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Nancy Bergeson, Federal Public Defender, Strangled in Her Portland Home

By Pete Kotz in homicide, unsolved
Monday, November 30, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Nancy-Bergeson.jpg
Nancy Bergeson never expressed any specific fear of her clients
It looked like she'd died of natural causes -- at least at first. Nancy Bergeson, a 57-year-old public defender for the feds, was found face down in her Portland, Oregon living room by the girl who walks her dog.

There was no sign of forced entry. No sign that anything had been stolen. And though the doors were unlocked, that wasn't unusual. Then an autopsy was performed. That's when detectives found she'd been strangled...

The natural suspect would be one of her clients. As a public defender, Nancy's life work involved arguing on behalf of degenerates too poor to pay for their own lawyers. But her family says she never expressed any fear of a specific client. They also say she was a stronger-than-usual woman, an avid marathon runner, mountain climber, skier and boat paddler.

But while her family doesn't believe she could be overpowered, that's apparently what happened. Marian Bergeson, her mother and California's former secretary of education, says her daughter was about to leave on trip to Boston to visit her daughter.

In the meantime, police have no suspects in her slaying.

Tags: Oregon

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