Norton Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Taunton Patricide Case
Bristol County District Attorney’s Office
Thomas M. Quinn III
District Attorney
Press Release
May 11, 2023
A 38-year-old Norton man was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole after a jury of his peers convicted him of the February 7, 2021 First Degree Murder of his 60-year-old father and the Armed Assault with Intent to Murder his 55-year-old step-mother in Taunton, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.
Gary Bergantim was convicted of the two indictments on Tuesday afternoon after a five-day jury trial in Fall River Superior Court and was sentenced earlier this morning by Judge Renee Dupuis.
On Super Bowl Sunday in 2021, around 11 a.m., the defendant drove his Ford Focus to his father, Jorge Bergantim, and stepmother’s (Lucia Bergantim) duplex home on Cohannet Street in Taunton. At the time, the defendant worked an overnight shift at Amazon in Fall River and lived in Norton. The defendant, while hiding a knife, stopped-in unannounced to visit his father. The father was not home at the time, but the step-mother made small talk with the defendant while he waited for his dad. When the father arrived home, he and the defendant sat on a couch watching TV together, chatting. At some point during the visit, the father asked the defendant if he had been taking his medications, and told the defendant he did not look well. While the step-mother was in the kitchen making chicken soup, she heard the father start to yell, “No Gary!, No Gary!” and “Run sweetie, Run!” The step-mother hurried into the living room and saw the defendant stabbing his father with a knife. The step-mother attempted to stop defendant and wrestle the knife from him. At that point, the defendant squeezed her hand (breaking her fingers) and stabbed her too. The father flipped over a coffee table to try to defend himself and his wife, but the defendant continued to attack until the father collapsed near the front door. The step-mother, suffering from her own stab wounds, fled to the neighbor in the adjoining unit to call for help. While the defendant was leaving, he pushed the step-mother down the outdoor steps and stabbed her a few more times. The defendant is seen on video surveillance trotting down the sidewalk towards his parked car about 50 yards away. Along the way, he tossed an object to his right. He was arrested in the parking lot of a Dunkin in Norton that same day.
The defendant stabbed his father at least 12 times in the abdomen and neck area. The father died from his injuries at Rhode Island Hospital on February 10, 2021. He also stabbed the step-mother at least six times in the abdomen and shoulder area. After surgery to repair her damaged bowel, she was discharged from the hospital about a week later, but still suffers from injuries that prevent her from working to this day. .
On February 17, 2021, the police recovered a blue folding knife from the yard at 355 Cohannet Street, a few houses down from the stabbing location.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Michael Scott and Jose Vazquez. The surviving victim submitted a victim impact statement, which is attached to this e-mail.
“I am very pleased the jury held defendant responsible for the brutal and senseless killing of his father and the attempted murder of his step mother. This case is clearly a tragedy for everyone involved,” District Attorney Quinn said.
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Gregg Miliote
Director of Communications
774-292-9576