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Published: November 5, 2009
El Cerrito victims' son:
Don't execute killer
Editor: the following story appeared on SF Gate November 3.
Eric Rogers was 17 when he saw his parents stabbed and bludgeoned to death by his uncle at their El Cerrito home just before dawn in January 2006.
 The convicted murderer, a trucker named Edward Wycoff from the Sacramento suburb of Citrus Heights, is as unsympathetic as they come. He insists he deserves to be rewarded for ridding the world of two evil people, that he knew how to raise his sister's three children better than she and her husband did, and that, besides, they had the gall not to invite him over for Christmas.
Arguing to a jury that he should not be sentenced to die, he makes bad jokes that no one laughs at.
So it was an unlikely witness who argued for Wycoff's life Monday in the penalty phase of his murder trial in Martinez - Rogers.
Rogers, now 21, who along with his sister cradled their mortally wounded father in their home on Rifle Range Road on Jan. 31, 2006, said his uncle should be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Later, he told reporters what a judge ruled he could not tell the jury - that his parents, Paul Rogers and Julie Wycoff Rogers, would have wanted Wycoff to be spared lethal injection.
'It would be wrong'
"I think it would be wrong for you to get the death penalty," Rogers told Wycoff, who has been acting as his own attorney in Contra Costa County Superior Court. "You, specifically, because you are mentally childish and immature for your age."
Rogers told Wycoff, 40, that he had the makeup of a 9-year-old boy.
Outside court, Rogers said his parents were opposed to capital punishment, and so is he.
"Killing and hatred is something I associate with my uncle, not my parents," he said.
To read entire story, click here.
Posted Thursday, November 05, 2009 6:06 AM By Icouldweep
"Thou shalt not kill!" What part of this commandment do we not understand? Society and Mother Church have justified killing over the centuries - we even have a "just war theory" of how killing is justified in certain cases.
Killing is wrong - period. You cannot pick and chose whose life is salvagable and whose is not! God is the Lord of life - not us.
Everyone so often you meet someone - like in this story - who provides us with a genuine Christian witness. Abortion would be far less prevalent if we were consistent in honoring all life from womb to tomb! The Quakers provide a better example of forgiveness than most Catholics.
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Posted Thursday, November 05, 2009 6:09 AM By JLS
I think the important question has to do with the attitude of the victim. Rogers and his sister are the most aggrieved victims ... society in general is a vague victim. Mosaic Law says a great deal about the penalty for murder, such as it having some basis in the aggrievement of the victims. What would, thus satisfy the victims. In this case the most direct victims are calling for life and not death. However, in other cases the victims call for execution of the guilty person. This should be figured into the judgement.
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Posted Thursday, November 05, 2009 7:11 AM By abqdad
While I am generally opposed to the death penalty, there are cases where it is the only option...womeone who is danerous while in prison. First of all, "icoudweep" did NOT get tht commandment correct. it is, "thou shalt not commit murder". Now, murder is clearly defined in the Talmud so as to allow for certain situations where killing is allowed... In war, to protect soemone, and to protect the general public by allowing for capitol punishment is very limited cases. This is NOT a semantics game, but represents the intellect and wisdom of God! God has had to kiill people on numerous occasons. Would he violate his won commandment? NO! The insane liberals have totally distorted God's wisdom. This directly lead to 50 million people dying in WWII, where ALL fo those deaths could have been avoided if the world had taken action in 1936 when Hitler first violated the treaty of Versailles! There IS evil in this world that ONLY responds to lethal force! God understands this and gave us the ability to deal with Satan's influence on this world! I AGREE that the public uses the death penalty for the WRONG reasons...primarily vengeance, which is always wrong! The ONLY reason for its use is to protect others! But, two wrongs to NOT make anything right! We need to resolve the RIGHT reasons for sue of the death penalty...protection, and ensure that the mentally isnae are isolated form the public to protect them! (We just had a mentally ill man kill 5 people in one day, including two officers!) The greatest problem is the total lack of concern for the mentally ill!!! They are ignored by lawmakers and health care planners!!!! We have closed MOST of our mental health facilities in my state! So, the mentally ill go without treatment or a place to be safe and protect the public! They end up homeless or in jail! (Most people with low IQ's or mental illness eventually end up in jail!) It's sad and wrong!
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Posted Thursday, November 05, 2009 7:47 AM By david
As hard as it is for someone to forgive those that murdered a love one, we should not only forgive but pray for the soul of that individual. St. Paul, pray for the conversion of those on death row.
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Posted Thursday, November 05, 2009 7:49 AM By hosemonkey
Certain people, by committing certain acts, forfeit the right to life. Society has the right to protect itself against these predators. While I disagree with the death penalty in it's present form (Too long between crime and punishment) Too many death row inmates will simply die of old age at great taxpayer expense. Two appeals, if unsucessful, execution by guillotine. Quick and humane. Far more than received by their victims. My 2 cents.
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Posted Thursday, November 05, 2009 10:30 AM By betty
he certainly sounds mentally ill to me and mentally ill people are usually exonerated on the grounds that they did not know the difference between right and wrong or something to that effect. Never mind forgiving them if they really were mentally ill and incapable of what the rest of us know is wrong, wrong, wrong.
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Posted Thursday, November 05, 2009 3:55 PM By Dana
My goodness, Icouldweep...you're so fortunate that others have paid with their lives so you could weep over your computer. Self-righteous, judgmental people like you are so naive and take so much for granted...were it not for people like my dad, you'd be speaking german with a japanese accent. Murder is wrong but if you think all killing is wrong you're a real fruitcake.
