Case is laid out in Dundalk slaying

Prosecutor says Cooke hired man online to kill girlfriend in 2000 for her insurance

Fifteen years ago, Baltimore County prosecutors say, Stephen Michael Cooke Jr. met a Colorado man online and hired him to kill his girlfriend — but jurors were told Tuesday they would not see electronic evidence of that communication.

Opening statements and the first day of testimony in the murder-for-hire case highlighted how much technology has changed since Heidi Bernadzikowski, 24, was found dead in 2000 in the Dundalk home she shared with Cooke. A desktop computer found in their home was not seized as evidence, a homicide investigator testified. Neither Cooke nor Bernadzikowski owned a cellphone.

Prosecutor Matthew Breault acknowledged that there is no electronic trail of the communications between Cooke and the man he allegedly hired, saying the crime took place “in a pre-9/11 world” where online records were not stored as long as they are now.

Cooke, 44, who faces charges that include first-degree murder, is accused of orchestrating Bernadzikowski’s death because he wanted a payout on her $700,000 life insurance policy. She was found strangled, with her throat slashed.

“This is a story of a brutal, bloody contract killing,” Breault told the jury before laying out details of the prosecution’s theory.

Breault said Cooke contracted with Grant A. Lewis, telling him he would pay $60,000 for the hit. Lewis’ friend Alexander Bennett came to Baltimore to carry out the killing. After landing at BWI Airport at the end of March 2000, Bennett tried to walk to Dundalk and was “essentially homeless” for a few weeks before killing Bernadzikowski on April 20 of that year, Breault said.

Cooke is also accused of trying to hire an inmate last year at the Baltimore County Detention Center to kill Lewis, fearing that Lewis would testify against him.

Cooke’s defense did not make opening statements Tuesday, with attorney Tara LeCompte saying she would wait until after the prosecution rests its case. In cross-examinations, LeCompte attempted to point out discrepancies in state’s witnesses’ memories, and questioned whether police had adequately examined all available evidence.

While detectives suspected Cooke’s involvement from the beginning, he was not charged until last year. In 2011, new DNA testing technology connected Bennett to the crime scene. Bennett eventually implicated Cooke and Lewis and entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors. Lewis was found guilty of murder in October and sentenced to life in prison.

“In just a few days, Alexander Bennett will take that witness stand and testify for you,” Breault told the jury.

Jurors heard Tuesday from several witnesses. They learned that the rental company had changed the locks to Cooke and Bernadzikowski’s home a day before Bernadzikowski was killed. Prosecutors say Cooke was the only person who had the new keys.

A back door to their home had some damage around its lock, but it was not consistent with forced entry, testified Sgt. Allen Meyer, the lead county homicide investigator on the case.

Meyer also testified that police did not seize a computer in the home. In 2000, the county Police Department had no computer forensics unit, and investigators did not know as much as they do today about the information that is stored on hard drives, he said.