On the evening of February 28, 2022, Dennis L. Rogers, a 77-year-old man, was fatally shot at his property on North Hauser Lake Road, near Post Falls, Idaho. The incident unfolded as a pole barn on his property was fully engulfed in flames.
Earlier that evening, Rogers and his wife, Joanne, were watching television when he went outside. He quickly returned to tell his wife to call 911 because their barn was on fire.
After she made the call, she went outside to find the barn completely consumed by flames and saw two men she did not recognize.
Responding authorities discovered Dennis Rogers lying on the ground near a fence with a gunshot wound to his head. He showed no signs of life. An investigation later determined he had been shot once in the area of his right temple from a distance of one to three feet.
A suspect, identified as Adam J. Bennett, a 44-year-old convicted felon, was apprehended a short time later at a nearby asphalt business. He was found in possession of a stolen pickup truck. Bennett is accused of shooting Rogers and then firing Rogers' handgun at others who were responding to the fire, injuring another man.
Bennett was subsequently charged with first-degree murder in the death of Dennis L. Rogers. He also faced charges of first-degree attempted murder, grand theft of a firearm, unlawful possession of a firearm, and possession of a stolen vehicle. The investigation into the barn fire, which authorities believe was arson, was ongoing.
