Amherst's murder mystery: Who killed Sadie Rogers?

“The investigation into the homicide of Sadie Rogers remains open. We have not made any arrests or laid charges, but we continue to investigate the file,” Cpl. Jennifer Clarke of the RCMP said in an email to the Amherst News. “The challenge with a case like this is it has been 36 years since Ms. Rogers’ homicide was reported to police. With the passage of time it makes it challenging as memories fade and potential witnesses become more difficult to locate.”
The 80-year-old Rogers lived alone and worked as a housekeeper. A neighbour last saw her on Saturday, Sept. 26, 1981. Nearly a week later, neighbours were becoming concerned that they had not seen any activity at her residence and contacted police.
On Oct. 2, police discovered her body inside her home at 112 Cordova St. She had been stabbed multiple times.
While there have been some leads and tips over the years, including anonymous pencil-written letters to the Amherst Daily News in 2006 and 2007, all has been quiet since 2011 when the RCMP Northeast Nova major crime unit issued a press release asking for tips.
Despite this, police are hoping someone comes forward with information on the file.
“Historical homicides and missing persons files are reviewed when new information comes forward. In the absence of new information we review them periodically. We continue to encourage the public to report any tips and information about this incident to the RCMP to help us solve this case and bring closure for Ms. Rogers’ family,” Clarke said.
In a September 2006 interview with the Amherst Daily News, Rogers’ niece, Dorothy Snowden, said she remembered the terrible day her aunt was killed.
“To this day I keep asking myself why would someone do something like this? She didn’t deserve to die like that. She had every right to live,” she told the paper.
Snowden said family believed it was someone who knew the house from the way they went in. She said the murderer “took the glass out of the front door, reached in and unhooked the latch.”
In 2006, on the 25th anniversary of the murder, RCMP released photos of Rogers and made an urgent plea to the community for assistance in solving the crime.
The late Doug Harkness, who was editor of the Amherst paper at the time of the murder, said in a 2006 interview that robbery was suspected as the motive for the crime.
Two years later, in 2008, Rogers’ case was added to the Department of Justice major rewards program and anyone providing information on the crime that leads to an arrest and conviction is eligible for a reward of up to $150,000.
Anyone with information on the murder can call police or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
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Twitter: @ADNdarrell