Man charged with stabbing his mother to death
By AJ Etherington
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BILLINGS, Montana (Billings Gazette) — A Billings’ man has been charged Monday with deliberate homicide after his mother was found stabbed to death in her home in the Heights early Saturday morning.
Jonah Dean Bergman, 29, was charged in Yellowstone County District Court after a Billings Police investigation linked him to the stabbing death of his mother, Cynthia Ann Cook, 67, early Saturday. Bergman is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday morning and has not yet had an opportunity to answer the charges.
BPD first became interested in Bergman at about 6:30 a.m. Saturday after a call from a Main Street hotel reported him as an allegedly drunk man trespassing, according to court documents. By the time police responded, Bergman had also been reported at a nearby gas station where he was allegedly acting strange and had blood on his shirt. A gas station employee told police Bergman, “bought a pack of cigarettes, stole a lighter and left the store on foot.”
Officers met up with Bergman further north on Main Street near the 700 block. After stopping him and asking if he had just come from the gas station, Bergman replied, “Yes. Am I OK?” Blood covered his shirt and hands.
According to charging documents, when police asked where the blood came from, Bergman replied, “I just stabbed and killed my mother.”
The cop immediately handcuffed Bergman. Police said Bergman “showed no emotions and had a glazed over look about his face.”
Using Bergman’s ID card, the BPD officers discovered his address and went to the house to investigate. After no answer at the door, the officers looked through the windows and checked the back door where they found what looked like blood on the porch, according to charging documents.
Through the windows they saw a woman lying face down covered in blood. Nearby lay a kitchen knife.
The officers asked their back-up to hurry and entered the house. After finding no one else inside, they checked the woman for signs of life, but she was already dead from multiple stab wounds. Signs of a struggle were evident throughout the house, charging documents state.
Police would later learn the woman was Bergman’s mother, Cynthia Cook. She lived at the house with only her son.
While officers canvassed the neighborhood and secured the scene, Bergman was taken to City Hall and put in an interview room. After he appeared to be confrontational and attempted to break out of his handcuffs, officers collected physical evidence from him and sent him to the Yellowstone County Detention Facility.
If convicted, Bergman could face the death penalty, life in prison, or at least 10 years or up to 100 years in prison.
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