Nancy Bergeson found strangled in Portland home

Nov. 28, 2009 | KPCC Wire Services

NEWPORT BEACH - The eldest daughter of longtime Orange County politician Sen. Marian Bergeson was found strangled to death inside her Portland home.

Nancy Bergeson, 57, was found Tuesday afternoon lying face down in her dining room by a girl who had stopped by to walk Bergeson's golden retriever.

Bergeson was an assistant federal public defender in Oregon since 1991, and would have celebrated her 58th birthday Monday. Her mother represented Orange County in Sacramento for two decades, sat on the Orange County Board of Supervisors, and eventually was appointed California's Secretary of Education.

Bergeson had kept close touch with her family, police said, and had e-mailed her mother last week, relieved that her defense of a man in a tax evasion conspiracy case had wrapped up Friday after a three-week trial.

``The irony in this to me is she defended people who committed crimes, and she was such their advocate,'' Julie McCormick, Bergeson's sister, said. ``If this person could do something so horrific to her...She would have been probably their best ally, and this person takes her out. That's what kills me.''

Authorities told the Oregonian there was no forced sign of entry, and the house was not ransacked. The front door was unlocked, but investigators were told that was not unusual.

An FBI agent has been assigned to monitor developments., as it is a federal crime to kill a U.S. government employee because of official duties. A conviction can carry the death penalty.

Marian Bergeson is 84 and retired.

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