Post Falls man gets life in prison for killing ex’s boyfriend

A Post Falls man will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend.

An Idaho judge on Monday sentenced Jason Rook, 48, to life for the murder of 46-year-old Nathan Rogers at a home Rogers shared with his girlfriend last year. Rogers was the owner of Inland Kava Bar in Coeur d’Alene .

Rook was lying in wait at the house with a gun and a mask when Rogers came home. His girlfriend was picking her daughter up from a friend’s house, court documents say. While she was gone, she noticed on the Ring camera app on her phone that a man was wandering around the house and later shot Rogers with a gun. She immediately called police court records say.

She identified Rook as the man in the Ring videos because the two had dated for more than a year before separating in 2023. She told investigators she was being harassed by Rook in the year leading up to Rogers’ death. He had been sending messages to her and her friends implying they “belong together” because they are “true loves,” court records say. He was also sending explicit photos to Rogers’ business page on Instagram.

Prosecutors initially sought the death penalty against Rook, but he later pleaded guilty to murder and felony stalking, court records show, prompting attorneys to take the death penalty off the table.

Rogers’ son told the court during sentencing, “I hope you think it was worth it, because now I have to grow up without a dad,” KHQ reported.