentary evidence as mitigating evidence, including college credits. The jury returned three 12-0 recommendations for death.  

He did not speak with reporters afterward. Amanda “Mandi” Scarlett, Joan Rogers' niece, sat next to him during the execution and later read a statement at a news conference. “The family of Jo, Michelle and Chris are very appreciative of everyone that has brought us to this day,” Scarlett said. “The journey has been difficult for all of us involved. We have always been grateful to those who brought us to this place, and we were grateful that they were brought back home to us. Now is the time for peace.”