By By Marianne Todd/The Meridian Star
Jan. 17, 2001
A trial date is expected to be set today in the federal murder case of rural postal carrier Brenda Rogers of Bailey.
One defendant accused of the Oct. 3 shooting death of Rogers was scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Jackson.
U.S. Postal Inspector Guy Robinson said Thaddeus Brown was to appear this morning for the formal reading of his charges. A federal grand jury last week returned a two-count indictment against Brown and his alleged accomplice, Michael D. Sims, for murder and carjacking.
Sims' preliminary hearing will be scheduled when his attorney, Gary Silverman of Jackson, recovers from the flu, Robinson said. Brown's attorney is Jackson attorney Michael Knapp. Both attorneys were appointed by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.
The suspects were arrested on federal charges several weeks ago after the U.S. Postal Service filed a complaint. Both Brown and Sims, who had been held in the Kemper-Neshoba Regional Correctional Facility on state charges of capital murder, were moved to a federal holding facility at that time, Robinson said.
Sims was taken into custody by local and federal authorities less than 24 hours after Rogers' body was discovered in a small home in rural Kemper County that he and Brown allegedly burglarized. Brown was charged several days later.
Neighbors began a door to door search for the Bailey postal carrier after a woman reported she heard Rogers scream, then witnessed her abduction from her postal car on a narrow dirt road.
Authorities said they believe the motive for the killing was to obtain gas after Sims and Brown ran out of gas after allegedly burglarizing the home.
Charged as an accessory after the fact of murder is Lakendrick Brown, who was arrested three days after the murder.
Lakendrick Brown, whose bail has been reduced from $50,000 to $25,000, remains in the Lauderdale County Detention Facility. He is accused of helping Sims and Thaddeus Brown dispose of evidence.
Evidence includes fingerprints taken at the crime scene and the probable murder weapon, a 9mm handgun, which investigators found in woods in Kemper County days after the murder occurred.
Marianne Todd is a staff writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail her at mtodd@themeridianstar.com.