A woman’s boyfriend is facing murder charges two months after she was discovered dead in her home and wrapped in layers of blankets.
The victim was identified as 33-year old Danicka Bergeson and was found by authorities in her Hopkins, Minnesota home on July 8. The building manager had notified the police and said he had heard groaning, yelling, and banging noses coming from her unit.
When police entered the unit, they found her boyfriend Matthew Brenneman, 39, inside the bathroom grunting and growling with a strong smell of bleach in the air.
After the loss of his daughter, Bergeson’s father said, “My daughter was a beautiful woman, who really engaged with people. She had a clear moral compass.”
“Everything with Danicka was either black or white,” David Bergeson recalled his daughter’s personality. “She knew exactly what was right and wrong.”
“Her smile was always infectious. Her compassion for animals and passion for learning were admirable,” friend Nancy Andrews shared in her obituary page in July.
Brenneman is now facing one charge of second-degree murder and one charge of second-degree murder while under a restraining order.
Officers first spotted Bergeson’s decomposed hand buried in layers of blankets, and it was determined that she had been dead for a few days.
The complaint further states that her friends and family began worrying about her on July 2. On July 7, a day before her body was discovered, Bergeson’s mother received correspondence from her phone that didn’t sound like it was coming from her.
The complaint cited phone records showing that Brenneman was in the vicinity of Bergeson’s address on June 29, two days after he was released from jail following his prior assault on her. At the time Matthew was seen in the area, there was an active restraining order against him from the court.
According to previous police reports, incidents of assault were common involving Danicka and Matthew. He had bit and punched her multiple times. Also, after an attack on Danicka in April, Matthew sent text messages to a friend claiming he gave her a black eye and she deserved it.
The report read: “Defendant responded by striking her with his fists several times and biting her. Defendant then proceeded to choke victim by placing his hands around her neck and reported difficulty breathing,” the statement reads. “Victim reported being choked for approximately one minute and thirty seconds. While Defendant was choking Victim, Defendant stated he was going to kill her. Victim was in fear that he would act on this threat.”
Police also found what appeared to be bloody clothing in a guest bedroom in the apartment. Matthew left a series of notes strewn about the apartment, claiming his innocence and claiming that he had never been physically abusive with a woman before.
However, the complaint states that the mother of Brenneman’s child has claimed he had been violent with her as well, on one occasion pinning her to the bed and hitting her.
He is being held under a bail of $1,500,000 for each of the murder charges.
The complaint states that Bergeson’s autopsy revealed numerous wounds across her body, and the nature of her death was classified “undetermined.”
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
Shocking. She had to die to prove her point. I really feel for her family. I hope he rots in prison. Too bad she didn’t have a gun!
I would not be surprised if we find out soon that this Brenneman guy is in the country illegally. Joe Biden’s lax immigration policies have led to a huge jump in violent crimes! I hope this guy is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and deported if necessary. Disgraceful, but unfortunately the new normal under Biden’s corrupt regime!