Second defendant sentenced in 2025 Bellingham kidnapping case
A Bellingham woman who helped to kidnap another woman has been sentenced in Whatcom County Superior Court.
Margaret George Bespalova, 29, was arrested May 5, 2025, along with 28-year-old Christopher William Zvara. According to court records, Bespalova was in a van with Zvara when he drove to the apartment of a woman he knew and sent threatening messages telling her to meet him outside.
When the woman came out into the parking lot, Zvara put her in a headlock and pointed a gun at her, court documents state. Bespalova left the van and helped Zvara situate the woman in the front seat before getting back inside.
The woman was driven around in the van at gunpoint while Bespalova allegedly yelled at her and pulled her hair. Police later found clumps of hair in the van.
Zvara eventually stopped the van in an alley in Bellingham’s York Neighborhood and told the woman “they were going to go for a walk,” court documents show. The abducted woman was able to run and call police.
Officers found the van abandoned about four hours later, and Bespalova’s fingerprints were found on the front passenger door. After she was arrested, Bespalova admitted she was in the van with Zvara at the time of the incident. She said she was asleep when she heard the woman screaming, and got out of the van and told her to “shut up.”
Bespalova told officers that the woman was yelling and upset, and that it “annoyed” her, according to court records. She denied assaulting the woman.
Bespalova pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree kidnapping on April 23. She was sentenced the same day to 20 months in prison, followed by 18 months in community custody.
Zvara pleaded guilty in December to amended charges of first-degree robbery with a firearm, two counts of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm and obstructing law enforcement. He was sentenced to 75 months in prison, followed by 18 months in community custody.