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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Plastic surgeon Joseph Berg's life was in a free-fall. He'd lost his medical license, was being sued for malpractice and was losing his home.
Last year, the once-successful doctor hit bottom when he was arrested for kidnapping and assault after authorities say he bound and gagged his girlfriend in a closet.
Lucy Schwartz begged prosecutors not to charge him, claiming it was just a "lover's quarrel." But in the end, Berg pleaded guilty to kidnapping, drug and gun violations, and was sentenced to six months in jail, plus probation, and ordered to attend anger management and substance abuse treatment.
He was released just last week and found dead Monday, along with Schwartz, his fiancée, in his Orem home. Authorities are still investigating but say the bodies had no obvious signs of trauma.
"It was a difficult time in the doctor's life," his attorney, Dean Zabriskie, said Tuesday. "He was embroiled in an ongoing divorce. He had three children. He had surrendered his medical license and his reputation. He lost the pinnacle of his success."
Berg's biggest trouble came in the early morning hours of Nov. 6, 2011, when Schwartz, a 48-year-old masseuse, dialed 911 but didn't speak to dispatchers. They heard her pleading with somebody - "Ouch ... Please let me go ... Please don't hurt me," according to court records.
June 6, 2009: Wife files for divorce
February 2011: Diagnosed with back problems
July 2011: Undergoes back surgery
July 2011: Subject of police investigation involving missing drugs at a surgery center in Provo
August 2011: Employees reportedly quit Berg's Orem clinic
August 31, 2011: Divorce is final
November 6, 2011: Arrested after Orem police received open 911 call. Officers found girlfriend bound in bedroom closet with medical tape
November 2011: Reportedly enters drug rehab center in California
November 30, 2011: Medical License was suspended by DOPL during emergency hearing
December 20, 2011: Pleads guilty to reduced charges in plea bargain with prosecutors
April 23, 2012: Sentenced to serve six months in Utah County jail
April 25, 2012: Reported to jail to begin sentence
June 26, 2012: Writes letter to judge from jail, asking for early release or GPS monitoring. Request denied.
July 13, 2012: Orem home is sold as part of short sale
August 23, 2012: Released from Utah County jail after receiving two months credit for good behavior and begins three years of probation
August 27, 2012: Found dead of yet unknown causes, along with Lucy Schwartz at home in Orem
Police broke down the front door and found Schwartz bound and gagged with white medical tape inside a closet.
Berg later told KSL-TV he was merely trying to restrain Schwartz to keep her from driving under the influence of alcohol. But Deputy Utah County Attorney Craig Johnson said Berg had held Schwartz captive because he suspected her of cheating and wanted to examine text messages on her cellphone
Schwartz "begged and pleaded with me to not charge him with anything," Johnson said Tuesday. "She said it was just a lover's quarrel."
In court, Schwartz told the judge the incident was merely a "low point" in their relationship. Even later, as Berg sat in jail, she defended him, pleading for his release.
"Joseph is not a threat to me or his children," she wrote to the judge. "He is an extremely loving father and fiance."
Berg had three children with his estranged wife, ages 8, 13 and 16, and Schwartz had two kids, ages 11 and 14. None of the children lived with Schwartz and Berg.
Berg, too, reached out for leniency.
Related:
Former plastic surgeon accused of kidnapping, malpractice found dead
Embattled Orem plastic surgeon Joseph Berg and his fiancee were was found dead in his home Monday just days after he finished serving a jail sentence for kidnapping her."I'm a good guy, judge. I really need a break in life right now," he wrote from jail in June, hoping for early release.
Friends and family of Schwartz told The Associated Press on Tuesday that she would never have taken her own life and was planning to leave Berg.
"He was going down in flames. He probably took her out, too," said the woman's brother, Hector Eribez of Spring Valley, Calif. He said his sister planned to return to her large family in California.
"The way I look at it, this guy was losing everything and was probably angry at her," Eribez said. "She was vulnerable."
Berg, who had owned Cosmetic Plastic Surgery Institute and Day Spa in Orem, was released two months early for good behavior. Zabriskie said his client hoped to get his medical license back and rebuild his life, but his depression and addictions to painkillers and alcohol apparently were too much to overcome.
"What he thought he needed proved to be his downfall," Zabriskie said. "It's all speculation now."
Contributing: Sam Penrod
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
