Havana man sentenced to 10 years in prison on three charges

FORMAN, N.D. (Valley News Live) – Ryan Bergh was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the kidnapping, assault and reckless endangerment of Melissa Wolter Birnbaum.

On October 19, 2023, Birnbaum finished her second day of work at the Deuces bar in Forman. She was about to leave when Bergh held her at gunpoint and kidnapped her.

The next day, Bergh drove Wolters to the county sheriff’s house. Bergh then gave her a loaded gun and told her to shoot him. Instead, she ran to the sheriff’s door and pleaded for help.

“The night you threatened me with the gun was the night you killed me,” Birnbaum said.

The nightmare is over, but the trauma is still there.

“Night terrors and triggers, I isolate myself everywhere I go,” Birnbaum said.

The incident also affected Melissa’s daughters Avery and Jada.

“Watching my mother go through that was traumatic for me because after I found out I ended up going to her that morning. “Just the dry blood on her face and knowing there was blood on her clothes and how shaky she was,” Avery Birnbaum said.

Wolters says she never imagined the incident would impact her everyday life.

“I didn’t think it would go so far that I would endure it; It’s everyday, you know, it’s hard,” Melissa Birnbaum said.

Bergh is ordered to pay the victim $83,000.

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