Robert Rozier
Robert Earnest Rozier (born July 28, 1955) is a former American football defensive end and convicted serial killer who played in the National Football League and Canadian Football League. After leaving football, he became involved with "The Brotherhood", a religious group led by Yahweh ben Yahweh, which led him to commit a series of seven murders in Miami, Florida in 1986. He is currently serving 25 years to life on a conviction for check kiting under a third strike law.[1]
Robert Rozier | |
|---|---|
| Born | Robert Earnest Rozier July 28, 1955 Anchorage, Alaska, U.S. |
| Other names | Neariah Israel Robert Ramses |
| Conviction(s) | Check kiting |
| Criminal penalty | 25 years to life |
| Details | |
| Victims | 7 |
Span of crimes | September–October 1986 |
| Country | United States |
| State(s) | Florida |
Date apprehended | October 31, 1986 |
| Imprisoned at | Mule Creek State Prison, Ione, California |
| No. 75 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Defensive end | ||
| Personal information | |||
| Born: | July 28, 1955 Anchorage, Alaska, U.S. | ||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||
| Weight: | 240 lb (109 kg) | ||
| Career information | |||
| High school: | Cordova High (CA) | ||
| College: | California | ||
| NFL Draft: | 1979 / Round: 9 / Pick: 228 | ||
| Career history | |||
| |||
| Career NFL statistics | |||
| |||
| Player stats at PFR | |||
Early years and football
Robert Rozier was born on July 28, 1955 in Anchorage, Alaska, in the family of a civilian specialist who worked of the USAF bases. Shortly after his birth, his father secured a transfer to the Mather Air Force Base, located in Rancho Cordova, California, populated mainly by white Americans, and relocated his family there. Robert attended the local Cordova High School, where he played sports and was part of the school's football team. He was subjected to psychological abuse and physical attacks from other students, because of which he was frequently absent, had a poor academic performance and, in turn, was aggressive towards others, for which he was repeatedly subjected to disciplinary sanctions by the school administration.
Due to his poor academic performance, Rozier was unable to pass his exams and was denied a secondary education diploma, but, thanks to success in sports, in 1973, he managed to enter the Aberdeen Junior College in Aberdeen, Washington, where he joined the local football team. His athletic ability enabled him to receive a football scholarship at UC Berkeley in California, where he transferred to the following year, playing as a defensive end for the football team, where he earned a reputation as a star player. Robert was popular at the university, having many friends and girlfriends, but at the same time was known as a pathological liar, manipulator and known drug user, particularly of marijuana and cocaine.
After graduating in 1979, Rozier contracted with the Arizona Cardinals during a NFL Draft.[2][3] In that season, he played in six games for the team, after which he was suspended following a conviction for drug abuse.[4] At the end of the season, his contract was cancelled. On the eve of the 1980 season, no other clubs expressed interest, and Robert was went Canada, where he played in the Canadian Football League for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Saskatchewan Roughriders. During this period, he engaged in fraud, appropriating several thousand US dollars, but was arrested and charged with 32 counts of fraud. He managed to evade capture in Canada and returned to the USA. There, he tried to continue his career with the Oakland Raiders for two weeks, but Rozier decided to end his professional career as a football player that same year.[5]
Yahweh ben Yahweh and murders
After ending his football career, he began to lead a criminal lifestyle and engaged in low-skilled labor. In the early 1980s, he met with representatives of the Nation of Yahweh cult.
Rozier underwent psychological and ideological treatment and soon became a member of the movement, converting to their version of Judaism and changing his name to Neariah Israel.[6]
Rozier quickly advanced in the hierarchy and soon moved to Miami, where he was introduced to the spiritual leader Yahweh ben Yahweh, who proclaimed to be the Messiah, who had risen from the dead in order to save his American followers, observing the concepts of Judaism as Black Hebrew Israelites.
Through donations and other sources of income, Yahweh created the Temple of Love in 1982. he began to engage in business ventures, and by 1986, the Nation of Yahweh owned an extensive list of real estate, including enterprises, hotels, restaurants, cafes, houses and shopping centers, bringing in several millions of dollars in revenue annually. The number of followers of the movement by that time exceeded several thousand people, and regional offices were formed in many cities.
In the mid-1980s, Yahweh faced accusations of being a black supremacist, racketeer and extortionist, as well as creating a destructive cult that committed violent acts against any dissidents.[7][8]
In the fall of 1986, members of the Temple of Love acquired a residential complex in one of Miami's poor neighborhoods, populated mainly by minorities. After some of the members, armed with weapons, threatened the residents to leave the premises, clashes occurred between the two groups, resulting in several people being injured and hospitalized.
