San Jose: Cold-case investigation links 1997 baseball bat killing to deceased Kansas man

SAN JOSE — A cold-case investigation has identified a now-deceased Kansas man as the assailant who beat a man to death with a baseball bat near a city park almost three decades ago, authorities said Monday.

The San Jose Police Department and Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office announced that Victor Lamont Ferguson, who died in 2022 at the age of 47, is the primary suspect in a July 16, 1997 attack that left 28-year-old Karen Gevorkov dead.

“While justice may be delayed, the victim is never forgotten,” San Jose Police Chief Paul Joseph said in a statement. “Though the suspect is no longer here to face accountability, we hope this new evidence provides much-needed closure to Karen Gevorkov’s family, and serves as a reminder that we will never stop pursuing justice for those we’ve lost.”

The victim was walking with a friend to a convenience store on Boynton Avenue and the pair was passing Starbird Park when they were accosted by three men, according to San Jose police. The two groups reportedly exchanged insults, which was followed by the three men assaulting Gervokov and his friend with a baseball bat.

Gervokov died from his injuries, and the surviving victim was able to give an account to police investigators but could not identify their attackers. A subsequent police investigation named Ferguson early on as a person of interest based on interviews with residents living in the area at the time, but did not formally declare him a suspect.

In the intervening years, other evidence surfaced, including an informant who implicated Ferguson in 1997 and again in 2016. Even so, by the time Ferguson died in Kansas three years ago, he had never been interrogated about the killing, police said.

Last year, the Santa Clara County crime lab, which is operated by the district attorney’s office, re-examined DNA recovered from Gervokov’s clothing from the attack and matched it to Ferguson, authorities said.

“In every unsolved case, something — or someone — will lead us to the truth. Until then, no family should give up hope, and no criminal should sleep well,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement.

Rob Baker, a prosecutor who supervises the cold-case unit for the district attorney’s office, said the resolution is in part a tribute to Mike Brown, a longtime San Jose police officer who was one of the original detectives in the case.

Baker said Brown continued to work on the case over the ensuing two decades, including after he left SJPD to become a DA investigator in 2012, until his death from natural causes in 2017. Brown’s daughter followed in her father’s footsteps to join the police department.

“Identifying the killer with DNA was easy compared to the 20 years of amazing, old-school detective work by homicide investigator Mike Brown,” Baker said. “Without Mike, this case would not have been solved.”

Anyone with information for the Gervokov investigation can contact the SJPD homicide unit at 408-277-5283 or email Detective Sgt. Joel Martinez at 4117@sanjoseca.gov or Detective Hans Jorgensen at 4090@sanjoseca.gov. Tips can also be left with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-7867 or at siliconvalleycrimestoppers.org.