Matthew Brenneman sentenced to nearly 24 years for Danicka Bergeson’s murder

One by one, Danicka Bergeson’s family members stood up in Hennepin County District Court and told her story.

They spoke of their endless love for her as a daughter and sister. They spoke of her devotion to help others as a former Army medic. They remembered her effortlessness as an athlete, her deep emotional bond with her pets and her integrity. They spoke of her joy and her humane struggles.

And they railed against the boyfriend who murdered her and a criminal justice system that left her vulnerable.

Matthew S. Brenneman pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Bergeson in July. On Friday, he sat in an orange jump suit between his lawyers as Bergeson’s family brought her to life in victim impact statements. Her supporters — dressed in black and purple to support victims of domestic violence — crowded the courtroom and hallway.

When they finished speaking, Judge Daniel Moreno sentenced Brenneman to nearly 24 years in prison.

“My daughter did not deserve the unimaginable horror that took her from us,” her father, David Bergeson, said. “Her body was desecrated and discarded like refuse.”

Brenneman, 40, was under a no-contact order for abusing Bergeson. He had been released from jail just days before he went to her apartment in Hopkins and killed her in her bed sometime between June 28 and July 9 last year. He then wrapped her in blankets and placed a garbage bag over her head. He never called for help or tried to revive her.

Leticia Guadarrama, Bergeson’s mother, said that hearing Brenneman give his version of events in the plea hearing last month and reading his lawyers’ description of her daughter’s murder as a situation between “two imperfect people” left her outraged.

“I don’t claim that Danicka is perfect; only God is,” Guadarrama said. “She was in an extremely vulnerable state; she was a damaged individual caught in unfortunate circumstances; she was in desperate need of protection.”

With that, Guadarrama wept.

The viciousness of the murder and the history of abuse led Moreno to give an upward departure in sentencing Brenneman.

The state argued that the departure was justified by two aggravating Blakely factors — when prosecutors seek a sentence that exceeds state law — attached to the murder charge. Those factors were that Brenneman murdered Bergeson in her zone of privacy — her bedroom — and treated her with particular cruelty by leaving her body to decompose.

Those facts only added to the grief of Bergeson’s family.

“In the case of justice, I feel we are all overdue,” her sister, Ariana Bergeson, said. “Justice would have been him being held accountable the first time he ever laid hands on her, justice would have been him being sent to prison years ago.”

She looked up at Moreno.

“Let this be the moment where we collectively say no more,” she said. “Let this be the moment where we as a society finally take a stand for the victims of domestic abuse, those who are too often forgotten or ignored.”

The County Attorney’s Office initially charged Brenneman with first-degree murder, which carried the potential for life in prison. That charge was dismissed in the plea deal that called for nearly 24 years in prison. In Minnesota, defendants typically serve two-thirds of their sentence, which could see Brenneman released in closer to 15 years.

Brenneman kept his head low for most of the proceedings, occasionally glancing up as Bergeson’s family and friends walked past him to speak. Five victim impact statements were read in court; more than a dozen additional statements were submitted in writing.

The sentencing was also broadcast from the courtroom with supporters watching virtually.

Before he was sentenced, Brenneman stood at the podium between his two lawyers. Moreno asked him if he had anything to say.

“I just wish we weren’t here and this wasn’t happening, unfortunately we are where we are,” Brenneman said. “I want to apologize to the Bergeson family.”