Murder charge: Hopkins man freed from jail for abusing girlfriend killed her days later

A Hopkins man with a lengthy history of abusing his girlfriend stands charged with her murder just days after his release from jail for attacking her.

Matthew S. Brenneman, 39, was charged Wednesday in Hennepin County District Court with two counts of second-degree murder in connection with the death of 33-year-old Danicka M. Bergeson sometime between June 29 and July 8. He remains jailed on $1.5 million bail.

Brenneman was arrested July 10, two days after police found him and Bergeson's body in an apartment. Although murder charges were filed nearly six weeks later, he was kept in custody for violating an earlier order not to have contact with her.

Bergeson's father said he believes that leniency toward a repeat domestic abuser played a role in Brenneman's regained freedom and his daughter's death, leaving Brenneman with "no binding consequence" once he got out.

"This guy was just a danger," said David Bergeson. "There was a history there."

According to the murder charges and related court documents:

On June 27, Brenneman was released from jail after pleading guilty to attacking Bergeson in their home in April and May, in instances that included punching and biting her, threatening to kill her and choking her. Photos showed Bergeson with "bruises all over [her body]."

The terms of Brenneman's guilty plea included that the prosecution "agrees to no additional time" in custody if there were no further violations of a no-contact order.

Cellphone records show that two days after leaving jail, Brenneman was near their apartment. On July 2, Bergeson's friends and family grew concerned about her well-being, and she stopped responding to her best friend's messages on July 5. Her mother got a message ostensibly from Bergeson on July 7, "but did not believe it sound[ed] like [her]," according to the charges.

On July 8, the manager for the apartment building in the 400 block of Van Buren Avenue N. called for police after hearing groaning, yelling and banging coming from one of the units, concerned that Bergeson had been assaulted again by Brenneman.

When police went in the apartment officers heard noises coming from the bathroom and found Brenneman there. There was "an overwhelming odor of bleach" coming from the bathroom, and Brenneman's clothes were wet. Bergeson's body was wrapped tightly in blankets on the bed.

Brenneman, who had drank bleach, was taken to a hospital. Officers saw that he had bruising and swelling to his cheek, scratches and scrapes to his face, arms and legs, "and distinctive scratches to his back consistent with fingernail scrapes," the charges read.

In another bedroom, offices found bloody men's clothes as well as a note on the kitchen table that Brenneman wrote. He professed his love for Bergeson and said he meant no disrespect about how he wrapped her body.

Earlier drafts of the note found in the kitchen trash and a duffel bag read in part, "I'm very sad and remorseful about all of this, but it is what it is. ... I blacked out and lost control and sadly hurt a woman for the first time in my life."

An autopsy revealed "significant bruising and abrasions" to Bergeson's face, under her chin, arms, torso and extremities, the charges noted. "[Bergeson] had likely been deceased ... for a day or multiple days" by the time her body was discovered. As of late Wednesday, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office had yet to say how she was killed.

David Bergeson said that despite the abuse, his daughter stayed in the relationship with Brenneman because "she had a very kind heart. One of her big issues was that she was going to fix people. Then he ends up being kind of a taker, getting into her credit cards, getting into her life."

Court records show that Brenneman was the subject of an order for protection in 2021 after he was accused of pinning a Minneapolis woman to a bed during a drunken rage.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said Wednesday that domestic violence cases can be among the most difficult to prove "due to ongoing romantic relationships between victims and defendants, and because victims often fear participating in the process."

She added that "the ongoing relationships and legitimate and rational fears unfortunately often make these cases entirely reliant on circumstantial evidence or even leave prosecutors with little admissible evidence to prosecute and prove the cases beyond a reasonable doubt."

Despite these challenges, Moriarty pointed out, "our office was able to secure two convictions for his prior conduct. With no criminal history prior to that, probation was the presumptive outcome based on the sentencing guidelines."

David Bergeson said Danicka joined the family at age 6 as a foster child, and she was adopted at age 9. "She had been through a lot, in and out of foster care for most of her life, and had a traumatic upbringing, some scary stuff," he said.

But his little girl "transitioned really well," he said. "She succeeded in academics, and was a fantastic tennis player and part of a state champion swim team."

Danicka Bergeson graduated from Edina High School in 2007, enrolled at the University of Minnesota, then took a break to join the Army and became a field medic, he said. She came back to the U, earned a degree in animal science and was working at a veterinary clinic before having to quit because of a back injury suffered in the military.

"She had a real zest for life," he said. "She had all the gifts that you're proud of as a parent."

According to 2021 statistics by Violence Free Minnesota — the most current year available — at least 20 women were killed in cases where the suspected, alleged or convicted perpetrator was a current or former intimate partner. The same number were killed in 2020 and there were 16 in 2019.

If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233.