GUILTY OR - Debbie Higbee Benton, 54, dies in contract killing, Gladstone, 28 May 2011

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im curious about the pull this officer had over the other people to get them involved in this for him? wow...how sad.
 
nervous_nellie said:
im curious about the pull this officer had over the other people to get them involved in this for him? wow...how sad.
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Well, the woman who did the initial shooting is a long time alcoholic/drug abuser. She was also the full time care giver for the officer's mother (!). I suspect she was very easily influenced, especially with a little money thrown her way. She was probably fearful of being hassled about drugs, etc. should she turn him down. Now, why did her son get involved? Don't know, but he must be a real low-life and maybe the officer had some potential dirt on him as well.
 
Good grief, I do not think I have ever heard of a case quite like this one. I wonder if there will be more arrests?

JMO, IMO, :moo:, and all other disclaimers.
 
I have never read anything like this case before :what:

Not sure it was "well" planned... planned maybe but picking a substance abuser to do the hit who apparently told people what she was going to do, then staying in contact in a "secretive" way, seems really amateur for someone who should have more insight! Was Benton's mother still in Campbell's care? If so, it wouldn't have seemed off if Benton had continued the same level of contact.
 
Did Campbell and her son go to the beauty salon to kill her together?
Who did the beating and strangulation?
One or both?
Anyone know?
Whichever, this is one for the books!
ID Discovery's series "Women who kill" should be all over this case.
But, as she's apparently changed into a man. Now what? "Men who were once women who kill"?
Sheesh. Once again, life proves stranger then fiction.

I would love to see author Ann Rule write a story about this one!
 
KALI said:
Did Campbell and her son go to the beauty salon to kill her together?
Who did the beating and strangulation?
One or both?
Anyone know?
Whichever, this is one for the books!
ID Discovery's series "Women who kill" should be all over this case.
But, as she's apparently changed into a man. Now what? "Men who were once women who kill"?
Sheesh. Once again, life proves stranger then fiction.

I would love to see author Ann Rule write a story about this one!
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Me too! Perfect story for her.

As far as the son, it has not been made clear exactly what his role in the murder is. We don't know if he actually helped with the killing or if he is just a conspirator. We will have to wait and see. I was under the impression at the beginning of the case that Lynn Benton was the one who finished the job after Campbell did the shooting. Benton worked right across the street from the beauty parlor/crime scene and was working that night. I will be following this case closely.
 
http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-city/index.ssf/2014/05/ex-gladstone_cop_lynn_benton_a.html

The mother of murder victim Deborah Higbee Benton filed a $900,000 lawsuit against the dead woman's husband, former Gladstone Police Sgt. Lynn Edward Benton...

Benton is being held in Multnomah County where he faces a drug charge. His murder trial is scheduled for February 2015 in Clackamas County. Benton will be tried with two accused accomplices, Susan Ellen Campbell and her son, Jason Jay Jaynes.
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More of the drama unfolds.....

http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-city/index.ssf/2014/05/prosecutors_rescind_plea_deal.html


Prosecutors will rescind their plea deal with Susan Ellen Campbell, one of
three people accused of plotting and carrying out the murder of Debbie Higbee Benton.

One of the victims, now an adult, is serving time at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility where Campbell is serving time on a drug charge. Campbell allegedly pressured the victim to not testify against Jaynes, according to court testimony.
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Why in the world was the Mother of the accused serving time with one of his victims?
 
http://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/index.ssf/2014/10/jason_jaynes_awaiting_trial_fo.html

Jayson Jay Jaynes, a Gladstone man implicated in a 2011 murder-for-hire conspiracy, was sentenced to nearly 15 years in prison for sex crimes involving underage girls...

The sex charges stem from a party in 2000 where he had sex with two girls -- one was 12, the other 15 – and a separate ongoing sexual relationship in the late 1990s involving a 13-year-old girl who lived in his neighborhood... Jaynes' actions had some impact on "how the girls turned out later in life," Wentworth said. One is in prison; another spent years as a prostitute.

"There is no remorse for his actions. Never. Not once. Instead, he joyfully reminisces about his sexual conquests of children and paints himself as a victim of the system that attempts to hold him accountable," Wentworth said in his sentencing memorandum.
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http://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/index.ssf/2014/11/lynn_benton_gladsoone_cop_adcc.html

Lynn Edward Benton, a former Gladstone police officer accused of murdering his wife, will not face trial on drug charges in Multnomah County, a judge ruled. Multnomah County Circuit Judge Kenneth Walker ruled that there was not probable cause for the searches and that the evidence seized could not be introduced at trial.
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http://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/index.ssf/2014/12/prosecutors_defense_attorneys_1.html

Benton's attorney Patrick Sweeney said that Susan Campbell has become a major stumbling block in the defense's trial preparations, because it is not clear whether she will be a defendant or prosecution witness.

Campbell reached a plea deal with prosecutors in 2012; she agreed to testify against Jaynes and Benton in return for a 15-year term. But Campbell withheld information and prosecutors increased her sentence to 16½ years. They may rescind the plea agreement...

Jaynes told Smith that Campbell shot Higbee-Benton in the back, documents show. She survived, so Jaynes "took care of the (expletive)"... Jaynes added that he was "doing (Benton) a favor" because Benton allegedly helped him avoid prosecution for sex crimes committed several years earlier.
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http://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/index.ssf/2015/01/as_trial_date_nears_judge_want.html

A Clackamas County judge said Friday that she will defer a decision on whether to sever the trials of Lynn Edward Benton and Jason Jay Jaynes, who are accused of killing Benton's wife in 2011.

In the meantime, Circuit Judge Kathie Steele said, prosecutors must decide later this month if they will call a third defendant as a witness against Benton and Jaynes or try her on murder charges...

Steele will rule on both matters after a hearing on Feb. 24. Steele also ordered prosecutors to decide by Jan. 23 whether Campbell will be a witness or will face trial.
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http://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/index.ssf/2015/01/jason_jaynes_accused_in_murder.html

Jaynes and Benton are scheduled for trial on June 2.
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http://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/index.ssf/2015/03/dad_82_of_former_gladstone_cop.html

The 82-year-old father of a former Gladstone police officer was sentenced Wednesday to two years of probation for possessing child *advertiser censored*.

Roy Benton's crime was discovered because police were investigating his son, Lynn Benton, who is charged with aggravated murder and scheduled for trial in June...

Roy Benton also is facing federal child *advertiser censored* charges. He is scheduled for trial in federal court in eastern Washington in April.
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I understand Lynn Benton was a very nice person before she started her transition into a man. I have to think that perhaps the testosterone treatment altered her/his personality and that is why his wife wanted him to stop the transition.

My son works at the detention center Benton was held at while awaiting trial. Benton was a trustee and got along fine with everyone there. Such a sad story all the way around.
 
http://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/index.ssf/2017/02/3rd_person_convicted_in_death.html

The longtime friend of a Gladstone police sergeant pleaded guilty Friday for helping the officer kill his wife and was sentenced to life in prison.

Susan Campbell's plea marks the third and final conviction in the 2011 murder of Debbie Higbee Benton, who was found shot, beaten and strangled in the Gladstone beauty salon she owned for at least 20 years. Campbell will be eligible for parole after serving 30 years...

Jason Jaynes, Campbell's son, was sentenced last week to nearly 12 years in prison for his role in the killing.
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