Richard W. Rogers

Richard Rogers in court

Closing arguments from both sides were brief on November 11, as reported by the Metrowest Daily News.  Prosecutor William Heisler reiterated the circumstantial and physical evidence that linked Rogers to the crimes from all four cases.

• Mulcahy had disappeared after attending a business meeting in Manhattan, and he'd been seen in a gay bar that Rogers frequented.  There were sixteen fingerprints on bags that wrapped his remains. 
• Marrero, a known gay hustler from Manhattan, was found killed, cut up, and also wrapped in plastic before being dumped in NJ.  A palm print and two fingerprints linked him to Rogers.
• Peter Anderson, whose parts were found in Pennsylvania, was a gay man who had attended a meeting in Manhattan.  A palm print and eighteen fingerprints on the bags that wrapped his parts were matched to Rogers.
• Michael Sakara was seen with Rogers at a gay bar the evening before his body parts were found wrapped in several bags.
• Rogers's employment records from Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan indicated that he'd taken a few days off during the time of each of the four murders.

Defense attorney Ruhnke argued that with no crime scene, New Jersey had no jurisdiction; he also challenged that his client's fingerprints on bags were proof enough that he'd committed murder.  They had the wrong man.

By the middle of the afternoon on November 11, the jury retired to consider the arguments on both sides.