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Posted Thursday, November 05, 2009 5:12 PM By Icouldweep
Its so funny how some people ignore the Church's teaching on some issues (capital punishment) and cling to them on others (sexual morality) Talk about pick and chose Catholicism. Read what the Church says about Capital Punnishment as well as you do other issues that are to your liking. Perhaps this cafeteria style Catholicism that some complain about is really a projection of their own struggle
Read the gospels - we are not still in the Old Testament - Jesus gave us a new commandment "Love your enemy" "Forgive those who hurt you!" I guess He really didn't mean it! Violence begets violence. Look at the example of John Paul II - forgiving on a Sunday the man who tried to kill him the Wednesday before! Or do the Pope's only get our attention when it is something we want for our already formed consciences?
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Posted Thursday, November 05, 2009 6:19 PM By JLS
Capital punishment is not intrinsically evil, icouldweep. Your explanation of forgiveness is missing something important. OK, the late Pope forgave his attempted assassin, but he did not commute his prison sentence ... remember it happened in Vatican City, which he was in charge of, not the Italian govt; so, there is a good example of forgiveness. The forgiven man had to do his penance.
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Posted Thursday, November 05, 2009 8:34 PM By Icouldweep
My dear Dana I'm a bit stunned at your personal attack......but you have revealed to me the very core of what I am talking about.......................even words can be used as weapons. But I know you were not deliberately trying to be mean.
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Posted Friday, November 06, 2009 12:52 AM By Kenneth M. Fisher
icouldweep, I do weep over lame brained liberals like you who out and out distort, or yes lie, about the Church's actual teachings on the use of the Death Penalty by the State.
It very much sounds like you got your very limited knowledge from a teacher at the annual dissent fest, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles (Lost Angels) Religious Education Congress.
Have you actually read those statements, even the one by Pope John Paul II who was opposed to the Death Penalty? He wrote that the State has the right to use the Death Penalty to protect the innocent!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
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Posted Saturday, November 07, 2009 3:08 PM By Mark from PA
Mr. Fisher, I find your comment to icouldweep insulting and nasty. A little Christian charity is in order here. You end your post with "God bless, yours in Their Hearts." If you want to end like that you should start by being respectful.
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Posted Sunday, November 08, 2009 12:02 AM By Abeca Christian
I agree with Kenneth M. Fishers comments. I find it awful that people would have more mercy on the murderer than on the victims and the torture they had to endure under his hands. What's to say, that he won't kill again. We have a duty to protect society from people like these. Capital punishment, if one truly understands the true Christian beliefs from the early church fathers, they would understand that is was allowable! We are not to misinterpret the bible on our own understandings but lean on the teachings of the infant church. Not all men understand the real teachings. They just shout in defense for a cruel and unrepentant murderer. These are tough times, mercy would be to give this person time to repent, go to confession and then take justice as allowed for past generations, capital punishment.
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Posted Sunday, November 08, 2009 12:15 AM By Abeca Christian
I read the whole article now, it sounds like that there was something wrong with this guy. I still don't understand why he killed his sister and her spouse? It was not clear, the kids sound like they are having a hard time growing up now because of this bad experience. Poor kids, they need our prayers and so does this man who brought this great grief on this family. May God bring healing. Who knows if this man repents and confesses his sins before he dies, who knows, maybe God will be merciful enough to have him in purgatory long enough for him to intercede for these young victims who are left without a father and a mother. Perhaps capital punishment might actually be an act of mercy for this man, it may help lead him to understand his actions and help him repent, time to truly seek God's forgiveness and time to pray for healing for his nephew and niece.
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Posted Sunday, November 08, 2009 5:54 PM By Mark from PA
Abeca Christian, it appears that this man is a mentally disturbed and mentally retarded person. From what you write in your post of 12:15 AM it seems that you believe that killing such a person might actually be an act of mercy for him. So you are suggesting that he be put out of his misery? I thought that you were a pro-life person. That certainly isn't the pro-life stand here.
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Posted Sunday, November 08, 2009 8:05 PM By JLS
Why is it that all the gay advocates always oppose the death penalty? BTW, I read the statement by the late Pope John Paul II on capital punishment ... he did not oppose it completely, but suggested it be done rarely and only in cases where it would be dangerous to society to not execute a criminal.
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Posted Monday, November 09, 2009 2:49 PM By Abeca Christian
Mark from PA read JLS's post from November 08, 2009 8:05 PM. You will receive your answer. I also study a great deal on what the early church fathers have taught on the subject of death penalty and I am submitting to their teachings. They are the church fathers and I am their pupil. Capish!
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Posted Monday, November 09, 2009 3:54 PM By Mark from PA
Well that is good that gay advocates oppose the death penalty. Now they need to get on board and support the unborn also.
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Posted Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:02 AM By Abeca Christian
A lot of gay advocates have voted for Obama, so I'm sure most don't care about the unborn. The difference between the unborn and those who are on death row is that the unborn are helpless little innocent children, unable to defend themselves, a person who is waiting to be penalized to death, they are not the helpless ones, they are the ones who committed a heinous, most evil crime against another person or persons. Capish! People place their pity in the wrong places sometimes and just forget that it was the victim who had to endure such evil acts placed on them by the criminal.
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Posted Tuesday, November 10, 2009 3:17 PM By Mark from PA
I basically agree with what Pope John Paul II said about capital punishment. The Church is mostly pro-life in this regard and I concur and accept the teachings of the Church.
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Posted Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:43 PM By Abeca Christian
That is great to hear Mark from PA than you too understand what I am saying. Death penalty acceptable in some instances.
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