Victim’s mother vents anger at killer
Julie Holt spent the last Saturday night of her life with her mother, getting her hair done at a salon in a local Wal-Mart. The 33-year-old Holt, who was mentally retarded, was proud of her haircut and showed it off for the next few days.
The memory of how happy her daughter had been brought tears to Kathy Holt’s eyes as she spoke at a sentencing hearing for Cornelius Rogers, the man convicted of killing her daughter.
"He deserves the worst punishment," Kathy Holt said.
Jurors in District Judge Jennifer Togliatti’s courtroom are expected to start deliberating today whether to sentence Rogers to death.
On Dec. 21, the jury found Rogers guilty of first-degree murder for the slaying of Holt during a March 2001 burglary. Holt was found hogtied inside her family’s home in Henderson. A sock had been stuffed in her mouth, and a medical examiner determined Holt’s death was caused by suffocation.
During Thursday’s hearing, Kathy Holt told the jury how lonely she has been since her daughter was killed. Her husband, John Holt, died about a year ago of natural causes.
Kathy Holt told the jury that when John Holt was becoming gravely ill, he told her, "I’ll never live to see the trial."
The case took more than six years to come to trial because several aspects of it went before the Nevada Supreme Court.
John Holt discovered his daughter bound and dead in their home.
He had met Rogers while working as a supply warehouse worker at the Southern Nevada Correctional Center in Jean. At the time, Rogers was serving about seven years at the prison for battery and robbery.
Rogers remained stoic throughout his penalty hearing Thursday until his mother and other relatives spoke on his behalf.
Rogers, who lost an eye at age 15 when he was shot during a drive-by shooting in California, used a tissue to dab tears from his remaining eye.
"I love him," said Louise Collins, Rogers’ mother.
Rogers grew up poor with five sisters and was placed in foster care as a youth. Family members described living in squalid conditions and not having enough food to eat or clothes to wear.
Collins said Rogers’ father was physically and sexually abusive to her children and often would beat, slap or kick her. The family moved 24 times to try and get away from Rogers’ father but he kept tracking them down, she said.
Rogers has spent about 20 years of his life behind bars. He was sent to prison in 1986 after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman in California after he robbed her, authorities said.
Before leaving the woman, he tied her up and taped a sock in her mouth, authorities said.
He served about six years of a 12-year sentence and was paroled in 1992.
In 1993, he pistol-whipped a woman, Diana Cunanan, during a robbery attempt in Las Vegas at the insurance company where she worked.
He was arrested and served about seven years for that case.
An inmate who was housed with Rogers in 2003 at the county jail testified on Rogers’ behalf.
Christopher Robinson told the jury that he shared a cell with Rogers and that Rogers helped him during his first few months inside the Clark County Detention Center.
Robinson is serving time at Southern Desert Correctional Center for attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. A self-described "hit man," Robinson was hired to kill a classmate’s parents in 2003.
Robinson told the jury that if he gets paroled, he will leave prison a different man largely because of Rogers.
"I never want to go back (to prison), and he taught me that," said Robinson, dressed in an orange Nevada Department of Corrections prison uniform and shackled.
"I think I’m alive today because of him," Robinson said.
Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara@reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-1039.
