Stephenville, Texas–Details surrounding the motive for murder and death of the Texas woman whose body was found in a tote box in Kentucky Lake were released Monday by Texas authorities.
Erath County District Attorney Alan Nash released details Monday morning surrounding the death of Traci Leigh Jones, who was from Dublin, Texas, which is located in Erath County. She was 41.
Last month, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced the arrest of Jeffery Rogers, 60, of Arlington, TX, by Texas Rangers. Agents discovered that Rogers used a boat rented in Paris to dispose of the body in Kentucky Lake. The container was found in the lake just north of the state line. The Kentucky State Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy and ruled the cause of death as homicide.
According to an article published Monday in the Stephenville Empire-Tribune, affidavits by persons close to the case indicate that Jones was having a dispute with Rogers and his wife, Tammy, because she had contacted media about a pornographic production company they were operating. According to the article, Tammy Rogers is an Arlington school principal.
The Empire-Tribune article states the body of Jones was found inside a black 50-gallon Craftsman tote box with wheels and a lid. The newspaper quoted TBI Special Agent Joseph Hudgins who reported that the lid of the box had multiple holes drilled into it and was zip tied shut from the outside of the box. It was believed the body was dumped in the state of Tennessee and floated into the state of Kentucky.
The article further states that Jones died by strangulation.
Rogers is still being held in the Tarrant County Jail in Texas on $1M bond, awaiting extradition to Henry County, Tenn.
According to the article, Rogers purchased a 50-gallon Craftsman black tote with a red lid at Lowe’s in Burleson, which appeared to be identical to the container in which Jones’ corpse was found in Kentucky Lake.
The article states that Tammy Rogers told investigators her husband said he was going to pay money to Jones June 16 and didn’t return home until the early morning. The next day, Jeffrey and Tammy Jones left for a trip to Kentucky and she said she never opened the cooler that was in the back of the truck.