SAN DIEGO -- A former Idaho man has been sentenced to death for the dismemberment killings of two former girlfriends and the death of his former best friend.
Ramon Rogers, 37, stood emotionless as Superior Court Judge Frederic Link imposed the sentence Wednesday.
A jury in June found Rogers guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder and a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders. The same jury two weeks later recommended the death penalty. Six of the jurors attended the sentencing.
"This is one of the most brutal, horrible crimes this county has ever seen," Link said before the sentencing. "He killed them because they got in the way."
Rogers was arrested in March 1996 for the murder of Beatrice Toronczak, whose dismembered fingers and jaw were found in a storage space under the apartment complex where she and Rogers lived with their 6-year-old son.
Rogers was also convicted of murdering Rose Albano, whose leg and arm were found in a plastic bag in Valley Center in northeastern San Diego County.
He had been questioned in early 1994 about the dismemberment murder and told police he last saw Albano on Dec. 21, 1993, after she had withdrawn more than $4,000 from an account and went Christmas shopping. Albano, 33, was pregnant with Rogers' child at the time of her death.
Rogers was convicted of second-degree murder of his former roommate and best friend, Ron Stadt, 29, of Imperial Beach, whose body has never been found. Stadt disappeared June 24, 1993.
