Mark Rogowski

Mark Anthony "Gator" Rogowski (born August 10, 1966)[3] is an American former professional skateboarder who was convicted of murder. He was mainly prominent in the 1980s and early 1990s. Rogowski's career ended when he pled guilty for assaulting, raping and murdering Jessica Bergsten in 1992. His life was chronicled in a critically acclaimed 2003 documentary titled Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator by American filmmaker Helen Stickler.[4]

Mark Rogowski
Born
Mark Anthony Rogowski

(1966-08-10) August 10, 1966
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Other namesGator
OccupationSkateboarder
Criminal statusDenied parole in 2016, Incarcerated at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility. [1]
Criminal chargeAssault, rape and murder of Jessica Bergsten on March 6, 1992
Penalty31-year prison sentence: six years for forcible rape and 25 years to life for the first-degree murder charges to be served consecutively.[2]

Early years

Rogowski was born in Brooklyn, New York, but he moved to Escondido, California, at the age of three after his parents divorced.[2] Rogowski was a gifted athlete, playing little league baseball in his youth. Rogowski started to skateboard at age seven and, while most of his friends were into surfing, he eventually started to hang out at skate parks several years later. After two years of skating local parks, Rogowski was picked up at 12 years of age by a local skate team in 1978.[2]

Rise to prominence

Rogowski started his professional skateboarding career in 1980 at age 14. In 1982, he won his first major contest, the Canadian Amateur Skateboarding Championships in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.[2] In 1984, he won a national championship.[5] Rogowski received endorsement deals from Gullwing Trucks early in his career, Rogowski was being paid "between $4,000 and $8,000 a month" for clothing and skateboarding equipment endorsements.[5] By 1987, Rogowski was earning two dollars per skate deck from Vision, which was selling 7000 decks on a monthly basis, resulting in royalties totaling US$14,000 for Rogowski (US$ 30,000 in 2020). Additionally, Vision was also selling T-shirts, berets, hip packs, and stickers using the "Gator" name.[2]

Rogowski was one of a group of elite skaters who enjoyed significant fame in the 1980s, alongside Christian Hosoi, Tony Hawk, Lance Mountain and Steve Caballero. He was a charismatic, flamboyant personality who received fame and fortune during skateboarding's return to popularity following the success of vert skating.

At a 1987 skate show in Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S., Rogowski was introduced to Brandi McClain and her good friend Jessica Bergsten, an aspiring model. Soon afterward, he began a tumultuous long-term relationship with McClain—they appeared together in numerous advertisements and promotional videos for Vision, which had become one of the top-selling skateboarding brands of the 1980s.

Rogowski worked as a stunt double on the 1989 film Gleaming the Cube, which starred Christian Slater, and appeared, along with McClain, in the music video Free Fallin' by Tom Petty.

Downhill slide

Rogowski's popularity began to wane as the vert skating that was popular in the 1980s was supplanted by street skateboarding in the 1990s. Vision, the company that he had spent the majority of his career with, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. Looking to reinvent himself, Rogowski changed his name to "Gator" Mark Anthony, explaining that "Rogowski" was the name of his father whom he had never really known.

After a severe accident in West Germany, where Rogowski either fell or was pushed from a hotel window and landed on a fence,[2] Rogowski returned home to Carlsbad to recover. After befriending Augie Constantino, an ex-surfer turned born-again Christian who also became his "spiritual advisor", Rogowski converted to a strict Evangelical form of Christianity that influenced Rogowski's attitude and skateboard deck designs.[2] After four years of dating McClain, Rogowski suggested that the couple marry, as they "can't have sex anymore unless we get married." The sudden lifestyle change contributed to the end of McClain's relationship with Rogowski, along with his occasional bouts of violence and unprovoked jealousy, and she returned to her parents' home in San Diego, California.[2] Rogowski began a period of severe alcoholism following McClain's departure.

