Suspect Pleads Not Guilty To Murdering Girlfriend, Her Mother In Redondo Beach
TORRANCE (CBS) — A man who allegedly fled to Mexico in February after killing his 19-year-old girlfriend and her mother in their Redondo Beach apartment pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murder charges.
Jonathan Scott Chacon, 23, is charged with slaying Courtney Bergman and her 59-year-old mother, Vicki Bergman. Their bodies were discovered Feb. 28 in their apartment on the 1900 block of Rockefeller Lane by
one of the victim's co-workers.
The murder charges include the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders, along with the allegation that he personally used a knife during the crime.
Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek a death sentence against Chacon, who is due back in Torrance Superior Court May 9.
Chacon was taken into custody Feb. 29 in Baja California.
Police had learned that that he might have fled to Mexico and they worked with Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Mexican authorities, who arrested him at a hotel in Rosarito Beach.
Chacon was immediately returned to the United States because he is a U.S. citizen and was carrying his passport, Redondo Beach police Lt. Joe Hoffman said.
The car Chacon was believed to have been driving -- a black 1996 Mustang with a torn convertible top -- was found parked near the San Diego (5) Freeway in Mission Viejo.
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