TV Host's Killer Was His Son-in- Law, Lover: Cops

Scott Rogers killed in possible murder-suicide attempt
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 1, 2014 5:00 AM CDT
TV Host's Killer Was His Son-in- Law, Lover: Cops
Talk show host Scott Rogers was allegedly shot by his son-in-law.   (AP Photo/Dayton Police via The Dayton Daily News)

In a disturbing—not to mention extremely complicated—story, the host of a Baton Rouge, La., local TV program was allegedly shot and killed by his son-in-law, who was also thought to be his lover, according to police. The son-in-law, Matthew Hodgkinson, survived what Sheriff Brett Stassi says was likely a murder-suicide attempt Wednesday. Hodgkinson is now in critical condition in the hospital, the Times-Picayune reports. To make things more confusing, the murder occurred while the TV host, Scott Rogers, 52, was facing an investigation over whether he was the person he claimed to be.

The state recently took two children away from Rogers: One was an adopted son and the other was in the process of being adopted. It's not clear why they were taken, but Stassi says Rogers "used his fake name to get the adoption." Rogers originally lived in the UK, where he ran a dance studio; Hodgkinson was a student at the school. County officials there suggested the place was cultlike and dangerous for kids, the Bury Free Press notes. Rogers was cleared of child molestation charges in the early 1990s. Though Hodgkinson is married to Rogers' daughter, Stassi says the connection was simply a means of getting Hodgkinson US citizenship. If you're not lost yet: Rogers recently took what a friend feared was an excess of sleeping pills, prompting the friend to call police; Rogers said he just couldn't sleep, Stassi says. Click for some lighter—but no less odd—crime news. (More Louisiana stories.)

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