A Baltimore County jury began deliberations Wednesday in the trial of a man accused of hiring two men from Colorado to kill his girlfriend in Dundalk 15 years ago.
Jurors began deliberations shortly before 2:30 p.m. in the case against Stephen Michael Cooke Jr., 44. Prosecutors say Cooke plotted the murder of Heidi Bernadzikowski, 24, in 2000 because he wanted to cash in a $700,000 life insurance policy.
Cooke faces charges that include first-degree murder, solicitation of murder and conspiracy. Prosecutors allege he hired two men — Alexander C. Bennett and Grant A. Lewis — from Denver. Lewis, the alleged middleman, was convicted in Bernadzikowski's death after a trial last year.
Bennett has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and took the stand last week to testify against Cooke. Bennett said he strangled Bernadzikowski and cut her throat when she came home from work on April 20, 2000. The case had been cold for more than a decade until DNA evidence under Bernadzikowski's fingernails linked Bennett to the crime scene.
The courtroom was packed with spectators for closing arguments, with extra chairs brought in to accommodate them. Members of both Cooke's and Bernadzikowski's family, as well as members of the county Police Department and state's attorney's office, were present.
In closing arguments, prosecutor Garret Glennon urged jurors to reach "the only verdict that justice demands — guilty on all counts."
Defense attorney Breon Johnson said county police wrongly focused on Cooke from the beginning and harassed an innocent man for years. He said Bennett's story was not credible and that Cooke believed Bernadzikowski was "the love of his life."
"What is reasonable doubt to you?" he asked jurors. "That's what you need to figure out."
Deliberations are scheduled to resume at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.
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