Internet Sources:

Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Executed Offenders (Earl Heiselbetz)

Texas Department of Criminal Justice

Texas Attorney General Media Advisory

AUSTIN - Tuesday, January 11, 2000 - Texas Attorney General John Cornyn offers the following information on Earl Carl Heiselbetz, Jr. who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m., Wednesday, January 12th:

FACTS OF THE CRIME

Earl Carl Heiselbetz was the closest neighbor of the Rogers family at their respective homes near Pineland, Texas. Heiselbetz's home was about two tenths of a mile away from the Rogers' home, which was secluded and not visible from the road. Before the Rogers had moved into the house, Heiselbetz had actually broken into the locked house and had stated that he could get into the house whenever he wanted.

On Friday, May 24, 1991, the Rogers family -- Rena, Bob, and their two year-old daughter Jacy - left their home to spend the Memorial Day weekend out of town. They left their two watchdogs outside to guard their home. Returning to the area on Tuesday morning, May 28th, Rena took Bob to his job in Lufkin before going home. Bob arrived at work sometime between 10:30 and 11 a.m. When Bob returned home from work that evening he discovered that the two dogs were missing. On June 2, 1991, the carcass of one of the missing dogs was discovered in the vicinity of the Rogers' and Heiselbetz's houses. The dog had been shot.

The Rogers' telephone records showed that on May 28th, at 10:01 and at 10:02 a.m., prior to the time the Rogers returned home, calls were made from the Rogers' home to the Multiquest Sweepstakes at a "900" telephone number. Also on May 28th, Heiselbetz told his wife, Becky, that he had been bitten that morning by a dog. When she saw him later, he had a bite on his finger and scratches on his arms, and he was upset. Evidence was introduced that Heiselbetz liked to participate in sweepstakes contests and that he had informed his wife of his interest in participating in the "dial 900" telephone sweepstakes, but she had discouraged him because of the cost.

On Thursday, May 30, 1991, a neighbor saw Rena and Jacy Rogers at the grocery store at about 9:30 a.m., Rena had planned to meet her sister-in-law, Natalie Whitton, at 11:30 a.m. to travel together to Nacogdoches; Rena planned to take Jacy. Even though Ms. Whitton had confirmed plans over the telephone that morning, Rena failed to show up at the appointed place and time. Her car keys, purse, and a jar of coins were discovered missing from the Rogers' home, but there was no sign of foul play at the home. Rena's car was parked in her driveway.

Almost a month later, on June 27, 1991, the human skeletal remains of an adult female and a child were found in and around a barn in nearby Tyler County. The remains were identified through dental and medical records as those of Rena and Jacy Rogers.

Heiselbetz had been questioned by the Sabine County Sheriff on the day Rena and Jacy Rogers disappeared. Because he had responded in a questionable manner when asked about his whereabouts, he became a potential suspect and was questioned again on the day the remains were discovered. At this interview, following a previous one, Heiselbetz voluntarily confessed to the murders in the presence of his wife at a relative's home.

Heiselbetz subsequently signed a written confession stating that he killed the victims at around 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 30, 1991. Heiselbetz confessed to putting the two bodies into Rena's car and driving them some miles away to the barn where they were found. He also stated that when he returned from hiding the bodies in the barn, he parked Rena's car back at her house, then went into the Rogers' home and got a package of frozen hamburger meat and canned tomato sauce, which he took home. When asked how he had killed the victims, Heiselbetz answered that he did not know. He said he had blacked out, but he noted that he remembered marks on the victims' necks. The interviewer asked if he had strangled the victims, and Heiselbetz answered that he did not think so. A few days following his confession, Heiselbetz guided the police investigators on the route that he had taken after killing Rena and Jacy and showed them where he had thrown Rena's purse in a pond. The purse, containing Rena's identification, was recovered from the pond. It appeared that an attempt had been made to burn the purse and the items in it.

The incomplete skeletal remains of the infant Jacy evidenced no trauma which could suggest a cause of death. The skeletal remains of Rena, however, evidenced a condition known to forensic anthropologists as "pink tooth." This condition appears in the teeth of those who have died of asphyxiation. A forensic anthropologist testified that strangulation was a possible cause of death of Rena Rogers.

A court appointed psychiatrist testified that he had examined Heiselbetz and that there was nothing in the examination that would explain or excuse Heiselbetz's actions. The psychiatrist also testified that head injuries sustained by Heiselbetz in a traffic accident in 1975 could not have caused the amnesia which Heiselbetz claimed in his confession.

