Case # 14WF4214
Date: October 30, 2017
MAN CONVICTED AND FOUND LEGALLY SANE IN SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES STABBING-MURDER OF CAFÉ EMPLOYEE WHILE VICTIM WAS CLEANING BUSINESS
SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man was found legally sane today after having been convicted of the special circumstances stabbing-murder of a café employee while the victim was cleaning the business.
| Defendant | Charges | Maximum Sentence | Court Date |
| Robert Gabriel Rodgers, 23, Anaheim | Found guilty by a jury on Oct. 3, 2017, of:
Sentencing Enhancements Found True
Pleaded guilty on Sept. 20, 2017, to:
Sentencing Enhancement
|
Life in state prison without the possibility of parole | Sentencing
Nov. 17, 2017, 9:00 a.m. Department C-30, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana |
Circumstances of the Case
- On Nov. 14, 2014, at approximately 5:00 a.m., Rodgers pushed his mother down the stairs into the parking garage and continued to assault her near their Anaheim residence.
- At approximately 9:30 a.m., Rodgers waited outside of the Volcano Tea House in Garden Grove prior to the business opening and lured 24-year-old employee Cesar Ramirez-Raphael to the door by pretending to need help.
- The defendant stabbed Ramirez-Raphael, whom he did not know, multiple times with knives in both hands.
- Rodgers dragged Ramirez-Raphael into a back room during the attack and placed the victim’s body in a trash can, where he died as a result of multiple stab wounds.
- The defendant attempted to clean the scene and called 911.
- Another employee arrived outside of the business and Rodgers attempted to lure her inside.
- The second employee locked the defendant inside the café from the outside.
- The Garden Grove Police Department, who investigated this case, arrived and arrested the defendant.
Prosecutor: Senior Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Herrera, Homicide Unit