Murder of Jessica Bergsten

Following the end of his relationship with McClain, Rogowski became obsessively jealous: he forcibly entered her home to steal gifts he had given her; he made threatening telephone calls to McClain's new boyfriend's home; and he also threatened McClain directly. McClain informed the police about Rogowski's behavior—the police filed a report, but the situation was not monitored continuously.

On March 20, 1991, Rogowski received a call from 22-year-old Bergsten, whom he had not spoken to in years, as she had recently moved to California. Bergsten asked Rogowski to show her around San Diego. They spent a day together on March 21, 1991; shortly after, Bergsten was reported missing.[6] According to Rogowski, he and Bergsten went back to his condo to watch movies and drink wine. He admitted to coming up behind her and hitting her in the head with a Club (a metal auto anti-theft device). After knocking her semi-unconscious by way of several strikes, he handcuffed her and dragged her to his bedroom on the second floor and raped her while she was shackled to his bed.[2] Afterward, he placed her in a surfboard bag because he was concerned about the neighbors hearing the noise. Rogowski placed his hand over Bergsten's mouth until she stopped breathing and then drove the body to the Shell Canyon desert, where he disposed of the corpse in a shallow grave.[2]

Bergsten's body was found by campers on April 10, 1991, but it was so decomposed that it could not be identified.[2] Plagued by guilt, Rogowski informed Constantino of what he had done: "Remember that girl from the poster? She was the one I killed."[2] Constantino encouraged Rogowski to confess his crime to the police—which Rogowski did—thereby waiving his legal rights.

Rogowski turned himself in on April 11, 1991 and led the police to the burial site where he had disposed of Bergsten's body.[2] The police then searched his home and found evidence of blood, which had soaked through the carpet padding and into the floorboards in two small spots, adjacent to where Bergsten's head had allegedly rested. In his confession, Rogowski conveyed that he had killed Bergsten in a misplaced act of revenge towards McClain, calling Bergsten the "mold Brandi was made out of."[2] Upon entering prison, Rogowski was diagnosed with a severe case of bipolar disorder.

Hearing, prison, and parole

Rogowski was charged with "special circumstances," committing a murder during rape. Under California law, this warrants the death penalty or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. His lawyer, John Jimenez, challenged the validity and content of the confession. Jimenez appealed the rape charge, insisting that the decomposed body showed no signs of forcible rape, but the appeal was eventually dismissed.

Following the advice of his attorney, Rogowski pled guilty to first-degree murder and rape, thus avoiding the death penalty or life without the chance of parole. In January 1992, at the plea hearing, Gator submitted a four-page written statement. He accepted responsibility for his acts, but also blamed himself for having sex outside of marriage, for being promiscuous, and for not following the word of the Bible.[2]

Rogowski was sentenced on March 6, 1992. Five uniformed bailiffs with metal detectors were at the hearing due to a rumor that Stephen Bergsten (the father of the victim) would attempt to harm Rogowski. Bergsten had lost two properties due to his involvement with a nationwide drug ring and he allegedly had nothing to lose by harming Rogowski. With the bailiffs standing between Rogowski and Bergsten, Rogowski offered an apology while Bergsten shouted back that he "was a coward" who would "die a thousand deaths".[2]

Rogowski received a 31-year to life prison sentence: six years for forcible rape and 25 years to life for the first-degree murder charges to be served consecutively.[2][7]

Rogowski was denied parole on February 7, 2011.[8] Deputy District Attorney Richard Sachs argued that Rogowski remained an "unreasonable risk to society" and should remain imprisoned, while a family member of Bergsten also attended the hearing and requested that Rogowski remain incarcerated.[5] On February 6, 2015, another parole hearing was scheduled, but Rogowski waived his right to a hearing for one year. On March 9, 2016, he was again denied parole for seven years. Rogowski will not be eligible for parole again until March 2023, which marks the minimum of his sentence.[1][7]

As of June 2019, Rogowski is incarcerated at Donovan State Prison.[1]

