Man found guilty of murdering Waite Park woman in 2023
Jarquez Javon Bedford (Stearns County Jail)
A Stearns County judge has found a man guilty on all counts in the stabbing death of a Waite Park woman two years ago.
Court records show 30-year-old Jarquez Javon Bedford was convicted Thursday on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder for the killing of 52-year-old Andrea Cottew.
In Minnesota, a first-degree murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence. A hearing date has not been set as of Friday.
As previously reported, Cottew was found dead in the living room of her unit at Park Meadows Apartments back on Feb. 6, 2023. She had cuts on her neck, and police found a bloody kitchen knife in her bedroom.
Surveillance footage showed Cottew letting Bedford into the building the afternoon of Feb. 5 and walking him to her apartment. Afterward, Bedford was seen coming and going from the building and using her key fob. Cottew, however, did not reappear after letting Bedford into her unit.
Investigators found DNA that matched with Bedford throughout Cottew’s apartment, including on the knife handle.
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