Murder Suspect Returned to New Jersey

TOMS RIVER, N.J — A nurse accused in the dismemberment slayings of two men was returned to New Jersey to face the charges Wednesday. Richard W. Rogers, Jr., 50, of Staten Island, N.Y., appeared before Superior Court Judge Peter J. Giovine and was taken to the Ocean County Jail, where he is being held on $1 million bail. Rogers, a nurse at Mount Sinai Medical Center, is charged with two counts of knowing or purposeful murder in the deaths of Thomas Mulcahy, 58, of Sudbury, Mass., and Anthony E. Marrero, 44, of New York.

The two were dismembered with hacksaws after apparently crossing paths with Rogers. Mulcahy, who was known to frequent gay bars, disappeared after a business meeting at the World Trade Center in New York

Two days later, his remains turned up in bags at two separate locations – 18 miles apart – in Burlington and Ocean counties.

His head and other remains were found in six bags at a Route 72 picnic area in Woodland Township; parts of his legs were found later that day at a Garden State Parkway rest stop in Eagleswood Township.

On May 10, 1993, the remains of Anthony E. Marrero, 44, of Manhattan, were found in a bag along the roadside in Manchester, Ocean County. He was last seen six days before, in the area of 8th Avenue and 41st Street in New York, according to Ocean County Prosecutor E. David Millard.

Rogers entered no plea during his brief court appearance Wednesday, answering yes and no questions from the judge.

His lawyer, David Ruhnke, said later he was new to the case and could not discuss it in detail.

"I don't know if they have a good case, a bad case, a non-existent case. All I know so far is what I read in the newspaper," Ruhnke said.

(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News