Skateboard Star Sentenced for Rape, Killing
- Share via
VISTA — A former professional skateboarding star was sentenced Friday for the rape and murder of a 20-year-old San Diego woman in his Carlsbad apartment.
After an impassioned plea from the dead woman’s father, Mark (Gator) Anthony, who once earned more than $100,000 annually on the professional skateboard circuit, was sentenced by Vista Superior Court Judge Thomas J. Whelan to 25 years to life in prison for the murder of Jessica Bergsten in 1990.
He was also sentenced to a consecutive term of six years for rape. The earliest he can be paroled is 2010, the San Diego County district attorney’s office said.
Prosecutors say Anthony lured the woman to his home and raped and murdered her because he thought she was responsible for his breakup with another woman. After strangling her, he buried her body in a shallow grave in Imperial County.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
John Orr was a renowned fire investigator who was also a prolific arsonist, and whose thinly veiled novel helped to convict him. In this episode we hear from the fire captain who first suspected him—and from Orr himself.
Madison McGhee is joined by legendary Dateline host Josh Mankiewicz and esteemed L.A. Times Reporter Richard Winton as the three of them dive into all-things Menendez Brothers, the good, the bad, and the still unknown.
NPR climate editor Sadie Babits talks about why the media has long overlooked the climate crisis, and how that’s starting to change.
