One of the three men charged in connection with the murder of Dr. Teresa Sievers is on trial for the beloved physician’s brutal death. The trial against Jimmy Ray Rodgers continues inside a Lee County, Florida, courtroom.

According to police, Teresa’s husband, Mark Sievers, 51, was the mastermind behind his wife’s murder. Sievers is accused of recruiting childhood friend, 51-year-old Curtis Wayne Wright Jr., to help carry out the gruesome crime. Wright is accused of recruiting Rodgers, 51, a former jail cellmate, to help him.

On June 28, 2015, as Teresa returned home from a trip to Connecticut, she was bludgeoned to death with a hammer inside her Bonita Springs, Florida, home. Authorities said the murder was planned in advance.

Sievers knew his wife left the Connecticut family trip early for work purposes. Sievers stayed behind a few days longer with their daughters, ages 9 and 11 at the time. He’s accused of orchestrating the plan to have Wright and Rodgers at the home, ready to attack, before Teresa arrived.

Sievers was unhappy in his marriage, as reportedly evidenced inside Teresa’s journal, according to Naples News Days. Sievers also had money issues, while his wife had a $4 million life insurance policy, prosecutors previously said.

A few months after the murder, authorities arrested Wright and Rodgers. While both men initially denied any involvement, Wright eventually confessed in 2016 and took a plea deal for second-degree murder. He agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

Mark Sievers, who is scheduled to stand trial after Rodgers, was arrested several months after the State Attorney released documents in December 2015, accusing him of hiring his co-defendants to kill his wife. Prosecutors said the motive was money from Teresa’s insurance policy.

Rodgers is facing charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and first-degree burglary. Sievers is facing charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

[Feature Photo: Teresa Sievers, Mark Sievers/Handout]