Bergman sentenced to 15 years after guilty plea
Charles Bergman, shown here is an ATM image collected during the course of an investigation, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for the murder of his late wife, Theresa Bergman, after pleading guilty to the crime.
FILE PHOTO
DAVENPORT — Charles Bergman will be spending the next 15 years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday morning in Lincoln County Superior Court to the murder of his wife in 2022.
Bergman, a former Moses Lake resident who turned 55 on May 8, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder in the killing of his wife Theresa Bergman after picking her up at the Spokane International Airport just after midnight on Sept. 18 of last year. Family members reported Theresa missing the following day.
Bergman was arrested in Pennsylvania by U.S. Marshals on Sept. 23.
Lincoln County Prosecuting Attorney Adam Walser said the plea to second-degree murder was justified because it was possible Bergman’s defense could have portrayed the murder as a crime of passion rather than a premeditated act.
“It’s reasonable to question whether we would have (gotten a conviction on first-degree murder),” Walser said. “A jury likely could have returned as second-degree.”
According to court documents, attorneys representing Lincoln County and Bergman agreed to the 15-year sentence and three years of community custody following his release. Walser said it’s unlikely a defendant like Bergman convicted of a violent crime will get much time reduced from his sentence through good behavior, but that is up to the Department of Corrections.
“They tend not to get a whole lot of good time,” Walser said.
Theresa’s body was found by a farmer on Sept. 22 on Stolp Road just east of Kintschl Road in a remote part of Lincoln County, according to a probable cause for arrest document filed by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office the same day. LCSO detectives stated Theresa appeared to have been hit in the back of the head by a thin, hard object, possibly a shovel.
According to the LCSO investigation, Theresa had asked Charles for a separation after 36 years of marriage and then traveled to New York to visit an old boyfriend. Charles was reportedly despondent and suicidal, LCSO detectives wrote in the arrest warrant application, and using cell phone and bank records, LCSO detectives determined he bought a shovel and rope at the Walmart in Moses Lake on Sept. 18 and withdrew a $500 cash advance from his Discover card prior to picking Theresa up at the airport.
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.