April 11, 2001
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

EX-GI FAKED HIS DEATH: Defense blames Marine Corps in fraud trial

Carri Geer Thevenot
By CARRI GEER THEVENOT
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Defense attorneys lashed out at the military Tuesday during a federal conspiracy trial for three members of Marine Staff Sgt. Arthur Bennett's family.
The relatives are accused of helping Bennett fake his own death in 1994 to collect more than $ 300,000 in government benefits.
Attorney Karen Connolly said the Marine Corps assisted Bennett with the plot, either inadvertently or intentionally.
'Something stinks here,' she told the jury during her closing argument.
Connolly blamed the Marine Corps for failing to ferret out Bennett before he committed murder, incest and fraud. Bennett killed himself in 1999.
'He was a sick, evil man, and he served for 23 years in the Marine Corps,' she said.
A federal grand jury indicted Bennett, his mother, two of his brothers and his ex-wife in April 1999 on charges of conspiring to defraud the United States.
Bennett, also facing murder and sexual assault charges, hanged himself three months later at the Clark County Detention Center. He was 45.
His ex-wife, Amelia, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge in December. She admitted concealing her knowledge of a felony -- the conspiracy to defraud the United States -- without admitting she participated in it.
The three remaining defendants are Bennett's 69-year-old mother, Ellen, and two of his brothers, Scott, 41, and David, 43. Their trial began two weeks ago in U.S. District Judge Philip Pro's courtroom. Jurors began deliberating Tuesday afternoon.
All three defendants admit they knew about the staged death but deny intending to defraud the federal government. Arthur Bennett often told tales about his involvement in covert operations, and the three relatives claim they believed him when he said military officials were faking his death to help him assume a new identity.
The defendants' attorneys argued that the man's story would have seemed far-fetched if the military's actions had not given it credence. Those actions included:
Allowing Arthur Bennett to go free while he was facing sexual assault charges in Arizona. Arthur Bennett was on leave when a charred body was found in his burned-out trailer Feb. 3, 1994, near Lake Mead.
Positively identifying the dead man as Arthur Bennett.
Burying the body with full military honors.
Connolly, who represents Ellen Bennett, said the woman knew her son was alive when she received about $ 200,000 in proceeds from his life insurance policy.
'An act does not make one guilty, unless the mind is also guilty,' Connolly said.
She said Arthur Bennett told his mother the military wanted him to have the money to start his new life. He also told her his family would be killed if they revealed his secret, the attorney said.
Attorney Paul Wommer, who represents Scott Bennett, held up a picture of Arthur Bennett during his closing argument and asked the jury, 'What would you do if this maniac threatened you?'
Although Arthur Bennett's dental records were missing, a Navy dentist looked at the teeth of the man who died in the 1994 fire and confirmed that they belonged to his former patient.