U.S. Marine Staff Sergeant who was facing a court-martial on charges of sexually assaulting the children of fellow Marines in Yuma, Ariz., and Okinawa, Japan. Bennett faked his own death in February 1994. A trailer rented to him was found near Lake Mead gutted by fire with a body inside. The remains were cremated and buried with full military honors in Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City after a Navy dentist identified the remains. Shortly after that, Bennett changed his name to Joseph Benson and moved to Hurricane, Utah, where he lived with his wife and children. In Hurricane, he became known to locals as "Crazy Joe." He dyed his hair red, wore blue contact lenses over brown eyes and concocted a Navy SEAL story about his background. On Halloween 1997, he was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting his two daughters and a neighbor girl. When police ran his fingerprints through a national database, they learned that Benson was really Bennett. In 1998, he pleaded guilty to several counts of sexual assault. He still faced a court-martial for desertion and sexual assault and murder charges for the body left in the trailer by Lake Mead.
On July 12, the day before his court-martial, Bennett, at age 45, hanged himself with a bed sheet in his Clark County Detention Center jail cell. He left a note denying any responsibility for the dead man in the trailer and any other crimes. He was buried in a tax-payers grave, at Woodlawn Cemetary, with media, not family, looking on.
On July 12, the day before his court-martial, Bennett, at age 45, hanged himself with a bed sheet in his Clark County Detention Center jail cell. He left a note denying any responsibility for the dead man in the trailer and any other crimes. He was buried in a tax-payers grave, at Woodlawn Cemetary, with media, not family, looking on.
U.S. Marine Staff Sergeant who was facing a court-martial on charges of sexually assaulting the children of fellow Marines in Yuma, Ariz., and Okinawa, Japan. Bennett faked his own death in February 1994. A trailer rented to him was found near Lake Mead gutted by fire with a body inside. The remains were cremated and buried with full military honors in Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City after a Navy dentist identified the remains. Shortly after that, Bennett changed his name to Joseph Benson and moved to Hurricane, Utah, where he lived with his wife and children. In Hurricane, he became known to locals as "Crazy Joe." He dyed his hair red, wore blue contact lenses over brown eyes and concocted a Navy SEAL story about his background. On Halloween 1997, he was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting his two daughters and a neighbor girl. When police ran his fingerprints through a national database, they learned that Benson was really Bennett. In 1998, he pleaded guilty to several counts of sexual assault. He still faced a court-martial for desertion and sexual assault and murder charges for the body left in the trailer by Lake Mead.
On July 12, the day before his court-martial, Bennett, at age 45, hanged himself with a bed sheet in his Clark County Detention Center jail cell. He left a note denying any responsibility for the dead man in the trailer and any other crimes. He was buried in a tax-payers grave, at Woodlawn Cemetary, with media, not family, looking on.
On July 12, the day before his court-martial, Bennett, at age 45, hanged himself with a bed sheet in his Clark County Detention Center jail cell. He left a note denying any responsibility for the dead man in the trailer and any other crimes. He was buried in a tax-payers grave, at Woodlawn Cemetary, with media, not family, looking on.
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