GUILTY WI - Roger Pfeil, 27, shot to death, Ladysmith, 14 Aug 1979

Twenty-five years ago, the Rusk County district attorney resigned, and a murder case under his watch -- the 1979 slaying of a college student -- languished in the unsolved file.

Now his two brothers sit in jail, charged with murder in the slaying.

Despite efforts by Pfeil's family, the case had remained unsolved for 25 years before a secret grand jury uncovered new evidence. ''There are pieces of the puzzle that we don't have, and the only person who can give those pieces is John Rogers," Kathleen Pakes, the current district attorney, said.

Robert Rogers resigned as district attorney in 1980 and committed suicide four years later after a second, unrelated killing.

In the Pfeil case, Robert Rogers ''didn't pull the trigger, but he was certainly responsible," Pakes told Judge Frederick Henderson yesterday. A fourth brother, Mike, who gave law enforcement officials statements about his role, will not be charged, Pakes said.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/w...ors_kin/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+National+News

According to investigators, the victim, Roger Pfeil, a 27-year-old college student, was angry at Rogers for having Pfeil's dogs shot for running loose. Rogers was afraid Pfeil would come after him, so he struck first, investigators said. Pfeil was killed in his driveway with a blast to the head from a sawed-off shotgun.

Rogers remained as Rusk County's top law enforcement officer for several months afterward before leaving town under a cloud of suspicion in Pfeil's slaying. But the investigation went nowhere until a grand jury was convened and one of Rogers' brothers came forward to say he hid in the weeds and watched as Pfeil was shot.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/LegalCenter/wireStory?id=810063

Police in California have arrested the ex-wife of a former Rusk County district attorney investigators believe recruited his brothers to kill a man more than two decades ago.

Police arrested Cherie Barnard, an attorney, at her home in San Mateo on Monday afternoon after she was charged in Rusk County with being party to first-degree homicide and lying to a grand jury in the murder of Robert Pfeil Jr.
When John returned about midnight, Christine told investigators, Barnard yelled from upstairs, "Do I have to call my grandmother?"

"No, it's taken care of," John responded. The next morning John told his wife he had killed a man, she told detectives.

In May 2004, Barnard was subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury investigating the death. She testified under oath that she didn't remember where she was the night Pfeil was shot and she didn't know how or why he was killed.

But the case broke wide open in April 2005 when one of the brothers, Mike Rogers, called an investigator. He told him John killed Pfeil at Bob's request and he and Dale went along as back-up.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/state/12176421.htm

http://www.journaltimes.com/news/local/article_0344f3c2-4189-53da-82e0-73cadf536633.html

By Janine AndersonJournal Times staff | Posted: Thursday, December 11, 2008 12:00 am

John Rogers initially pleaded guilty after confessing to the crime, but withdrew his plea and took the case to trial. Jurors quickly convicted him of first-degree murder on Wednesday.

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Barnard was charged with the crime, and lying to a grand jury, but charges were dismissed after John Rogers refused to testify...

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Mike Rogers was granted immunity in exchange for his cooperation with authorities.

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Dale Rogers was sentenced to 461 days in jail, after pleading no contest to solicitation to commit second-degree murder in 2006, and is now out of custody

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Robert Rogers later reportedly killed a man in California, then committed suicide. Only Dale and John Rogers have actually been convicted of a crime related to Pfeil Jr.'s death.

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http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/jo...robert-william-pfeil&pid=143213631&fhid=12112

Mr. Preil Sr. passed away on December 18, 2009. 95 yrs of age.