In his confession, Heiselbetz also claimed that the offense was provoked by Rena Rogers. According to Heiselbetz, Rena Rogers had come to his gate on the morning of May 30th, with Jacy, accusing him of shooting her dogs. He turned to walk away and then felt a pain in his leg. Realizing he had been shot, he went into his house to take care of his leg. When he came back out a significant time later, Rena was still there. He claimed she threw something at him, and when he ducked, he hit his head on a fence post and blacked out. When he came to, both Rena and Jacy were dead; he guessed that he had killed them. However, the evidence supports a version of events vastly different from that related by Heiselbetz. For example, the assistant director of the Jefferson County Regional Crime Lab testified that she examined the holes in the blue jeans worn by Heiselbetz the day of the murders, and that there was no evidence that the holes were caused by bullets. Similarly, the physician who had examined the lesions on Heiselbetz's leg testified that the injury did not look like a gunshot wound, and was not characteristic of a recent wound but appeared to have been a year or two old.

It was also established that Rena Rogers was a small woman, standing under five feet tall and weighing no more than 90 pounds--compared to Heiselbetz, a large and strong man, weighing about 250 pounds at the time of the murders. Further, it was established that on the morning of the offense, Rena Rogers was preparing to depart on an out-of-town trip at 11:30 a.m. She was seen at the grocery store at about 9:30 a.m. and Heiselbetz confessed to killing her around 11a.m. Considering these facts, it is unlikely that Rena, a petite woman, on a morning in which she was preparing to go out of town, carried a gun and her infant daughter two-tenths of a mile to provoke a violent confrontation over two missing dogs with a man much larger and stronger than herself, and that after shooting him waited there for him to return.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On July 16, 1991, Heiselbetz was charged by an indictment filed in the District Court of Sabine County, Texas, with the capital offense of two murders. Heiselbetz was tried before a jury upon a plea of not guilty. The jury found him guilty of capital murder on November 18, 1991. On November 20, 1991, following a separate punishment hearing, the jury answered affirmatively the two special issues submitted to it, and the trial court accordingly sentenced Heiselbetz to death.

Because he was sentenced to death, appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals was automatic. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Heiselbetz's conviction and sentence on June 28, 1995. A petition for certiorari review was not filed in the United States Supreme Court.

On April 24, 1997, Heiselbetz filed an application for state habeas corpus relief in the convicting court. The Court of Criminal Appeals denied that application on January 21, 1998, and Heiselbetz did not seek certiorari review to the Supreme Court. Heiselbetz next filed a federal petition for writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Lufkin Division, on February 5, 1998. The district court denied relief on October 20, 1998, and also denied Heiselbetz permission to appeal. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit similarly denied permission to appeal on July 26, 1999. Heiselbetz then filed a petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, which is pending before the Court. Heiselbetz also recently filed a subsequent state habeas application with the convicting court and two motions for stay of execution with the state courts. These state court matters are pending before the respective courts.

PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY

At the punishment phase of trial, various witnesses testified to Heiselbetz's violent nature. A 72 year-old woman testified that about two years prior to the trial, Heiselbetz had became violently angry when she fired him for doing a poor job on her roof. Heiselbetz had chased her with a hammer, threatening to kill her. Heiselbetz's ex-wife testified that he had physically abused their two children, even striking them on the head. She testified that the children have needed professional psychiatric help, and that Heiselbetz no longer has parental rights over the children. She also testified that after their separation, Heiselbetz had broken into her house and raped her. Heiselbetz's former sister-in-law also testified as to his violence, stating that she once saw Heiselbetz beat his two children with the buckle end of a leather belt.

DRUGS AND/OR ALCOHOL - There was no evidence of drug or alcohol use connected with the instant offense.

ProDeathPenalty.com

Earl Heiselbetz Jr. was sentenced to die for the kidnapping and murders of his next door neighbor and her young daughter. Rena Rogers and her two-year-old daughter Jacy were kidnapped from their home in Pineland, Texas and driven to Tyler County on May 30, 1991. Rena and Jacy were both strangled and their decomposed bodies were not found until one month later. Heiselbetz was their 40-year-old unemployed next-door neighbor. Heiselbetz stole a change jar containing about $8, a handgun and Rena's purse. The purse and the jar were later found in a pond near the home. Heiselbetz failed three lie detector tests before confessing to the murders. Heiselbetz had said he could not remember killing the woman and child, who were his closest neighbors in a secluded area near the Sabine National Forest in east Texas.

