Stearns County Grand Jury Indicts Man on 1st-Degree Murder Charges

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- Twenty-eight-year-old Jarquez Bedford has been charged with 1st-degree premeditated murder, 1st-degree intentional murder, and 2nd-degree intentional murder.

Waite Park Police were conducting a welfare check at 320 Park Meadows Drive last February and found 52-year-old Andrea 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.

Get our free mobile app

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 being held in the Stearns County Jail on $4-million unconditional bail and $2-million bail with conditions.

The charges allege officers interviewed Bedford who gave police multiple details about the case that were not public, but he denied killing Cottew.

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.

READ RELATED ARTICLES

• Lane Closures Starting on Highway 10 in St. Cloud
• Farmers' Almanac Predicting Broiling, Wet Summer
• Road Construction 2023: Stearns County
• Stearns County Household Hazardous Waste Mobile Collections Announced
• Expert: Minnesotans Should Expect Dreadful Mosquito Season