Fort Morgan – Accused murderer Allen Bergerud told jurors Tuesday he is the victim of a wide-ranging conspiracy involving the Weld County Sheriff’s Department and his ex-girlfriend, one of the people he allegedly killed April 7, 2002.
Bergerud, 51, is defending himself against charges he murdered Linda Cooper and friend Lon Yeaman at a horse pasture near Johnstown. Bergerud fired his two public defenders shortly after his trial started three weeks ago.
The case went to jurors Tuesday afternoon. They are scheduled to begin deliberations today.
In a sometimes disjointed summation of his case to a panel of five women and five men, Bergerud claimed Cooper and Yeaman tried to kill him so she could get 80 percent of Bergerud’s $80,000 401(k) savings plan. Cooper was a beneficiary of the plan and admitted her guilt to Bergerud just before she died, he said.
“She told me, ‘You don’t know what it is like to not have any money,”‘ Bergerud said. “She said she was just unhappy.”
Yeaman, 46, also was a dangerous methamphetamine addict, said Bergerud, adding he shot Yeaman in self-defense because Yeaman tried to run him over. Deputies then killed Cooper to cover up their mistakes at the scene, he said.
“To make a coverup, I guess you could do it in a minute,” he said.
Bergerud said he knew he was facing a daunting task in defending himself.
“These two guys are the best DAs in the country,” said Bergerud, pointing to Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck and Michael Rourke, chief deputy DA. “I knew I would have to cowboy up.”
Rourke, in his final argument, told jurors not to feel sorry for Bergerud. “He chose to proceed on his own and make no mistake, he is guilty of murder,” Rourke said.
Bergerud was angry about his breakup with Cooper, 39, and lured her to the pasture by telling her that her horses were loose. Then he got jealous when she showed up at the field with Yeaman.
All the evidence shows that Bergerud shot Yeaman seven times as he sat in the driver’s seat of his pickup truck, Rourke said.
Cooper was on the phone with dispatchers when Bergerud shot her three or four times, Rourke said. “They were set up,” he said. “If he couldn’t have her, no one else could either.”
Bergerud’s first trial last year ended in a mistrial when a juror investigated the case. The case was moved to Morgan County because of pre-trial publicity.
