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Cortland Rogers, 31, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder for the brutal slayings of Kevin Williford and Judy Hunter in Waynesburg on Feb. 1, 2022, according to Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday. A Greene County judge sentenced him on Thursday, Feb. 21, to two mandatory life sentences.
Investigators said Rogers and his then-girlfriend, Shawna Smith, stormed Williford and Hunter’s home demanding money before Rogers shot both victims to silence witnesses. Their bodies were discovered two weeks later—the same day Rogers and Smith lured a man and a woman to another home, held them captive at gunpoint, and violently assaulted the female victim, officials detailed.
For the chilling kidnapping and assault case, Rogers received a concurrent 15-to-60-year sentence, authorities said.
"The defendant’s actions were senseless and cruel, taking the lives of two individuals who did not deserve such a fate," Sunday stated. "In the days that followed, he continued his violence by kidnapping and assaulting two more victims."
Smith faces similar charges, and her case remains pending.
The Waynesburg Borough Police Department led the investigation, and the case was prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorneys General Kara M. Rice and Alicia S. Werner.
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