Man Receives Life Sentence for Dundalk Murder Arranged Online

A Colorado man was sentenced to life in prison Monday for his involvement in the murder of a Dundalk woman in 2000, according to the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Grant Lewis, 36, of Denver, was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder last October in the death of 24-year-old Heidi Bernadzikowski, according to a statement from the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office, which said he was the middleman in a murder-for-hire agreement.

The case was a Baltimore County homicide that detectives had been working to crack since 2000.

On April 20, 2000, Bernadzikowski was killed at her home on Codd Avenue in Dundalk, where she was found strangled with her throat cut, the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office said.

According to police, her boyfriend, Stephen Cooke, 43, now of Pasadena, arranged for her to be killed because he wanted to collect a $700,000 insurance policy he had taken out on her a month before.

When police responded to the townhouse that Bernadzikowski and Cooke shared at the time in Dundalk, they found Cooke rocking the corpse, according to The Baltimore Sun, which reported that although he was considered the prime suspect, Cooke maintained his innocence, “hasn’t picked up so much as a traffic ticket” and worked a high-security government job.

Related: After 14 Years, Boyfriend Charged with Hiring Dundalk Woman’s Killers Over the Internet

A break came in the case after police discovered DNA evidence from the scene that matched that of a Colorado man.

Alexander Bennett, 35, of Greeley, Colo., was charged with first-degree murder in January 2012 after police discovered DNA evidence linking him to the crime.

Police said at the time that the DNA matched that of someone in the FBI database, and detectives were able to place Bennett in the Dundalk area before the murder because Maryland Transportation Authority police found him walking through the Harbor Tunnel in March 2000.

Before he was set to go to trial, Bennett told investigators that Cooke hired him to commit the murder, according to WBAL.

Bennett pleaded guilty last March and is awaiting sentencing, according to online court records.

According to police, Cooke contacted Lewis and Bennett over the internet and entered into a murder-for-hire agreement with them.

Related: Alleged 2000 Dundalk Murderer Arrested in Colorado

Lewis was the intermediary between Cooke and Bennett, police said; he remained in Colorado while Bennett traveled to Maryland and committed the murder, strangling Bernadzikowski and cutting her throat.

Now, Lewis will remain in jail serving two life sentences concurrently for first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

Cooke is scheduled to go to trial June 8 for charges including soliciting murder, soliciting first-degree assault, attempted first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, soliciting to induct/inhibit testimony and soliciting to intimidate a juror, court records show.

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