Convicted serial killer Glen Rogers invoked President Donald Trump in his final statement moments before being executed by lethal injection Thursday at Florida State Prison for the 1995 murder of a Tampa woman, capping a decades-long case that intersected with one of America’s most infamous unsolved crimes.
 |
Glen Rogers. Credit : FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS |
Rogers, 62, declared “President Trump, keep making America great. I’m ready to go” at 6:03 p.m. before officials administered the lethal cocktail, according to media witnesses from The Associated Press and Tampa Bay Times. The Ohio native was pronounced dead 13 minutes later for stabbing 34-year-old Tina Marie Cribbs, a mother of two, in a motel bathtub after meeting her at a bar.
The so-called “Casanova Killer” - nicknamed for his charm and targeting of single mothers with reddish hair - received separate death sentences in Florida and California for murdering Cribbs and Sandra Gallagher, a 33-year-old mother of three strangled weeks earlier in Van Nuys. Prosecutors linked him to three additional killings across four states through victim profiles and forensic evidence, though he was never charged.
“He stole my mother’s future and forced us to endure 28 years of legal battles,” said Randy Roberson, son of Louisiana victim Andy Lou Jiles Sutton, in a post-execution statement released through the Florida Department of Corrections. “This monster deserved worse than a painless death.”
Rogers’ execution followed the U.S. Supreme Court’s Wednesday rejection of final appeals arguing childhood abuse merited life imprisonment. His legal team cited new state laws imposing capital punishment for child trafficking as evidence of shifting societal values, but courts dismissed the claim.
The case drew renewed attention in 2012 when Rogers’ brother Clay alleged in the documentary My Brother the Serial Killer that Glen confessed to the 1994 stabbings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Los Angeles Police Department officials told The Hill they maintain “full confidence” in their original investigation despite Rogers’ claims, referencing O.J. Simpson’s 1995 acquittal. Simpson died in 2024 without facing criminal consequences.
Florida Department of Corrections records show Rogers consumed a final meal of pizza, chocolate cake, and soda before meeting with his wife Thursday morning. Witnesses described him as compliant during the 16-minute procedure, which used a three-drug protocol of midazolam, vecuronium bromide, and potassium chloride.
Governor Ron DeSantis, who signed Rogers’ death warrant last month, has accelerated executions since taking office, with five conducted this year compared to one in 2024. Anthony Wainwright, convicted of a 1994 kidnapping and murder, is scheduled to die June 10.
The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops reiterated opposition to capital punishment in a May 14 letter to DeSantis, urging “mercy without compromising justice.” Executive Director Michael Sheedy acknowledged the crimes’ severity but argued “redemption remains possible even for those who commit heinous acts.”
Rogers’ case adds to 2025’s national execution tally of 16 across eight states, per the Death Penalty Information Center. His final words marked the first direct political statement by an executed inmate since Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh quoted the poem Invictus in 2001.
As prison staff removed the IV lines, Roberson turned to reporters and stated: “Tonight ends our nightmare. Tomorrow, we rebuild.”