Lisa Marie Nagle and her confessed killer, Jackie Jerome Rogers. Photo courtesy of TMZ.
Summary: The confessed killer of a Bridalplasty star has a history of animal cruelty.
Bridalplasty star Lisa Marie Naegle was murdered this month, and her killer was arrested after confessing to the crime. Now TMZ has discovered that the man charged also had a history of animal abuse.
Naegle, a nurse, appeared on E! Network’s 2010 reality show, which had 12 women competing against each other for the prize of a dream wedding and transformative cosmetic surgery procedures. In mid-December, she was last seen at a birthday party in Torrance, California; and the 36-year-old was reported missing by family when she did not attend work the next day.
Naegle’s sister Danielle Naegle-Kaimoana told PEOPLE that after calling the police they were informed that they couldn’t investigate until after 72 hours. Instead of waiting for the police to act, they contacted her friend Jackie Jerome Rogers, 34. Naegle had attended the party with him, and Rogers initially said that he had driven her to the party but had went home alone. However, security footage from the restaurant showed them leaving together. After seeing the tape, the family confronted Rogers who said he dropped the reality star at a gas station, and the weirdness of the tale raised numerous red flags.
“I’m heartbroken,” Naegle-Kaimoana says. “I’m so angry. I was so sure she would come home.”
Rogers was eventually brought in by the police for questioning, and after confessing, they searched his home. Police found Naegle’s body buried in his yard, and TMZ reported that she had been beaten to death with a hammer.
TMZ found that Rogers had a history of killing and burying remains in his yard. In 2009, Rogers and his mother were arrested for felony animal abuse. They allegedly starved their family horse to the point it almost died. Animal control took the horse away, and he got three years of probation.
Rogers continued to live in the home where he had abused the horse, and he had buried his friend’s body in the same yard where he had almost killed his family pet.
Naegle’s sister told PEOPLE that Naegle and her husband had been planning to start a family before her life was taken away. She allegedly had been in an affair with Rogers, a man she had attended nursing school with. According to TMZ, Rogers had become angry when she tried to end their relationship.
Rogers is currently being held on bail for $2 million.
Source: TMZ, People