Man who raped, murdered OSU student executed

Thursday, March 23rd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) -- Moments before he was executed, Kelly Lamont Rogers smiled at witnesses and asked God to heal the family of the young woman he stabbed to death and raped in 1990.

Rogers, 31, received a lethal mix of drugs at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary and was pronounced dead at 12:27 this morning.

He acknowledged robbing, raping and killing Karen Marie Lauffenburger, a 21-year-old student at Oklahoma State University, after she delivered him a pizza on the night of Dec. 19, 1990.

"To the Lauffenburger family, I just pray you guys will find peace and that God will heal you from the inside out," Rogers said. "And for those who might not know Jesus, I just ask that you know him and trust him as your Lord and savior. He will get you through."

Several members of Rogers' and Lauffenburger's families witnessed the execution and sat stone-faced throughout.

After the drugs began to flow, Rogers' smile quickly faded. He blinked, blew twice through puffed cheeks and fell motionless a minute later. Another minute passed before his chest came alive in a series of a dozen heaves, which faded with each convulsion.

Rogers again fell still and was pronounced dead four minutes after the execution began.

Lauffenburger's parents issued a statement expressing sympathy for Rogers' family, but calling the execution a "final act of justice." "Our family has been constantly reminded of her absence with each passing year during celebrations of holidays, birthdays and special family gatherings," said the statement by Ray and Pat Lauffenburger. "We miss her terribly and will continue to do so on a daily basis."

At the time of her murder, Lauffenburger studied interior design at OSU and delivered pizzas part time. She made her last delivery to the apartment of Rogers' girlfriend, Audra Todd.

In Rogers' trial, Todd testified that Rogers had told her he planned to rob the person who delivered the pizza. After the delivery, court records show Rogers followed Lauffenburger out of the apartment and robbed her of $40 at knifepoint. He then forced her to drive him to her apartment to get her ATM card, and had her withdraw $175 from her bank account with it.

Afterward, he made her return to her apartment where he stabbed her to death and raped her as she was either dead or dying.

Rogers had been out of prison just five weeks when he murdered Lauffenburger. He had previous convictions for armed robbery, forgery and escaping from a penal institution.

Rogers spent fewer than 10 years on death row, with the U.S. Supreme Court rejecting his final appeal in January and the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board denying him clemency earlier this month. No emergency appeals were filed to try and put a last-minute stop to his execution.

In the hours before his death, Rogers visited with family members and was offered a shower and a fresh set of clothes before he was led to the death chamber.

Earlier in the day, he ate a last meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, coleslaw and Sprite.

Rogers is the 106th inmate executed in Oklahoma and the 23rd executed by the state since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1977. He was the fourth Oklahoma death row inmate executed this year, with three more scheduled for execution in the coming months.

Ronald Keith Boyd is scheduled to be executed April 27, Charles Adrian Foster faces a May 25 execution date and James Glen Robedeaux is scheduled to be put to death June 1.