After more than two years since the murder of a Dublin woman, Jeffrey Kenneth Rogers, 62, signed a plea agreement for 30 years in prison.
Rogers pled guilty to the First Degree Felony offense for the murder of Traci Leigh Jones and was sentenced to 30 years through the agreement on Nov. 7 in the 266th District Court in Erath County. Jones was 41 when she was killed.
With the agreement, Rogers waived the right of an appeal.
Rogers killed Jones June 17, 2020 and later confessed to killing her, according to the arrest complaint in the case. Details of the case reveal a complicated relationship and set of circumstances surrounding the murder.
According to investigation documents, Rogers confessed to causing the victim’s death after leaving a Holiday Inn in Stephenville with Jones.
Rogers reportedly said he was “scared” of the victim after she had contacted news stations and Arlington ISD (where his wife, Tammy, was in administration) about the nature of their relationship.
According to Rogers, he and his wife, Tammy were engaged in the production of pornography with the victim under Rogers’ own company.
Tammy Rogers reportedly confirmed this relationship in an interview with authorities, further reporting that Jones previously lived with the couple in Arlington before they sold their house and also lived in the Rogers’ RV before she re-located to Dublin.
Tammy Rogers told investigators that she was upset with Jeffrey because he still continued a relationship withJonesandwas‘constantly paying more and more money.’ She said her husband said at approximately 5:30 p.m. on June 16 he was going to Dublin to give more money to Jones. Jeffrey reportedly didn’t return home until 6:45 a.m. the following morning and didn’t answer any of the three text messages that Tammy sent during the night.
Surveillance footage recovered from Erath County reportedly showed Jeffrey Rogers and Jones together from 8:45 p.m. on June 16 to 4:10 a.m. on June 17 in Stephenville, Texas. The document notes that Jones was wearing the same clothing in which she was later discovered.
Surveillance footage reportedly showed Rogers driving a white 2017 Ram pickup with a 50-gallon Craftsman tote box with wheels and a red lid in the back at 6:02 a.m. in Burleson. This is the same type of container in which Jones’ body was later discovered.
Tammy Rogers reported that they loaded the truck after his arrival to go to Kentucky to see her father, who recently had openheart surgery. Interviews, video evidence and other resources reinforce that the suspect traveled through Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky with what appeared to be the Craftsman container in the back. Recovered footage showed only Jeffrey Rogers accessing the camper shell hatchback where the container was located.
Tammy Rogers reported that she and Jeffrey Rogers stayed at her father’s home overnight on June 17. A search of the residence revealed plastic shavings in drill bits that seemed to correspond with holes drilled into the container’s lid.
Jeffrey Rogers reportedly rented a pontoon boat at the Paris Landing Pontoon Rentals in Tennessee from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 18 and surveillance footage showed the suspect loading a blanket-covered container onto his boat at 9:33 a.m. and departing the marina at 9:52 a.m.
The document reported that the body floated into the state of Kentucky where it was discovered on June 20. The Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office in Madisonville, Kentucky ruled the death a homicide and identified the victim as Jones.
Rogers told investigators he was the only one responsible for the death of Jones.
“I own it and Tammy had nothing to do with it,” he reportedly said.