Waynesburg man gets life in prison for double homicide
A Waynesburg man was sentenced to life in prison without parole Thursday for the first-degree murder of two people in the borough in February 2022.
Cortland Rogers, 31, fatally shot Kevin Williford, 54, and Judy Hunter, 47.
Rogers pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, among other charges, in the Greene County Court of Common Pleas in November.
Numerous charges were dropped in the November agreement. It also stipulated that Rogers would not be subject to the death penalty. That happened through the removal of aggravating circumstances, President Judge Lou Dayich said Thursday; one would’ve been the case’s status as a double homicide.
On Feb. 14, 2022, police found the bodies of Williford and Hunter inside their Waynesburg apartment. Authorities believe they had been dead for several days.
Witnesses said Rogers had confessed to the killings during a later incident where he had assaulted two people and held them against their will at a residence on Wood Street.
In addition to the first-degree murder charges, Rogers was sentenced to a total of 15 to 60 years for two counts of kidnapping and one count each of aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy.
His alleged co-conspirator in the homicides and kidnappings, Shawna Smith, is next scheduled to appear in court for a pretrial conference on March 20.
Rogers can appeal his sentence on four grounds. Dayich walked him through the possibilities, such as arguing he had ineffective counsel. That wasn’t the case, Rogers said. His attorneys had “worked hard for me,” he said.
Dayich said he had encountered Rogers several times over the years in the justice system, He admitted the questioning, which bore the tone of a friendly chat, had a more professional purpose: solidifying the grounds for the sentence.
“You know that I’m locking you into this,” Dayich told Rogers.
Beyond answering Dayich’s questions, Rogers opted not to give a statement at his hearing.
“Mr. Rogers fully accepted the consequences of his actions from three years ago,” his lead attorney, Joseph Zupancic, said after Thursday’s hearing. “It’s been a long and arduous journey to get us to this point.”
Senior Deputy Attorney General Kara Rice, lead prosecutor in the case, deferred comment for an official release from the state attorney general’s office expected to be issued sometime Thursday.