More than 33 years after he raped and murdered a 22-year-old model at his Carlsbad condo then burying her in a shallow desert grave, a once-famed professional skateboarder lost his bid for parole Thursday.
The decision by a two-person parole hearing panel finding Mark Anthony “Gator” Rogowski unsuitable for release is a departure from the findings made in two prior hearings — in 2019 and again in 2022 — where he was found suitable for release. But each time he was found suitable, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office appealed to the governor. And each time, Gov. Gavin Newsom blocked his release.
On Thursday, Parole Board Commissioner Julie Garland cited a few reasons for denying parole for Rogowski, 58, including lack of self-awareness about what led him to attack Jessica Bergsten unprovoked. She said his answers to questions they posed Thursday about his insight were inconsistent within the hearing and as well as inconsistent with statements he made at prior parole hearings.
“We are striving to get some clarity from you, and it gets muddier and muddier,” Garland said. She later added, “You were evasive in many ways.”
Garland agreed with Deputy District Attorney John Cross’ assessment that Rogowski — who spoke of BDSM fantasies and sexual sadism — had offered a lot of “program speak” from self-help programs he had taken in prison, but did not offer real insight into what happened and why.
Rogowski’s attorney, Laura Sheppard, said her client has changed drastically, has a good understanding of his past and is a low risk to public safety. The prison’s psychological report found him to be low risk.
Bergsten had been best friends with Rogowski’s ex-girlfriend in Arizona, and Rogowski was still upset at the breakup, according to testimony from Thursday’s hearing on Microsoft Teams, transcripts from a prior hearing and old news reports.
In March 1991, Bergsten — who had recently moved to Pacific Beach — went to Rogowski’s condo to watch a movie. They drank and talked. As Bergsten was getting ready to head home, Rogowski grabbed a steering wheel lock and slammed it down onto her head from behind, completely without warning.
Rogowski screamed Old Testament Bible verses at her before handcuffing her, carrying her upstairs to his bedroom, cutting off her clothes and raping her. The ordeal lasted about three hours. She fought when he stuffed her in a surfboard bag. He suffocated her so neighbors wouldn’t hear her scream.
Rogowski, 24 at the time, drove Bergsten’s body to Imperial County and buried her off Interstate 8. Her body was found days later, but was unidentified until Rogowski came forward a few weeks later to confess.
On Thursday, Rogowski apologized and said he wished he could go back and undo what he did. He said at the time of the attack, he was “completely broken” and “full of rage.”
“If I die in here, I am OK with that,” he said. “I feel like have done everything I can do.”
Bergsten’s brother asked the hearing officers not to release Rogowski. “When he murdered my sister, he murdered my family,” Jordan Bergsten said. He held up a picture of his sister, then one of her headstone. Bergsten then held up two small urns — his parents’ ashes.
“He says he is OK with dying in prison. I am OK with that, too. I think most of America is OK with that,” Jordan Bergsten said.
Rogowski has to wait three years for his next parole hearing.
