Former Uniontown man sentenced in slaying
BELLEFONTE – Convicted murderer Andrew Rogers, formerly of Uniontown, will spend at least the next two decades in state prison under a sentence handed down Thursday by Centre County Judge Bradley P. Lunsford. Rogers, 29, received the maximum possible sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison for his conviction for third-degree murder in the bludgeoning death of Penn State University student Youngcheol Park in February 2006. Rogers admitted at trial he was a cocaine user, that Park was his supplier, and that they had used cocaine in the hours leading up to Parks’ death.
As did a jury last month, Lunsford rejected Rogers’ claim that he only acted in self-defense when attacked by Park and a mystery man he could identify only as “Sweet.”
“This was not self-defense,” Lunsford told Rogers. “This was a cocaine-fueled slaughter. Mr. Park was never a threat to you. You were in control from the first blow. You beat the life out of Mr. Park.
“Mr. Park cannot speak to you in this courtroom today,” Lunsford said. “But he will speak loud and clear through this sentence.”
Rogers showed no emotion as the judge told him he would spend at least the next 20 years of his life in prison. His mother held her hand over her mouth and cried throughout the proceeding.
Dressed in orange Centre County prison garb and shackled, Rogers asked Lunsford for mercy.
“I feel awful for what happened,” Rogers said. “And I feel horrible for his family. I can’t apologize to him, but I can to his family. I feel horrible for what’s happened. All I can do is ask for mercy. I ask of you to give me the opportunity to show people can change. I can change.”
Park was beaten to death inside Rogers’ home on Nimitz Avenue in State College with a rolling pin, a beer bottle and a baseball bat. Seasoned police investigators called it one of the bloodiest crime scenes they had ever witnessed.
Rogers claimed “Sweet” and Park, attacked him inside his home, trying to rob him. The defense argued that Park was a known drug dealer and had a gun with him when he and “Sweet” supposedly attacked, leaving Rogers no choice but to use deadly force to defend himself.
But a jury sided with Centre County District Attorney Michael Madeira, who said “Sweet” did not exist and that Park not only did not have a gun, but was attacked from behind as he sat, studying, at Rogers’ dining room table.
Madeira on Thursday retold how Rogers put a garbage bag over Parks’ head to begin the assault. Rogers then beat the Penn State engineering student with a rolling pin until it broke, then with a beer bottle and finally with a baseball bat, the district attorney said. Park died when his head was caved in.
“His dreams and aspirations were dashed by the actions of one man,” Madeira said. “There were hopes crushed by the blows of a baseball bat, like his face, no longer recognizable to those who knew and loved him.”
Both Madeira and the judge told a tale of a young life lost, as well as a story of potential never realized in the convicted killer – and opportunities he missed to avoid his fate.
Madeira cited letters written to the court by people who know Rogers, describing him as “witty, funny, caring, hardworking, intelligent and organized.”
He was a gifted student of Spanish at Penn State, but instead of living up to his potential, he turned to drugs, first marijuana and then cocaine, Lunsford said.
About a month before he killed Park, Rogers rebuffed the efforts of his mother – a drug and alcohol counselor – to get him help for drug addiction.
“She had the resources to help you,” Lunsford said. “But you turned her down.”
Park, whose family resides overseas, had no one other than Madeira to speak on his behalf.