Anthony King murdered three people in September, 1988
(Woodland, CA) – February 25, 2015 – Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig announced that convicted murderer Anthony King was denied parole today by a two-commissioner panel of the Board of Parole Hearings. The hearing took place at the state prison in Corcoran, CA.
During the end of summer in 1987, King was 16 years of age and living in Knights Landing. On September 6, 1987, Steven Patton, 35, was murdered while fishing at Knights Landing. King and his co-defendant Kenneth Bivert had befriended Mr. Patton and drank beer with him on three occasions that night. King and Bivert wanted to go joy-riding, so they later returned to the fishing spot to kill Mr. Patton. After Bivert shot Mr. Patton in the side of the face with King’s shotgun, King took the victim’s money and keys from his pockets. Together they threw Mr. Patton’s body in the river before they took his truck. After they finished their joyride, they discarded the truck in the slough.
Two days later, King and Bivert killed again. They made a plan to rob the local Bank of America and decided they needed a getaway car. They returned to Knight’s Landing where they found husband and wife Raymond and Dawn Rogers fishing. King had Bivert’s .38-caliber special while Bivert held the .44-caliber magnum. They also brought King’s 12-gauge shotgun with them. They both shot and killed Mr. and Mrs. Rogers. The autopsies indicated Mr. Rogers, 29, was shot in the back, possibly while in a stooped position. He also had a .38-caliber bullet wound to the top of his head and a separate wound on his chest. Mrs. Rogers, 32, had been shot four times in the back from a .38-caliber. She also sustained a shot in the back of the head from a large caliber weapon. King took money and the car keys from her purse while Bivert threw the fishing equipment in the river. They dumped the couple’s bodies in the river and fled in the Rogers’ car. Even after the two were apprehended in Oregon on September 11, 1987, evidence established that King and Bivert had planned to overpower the law enforcement officer who was transporting them.
A Yolo County jury convicted King of multiple counts of murder and robbery on July 8, 1988. On November 18, 1988, the Honorable James Roach sentenced King to 27-years-to-life in state prison. Bivert pled guilty to the murders on January 14, 1988 and was sentenced to 52-years-to-life, with 27 years to be served concurrently, on May 10, 1988.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Raven and family members Jodi Price and Dawn Marie Johnson participated in the hearing by telephone conference. Ms. Price is the sister of Dawn Rogers. Dawn Marie Johnson is the niece of Dawn Rogers. Ms. Price was pregnant with Dawn Marie at the time of the murders and named her daughter after her sister following the murders.
Board of Parole Hearing Commissioners Michelle Minor and John Denvir agreed that King still posed an unreasonable risk to society if released. Commissioner Minor stated that the “offenses were committed in a heinous and brutal manner.” Commissioner Denvir told King he needed to find the root of the causative factors” of the murders.
Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig stated that he is proud of the efforts of his Lifer Parole Division. “I can’t imagine the pain these families continue to endure. It’s immeasurable. We will continue to do everything we can to support these families. We will continue to remember and honor Dawn Marie, Ray and Steve. That is the very least we can do for these families and all families who have survived similar tragedies.”
Anthony King will be eligible for parole again in five years.
The attached photo is of Dawn Rogers family members who attended today’s hearing. (L-R) Jodi Price and Dawn Marie Johnson, Dawn Rogers’ namesake.
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