New evidence shown on third day of Bergerud trial
Rebecca Waddingham
Jurors saw a slew of new evidence Monday, including the suspected murder weapon, during the third day of trial for Allen Bergerud, who is accused of two counts of first-degree murder.
Weld County Sheriff's Office deputy Ken Nelson showed the jury a Beretta 9 mm handgun, which prosecutors say is the weapon Bergerud used to kill 39-year-old Linda Cooper and 46-year-old Lon Yeaman two years ago. Nelson also displayed several bullets, which he unloaded from the gun's magazine after confiscating it on the early morning of April 7, 2002.
The gun was loaded to shoot two different types of bullets, in an alternating fashion, Nelson testified.
One bullet had a hollow-point shell and the other a "full metal jacket" shell. The full metal jacket ammunition is designed to be sturdy enough to penetrate through things — like people. The hollow-point ammunition is designed to do more damage to a person, Nelson testified. For instance, a hollow-point bullet would penetrate into a vital organ, remain there and "disperse all its energy," Nelson said. Most of the bullet's velocity would be lost and it wouldn't have the oomph to go all the way through a person's body.
Nelson and Deputy Jan Lemay also discussed photographs they took of the crime scene, some of the photos graphic and bloody.
In one photograph, Cooper's body can be seen lying on the ground, covered by a tarp. In another, her purse, a leather glove, a belt and a shoe are strewn about on the ground.
Other photos showed empty shell casings from a Beretta lying on the ground. Some shells came from the guns of law enforcement; others came from Bergerud's gun.
Lemay also displayed a gun holster he found on the front seat of a front-end loader Bergerud had taken to the field, off Interstate 25 and Colo. 56 near Johnstown.
A separate photo showed a duffel bag directly behind the driver's seat of Bergerud's Dodge pickup truck. In the bag, a purple velvet Crown Royal whiskey bottle pouch contained two boxes of live ammunition. One box contained full metal jacket bullets; the other was full of hollow-point ammunition.
Denver defense attorney Joseph Saint-Veltri asked questions at several junctures that hints he may try to suggest that a sheriff's deputy might have accidentally shot Cooper.
Bergerud's former second defense lawyer, Lisa Wayne, also suggested in preliminary hearings soon after the shooting that deputies might have shot Cooper.
Sheriff's deputies carry a 9 mm Beretta model that's very similar to Bergerud's gun. Lemay and other officers testified that officers use nickel-plated ammunition. The shell casings found in Yeaman's truck and the live bullets in Bergerud's gun were brass-plated.
Bergerud is also accused of first-degree assault for allegedly shooting at sheriff's deputies who arrived on scene.
His trial began last week and is expected to last well into November.
Allen Bergerud, 50, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder for allegedly killing his ex-girlfriend, Linda Cooper, and her friend Lon Yeaman in a field near Johnstown on April 7, 2002.
Cooper, 39, was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher when she was shot three or four times. Yeaman, 46, was shot seven times as he sat in the driver's seat of his pickup truck.
Late on the night of April 6, 2002, Bergerud called Cooper on a cell phone and said her horse and donkey were out of a pasture near his Johnstown home, and she needed to come get them.
Cooper and Bergerud had broken up shortly before the shooting.
Weld County Sheriff's Office deputies exchanged fire with Bergerud as they arrived on scene, and they were at Cooper's side as they waited for emergency medical technicians.
Bergerud took a front-end loader to the scene and blocked an access road with his pickup truck, which forced the deputies to head toward the scene on foot.
Bergerud's trial has been delayed twice; opening arguments were Wednesday. The trial has been scheduled for six weeks.
If Bergerud is convicted, prosecutors will seek the death penalty.