Pete Rogovich and the 1992 Phoenix Killing Spree
Overview
Pete Carl Rogovich was a 26-year-old Phoenix, Arizona, resident who murdered four people during an hours-long shooting spree on Sunday, March 15, 1992. The violence began at a neighborhood convenience store near his apartment complex and continued several hours later at the adjoining Palo Verde Trailer Park. Rogovich also fired at two other people, stole a radio station promotional van at gunpoint, committed another armed robbery and led police on a high-speed chase before his arrest.
The four people killed by Rogovich were not connected to the personal problems he later claimed had caused his anger. They were a convenience-store employee and three residents of a nearby trailer park who happened to encounter him during the rampage. Court records described his actions inside the trailer park as a homicidal rampage and found that each of the victims had been intentionally killed.
Events Before the First Body Was Discovered
At approximately 8:30 a.m. on March 15, 1992, a maintenance worker saw Rogovich park his car outside the central Phoenix apartment complex where he lived. Rogovich spoke with the worker while walking toward his second-floor apartment. He reportedly said that he was upset with his girlfriend and intended to get even with her.
About 15 minutes later, at approximately 8:45 a.m., a customer entered the nearby Super Stop Market and found employee Tekleberhan Manna dead inside the store. Manna, a 24-year-old Ethiopian immigrant, had been shot once in the right eye from a distance of less than two feet. The wound caused his immediate death. Investigators found that no money, merchandise or other property had been stolen, indicating that robbery had not been the purpose of the killing.
Random Gunfire at the Apartment Complex
Rogovich remained inside his apartment for several hours. At approximately 1:00 p.m., he came outside carrying a firearm and began shooting in the apartment-complex parking lot. Tony Madrid and Pamela Rodgers were leaving the property in a vehicle when one of Rogovich's bullets struck and flattened a rear tire.
Madrid initially believed that the vehicle had backfired. He and Rodgers briefly got out to examine the noise. Rogovich fired at them after they exited the vehicle, but the bullets missed both people. The attempted shootings later resulted in two aggravated-assault charges.
Rogovich then ran toward the southern side of the apartment complex and climbed over the fence separating it from the neighboring Palo Verde Trailer Park. Once inside the trailer park, he encountered and killed three women in rapid succession.
Murders at the Palo Verde Trailer Park
The first person Rogovich encountered inside the trailer park was Phyllis Mancuso, who was in the community laundry room. Rogovich shot her once through the right cheek and neck. The 62-year-old woman died within minutes.
Rogovich next approached Rebecca Carreon while she was in her driveway. He shot the 48-year-old woman once in the back. The bullet caused severe internal bleeding, and she died from blood loss within several minutes.
The final victim inside the trailer park was Marie Pendergast, an 83-year-old woman who was inside her own trailer. Rogovich entered or approached the residence and shot her twice in the abdomen. She also died from blood loss.
After killing the three women, Rogovich was seen running from the trailer park and entering an open field nearby. The shootings appeared random. There was no established personal relationship between Rogovich and Mancuso, Carreon or Pendergast, and no evidence showed that any of the women had been specifically targeted before he crossed the fence.
Confirmed Victims
- Tekleberhan Manna, 24 — Killed on March 15, 1992, inside the Super Stop Market near Rogovich's apartment complex in central Phoenix, Arizona. Manna was an Ethiopian immigrant working as the store clerk when Rogovich shot him once in the right eye at close range.
- Phyllis Mancuso, 62 — Killed on March 15, 1992, inside the laundry room at the Palo Verde Trailer Park in Phoenix, Arizona. Rogovich shot her once through the right cheek and neck, and she died within minutes.
- Rebecca Carreon, 48 — Killed on March 15, 1992, in her driveway at the Palo Verde Trailer Park in Phoenix, Arizona. Rogovich shot her once in the back, causing fatal blood loss.
- Marie Pendergast, 83 — Killed on March 15, 1992, inside her trailer at the Palo Verde Trailer Park in Phoenix, Arizona. Rogovich shot her twice in the abdomen, and she died from blood loss.
The Theft of the Y-95 Radio Van
After fleeing the trailer park, Rogovich eventually appeared in the parking lot of a nearby restaurant. Disc jockey Kelly Urich was there conducting promotional work for Y-95, a Phoenix radio station. Rogovich confronted Urich with the gun and stole the station's distinctive promotional van.
The brightly marked vehicle made Rogovich easier for witnesses and police officers to identify. He drove away from Phoenix in the stolen van and later traveled west toward Goodyear, Arizona.
