BRAINERD, Minn. — Friends and family remembered Bethany Anne Bernatsky as a beautiful soul who was killed in a senseless act of violence three years ago at a northern Minnesota resort.

Cameron Jay Moser

The 30-year-old man facing first-degree murder charges in Bernatsky’s shooting death in 2021 accepted a plea deal and was sentenced last week in Crow Wing County District Court. In the investigation into the murder, officials and family members stated they believed Bernatsky was killed in a case of mistaken identity as her killer thought she was his ex-girlfriend, whose parents previously owned the resort in Nisswa.

Cameron Jay Moser was convicted of intentional murder in the second degree in Bernatsky’s death and was sentenced to 34 years in prison. In Minnesota, a sentence consists of a minimum term of imprisonment equal to two-thirds of the total sentence, and supervised release equal to one-third of the total sentence.

Moser appeared alongside his attorneys Daniel Hawley and Conrad Kragness. Crow Wing County Attorney Don Ryan informed Judge Erik Askegaard that the state reached an agreement with Moser to plead guilty to second-degree intentional murder, and the state would dismiss the remaining first-degree murder charges related to premeditation. With the plea, Moser agreed to waive his rights to a trial.

Moser admitted that on the night of Oct. 7, 2021, he entered Cabin No. 5 at the Cozy Bay Resort on Lake Edward, where Bernatsky, a 46-year-old Brainerd horse trainer, was staying.

Moser was armed with an AR-15 rifle. He shot and wounded her twice. He admitted he then walked up to her while she was conscious and shot her in the head with the intent to kill her.

About 15 people were in the gallery in the courtroom last Wednesday, several in tears and with bowed heads during the proceeding. Four people rose to make victim impact statements.

Charlene Radtke said Bernatsky was her closest friend for more than 20 years and someone she planned to have in her life as she grew older. A talented horsewoman, Bernatsky shared her enthusiasm for horses and riding by teaching children. She competed and performed with well-known groups, including the Royal Lipizzaner Stallions.

“Beth loved people,” Radtke said. “… She forgave everyone who hurt her.”

Radtke noted her friend would say her biggest accomplishment was her daughter, Arielle Rutledge, who recently graduated from law school.

Mari Jevning Baker, Moser’s former girlfriend, also spoke, turning her chair and speaking directly to him. She didn’t have prepared remarks but said she wanted to speak from the heart. She said she’s learned from Bernatsky’s friends what a beautiful soul she was.

“That day changed my life,” Baker said of the murder. She said she hoped through all of the senselessness and loss of life that God uses Moser for some purpose.

“I have to have faith,” Baker said, adding she has so much guilt.

Her statement was interrupted by her tears.

“My sister was a very kind soul,” Ben Bernatsky said. He also turned to look at Moser. He said he and his sister forged a friendship in the last few years where they could talk with each other about life and relationships.

“I miss that time,” he said. “I think we would have had a lot more of it if her life hadn’t been cut short at 46.”

Ben Bernatsky said he thought Moser was getting off easy.

“He might not have intended to kill my sister but he intended to kill someone,” he said. “You’ll be out of jail and have one-third of your life left.”

Ben Bernatsky said he’s been told by family that Moser accepted Christ and is remorseful.

“You’ll have the next 20 years to prove it,” he said.

Moser continued to face forward in his seat and declined an opportunity to speak.

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Greyson Leo Phillips turned 3 months old last week and celebrated by doing all of his favorite things: eating, sleeping, groaning and wiggling.

Chris and Cheri Phillips, of Cambridge, Minn. with their son, Greyson Leo Phillips, and Chris Phillips’ daughter, Melory, on Sunday, June 16, 2024, at the Hercílio Luz Bridge in Florianópolis, Brazil. (Courtesy of Val Kunze)

Greyson, who was born three months prematurely in Brazil, will get to mark his 4-month birthday in Minnesota now that all of his U.S. and Brazilian documents have been or will be secured, his parents, Chris and Cheri Phillips, said.

Greyson’s national identity card – the last piece of Brazilian paperwork the baby’s parents secured, just in case it is requested – will be ready on Thursday. His U.S. passport was delivered last week, 12 weeks to the day after he was born on March 12, 2024.

Greyson, who was 2 pounds, 12.6 ounces at birth, spent the first 51 days of his life in the neonatal intensive care unit of Ilha Hospital e Maternidade in Florianópolis.

The Phillipses, U.S. citizens who had not planned to have a child born in Brazil, have spent the past four months getting Greyson’s documentation squared away.

Among the issues: Brazilian officials wouldn’t issue Greyson a birth certificate because the Phillipses’ passports, like all U.S. passports, don’t list their parents’ names. Without a birth certificate, U.S. officials in Brazil wouldn’t issue him an American passport. Without a passport, his parents couldn’t take him home to Minnesota.

The Phillipses reached out to media in Minnesota and Brazil and conducted dozens of interviews before Brazilian officials agreed to help.

Greyson, who now weighs a whopping 7½ pounds, now has his birth certificate, his Brazilian passport, and his Cadastro de Pessoas Físicas, or “Registry of Individuals,” which is like a Brazilian Social Security number, Chris Phillips said.

Greyson Leo Phillips turned three months old on June 12, 2024 in Florianópolis, Brazil. (Courtesy of Chris Phillips)Chris and Cheri Phillips also were able to secure Greyson’s U.S. passport, but until just a few weeks ago were concerned there might be an issue at immigration in São Paulo when they leave Brazil on Monday.

“Why? Because that (U.S.) passport has no entry stamp/visa, seeing as how he never passed through immigration to enter Brazil. (They don’t issue visas to fetuses, apparently.)”  Phillips wrote in an update to friends and family. “Even with a birth certificate and umpteen online articles and videos explaining our story, one never knows which immigration officer you’ll get or what their mood will be on a particular day. So, we wanted to make sure we have his Brazilian passport to lessen the odds of anything going wrong when we do leave Brazil.”

When the couple got word that Greyson’s Brazilian passport was ready – a full four days earlier than anticipated – Chris Phillips said he raced over to the passport office to pick it up.

“After informing the federal employee on the other side of the glass why I was there, I handed over his birth certificate and my U.S. passport,” he wrote. “She checked her computer then turned around to pull out a row of Brazilian passports from the wall behind her. Stoic and business-like as one would expect from any government employee, she opened his passport to verify the information. Then, upon seeing his picture with his chubby cheeks and wide-open blue eyes staring into the camera, broke into a huge smile and emitted an audible, ‘awwww.’ … Unbelievable. After so much stress and strife over the preceding 12+ weeks as to how and when we’d ever get this kid’s documentation in order so we could take him home to Minnesota, we obtained both his U.S. and Brazilian passports within 48 hours of each other.”

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The couple plan to fly to Sao Paulo on Sunday and then fly to Atlanta the next day. They plan to arrive at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport at 1:55 p.m. on Tuesday.

After four months away, the couple is looking forward to speaking English “and not having to translate everything, everywhere, all the time,” he said.

They also will be moving into their new house in Cambridge – a house they closed on while in Brazil. Family and friends moved all of their belongings for them.

They will miss Melory, Chris Phillips’ 8-year-old daughter, who lives with her mother in Florianópolis, on an island off the country’s southeast coast, but are grateful she has had so much time to bond with her half-brother — an opportunity she otherwise would not have had if he’d been born in Minnesota in June as planned.

“She asked me the other night, ‘Quando será a próxima vez que eu vejo o fofinho?’ (‘When will I see the little cutie again?’)” he said.

They are hoping that the entire family can be reunited again in Brazil for her 9th birthday in February, he said.