A 40-year-old man is being held for investigation of first-degree murder in the death of a woman whose body was discovered in the burned ruins of her rental home last month.
The man was identified by Lakewood police as Britt Allan Cox.
According to Steve Davis, spokesman for the Lakewood Police Department, detectives arrested Cox on Wednesday night after he was discovered in a stolen vehicle.
Previously, Cox had been interviewed by Lakewood detectives about 49-year-old Bonnie Gilbert Bergin’s death but had not been arrested, Davis said.
Since the initial interviews, detectives developed enough evidence to hold Cox for investigation of murder, Davis said.
Cox has been in the Jefferson County Jail on the stolen-vehicle charge since his arrest.
Earlier this week, Lakewood police said that as a result of an autopsy performed on Bergin, her death was being investigated as a homicide.
Bergin’s body was found under debris in her burned-out home on July 29, the morning after the West Metro Fire District responded to a 10:30 p.m. fire at 11905 W. 20th Ave.
The firefighters, whose station is down the block from the home, found heavy fire and thick smoke coming from the home. Within minutes of their arrival, part of the house collapsed, covering Bergin’s body.
On Saturday, more than 20 West Metro firefighters, investigators and Lakewood police worked the scene. They erected tents under which they were sifting through dirt.
Prior to her death, Bergin had been an interpretive guide at Mesa Verde for the National Park Service. At one point in 1988, she was transferred from Mesa Verde to Yellowstone National Park during the massive forest fires that hit Yellowstone.
Terry Bergin, who was divorced from Bergin in 1997, said his ex-wife had degrees in biology and environmental science and also had worked for Jeffco Open Space.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
