Investigations begin in the case of the man who allegedly killed his friend

PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) – The words “I killed her” or “I’m guilty” could be seen as a confession or the statement of a desperate friend.

This will likely be the crux of the case against 46-year-old Dimitri Rogatchev, who is charged with premeditated murder in connection with the December 3, 2019, death of Sandra Jackson, who died of brain swelling and bleeding.

Prosecutors say it was Rogatchev, her boyfriend and caregiver, who lost his temper and hit her. They say Jackson was abused by Rogatchev and told medical staff she wanted to get away from him.

Rogatchev’s lawyer Michael Doubet, however, denied this. His client’s statements during a police interrogation after Jackson’s death were those of a desperate man who knew he had lost his temper and slapped his friend.

Instead of a confession, it was the terrible realization that his actions meant the death of his friends. Tragic, said Doubet, but not murder.

Rogatchev’s case is now in the hands of the jury, which heard about an hour of closing arguments Wednesday morning. The panel will now decide his fate.

He faces a minimum of 20 years in prison and, if convicted, potentially up to 100 years behind bars. This is because Jackson’s age leads to a longer sentence than the usual maximum of 60 years in prison.

Doubet told jurors that prosecutors Brenda McCavitt and Larry Evans had no evidence and could not meet their burden of proof. He argued that prosecutors wanted the 12-person jury to get “angry” at his client and then “get away with it without evidence.”

Their case, he said, was based on theories and conjectures, not on hard evidence.

But prosecutors said they should wait, referring Rogatchev’s words not to a detective but to paramedics and firefighters who were called to Jackson’s house early that morning. She was not conscious but breathing in a car, and Rogatchev said she had been drinking that evening.

He also allegedly told rescue workers that she had taken several pills. Rogatchev allegedly blamed herself for this, but later, while she was being treated, doctors found no traces of alcohol in her body.

That was one of the statements in which Rogatchev lied, McCavitt said. And prosecutors also pointed to several statements in which Jackson told doctors that Rogatchev made her anxious and that she wanted to remove him from her medical records.

When she was taken to hospital on the day of her death, doctors said her injuries and brain hemorrhage did not indicate a fall, but rather elder abuse.

Rogatchev was initially charged with domestic violence and, after her death, with murder.

This story will be updated.