Ever left a relationship at the perfect time? Patricia Arquette may know a thing or two about that. The actress revealed she dodged a bullet when she decided to stop dating a man who went on to murder someone.
Patricia shared the story in response to a viral tweet. The tweet asked for awkward dating stories. While there were some cringey responses, Patricia's took the cake for being totally shocking.
It appears Patricia briefly dated Mark "Gator" Rogowski, an '80s pro skateboarder who later went to prison for murder. Rogowski's crime was gruesome and not so long ago, but he's up for parole in just two years.
Patricia Arquette saw a viral Twitter thread and decided to share a pretty surprising story. The initial tweet asked about the most awkward dates people have been on. There were a lot of cringey tales in the replies, but Patricia's was by far the spookiest of the bunch.
"Second date. Pro skateboarder. Really cute. Friends with my friends," Patricia wrote.
"We made out but something about how he kissed me freaked me out. I gave him a fake number. Years later he killed his girlfriend."
Fans were pretty shocked by the admittance. "Wow. You literally dodged being possibly [murdered]," one fan replied.
"But now I am super curious about how he kissed?? What does someone who kills their girlfriend kiss like? Like what was it that made you go, nope…this isn't good?"
Patricia answered, "It felt aggressive. Like pushing me back hard with his jaw and it felt like it was angry."
Other fans were eagerly trying to figure out who the mystery man was. Patricia confirmed to several fans that the story was about Mark "Gator" Rogowski. It's unclear when he and Patricia dated, but his trouble began in 1987, when he met Brandi McClain and her friend Jessica Bergsten.
Mark and Brandi had a tumultuous relationship over a number of years. They became known as the sweetheart couple of the skating world, but there were many issues behind the scenes.
Mark started to spiral when his career took a downturn as different skating styles gained popularity. He also turned to evangelical Christianity and told Brandi they had to get married to continue having a physical relationship.
The changes in Mark were too much for Brandi, and so the relationship ended in late 1990. Mark harrassed Brandi after the breakup as he developed alcoholism. He broke into her house, threatened her, and threatened a new guy she'd started seeing. Brandi, tired of his relentlessness, fled to New York to get away from him.
A few months later, on March 20, 1991, Mark ran into Brandi's old friend, Jessica Bergsten. The two spent some time together catching up and agreed to spend the next day together. Jessica was reported missing shortly thereafter.
Jessica's body was discovered by campers in Shell Canyon desert on April 10. She was badly decomposed, so they were unable to identify her. News of the discovery drove Mark to confess. He turned himself in the next day and led police to the same spot where her body had been discovered.
Mark told police he had come up behind Jessica and hit her in the head with a steering wheel lock. He hit her several times until she became unconscious. Then he dragged her to his bedroom, handcuffed her to the bed, and raped her.
He then placed her in a surfboard bag and covered her mouth until she stopped breathing. He hauled her out to his car and drove her into the desert, where he dumped her body in a shallow grave.
Mark was sentenced to consecutive terms of six years for forcible rape and 25 years to life for first-degree murder. He was denied parole in 2016 and will be eligible again in 2023.
