Cheshire Woman, Wife of ESPN's Chris Berman, Dies in Double-Fatal Accident

CHESHIRE, CT — Cheshire’s Katherine Ann Berman, wife of legendary ESPN broadcaster Chris Berman, was killed in a double-fatal accident on Route 64 in Woodbury Tuesday afternoon. She was 67. An elderly Waterbury man also died in the accident. State Police said on Wednesday that they are continuing to investigate what led to the accident.

State Police said Katherine Berman and Edward Bertulis, 87, of Waterbury, were both killed in the accident, which occurred in the area of Tuttle Road around 2:15 p.m. Tuesday. Berman was driving a Lexus, which was owned by her husband, State Police said. (To sign up for Cheshire breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

According to State Police, Bertulis was traveling eastbound on Sherman Hill Road approximately 100 feet east of Tuttle Road in Woodbury. Katherine Berman was traveling east on Sherman Hill Road directly behind Bertulis' vehicle, State Police said.

Bertulis' vehicle was struck in the rear-end by the front-end of Berman's vehicle, State Police said. After the crash, Berman's vehicle continued to veer off the roadway to the right, and down an embankment and overturned in a small body of water, State Police said.

Bertulis' vehicle veered off the road, collided with a utility pole and landed in the center of the roadway on its roof, State Police said.

Berman was pronounced dead at the scene while Bertulis was taken to a local hospital where he later died as a result of his injuries. The accident remains under investigation.

Chris Berman, a Greenwich native, started his career with WVIT-TV (now known as NBC 30) as a weekend sports anchor. He joined the fledgling Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) a month after it launched in the fall of 1979. For more than three decades, he hosted the network's Sunday NFL Countdown show, and since 1999, has served as master of ceremonies for the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction in Canton, Ohio.

"This is a devastating tragedy and difficult to comprehend," ESPN President John Skipper said in a statement. "Chris is beloved by all his ESPN colleagues and for good reason: he has a huge heart and has given so much to so many over the years. We know how much his family means to him and all we can do at a moment like this is give him the love and support he will surely need at this hour. Our thoughts and prayers are with Chris, Meredith, Doug and the entire family."

He married Katherine Alexinski of Middlebury in 1983 in New Preston, CT. She was a graduate of the University of Connecticut and worked as a fourth-grade teacher in the Waterbury school system.

The couple has a daughter, Meredith, and a son, Douglas.

Written by Rich Scinto with reporting by Tim Jensen, Patch Staff.

Photo credit: Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images Entertainment