Taylor Shomaker, the ex-girlfriend of murder defendant Jimmy Ray Rodgers, testified Wednesday that he admitted to her that he killed Dr. Teresa Sievers, 46, using a hammer.
#SieversTrial – Shomaker testified that following Dr. Sievers’ murder she asked Rodgers if he “killed her” and he said yes. Shomaker asked if it was with a gun and Rodgers said, no it was a hammer. pic.twitter.com/hL4rPtem3R
— Law & Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) October 16, 2019
Shomaker said that the defendant’s nickname was “Jimmy the Hammer.”
#SieversTrial – Shomaker says Jimmy Rodgers nickname was “Jimmy the Hammer”. – Sievers was beaten to death with a hammer. pic.twitter.com/FZTVupnBC0
— Law & Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) October 16, 2019
Shomaker seemed distraught throughout her testimony, and shielded her face from the defendant.
#SieversTrial – Rodgers is allowed to go to sidebar with his attorneys (we see that rarely, but it happens). Shomaker turns away shielding her face. https://t.co/RwEjiM1kYq pic.twitter.com/MwDqZGxZny
— Law & Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) October 16, 2019
Shomaker discussed the alleged admission of guilt beginning at about 22:45 in the video above. You can see her response to Rodgers starting at about 25:50 and 30:39.
The defendant stands trial for Dr. Sievers’ 2015 murder. The victim was found dead in her Lee County, Florida home. The state’s theory is that her husband Mark Sievers, 51, orchestrated the murder. He recruited childhood friend Curtis Wayne Wright Jr., 51, who in turn got Rodgers, 29, to help out. The victim returned home alone from a New York vacation, and that’s when Wright and Rodgers ended her life, the state said.
Sheriff’s deputies noted that the Sievers couple was having martial problems, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime. Assistant State Attorney Hamid Hunter told jurors in opening statements that the victim’s husband voiced concern of losing the daughters in a divorce.
Wright flipped, pleaded guilty, and agreed to testify against his co-defendants. Sievers is set to stand trial after Rodgers.
Rodgers’s attorney Kathleen Marie Fitzgeorge told jurors that evidence will show this murder was an independent act of Curtis Wayne Wright: “A crime of passion.” She said they weren’t sure if Mark Sievers participated, and said they weren’t defending him.
[Screengrab via Law&Crime Network]
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