Travis Berge: Suspect in Cal Anderson murder led troubled, drug-fueled life in Seattle
SEATTLE — Travis Berge was transparent with his addiction, his talents and a propensity for what he called mutual combat.
He often challenged police officers to boxing matches and he admittedly did it with Lisa, whom he described as his unofficial wife. Witnesses say Lisa refused to engage in mutual combat with Berge in the evening hours of Wednesday at Cal Anderson Park before she was slain.
Police have not publicly identified the woman who was killed or said how she died.
Berge told KOMO News last week the two had been living there after the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest zone was dismantled. He said they were camping in the park and had not been getting along.
For nearly two years, KOMO News has maintained regular contact with Berge, visiting him in jail, interviewing him on the street or listening to his stories on how he beat Seattle’s criminal justice system.
He was named as one of Seattle’s 100 most prolific offenders in a February 2019 report released by the Downtown Seattle Association.
His most recent stint in the King County Jail was to serve 240 days for violating his probation and not showing up for court ordered drug treatment as he had promised a municipal court judge.
After getting out in February, he was arrested on May 5 for investigation of felony harassment. Because of his lengthy criminal history, the King County Prosecutor’s office asked for bail to be set at $100,000.
The judge set bail for $20,000 but police did not refer the case to prosecutors for a felony charge, and Berge was released May 7 after spending just two days in jail.
On June 8, Berge was booked into the King County Jail for investigation of obstruction during a protest but was immediately released. The case is still pending in Seattle Municipal Court.
On July 1, Berge was arrested and booked into the King County Jail for investigation of failure to disperse. He was released, and that case is still pending as well.
Seattle Municipal court records show he has nine open cases that remain unresolved.
A search of all court jurisdictions reveals that Berge had over 35 convictions and violations and had been arrested 47 times.
Had Berge lived, he would have faced his worst charge yet: murder for the slaying of Lisa. As of Thursday evening, the King County Medical Examiner's Office had not yet officially released the murder suspect's identity or cause of death.
Berge's mother confirmed his death to KOMO News by his mother, Paula Schaeffer, who lives in Reno, Nevada, which is where Berge is from before he relocated to Seattle.
She said she received a call from Seattle police early Thursday morning with news of her son's death.
“I tried and tried and tried to talk to him about coming back here, you know (and) finding work, staying off the meth and he just would not do it," Schaeffer said. He made that choice and he's just gotten worse and worse."
Berge admitted that he loved getting high on methamphetamine.
Last week, he showed us a bag of meth he said was worth more than $100. Berge also displayed capsules, each contained in its own protective casings he called bullets, saying they were like "five days of speed in one pill."
Berge also flashed a roll of $20 bills; it was unusual for him to have money.
He stood with red eyes, pants shredded to his crotch and wearing no underwear, so he accidentally exposed himself while he was shirtless. He often wore no shirt and had flowers in his hair.
Berge admitted during his last on-camera interview during the CHOP demonstrations that he was seeking out appointments for a psychiatrist but couldn’t find one.
He said he had refused offers of housing because he preferred staying on the streets because because it was safer, and he wanted to. Berge still had no steady job since his release from jail in February.
Berge said he had been arrested the week after he challenged two police officers to mutual combat.
Berge was not a model citizen and had many run ins with police. But friends who were camping in the park with him described him as generous even though they were extremely mad that he allegedly had killed his companion whom they very much liked.
Former Seattle Municipal Court Judge Ed McKenna says the double tragedy of the death of Berge and his companion represents a symbol of a broken criminal justice system and reinforces the need for involuntary treatment for offenders who pose a risk to public safety.
Berge was a talented but broken man, who enjoyed playing his accordion, flute or a piano when he had a chance. But he also had a violent streak when he was high on drugs. He readily admitted that and his friends knew that.
His mother hoped that her son's life wouldn't end the way it did.
“You know I always hoped that one day I would get him back,” Schaeffer said. “And you know, where there’s life, there's hope, but there's no more hope left for that."
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