 Rojum had previously been convicted of raping two teenage girls in Michigan and prosecutors said that Rojum was angry that Cummings reported sexual abuse by him that led to his divorce and a return to prison for violating his parole. Rojum was convicted by a Ouachita County jury in 1985 after 45 minutes of deliberation and he was sentenced to death at the time, but appellate courts overturned the sentences on two occasions because of trial errors.