WAUKEGAN, Ill. (Sun-Times Media Wire) -
Sandra Rogers said she wished her ex-husband dead weeks before he was brutally attacked with a sledgehammer, the couple's daughter testified Friday.
Rogers, 56, formerly of Mundelein, is on trial in Lake County Circuit Court on attempted murder, solicitation of murder and home invasion charges in Judge John Phillips' courtroom.
Eight men and eight women — 12 jury members, plus four alternates — have been listening to prosecutors Danielle Pascucci, George Pappas and Rod Drobinski present evidence that Rogers conspired with Jonathan McMeekin to attack her ex-husband Rick Rogers and his new wife, Angela, as they slept in their Lincolnshire home May 19, 2003.
McMeekin has pleaded guilty and is serving 20 years in prison. He was dating Robin Rogers, the daughter of Sandra and Rick, at the time of the 2003 attack, Robin testified.
"(My mom said) she wished he (Rick) died, wished he would fall of the face of the earth," Robin told the jury. "She said how much she hated him ... she wanted him dead."
During, at times tearful, testimony, Robin also said her mother did not have anything nice to say about Rick's new wife.
"(My mom) was very jealous of (my stepmom). She tried to make her out to be a bad person because she was younger than her and may have looked better than her," Robin testified.
Rick and Angela were hospitalized for several days following the brutal attack. Angela underwent multiple surgeries to repair the damage to her face; it took him almost a year to recover all of his motor functions after his head had been bashed at least six times, Rick testified earlier this week.
Robin, who was 14 at the time of the attack, found her dad and stepmother "covered in blood" around 5 a.m., May 19, 2003, she testified.
"I saw all the blood everywhere," she said.
She called 9-1-1 to get police to the house. Robin said she was scared because she "didn't know what was happening" or if the attacker "was coming after me" or her other siblings, who were also sleeping in the house at the time.
Defense attorney Gillian Gosch has named Robin as McMeekin's accomplice.
Although her father had forbidden her from speaking to McMeekin, Robin talked with him on the phone the week before the attack was carried out, she testified. She admitted under oath to giving McMeekin the layout of her father's home.
Robin also admitted under oath to having a conversation with McMeekin about having her father "taken care of" two to three weeks prior to the attack.
"He (McMeekin) asked me if I wanted someone to take care of my dad. I told him no. I told him it wasn't worth it, that he wouldn't be able to get away with it," Robin testified.
She also said she wrote a poem titled "Daddy Dearest" prior to the May 19 attack expressing how angry she was with her father. The poem referred to herself as the "spawn of Satan" and compared her father to Hitler.
"It (my poem) talks how I wanted him dead," Robin said.
Robin also admitted under oath to asking a friend to kill her father before the attack happened.
"I just start ranting about by dad. He (my friend) knew how miserable he was making my life. It was in the middle of my rant. (I said) would you just kill him for me please," Robin told the jury.
Robin said that she did not mean it and never offered her friend anything in exchange.
"Did you have anything to do with the attack on your dad and (stepmother)?" Pascucci asked Robin.
"No," Robin replied.
The trial is expected to continue with further testimony Monday. Sandra Rogers has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
