Slaying victim from Colorado was dedicated Christian
By Tillie Fong, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published December 5, 2007 at 12:30 a.m.
Wenger had planned to return home for holidays.
Every Sunday morning, Jason Wenger, a graduate student at the University of Alaska at Anchorage, had a routine: He would get up early to write short stories and go to church.
"He had a pretty regular schedule. He wrote and went to church," said friend and classmate Maia Nolan, 28, of Anchorage. "I never thought he was a morning person, but he was a dedicated writer."
But Sunday, Wenger, 27, of Brighton, was shot and killed, allegedly by Christopher Erin Rogers Jr., 28, during a 26-hour rampage that left two dead and three injured.
Wenger was found slumped in his idling green Ford Bronco in his driveway in west Anchorage. Police said Rogers later told them he had planned to steal Wenger's vehicle, but the gunshots were so loud that he feared the neighbors would see him, so he fled.
"The hard thing for us was that it was horrifically violent and so completely random and senseless," Nolan said. "He shot him, got scared and left without the car. It was a total senseless waste of life."
Tuesday evening, Wenger's family and friends were trying to come to grips with his loss. They described him as an outgoing, caring Christian who had a talent for writing and working with the developmentally disabled and the mentally ill.
"Jason was a great kid," said his mother, Deborah Staub, of Brighton. "He was very gregarious, sympathetic and he loved people. All of that stemmed from his love for Jesus Christ."
Wenger was scheduled to return to Colorado on Dec. 14 to spend the holidays with family.
He also was expecting to earn his master of fine arts degree in the spring. His mother said Wenger had planned to return to Colorado after that, possibly to pursue a doctorate at the University of Denver.
"We're just really saddened by the situation," Staub said. "But we are comforted by the fact that God is in control of all things, even the evil that appears to bring us sorrow. We're confident that Jason is with the Lord."
A memorial service is planned for 1 p.m. Saturday at East Boulder Baptist Church, 7600 Baseline Road, in Boulder. Wenger will be buried next to his father, William Wenger Jr., at Westminster Cemetery in Carlisle, Pa.
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