Authorities Charge Man With Murdering Waite Park Woman

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- The Stearns County Attorney's Office has charged a man with murder in the death of a Waite Park woman last February.

Twenty-eight-year-old Jarquez Bedford has been charged with one count of 2nd-degree intentional murder for the killing of 52-year-old Andrea Cottew.

Police were conducting a welfare check at 320 Park Meadows Drive on February 6th, 2023, and found Cottew dead inside her home. Court records show officers arrived to find the apartment door locked and no forced entry. There was blood throughout the apartment and Cottew's body was found with cuts to her neck.

Police say the areas with the most concentration of blood were the living room and the bedroom. The victim's mattress was saturated with blood and a blood-stained kitchen knife was found on the floor next to the bed. Her phone, wallet, keys, and apartment key fob were missing.

Surveillance video shows Cottew entering the apartment building the day before. Moments later, Bedford is seen knocking on the locked entry door with Cottew responding and letting him in.

Within the hour, court records show Bedford was seen on surveillance with his sweatshirt turned inside out and was coming and going from the apartment building for multiple hours. The charges allege Bedford was alone and was using Cottew's key fob for access to the building.

Officers later learned that Bedford was staying with some tenants on the 3rd floor of the building. Police say when Bedford returned to the 3rd-floor apartment unit, one of the tenants asked Bedford where he was. Bedford allegedly said he had been looking for a job and "one just came to him".

Bedford is currently being held in the Ramsey County Jail on unrelated charges. The charges allege officers interviewed Bedford who gave police multiple details about the case that were not public, but he denied killing Cottew.

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The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension conducted DNA testing at the crime scene and matched what they say is Bedford's DNA to the handle of the knife.

No mugshot for Bedford is currently available.

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