Tenants criticized Yahweh's cult on television and in the newspapers, accusing them of illegally evicting them. On October 31, on orders from Yahweh ben Yahweh, Rozier shot and killed two residents of the complex: 28-year-old Anthony Brown and 37-year-old Rudolph Broussard, shooting both in the head multiple times. Soon after, he was arrested, and after several interrogations, Rozier accepted a plea bargain with the investigators. In exchange for testifying against the cult leader, he admitted to having committed seven murders under his command.[9][10]
Aside from the Brown and Broussard murders, Rozier also confessed to stabbing 61-year-old Raymond Kelly on September 5, and then 45-year-old Cecil Branch on September 20, as well as killing three other people. According to his testimony, six of the seven murders were retaliatory, against white dissidents who had criticized the movement. In addition to his own crimes, Rozier discussed other crimes committed by cult members since 1981, all for a variety of reasons.[11][12][13]
Based on his testimony, in 1990, 13 members of the sect were arrested, including Yahweh himself, and charged with 18 counts of extortion, 14 counts of murder, two attempted murders and one arson charge.[7] In 1992, Yahweh ben Yahweh was convicted and sentenced to 18 years imprisonment. Rozier was pled guilty to his confessed murders, and as a result of the plea bargain, he received 22 years imprisonment.[14]
Rearrest
Following the plea deal and his conviction, Robert Rozier was placed in a witness protection program under the alias of Robert Ramses, serving time in an out-of-state federal prison for his own safety. In 1996, he was granted parole and released.[4]
He returned to California, settling Sacramento, venturing into business and mastering the profession of a web designer. On March 6, 1999, he was arrested for passing bad checks amassing a total $2,200.[15]
His lawyers accused the state prosecutor and state authorities of being biased against their client, due to the gravity of his previous crimes. Rozier himself stated that he was remorseful of the murders and that the cult members had forced their ideology onto him.[16]
Based on the provisions from the three-strikes law, Rozier was convicted of check kiting and on January 13, 2001, received a 25-to-life imprisonment term, with the right to apply for parole after serving the initial 25 years.[17][18]
References
- "Murderer, Ex-Member Key to Yahweh Case". Tulsa World. December 3, 1990.
- "ROZIER profile". profootballarchives.com. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
- Ralph Hickok (2009-02-18). "1979 NFL Draft". Hickoksports.com. Archived from the original on July 26, 2009. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
- "Convicted killer, former football player, says he's sorry for slaying". Associated Press. March 6, 1999. Missing or empty
|url=(help) - "Yahweh sect member's story of frustration, violence unraveled". Lakeland Ledger. November 30, 1986. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
- CLARY, MIKE (29 March 1992). "Star UC Player Now Star Witness in Sect Trial: Cult: Football standout Robert Rozier Jr. tells of random killings, Death Angels and blind devotion in the Florida case against Yahweh Ben Yahweh" – via LA Times.
- "F.B.I Arrests Members of Black Sect in 14 Slayings". The New York Times. November 8, 1990.
- "Miami-Based Nation of Yahweh Leader Appeals Parole". Southern Poverty Law Center. January 16, 2007.
- Scheeres, Julia. "Yahweh ben Yahweh cult". Crime Library. truTV. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
- Walsh, Anthony (2005). "African Americans and Serial Killing in the Media: The Myth and the Reality", Homicide Studies Vol. 9, No. 4, November 2005 271-291 DOI: 10.1177/1088767905280080
- Buddy Nevins and Jean Thompson (October 31, 1986). "Sect Member Held In Killing. Police Charge Yahweh With 1 of 2 OPA-Locka Murders". Sun-Sentinel.
- "Murder victims". Miami Herald. November 8, 1994.
- Lisa Ocker (December 15, 1992). "State Witness Did Killing, Yahweh Attorney Says". Sun-Sentinel.
- Douglas Martin (May 9, 2007). "Yahweh ben Yahweh, Leader of Separatist Sect, Dies at 71". The New York Times.
- Hecht, Peter (May 15, 2000). "Check case may trip up former cult killer". Sacramento Bee.
- "Convicted killer, former football player, says he's sorry for slaying". Associated Press. March 6, 1999.
- Hecht, Peter (January 13, 2001). "'80s cult killer gets 'third strike' term for passing bad checks". Sacramento Bee.
- Peter Hecht (January 13, 2001). "Witness' past catches up to him: '80s cult killer gets 'third strike' term for passing bad checks". Sacramento Bee.