The trial of an Ottawa man accused of killing his parents is expected to get underway this week at the Ottawa courthouse.
Cameron Rogers, 24, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
It’s been two-years since the bodies of Dave Rogers, 69, and Merrill Gleddie Rogers, 63, were discovered behind a shed in the backyard of the couple’s Apeldoorn Avenue home in the Carleton Heights neighbourhood.
Police were acting on a tip from Montreal Police on November 28, 2016, when officers made the gruesome discovery later at the couple’s home.
The couple was well-known in the city. Dave Rogers, a retired Ottawa Citizen reporter, he had worked with the newspaper for decades. Merrill Gleddie Rogers was a respected training consultant within the Department of National Defence.
At the time of their murders friends and neighbours were shocked. Friends remembered the joy the couple felt when they adopted Cameron 22 years earlier, telling CTV the couple was very proud of their son.
The couple’s families, including some who have travelled from the U.S. to be here for the start of trial, are asking for privacy. In an unusual move, the family has asked Major Crime Unit Constable Chris Benson to speak on their behalf. Benson tells CTV what makes this case even more difficult for the family is that both victims and the accused are all family members. What’s worse, he says is the trial will get underway around the same time as the two-year anniversary of the murders.
Jury selection is expected to get underway late Tuesday or early Wednesday. The trial is scheduled to last up to six-weeks.
