Family looking for justice in father’s killing

Christeen Bergeron made an agreement with her husband, William Sr., before she died for him to marry her twin sister, Colleen, because she desperately needed health coverage from his military medical plan.

Just a few years later, Colleen is accused of shooting him in the back of the head while he slept in their Manchester home. Colleen was charged with first-degree murder. But after receiving mental examinations she was sent to Western State Hospital in Steilacoom for a year. Now she could be getting out as soon as Nov. 27.

The Bergeron family can’t believe it. If she’s healthy, they want Colleen to be arrested and go to trial. They don’t know how she was able to get diagnosed with a mental illness in the first place as court papers show the killing was well-planned.

Colleen, 70, and William Bergeron Sr. were married in 2019. Bergeron’s daughter-in-law, Tricia, hinted it was a marriage of convenience as they slept in separate rooms. They were actually planning to divorce at the time of his death, she said.

Court papers say Colleen even told police her husband committed suicide because he was dying of cancer. His autopsy showed he did not have cancer.

The killing

It was almost as if Bergeron felt something could happen as he installed cameras in the home just days before the killing. Those videos tell a different story than the one Colleen Jean Bergeron (Woodruff) told police, papers say.

Police arrested Colleen Nov. 16, 2022, weeks after her husband was found dead in their home. She had walked to a neighbor’s residence Oct. 27 to report that he had shot himself in the head, leading the neighbor to call 911.

Police found William’s body on the bed with his head on a pillow as if he’d been sleeping, a gun in one hand. A lengthy suicide note smeared in blood was leaning against his body, papers say.

A charge of first-degree murder was brought against Colleen, but it was dismissed almost a year later in Kitsap County Superior Court. “Mrs. Bergeron has been evaluated by three experts—all who have concluded that she is not competent due to dementia,” attorney Jeniece LaCross says in court documents.

One evaluation noted increased paranoia preventing Bergeron’s transportation to court, stating that, “It seems Ms. Bergeron’s cognitive stability is deteriorating quickly while incarcerated, as psychosis and mood lability can accompany cognitive deficits/dementia.”

State evaluations came to similar conclusions—one done at the Kitsap County Jail in Port Orchard and the other at Western State after she was admitted Aug. 7, 2023, for a 90-day period of competency restoration. The reports state that while dementia is not reversible, the conditions of being incarcerated could be having a heightened effect on the symptoms.

An Oct. 5, 2023, report indicates that Colleen Bergeron’s condition had deteriorated further and that she had also been treated with blood thinners after developing deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary emboli.

The cameras

Kitsap detectives say cameras installed in the home show evidence that points to premeditated murder. Court documents say Colleen gripped the gun with a white shirt or towel and also put on latex gloves to minimize fingerprints or DNA left at the scene.

In court records, a timeline shows: at 12:28 p.m. Colleen walks into the bedroom with a gun in her hand. Eight minutes later she walks out with no gun. She goes to the kitchen and returns with a drink. She sits in a recliner with her drink and spends time on her cell phone. About 45 minutes later she walks to the neighbors.

In a later interview, she admits the suicide note looks like her writing, but denies writing it. After watching the video with police she again made contradictory remarks but eventually kept repeating, “William had tried to grab the gun out her hand, and it went off.”

After looking at the video, court records allege, “It was clear Colleen murdered William and staged the crime scene to make it look like a suicide.”

Evidence also shows Colleen was preparing to flee as the house and car were up for sale. A recreational vehicle and horse trailer were packed with various items.

Detectives interviewed her 20 days after the killing and said her testimony was “confusing and contradictory.” At one point she said she had called 911 and said her husband had been depressed and threatened suicide. While on the phone she repeated herself several times, “He’s got the gun in his hand.”

During one interview, police reports say, “She was visibly upset, teary and said she has been scared and so confused. Colleen would often repeat information and go off-topic forgetting what the original question was.”

She gave conflicting stories of how that day went, even about who took the dogs out. As to a hole in the wall, she said it had been there for years and wasn’t related to Bill’s death. But the police report says the bullet went through the wall into a bathroom. It appeared a towel had been placed there to cover it up since it was undamaged.

Other evidence shows handwriting experts say the suicide note was forged. The note speaks well of his wife and says William had a sound mind in his decision to end his life.

Her attorney entered a not guilty plea Nov. 17, 2022, and bail was set at $10 million. She faced a life in prison and $50,000 fine sentence.

The family

Tricia Bergeron said she had not met Colleen before the killing, but she and William Sr. had always seemed like an odd couple. She said that her family would receive cards in the mail from them that were doused with her perfume. And she said while her husband’s dad was very involved with the local Eagles club, his wife seldom was involved.

Tricia said Colleen was after her father-in-law’s money. But she said if Colleen is found guilty she won’t get anything. She said Colleen had planned on taking the $50,000 she made from selling the house and moving near her son, who is in prison. If she doesn’t get the house, Tricia said her husband will.

Tricia said in a phone call a year before his death he was talking about being depressed and getting divorced. She recalled Colleen interjecting in the background, “I’m packing up and going to leave.”

The family doesn’t think she should have received the mental diagnosis. “All of a sudden she took a turn for the worse and was not responsive at all,” Tricia Bergeron said.

“We know she can plan a murder,” she said, adding her husband is so torn up about his dad that she had hoped she would get a call from Western State to be able to tell him, “Colleen was dead.”