Mrs. Rogers and her daughter disappeared after returning home from a midmorning trip to the grocery store. Their remains were found a month later in a barn. Rena Rogers and her 2-year-old daughter, Jacy, disappeared the morning of May 30, 1991, after grocery shopping. The woman's husband found her car keys, purse and a jar of coins missing from their secluded home close to the Sabine National Forest. No signs of foul play were evident. The victims' skeletal remains were found June 27 in a barn in nearby Tyler County. The mother and daughter were identified by medical and dental records and were believed to have been strangled. Prosecutors said Heiselbetz, the Rogers' nearest neighbor who had been a suspect since the 2 disappeared, confessed after a 2nd round of questioning the day the bodies were discovered. "He was kind of a loner-type of person who had gotten into making sweepstakes (toll) calls. He went over to (Ms. Rogers') house to make 1-900 calls for some kind of sweepstakes," said Charles Mitchell, the Sabine County district attorney who prosecuted Heiselbetz. "We theorize maybe he was caught there in the house after they got home from the grocery store, they got into an altercation and he killed the woman and killed her child." Mitchell noted that the unemployed truck driver weighed nearly 3 times as much as the 90-pound woman.

Fight the Death Penalty in the USA

Earl Carl Heiselbetz Jr., 48, 00-01-12, Texas

A man who strangled a woman and child who lived next door to him was put to death Wednesday, the 200th execution in Texas since capital punishment resumed in the state in 1982. Earl Carl Heiselbetz Jr., 48, was executed by injection for the 1991 killings of Rena Rogers and her 2-year-old daughter, Jacy. Strapped to a gurney before the execution began, Heiselbetz looked at his mother and father, who were watching through a window nearby, and said: "Love y'all. See you on the other side." Heiselbetz had said he could not remember killing the woman and child, who were his closest neighbors in a secluded area near the Sabine National Forest in east Texas.

Mrs. Rogers and her daughter disappeared after returning home from a midmorning trip to the grocery store. Their remains were found a month later in a barn. "I'm not worried about myself," Heiselbetz said in an interview last month, adding that he needed to "just get my heart right with God." Rena Rogers and her 2-year-old daughter, Jacy, disappeared the morning of May 30, 1991, after grocery shopping. The woman's husband found her car keys, purse and a jar of coins missing from their secluded home close to the Sabine National Forest. No signs of foul play were evident.

The victims' skeletal remains were found June 27 in a barn in nearby Tyler County. The mother and daughter were identified by medical and dental records and were believed to have been strangled. Prosecutors said Heiselbetz, the Rogers' nearest neighbor who had been a suspect since the 2 disappeared, confessed after a 2nd round of questioning the day the bodies were discovered. "He was kind of a loner-type of person who had gotten into making sweepstakes (toll) calls. He went over to (Ms. Rogers') house to make 1-900 calls for some kind of sweepstakes," said Charles Mitchell, the Sabine County district attorney who prosecuted Heiselbetz. "We theorize maybe he was caught there in the house after they got home from the grocery store, they got into an altercation and she killed the woman and killed her child." Mitchell noted that the unemployed truck driver weighed nearly 3 times as much as the 90-pound woman.

Heiselbetz maintained that he suffered blackouts from an injury he received in a 1975 car accident, which the high-school dropout says explains why he would not remember whether he were the killer. However, a psychiatrist testified that the explanation was not plausible. A jury convicted him of capital murder and sentenced him to die in November 1991. "All I can say is, I don't remember the killing," Heiselbetz said.

(Sources: San Antonio News-Express, Associated Press & Rick Halperin)

Death Row Book 2000

January 12, 2000 ~ First Texas Execution of the New Century Earl Carl Heiselbetz, Jr., 48, was executed by lethal injection on Jan. 12, 2000 - the first person to be executed in Texas this year. His execution also marks the 200th in Texas since executions resumed in Dec. 1982, and the state's first of the new millennium. Heiselbetz was sentenced to death for the kidnapping and murders of next door neighbor Rena Rogers and her 2-year-old daughter Jacy. Both victims were taken from their Pineland home and driven to Tyler County on May 30, 1991. They were strangled and their decomposed bodies were not found until one month later. Heiselbetz stole a change jar containing about $8, a handgun and Rena's purse. The purse and the jar were later found in a pond near the home. Heiselbetz failed three lie detector tests before confessing to the murders. In the final moments, Heiselbetz looked to his family and said: "Love y'all - see you on the other side," By Bonnie Bobit for Death Row

ABOLISH Archives (San Antonio News-Express, Associated Press & Rick Halperin)

January 12, 2000 - TEXAS EXECUTION:

A man who strangled a woman and child who lived next door to him was put to death Wednesday, the 200th execution in Texas since capital punishment resumed in the state in 1982. Earl Carl Heiselbetz Jr., 48, was executed by injection for the 1991 killings of Rena Rogers and her 2-year-old daughter, Jacy.

Strapped to a gurney before the execution began, Heiselbetz looked at his mother and father, who were watching through a window nearby, and said: "Love y'all. See you on the other side." Heiselbetz had said he could not remember killing the woman and child, who were his closest neighbors in a secluded area near the Sabine National Forest in east Texas. Mrs. Rogers and her daughter disappeared after returning home from a midmorning trip to the grocery store. Their remains were found a month later in a barn. "I'm not worried about myself," Heiselbetz said in an interview last month, adding that he needed to "just get my heart right with God."

Rena Rogers and her 2-year-old daughter, Jacy, disappeared the morning of May 30, 1991, after grocery shopping. The woman's husband found her car keys, purse and a jar of coins missing from their secluded home close to the Sabine National Forest. No signs of foul play were evident. The victims' skeletal remains were found June 27 in a barn in nearby Tyler County. The mother and daughter were identified by medical and dental records and were believed to have been strangled.

Prosecutors said Heiselbetz, the Rogers' nearest neighbor who had been a suspect since the 2 disappeared, confessed after a 2nd round of questioning the day the bodies were discovered. "He was kind of a loner-type of person who had gotten into making sweepstakes (toll) calls. He went over to (Ms. Rogers') house to make 1-900 calls for some kind of sweepstakes," said Charles Mitchell, the Sabine County district attorney who prosecuted Heiselbetz. "We theorize maybe he was caught there in the house after they got home from the grocery store, they got into an altercation and she killed the woman and killed her child." Mitchell noted that the unemployed truck driver weighed nearly 3 times as much as the 90-pound woman.

Heiselbetz maintained that he suffered blackouts from an injury he received in a 1975 car accident, which the high-school dropout says explains why he would not remember whether he were the killer. However, a psychiatrist testified that the explanation was not plausible. A jury convicted him of capital murder and sentenced him to die in November 1991. "All I can say is, I don't remember the killing," Heiselbetz said.

Heiselbetz becomes the 1st condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas. 6 more executions are scheduled in the state in the next 15 days. Heiselbetz becomes the 4th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 602nd overall since America resumed capital punishment on Jan. 17, 1977.

Abilene Reporter-News

"East Texas Killer Becomes 200th Texas Execution," by Chris Fletcher.

(Thursday, January 13, 2000) HOUSTON (AP) — An East Texas man was executed Wednesday night for strangling a woman and child who lived next door to him. Earl Carl Heiselbetz Jr. was the 200th person executed in Texas since capital punishment resumed here in 1982.

Strapped to the death chamber gurney, Heiselbetz looked at his mother and father, who were watching through a window nearby, and said, “Love y'all. See you on the other side.” His mother, a red-eyed Anna Heiselbetz, waved at him and responded, “Love you. Love you.” Heiselbetz coughed twice and gasped three times before falling into unconsciousness. He was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m., eight minutes after the flow of lethal drugs began.

Heiselbetz Jr., 48, was executed for killing Pineland area resident Rena Rogers, 27, and her 2-year-old daughter, Jacy, on May 30, 1991. The execution was Texas' first of the year and one of seven scheduled for January. “I'm not worried about myself,” Heiselbetz said in an interview last month, adding that he needed to just “get my heart right with God.” Heiselbetz said he had no memory of killing the woman and her daughter, who were his closest neighbors in a secluded area near the Sabine National Forest, about 80 miles north of Beaumont. The pair disappeared after returning home from a mid-morning trip to the grocery store. Mrs. Rogers' husband later found her car keys, her purse and a jar of coins missing, but no signs of foul play were evident. The victims' skeletal remains were found June 27 in a barn in nearby Tyler County. The mother and daughter, identified by medical and dental records, were believed to have been strangled.

Heiselbetz, an unemployed truck driver, became a suspect on the day of the disappearance when his alibi failed to satisfy investigators. Prosecutors said he confessed to the killings after the bodies were found. “He was kind of a loner-type of person who had gotten into making sweepstakes (toll) calls. He went over to (Ms. Rogers') house to make 1-900 calls for some kind of sweepstakes,” said Charles Mitchell, the Sabine County district attorney who prosecuted Heiselbetz. “We theorize maybe he was caught there in the house after they got home from the grocery store, they got into an altercation and he killed the woman and killed her child.”

The Rogers' telephone records showed calls were made from their home to a sweepstakes number two days before the victims' disappearance. Later the same day, the Rogers returned home from a weekend trip to find their two watchdogs missing. Heiselbetz told his wife that day that a dog had bitten him, prosecutors said. The body of one of the Rogers' dogs was found near Heiselbetz's house.

Prosecutors said Heiselbetz confessed to putting the bodies of Mrs. Rogers and her daughter into her car and driving them to the barn where they were found. In the confession, Heiselbetz said he blacked out and could not remember how he killed the victims, but saw marks on their necks. He later led investigators to the pond where he had thrown Mrs. Rogers' purse after the killings, prosecutors said. The purse was recovered. Heiselbetz, a high-school dropout, said he suffered injuries in a 1975 car accident that caused occasional blackouts, which is why he was unable to recall whether he was the killer. However, a psychiatrist testified that the explanation was not plausible. A jury convicted him of capital murder and sentenced him to die in November 1991. “All I can say is, I don't remember the killing,” Heiselbetz said.

Texas leads all states in executions since the U.S. Supreme Court effectively reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Virginia is second with 72.

Heiselbetz v. State, 906 S.W.2d 500 (Tex.Cr.App. 1995) (Direct Appeal)

Appellant was convicted in November 1991 of capital murder under section 19.03(a)(6)(A), Tex.Penal Code, for a double murder committed on May 30, 1991. After the jury returned affirmative findings to the two special issues submitted pursuant to Article 37.071(b), appellant was sentenced to death under Article 37.071(e). Direct appeal to this Court is mandated by Article 37.071(h) Appellant raises thirty-three points of error. We affirm.

The record establishes the following facts:

Appellant was the victims', Rena and Jacy Rogers, closest neighbor. His home was about two tenths of a mile away from the Rogers' home, which was secluded and not visible from the road. Evidence was introduced that before the Rogers had moved into the house, appellant had actually broken into the locked house and had acknowledged at that time that he could get into the house whenever he wanted.

On Friday, May 24, 1991, the Rogers family--Rena, Bob, and their daughter Jacy--left their home to spend the long Memorial Day weekend out of town. They left their two watchdogs outside to guard their home. On Tuesday morning, May 28, 1991, the Rogers returned home. But, since Bob wanted to go straight to work, Rena dropped him off at his job in Lufkin before going home. Bob arrived at work sometime between 10:30 and 11:00 a.m. When Bob returned home from work that evening he discovered that the two dogs were missing. On June 2, 1991, Bob Rogers' brother-in-law found the carcass of one of the missing dogs in the vicinity of the Rogers' and appellant's houses. The dog had been shot.

The Rogers' telephone records showed that on May 28, 1991 at 10:01 and at 10:02 a.m., calls were made from the Rogers' home to the Multiquest Sweepstakes at a "900" telephone number. The Rogers were not home at the times the calls were made and no one had permission to be in their home. The evidence also established that on that same day, Tuesday, May 28, 1991, appellant told his wife, Becky, that he had been bitten that morning by a dog. When she saw him later, he had a bite on his finger and scratches on his arms, and he was very upset.

Evidence was introduced that appellant liked to participate in sweepstakes contests and that he had informed his wife of his interest in participating in the "dial 900" telephone sweepstakes, but his wife had discouraged him because of the cost. From this evidence a rational juror could conclude that on Tuesday, May 28, 1991, appellant entered the victims' home and placed the "900" calls which mysteriously appeared on their telephone records, and that in the course of entering the Rogers' home, appellant killed their two watchdogs.

The evidence also established that on Thursday, May 30, 1991, a neighbor saw Rena and Jacy Rogers at the grocery store at about 9:30 in the morning. Rena had planned to meet her sister-in-law, Natalie Whitton, at 11:30 a.m. to travel together to Nacogdoches; Rena planned to take Jacy. That morning Natalie had confirmed plans over the telephone with Rena but, without explanation, Rena failed to show up at the appointed place and time. Her car keys, purse, and a jar of coins were missing from the Rogers' home, but there was no sign of foul play at the home. Rena's car was parked in her driveway.

Almost a month later, on June 27, 1991, the human skeletal remains of an adult female and child were found in and around a barn in Tyler County. The remains were identified through dental and medical records as those of Rena and Jacy Rogers. Appellant had been questioned by the Sabine County Sheriff on the day of the offense and had responded questionably when asked about his whereabouts. His dubious answers made him a potential suspect; so, on the day the remains were discovered, he was questioned again. At this interview, conducted in the presence of his wife and at a relative's home, appellant voluntarily confessed to the murders. We note that appellant's confession offered no details as to how the victims were murdered. Indeed, appellant "guessed" that he murdered the victims.

Appellant subsequently signed a written confession stating that he killed the victims at around 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 30, 1991. Appellant confessed to putting the two bodies into Rena's car and driving them some miles away to the barn where they were found. He also stated that when he returned from hiding the bodies in the barn, he parked Rena's car back at her house, then went into the Rogers' home and got a package of frozen hamburger meat and some canned tomato sauce, which he took home. When asked how he had killed the victims appellant answered that he did not know, that he had blacked out, but he noted that he remembered marks on the victims' necks. The interviewer asked if he had strangled the victims, and appellant answered that he did not think so. A few days following his confession, appellant guided the police investigators on the route that he had taken after killing Rena and Jacy and showed them where he had thrown Rena's purse in a pond. The purse, containing Rena's identification, was recovered from the pond. It appeared that an attempt had been made to burn the purse and the items in it.

The incomplete skeletal remains of the infant evidenced no trauma which could in turn suggest a cause of death. The skeletal remains of Rena, however, evidenced a condition known to forensic anthropologists as "pink tooth." This condition appears in the teeth of those who have died of asphyxiation. A forensic anthropologist testified that strangulation was a possible cause of death of Rena Rogers. "Pink tooth" does not occur in infants.

A court appointed psychiatrist testified that he had examined appellant and that there was nothing in the examination that would explain or excuse appellant's actions. The psychiatrist also opined that the head injuries sustained by appellant in a traffic accident in 1975 could not have caused the amnesia which appellant claimed in his confession. Mindful that appellant confessed that he killed the victims, and reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, the record supports the following version of the offense: (This version of events is the theory of the offense presented by the State.) The appellant knew how to and actually had entered the Rogers' home on the morning of Tuesday, May 28, 1991, to make "900" sweepstakes calls from their telephone. He had been attacked by the watchdogs, and he had killed the animals. On the morning of Thursday, May 30, 1991, appellant re-entered the Rogers' home. Apparently he believed that Rena Rogers had gone for the day, and he decided to again make "900" telephone calls. Unfortunately, appellant was surprised by Rena, returning from the grocery store. Appellant strangled Rena and then strangled her two year old daughter, Jacy, in their home. He then, in the relative seclusion of the Rogers' home, loaded the victims' bodies into Rena's car and transported them to the barn where they were found a month later. When he returned Rena's car to the Rogers' driveway, he re-entered the victims' home to remove any evidence of foul play and took the tomato sauce and frozen hamburger meat. He later disposed of Rena's purse and keys.

Appellant offered in his confession that Rena Rogers had come to his gate on the morning of May 30, 1991, with Jacy, cussing and carrying on, and accusing him, apparently, of shooting her dogs. He turned to walk away, felt a pain in his leg, and realized he had been shot. He went into the house to take care of his leg, and when he came back out a significant time later, Rena was still there. She threw something at him, and when he ducked he hit his head on and fence post and blacked out. When he came to, both Rena and Jacy were dead; he guessed that he had killed them. But, remembering that the jury may believe or disbelieve any of the evidence, and reviewing the record the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence supports a version of events vastly different from that related by appellant. Moreover, it was established that Rena Rogers was a small woman, standing under five feet tall and weighing no more than ninety pounds--compared to appellant, a large and strong man, weighing about 250 pounds at the time of the murders. It was also established that on the morning of the offense, Rena Rogers was busy preparing to go on an out-of-town trip at 11:30 a.m. She was seen at the grocery store at around 9:30 and appellant confessed to killing her around 11:00 a.m. Under these facts, a rational juror could reasonably reject appellant's assertion that Rena, a petite woman, on a morning in which she was busy preparing to go out of town, toted a gun and her infant daughter across two-tenths of a mile to provoke a violent confrontation over two missing dogs with a man much larger and stronger then herself, and that after shooting him waited there a good time for him to return.

The jury apparently rejected appellant's version of the offense; the evidence supports their decision as reasonable.