On December 10, 2019 multiple media reports indicate that Rogowski's parole board recommended parole. The California Board of Parole Hearings will finalize the decision within 120 days. After that the case would go before governor Gavin Newsom for review.[9] On April 27, 2020, Rogowski's parole grant was reversed by Newsom, stating that Rogowski needed to gain a "deeper understanding" of his crimes. [10]

CDCR Parole Board Actions[1]
Date Action Outcome
January 22, 2010 Parole Suitability Hearing Inmate voluntarily waived the right to a hearing for 1 year
February 7, 2011 Parole Suitability Hearing Inmate was denied parole for 7 years
November 21, 2014 Inmate Petition to Advance The inmate’s petition to advance his or her next parole suitability hearing date was approved
February 6, 2015 Parole Suitability Hearing Inmate voluntarily waived the right to a hearing for 1 year
March 9, 2016 Parole Suitability Hearing Inmate was denied parole for 7 years
November 2018 Inmate Petition to Advance Inmate filed a petition to advance his or her next parole suitability hearing date
March 2023 Parole Suitability Hearing Tentative date for parole suitability hearing

In media

A feature documentary that examines Mark Rogowski's trajectory, Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator, was released in 2002 by Palm Pictures. The film was written, directed and produced by Helen Stickler, and features interviews with other professional skateboarders like Tony Hawk, Kevin Staab, Lance Mountain, Ken Park, Steve Caballero, Jason Jessee, Craig Johnson, Stacy Peralta, and Rogowski himself. Since California law prohibits video interviews with prison inmates, Rogowski was interviewed over the recorded prison phone for the documentary where he gave details on his life's background, his subsequent downfall, and remorse for murdering Jessica Bergsten.

This story was recently featured on an episode of Shattered called "The Darkside" on the Investigation Discovery channel. It features recent interviews with the lead investigator, Brandy McClain, and the minister Auggie Costantino.[11]

Contest history
  • Top 5 at the Vans/Offshore Amateur State Finals (California) for the boys 11-13 division, 1980
  • 1st Place, Canadian Amateur Skate-boarding Championships, Vancouver, British Columbia, 1982
  • 1st Place Del Mar NSA Contest, 1984
  • 3rd Place in Vision Ramp N' Rage Down South, 1987
  • 1st Place Vision Bluegrass Aggression Session, 1988

References
  1. "State of California Inmate Locator: CDCR Number H27508". California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  2. Davis, Lyle E. (September 13, 2007). "Cover Story: Mark "Gator" Rogowski". The Paper - North County's Community Paper. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  3. Miriam (February 9, 2011). "Mark "Gator" Rogowski, Skaterboarder: Jessica Bergsten's Killer". Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  4. "Legendary 80s skateboarder Mark 'Gator' Rogowski raped and murdered Jessica Bergsten - Shattered". November 21, 2018.
  5. Dana Littlefield (February 8, 2011). "Skateboarding star convicted of 1991 murder denied parole". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  6. Caroline Black (February 9, 2011). "Mark "Gator" Rogowski, Former Pro Skateboarder, Denied Parole for 1992 Calif. Murder-Rape". CBS News. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  7. Ogunnaiake, Lola (August 21, 2003). "A Skateboard King Who Fell to Earth". New York Times. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  8. "Parole Denied For Local Skateboarding Legend". KGTV. February 8, 2011. Archived from the original on September 15, 2018. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  9. "Ex-Skateboard Champion Could Get Parole in Brutal 1991 Rape and Murder in San Diego County". KTLA. December 11, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  10. "Parole grant reversed for 'Gator,' former skateboard superstar convicted for 1991 rape, murder". Los Angeles Times. April 27, 2020. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  11. https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/tv-shows/shattered/
  • Brooke, Michael (2008). The Concrete Wave: The History of Skateboarding. Paw Prints. ISBN 978-1-4395-0422-2.
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