Armed Robbery in Goodyear
Later that afternoon, Rogovich entered a convenience store in Goodyear. He took packages of beer from a cooler, approached the counter and placed his firearm where the cashier could see it. In a quiet voice, he demanded money. The employee handed him approximately $45.
Rogovich left the store with the beer and money, returned to the stolen Y-95 van and drove away. Goodyear police officers responding to the robbery soon spotted the recognizable vehicle at approximately 5:00 p.m.
High-Speed Chase and Arrest
When officers attempted to stop him, Rogovich refused to surrender and led police on a lengthy pursuit. His speed varied from approximately 50 miles per hour to more than 100 miles per hour. Police eventually established a roadblock and forced the van to stop.
Rogovich was arrested without escaping the area. The roadblock ended a violent sequence that had begun more than eight hours earlier and had included four murders, two attempted shootings, two armed robberies, a carjacking and unlawful flight from law enforcement.
Confession and Statements to Police
During police interviews following his arrest, Rogovich admitted responsibility for the murders and the other crimes committed that day. He acknowledged killing Tekleberhan Manna and confessed to the trailer-park shootings.
Rogovich told investigators that he knew his actions were wrong and believed he would be punished for them. When asked whether he felt remorse, he said that he was sorry but claimed he had snapped because he was filled with anger and could not stop himself.
He referred to the death of his stepfather in 1986 and the recent end of a relationship with his girlfriend as events that had disturbed him. These personal circumstances did not involve the four victims and did not provide a legal justification for the killings.
Charges and Mental-Health Evaluations
On March 26, 1992, Arizona prosecutors charged Rogovich with four counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of armed robbery and one count of unlawful flight from a law-enforcement vehicle. Prosecutors also announced their intention to seek the death penalty.
Rogovich initially pleaded not guilty. The court ordered competency and psychiatric examinations, and he was ultimately found competent to stand trial. His attorneys later presented an insanity defense.
Two defense experts concluded that Rogovich had experienced acute psychosis and suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. Experts for the prosecution disagreed. One state psychiatrist diagnosed a personality disorder rather than a major mental illness, while another state expert concluded that Rogovich had been intoxicated by PCP but did not suffer from a thought disorder that legally excused his conduct.
Trial and Convictions
Rogovich's jury trial began in May 1994 in Maricopa County. Prosecutors presented physical evidence, eyewitness testimony, the circumstances of each shooting and Rogovich's own recorded admissions. The defense relied heavily on its claim that he had been legally insane during the crimes.
After slightly more than five hours of deliberation, the jury returned its verdict on June 1, 1994. Rogovich was found guilty of all four counts of first-degree murder, both aggravated assaults, both armed robberies and unlawful flight.
The trial judge determined that Rogovich had intentionally killed all four victims. The three trailer-park murders were treated as a continuous series of closely connected homicides, while the earlier killing of Manna was considered separately during the sentencing analysis.
Death Sentences
Formal sentencing occurred on June 9, 1995. Rogovich received death sentences for the murders of Rebecca Carreon, Phyllis Mancuso and Marie Pendergast. He received a life sentence with the possibility of parole for the murder of Tekleberhan Manna.
The different sentence in Manna's case resulted from the court's weighing of statutory aggravating and mitigating circumstances. The judge found multiple aggravating factors for the trailer-park killings, including that the murders occurred during one continuous course of homicidal conduct.
Rogovich also received additional prison terms for the aggravated assaults, armed robberies and police pursuit. His convictions and death sentences were automatically reviewed by the Arizona Supreme Court.
Appeals
On February 4, 1997, the Arizona Supreme Court affirmed Rogovich's convictions and sentences. The court reviewed the evidence, rejected his trial arguments and independently examined whether the death penalties were legally justified.
The court concluded that the aggravating circumstances surrounding the trailer-park murders outweighed the mitigating evidence presented by the defense. It upheld the finding that Rogovich had committed the three killings as part of a continuous and intentional homicidal rampage.
Legacy of the Case
The Pete Rogovich case remains one of Phoenix's most disturbing incidents of random mass violence. Four people who had no meaningful connection to Rogovich were killed during a single day because they happened to be working or living near his apartment complex.
The case also became notable for the unusual escape vehicle used after the murders. The stolen Y-95 promotional van attracted public attention and allowed officers to quickly recognize Rogovich during the Goodyear robbery investigation.
Beyond its unusual details, the case demonstrates the devastating consequences of indiscriminate violence. Tekleberhan Manna, Phyllis Mancuso, Rebecca Carreon and Marie Pendergast lost their lives in unrelated locations within a matter of hours, while several additional people narrowly escaped being shot. Rogovich's arrest ended the immediate danger, but the murders permanently affected the victims' families and the Phoenix communities where the attacks occurred.
