Information Sought about the 2009 Death of Katie Chappell

In September 2010, Frank Rogers was acquitted of second-degree murder but convicted of first- and second-degree manslaughter after his girlfriend, Katie Chappell, was found dead in her bed on August 13, 2009 in Binghamton, NY. He was sentenced to serve 23 years in prison, where he remains today (2024). Frank has unwaveringly declared his innocence. If you have any information that can help uncover the truth of the circumstances of Katie’s death, or how she arrived at her apartment the night of August 11, or early morning of August 12, 2009, please email contact@bgmdeathinvestigation.com. Did you see her that night? Did you see her in the Collier Street parking garage? Did you see her with anyone? Did you see her in a car with anyone? Did you see her in her car? Did you see her walking from downtown?

At Frank’s jury trial, the prosecutor argued that Frank should be convicted based on “process of elimination.” He argued that “once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.” But the Binghamton Police Department publicly admitted that they never investigated other possibilities. In fact, the Press & Sun-Bulletin reported on December 18, 2009, that “Capt. Alex Minor said police only had one suspect all along—the 30-year-old Rogers.” So where was the process of elimination referenced by the prosecutor? Frank should have been presumed innocent until proven guilty. Is this how you would want a loved one to be tried?

An ongoing investigation has uncovered several other possible suspects that were never investigated and eliminated. The possibility that Katie’s death was not the result of homicide was also never investigated and eliminated.

The prosecutor’s several unsubstantiated theories lacked the following evidence:

• No evidence refuting the trial testimony that Frank was at another location with other people around the time the prosecutor alleged that Katie sustained a deadly injury
• No DNA evidence connecting Frank to Katie’s death
• No confession
• No eye or ear witnesses to an altercation between Frank and Katie the night she died
• No evidence of any injuries on Frank to show he had been in an altercation with Katie
• No evidence of external head injuries that caused Katie’s internal head injuries
• No evidence that Frank was the last person with Katie
• No location of Katie’s death (the prosecutor argued more than one potential location, stating in the indictment that it occurred at “some unknown location in Broome County”)
• No evidence of how Katie arrived at her residence the night she died
• No evidence that Frank went to Katie’s residence the night she died
• No eye or ear witnesses to Frank transporting an unconscious Katie to his truck or into Katie’s residence (one of the prosecutor’s theories)
• No DNA evidence supporting the theory that Frank transported Katie in his truck
• No homicide weapon

Lacking all of this evidence of the circumstances of Katie’s death, the prosecutor was left to argue at trial that an alleged history of domestic violence meant that Frank was responsible for Katie’s death (using hearsay, double hearsay, and an assault charge that, based on the Court’s record, had expired under New York’s speedy trial statute long before Frank’s indictment).

The prosecutor’s case was based on speculation of the following:

• that Frank was the last person with Katie the night she died
• that Frank was at Katie’s residence the night she died
• that Frank was with Katie again after they were together downtown
• that Katie’s death was a homicide

If anyone has information that can assist with this ongoing investigation and obtaining justice for Katie and for Frank, please come forward. Please email contact@bgmdeathinvestigation.com