Mark Rogowski - Murder of Jessica Bergsten

Murder of Jessica Bergsten

After McClain left him, Rogowski became obsessively jealous: breaking into her home to steal the things he had given her, calling her new boyfriend's home with threats, and threatening McClain directly. She reported him to the police, who filed a report but did little to follow up.

On March 20, 1991, Rogowski received a call from 22 year old Jessica Bergsten (whom he had not spoken to in years), who had recently moved to California. Bergsten, a friend of ex-girlfriend Brandi McClain, asked Mark to show her around San Diego. They spent a day together, on March 21, 1991, shortly after which Bergsten was reported missing. According to Rogowski, he and Bergsten went back to his condo to watch movies and drink wine. He admitted to coming up behind her and hit her in the head with a Club (a metal auto anti-theft device). After knocking her semi-unconscious by way of several strikes, he handcuffed her and dragged her to his bedroom on the second floor and raped her while shackled to his bed. Afterward, he placed her in a surfboard bag because he was concerned about the neighbors hearing the noise. He placed his hand over her mouth until she stopped breathing. He then drove out to the Shell Canyon desert to bury her body in a shallow grave.

A few weeks later, her body was found, but because of the state of decomposition, her identity remained unknown. Plagued by guilt, Rogowski confessed what he had done to Constantino. "Remember that girl from the poster? She was the one I killed," Rogowski admitted. Constantino encouraged him to confess his crime to the police - which Rogowski did, waiving his legal rights. Bergsten's body was found by campers on April 10, 1991 but had been so badly decomposed that it could not be identified. Rogowski turned himself in on April 11, 1991 and led the police to the burial site of Bergsten. The police searched his home and found evidence of blood, which had soaked through the carpet padding and into the floorboards in two small spots, adjacent to where Bergsten's head had allegedly rested. In his confession, Rogowski conveyed that he had killed Bergsten in a misplaced act of revenge towards McClain, calling Bergsten the "mold Brandi was made out of." Upon entering prison, he was diagnosed with a severe case of bipolar disorder.