FARGO, N.D. (KFGO) – The son of Denise Anderson, the woman found dead inside Sheldon Davis’s burning apartment Thursday, spoke to KFGO News. Nicholas Berlin is Denise’s only child.
Berlin shared images and text messages he received from his mom on June 30th after Davis beat her. She told Berlin in one message, “Sheldon almost killed me last night.” Berlin detailed how the abuse started as verbal and then steadily got more and more physical.
Berlin says he confronted Davis and told him to stay away from his mom.
Berlin told his mom to go to the hospital. She went to the hospital and was put in touch with Detective Grant Kendall with the Fargo Police Depart.
Davis continued to harass Anderson. He would call her place of work and tell them she was drunk or high on drugs. The harassment was so severe Berlin says the employer fired his mom.
When KFGO News spoke to Sheldon Davis at the Cass County Jail he says he suspects one of Anderson’s ex-boyfriends committed the murder and arson. He did not have any idea who that boyfriend could possibly be, or an answer to how he would have known to find her at Davis’s apartment. Davis said that Anderson had a restraining order against a former boyfriend. Berlin confirmed that his mom did have a restraining order but said that that relationship was not abusive. He says the relationship with Davis was the first she had been in that had turned violent.
Berlin spoke to some of his mom’s friends who had interactions with her and Davis in public. They told him Davis was “super controlling” and would get upset anytime she would talk to anyone else, man or woman, and would “try to break that up.”
Berlin says he isn’t upset with how police responded when his mom initially reported the abuse but wishes the law would have allowed police to do more to protect his mom. A petition has been set up in Denise’s name to change North Dakota laws on Domestic Violence.
Davis was initially scheduled to make his first court appearance Monday afternoon but was rescheduled to Tuesday at 9:00 a.m.
Change.org petition to change the North Dakota Century Code on Domestic Violence:
