Alexander Rogers, the man accused of killing a 64-year-old woman and injuring a 73-year-old man, made his first appearance in a Cowlitz County courtroom since being arrested in California.
Cowlitz County Prosecuting Attorney Ryan Jurvakainen announced that the criminal charges against Rogers have been amended. Originally, Rogers, 51, of Longview faced a second-degree murder charge, along with a first-degree assault charge over the Aug. 5 attack that left one person dead.
As of Friday, he is charged with first-degree murder for the death of 64-year-old Dawn Renee Peters and a first-degree attempted murder charge for the stabbing of the second victim, Andrew Leroy Peters, 73, of Longview.
Rogers is to be held without bail until his next hearing, and he must provide a DNA sample.
He also faces a felony harassment charge and a failure to register as a sex offender. The murder charge, attempted murder charge and felony harassment charge are all accompanied by a deadly weapon enhancement.
The probable cause statement was amended, but it was not available as of Friday afternoon.
Presiding Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Marilyn K. Haan appointed Deputy Director of the Office of Public Defense David Phelan to represent Rogers, who has a no-bail hearing scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 9., and issued a no-contact order for the lone surviving victim.
Rogers is accused of killing Dawn Peters and wounding Andrew Peters at a house located in the 100 block of Terumi Lane on Aug.5: Both victims sustained lacerations to their neck areas.
He fled the state but was later detained in Los Angeles after the vehicle he was traveling in, a black BMW, was found in nearby Calabasas.
According to court documents, Rogers is a convicted sex offender after beating and raping a woman in 2001. He also was sentenced to prison after he broke into a home in Cathlamet in 2002 with a machete and attacked two people.
