Chad Bennett gets 55 years for murder

EPHRATA — Bob Austin stood less than 10 feet from the man who murdered his late father’s "soul mate" and while looking him directly in the eyes asked, “I wonder if you have ever had a thought about the devastation her death has had on so many people? When you murder an innocent person, you leave countless victims behind. You have never shown any remorse or regret.”

Convicted killer Chad Bennett stared directly back at Austin, stone-faced and without emotion.

“I am truly sorry for your loss. The two and a half years I have been in jail I have thought about your family and prayed for your family. I feel for your family, but I am not the one who brutally took Lucille’s life,” Bennett later stated during his sentencing hearing on Friday. “I will not stop trying to prove my innocence until the day I die. And if that day comes for you to see Lucille again, do not let your hearts (be) hardened by hatred. She will tell you the exact same thing; that I was not the person who took her life.”

Bennett has maintained his innocence since he was first taken into custody in November 2014, after Moore was found murdered in her Ephrata residence in September 2014. Bennett’s previous jury trial resulted in a hung jury and mistrial declaration.

A second trial resulted in a second-degree murder conviction, with the jury also finding Bennett guilty of the two aggravating circumstances of acting with “deliberate cruelty” to Moore and knowing she “was particularly vulnerable or incapable of resistance.” The jury found Bennett not guilty of the more serious crime of first-degree murder.

The state requested the court take into account the facts of the case and impose an exceptional sentence of 100 years. The second-degree murder charge carried with it a standard sentencing range of 134 months and 234 months (11.16 to 19.5 years).

“On behalf of the state, your honor, the thing that is most troubling that I have heard is Mr. Bennett’s complete lack of any kind of responsibility or acceptance of the jury verdict,” Grant County Prosecutor Garth Dano told the court.

Bennett’s defense attorney, David Bustamante, felt a 100-year prison term was excessive and petitioned the court to impose a sentence of slightly more than 15 years.

“What we are asking today is that the court impose a standard range sentence for the crime of murder in the second degree and not a sentence which the prosecution encourages. Which is several times higher than the high end of the standard range for murder in the first degree, for which Mr. Bennett was found not guilty,” Bustamante said.

Calling Moore’s death “brutal” and “inhumane,” Grant County Superior Court Judge David Estudillo sentenced Bennett to 55 years behind prison bars. To this day, Moore’s loved ones haven’t forgotten her.

“She was a productive member of society who helped make it a better place. We hold on to the many good memories, saddened by the knowledge that there were many more to come,” Moore’s niece, Melissa McKnight, remarked.

McKnight also brought up a incident from Bennett’s past, when as a teen he was reportedly found with a list of classmates he intended to kill.

“Luckily he was stopped before he harmed anyone, at least that time. Fast forward almost 11 years later, he brutally and viciously murdered Lucille Moore. He beat her, strangled her, stabbed her in the chest numerous times and slit her throat twice, almost decapitating her. He has been thinking about murder all his life.”

Prosecutors believe Bennett murdered Moore in a bout of rage after she informed him of her intent to evict him and his family from one of her rental properties. Bennett’s DNA was found on a cigarette in Moore’s house, in a blood swipe on a kitchen cabinet door, on the shirt Moore was wearing when she died and on a pillow that was placed over her face.

A key piece of evidence obtained for the second trial by the prosecution was a taped conversation Bennett had with his wife as he was lodged in the Grant County Jail. Bennett can be heard telling his wife to thoroughly clean one of his knives, which prosecutors contend was covered in Moore’s blood. He also told his wife, “you know that I did it and you were there with me.”

Bennett believes he was not afforded a fair trial, even going as far as labeling Dano’s actions during court proceedings as “malicious.”

“This trial was anything but fair or just. I was considered guilty and burned before I even got my first trial. The media, Facebook and the news agencies made sure of that. I was plastered on top of the newspapers weekly. I do not believe for one second that the jury didn’t read comments or read papers,” Bennett contended. “This wasn’t a fair and just trial. I feel like it was a witch hunt.”

Bustamante said he plans to file an appeal.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.