By KEITH EPPS

Attorneys for a man on trial for his life for last year's slaying of a 35-year-old Woodbridge woman are expected to wrap up their case today.

Closing arguments in the capital murder trial of John J. "Jose" Rogers are expected to begin no later than Monday, attorneys said following yesterday's testimony in Stafford Circuit Court.

The badly beaten body of Lisa Madaris was found in a field off Telegraph Road in North Stafford on April 10, 2005. Some of her teeth and part of her jaw were lying beside her.

She had last been seen alive at a sports bar in Lake Ridge on April 6, and her car was found the next morning burned at a townhouse development under construction off U.S. 1 in Stafford

Rogers' trial started April 16 with jury selection. Prosecutors Sarah Deneke and Teresa Polinske spent most of this week trying to prove that Rogers burned her car following an altercation at the sports bar, then raped and killed her.

Before wrapping up their case yesterday, the prosecutors produced a witness who claimed to have seen a heated altercation outside Brittany's Sports Bar involving Madaris and Rogers.

Another witness said she saw Rogers filling up a gas can that same night, and cell phone records show that calls were made from Rogers' cell phone in Stafford between the time he and Madaris left the sports bar and the time her car was found. Rogers told police he had not been in Stafford.

Another piece of evidence came from Rogers' teenage son, who testified that his father told him to get rid of a pair of Timberland boots. That phone call was made from jail and recorded.

A forensic scientist earlier testified that shoe prints near where Madaris body was were similar to those found on a Timberland shoe.

Rogers' semen was found in Madaris, but defense attorneys argue that any sex between the two was consensual.

What remains a mystery is where Madaris was between Wednesday night and Saturday. Scientific evidence presented during the trial shows that she died between 12 and 24 hours before her body was discovered on a Sunday morning.

Defense attorneys Mark Gardner, Christopher Leibig and Joseph Flood put on a number of witnesses yesterday in an attempt to show that Rogers was not in Stafford during the time Madaris was killed.

Witnesses said that Rogers was with friends, at a race track and with a woman during the weekend Madaris' body was found.

Asked if Rogers could have gone to Stafford at some point, one witness said, "not unless he was driving 200 mph."

Madaris, who worked for an escort service, and Rogers dated and lived together for a brief time in the latter part of 2004.

Defense witnesses said they were together on the day she was last seen alive and appeared to be cordial.

To reach KEITH EPPS:540/374-5404
Email: kepps@freelancestar.com