Mark Rogowski

Mark Anthony Gator Rogowski is an American former professional skateboarder who was convicted of murder, born on 10 August 1966 in Brooklyn, New York, and prominent mainly in the 1980s and early 1990s. His career ended when he pled guilty to assaulting, raping and murdering Jessica Bergsten in 1991, and his life was chronicled in the 2003 documentary Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator by Helen Stickler. He moved to Escondido, California, at three after his parents divorced, started skateboarding at seven and was picked up by a local skate team at twelve in 1978. He turned professional in 1980 at fourteen, sponsored by companies including Vans, Dogtown and Independent Truck Company, won the Canadian Amateur Skateboarding Championships in Vancouver in 1982 and a national championship in 1984.