The man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend days after getting out of jail in a domestic abuse case where he beat her has been indicted for her murder, a prosecutor in Minnesota said.
A grand jury indicted Matthew Scott Brenneman, 39, on one count of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder in the death of 33-year-old Danicka Bergeson, said Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty. The first-degree murder stems from committing domestic abuse with a past pattern of domestic abuse, and the second-degree murder charges come from committing a felony and while under a restraining order for protection, Moriarty said.
“Our thoughts are with the victim’s family as they navigate this terrible chapter of their lives,” Moriarty said. “Intimate partner violence requires a powerful response. It is an act that leaves traumatized survivors and devastated families in its wake. We are aggressively prosecuting those who commit this violence.”
Officers from the Hopkins Police Department were called July 8 to an apartment after a downstairs neighbor heard yelling and banging coming from the place above them. Cops entered the apartment and found Brenneman inside the bathroom with a strong odor of bleach which he had apparently ingested in an attempt to take his own life, according to authorities. Officers originally arrested him on a second-degree murder charge.
Left: Matthew Brenneman (via Hennepin County (Minn.) Sheriff). Right: Danicka Marie Bergeson (via Legacy.com).
According to a criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime, Bergeson was found in her bed, wrapped in blankets and a plastic garbage bag, covered in abrasions and bruising. Investigators believe she had been dead for at least a day. Brenneman also allegedly wrote incriminating letters that were located near Bergeson’s body.
“I do not wish to divulge what all transpired, personal things exclusive to [Bergeson] and myself to know or seem as though I’m trying to justify the many terrible, absurd or unacceptable things that happened between us,” he allegedly wrote. “I never loved any woman I was romantically involved with as profoundly and honestly as [Bergeson.]”
In another letter, he apologized for the crude way in which her body was found, according to documents.
“Things happened abruptly,” he allegedly wrote. “I didn’t know what to do and tried to go on a couple days. I can’t try to live after this. The end, Matthew.”
There were also several drafts of letters, including one where he reportedly said that he feels “sadness, guilt, remorse, shame, and regret.”
“I’m very sad and remorseful about all of this, but it is what it is,” he allegedly wrote. “I’m deeply sorry to [Bergeson’s] family, friends, and my own family and friends.”
In a July 16 jail call, a family member told Brenneman that perpetrators of crimes of passion often get lesser sentences than premediated attacks, according to authorities.
“Without discussing anything, that’s kind of what it is anyway,” Brenneman allegedly told the family member in the jail call. “It’s not like I f—ing had been plotting something.”
But Brenneman’s attorney Sarah Anne Koziol argued in a Dec. 5 motion to dismiss the case that charges should be dropped because the medical examiner could not determine a cause and manner of death. Koziol noted the autopsy said there were no significant injuries to her head and neck or any evidence of suffocation or strangulation, according to the defense filing obtained by Law&Crime.
As for the letters and phone calls, Koziol called them “ambiguous” and not admissions of guilt.
Koziol writes that the prosecution will likely argue that her client put Bergeson in a chokehold that does not leave marks, but she said someone would have to have training on how to complete the chokehold, which her client does not have. A judge has yet to rule on the motion.
Police and prosecutors have noted several prior domestic violence incidents between the two. One happened April 24, when the Brenneman allegedly punched and bit Bergeson, later saying, “She fu–ing deserved it.”
The other occurred on May 13 when he punched, bit and choked the victim while saying he was going to kill her, authorities said. He pleaded guilty and was released from jail June 27, just 11 days before she was found dead.
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