A jury convicted [Charmain Bergmann] of second degree murder and elder abuse. She was sentenced to prison for 15 years to life...
The victim was... developmentally disabled... At times, he suffered from incontinence. He spoke in grunts. The defendant once described the victim as a handful. Since 1989, the victim had received Social Security and SSI benefits, which were deposited into an account to which both he and defendant had access...
Defendant was a licensed vocational nurse and had been the victim's conservator since 1989. Before she moved the victim into her home in March, 2005, he had lived for over 14 years in a residential care facility. When defendant interacted with the staff at the facility, she was demanding, controlling and aggressive. Five months after defendant moved the victim into her home, he was seen in public well-groomed and well-dressed. When he was seen again on October 17, 2005, he was spaced out, did not seem like himself, was not well-groomed and he smelled. He did not recognize a worker from the facility where he had lived who had taken care of him for five years.
