Mark Rogowski

Mark Anthony "Gator" Rogowski (born August 10, 1966) is an American former professional skateboarder who was convicted of murder.

In 1978 after 2 years of skating local parks, 12 year old Rogowski was picked up by a local skate team.

He was mainly prominent in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Rogowski started his professional skateboarding career in 1980 at age 14.

Rogowski was one of a group of elite skaters who enjoyed significant fame in the 1980s, alongside Christian Hosoi, Tony Hawk, Lance Mountain, and Steve Caballero.

He was a charismatic, flamboyant personality who received fame and fortune during skateboarding's return to popularity following the success of vert skateboarding.

Soon afterward, he began a tumultuous long-term relationship with McClain—they appeared together in numerous advertisements and promotional videos for Vision, which had become one of the top-selling skateboarding brands of the 1980s.

Rogowski's popularity declined as 'vert skating', popular in the 1980s, was supplanted by street skateboarding in the 1990s.

Vision, the company he was with for the majority of his career, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy.

For re-invention, Rogowski changed his name to "Gator" Mark Anthony, explaining "Rogowski" was the name of the father he never knew.

After a severe accident in West Germany, where Rogowski either fell or was pushed from a hotel window and landed on a fence, Rogowski returned home to Carlsbad to recover.

After befriending Augie Constantino, an ex-surfer turned born-again Christian who also became his "spiritual advisor", Rogowski converted to a strict Evangelical form of Christianity, influencing Rogowski's attitude and skateboard deck designs.

After four years of dating McClain, Rogowski suggested the couple marry, proclaiming they "can't have sex anymore unless we get married."

The sudden lifestyle change contributed to the end of McClain's relationship with Rogowski, along with his occasional bouts of violence (which included his locking her in a closet) and unprovoked jealousy, and she returned to her parents' home in San Diego, California.

Rogowski began a period of severe alcoholism following McClain's departure.

Following the end of his relationship with McClain, Rogowski was jealous: He entered her home to steal gifts he had given her, he made threatening telephone calls to McClain's new boyfriend, and he also threatened McClain directly.

McClain informed police about Rogowski's behavior.

They filed a report, but the situation was not monitored continuously.

In 1982, he won his first major contest, the Canadian Amateur Skateboarding Championships in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

In 1984, he won a national championship.

Rogowski soon received endorsement deals from Gullwing Trucks and G&S early in his career.

He was the first skateboarder to receive his own 'pro-deck' by Vision Sports, and his pro-deck proved popular and was soon followed by the Mark Gonzales and Tom Groholski models.

Rogowski was soon featured on the cover of Thrasher magazine for the first time in June 1984 and he would go on to be featured on the cover of Transworld Skateboarding in October 1985.

In 1986 Rogowski was detained by police in Virginia Beach, VA after assaulting an officer in the parking lot of Mount Trashmore Park during the East Coast Assault pro contest.

He was featured on the covers of both magazines again in July & October 1987 as well.

At the height of his fame, Rogowski was being paid "between $4,000 and $8,000 a month" for clothing and skateboarding equipment endorsements.

By 1987, Rogowski was earning two dollars per skate deck from Vision, which was selling 7,000 decks on a monthly basis, resulting in royalties totaling US$14,000 for Rogowski (US$ 0 in 2024).

Additionally, Vision was also selling T-shirts, berets, hip packs, and stickers using the "Gator" name.

At a 1987 skate show in Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S., Rogowski was introduced to Brandi McClain and her good friend Jessica Bergsten, an aspiring model.

In late 1988 Rogowski was featured on the "Swatch Impact Tour" of 35 tour dates across the United States, which also showcased fellow pro-skaters Jeff Phillips, Kevin Staab, Chris Miller & Joe Johnson.

In 1989 Rogowski also worked as a stunt double on the 1989 film Gleaming the Cube, which starred Christian Slater, and appeared, along with McClain, in the music video for Free Fallin' by Tom Petty.

Rogowski's career ended when he pled guilty for assaulting, raping, and murdering Jessica Bergsten in 1991.

On March 20, 1991, Rogowski talked with 22-year-old Bergsten for the first time in years.

Bergsten asked Rogowski to show her around San Diego.

They spent a day together on March 21, 1991; shortly after, Bergsten was reported missing.

According to Rogowski, he and Bergsten went back to his condo to watch movies, smoke weed, and drink wine.

His life was chronicled in a critically acclaimed 2003 documentary titled Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator by American filmmaker Helen Stickler.

Rogowski was born in Brooklyn, New York, but he moved to Escondido, California, at the age of three after his parents divorced.

Rogowski was a gifted athlete, playing little league baseball in his youth.

Rogowski started to skateboard at age seven and, while most of his friends were into surfing, he eventually started to hang out at skate parks several years later.