Colored Man Arraigned for 2009 Homicide of Portland-Based Public Defender

Christopher Alexander Williamson.

Go easy on him, Portland.

He was a victim of systemic racism – just ask any liberal female lawyer!

Oregon Live:

The 28-year-old man accused of killing Assistant Federal Public defender Nancy Bergeson in her Southwest Portland home nine years ago made his first appearance in court Tuesday since his arrest late last week.

Christopher Alexander Williamson told court officials he had no relationship with Bergeson, records show.

Williamson was arraigned on a single allegation of murder. A court-appointed lawyer Joe Calhoun entered a not guilty plea on Williamson’s behalf in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

Additional charges are expected after the case goes to a grand jury. Williamson is being held at the Multnomah County Detention Center without bail. He’s due back in court next Wednesday. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Kathleen M. Dailey.

Williamson was 19 at the time of Bergenson’s strangulation on Nov. 24, 2009.

Police haven’t discussed what led to Williamson’s arrest, but investigators suspect it wasn’t a random attack or related to her work as a criminal defense lawyer. Tips to law enforcement helped provide breakthroughs in the case.

Nancy Bergeson.