A quiet night in rural Bonaparte, Iowa, was shattered in the early morning hours of October 14, 2006, ending the life of 17-year-old Caucasian female Sheena Lee Bentler. The tragedy was not an isolated incident but the culmination of a horrific familicide. Sheena was discovered in her bed in the basement of her family's home, having been shot and killed.
The gruesome discovery didn't end there; also found dead in the house were her father, Michael Bentler, 53, her mother, Sandra Bentler, 47, and her two younger sisters, 15-year-old Shelby and 14-year-old Shayne. All had been fatally shot with a. 22 caliber rifle.
The investigation quickly zeroed in on one suspect: the victims' own son and brother, 22-year-old Shawn Bentler. A chilling 911 call made at 3:38 a.m. by young Shayne became the centerpiece of the prosecution's case. On the recording, Shayne could be heard telling the dispatcher that her brother was "going to do something." In the background, her mother's desperate pleas of "Shawn, no!" were audible, followed by a gunshot. Just before the line went dead, Shayne herself screamed, "Shawn, no!". Shawn, who lived in Quincy, Illinois, about an hour and twenty minutes away, was arrested there later the same day on unrelated charges.
Prosecutors built a case arguing that Shawn Bentler's motive was financial; he wanted to inherit his family's successful grain and lumber businesses, an estate valued at nearly $3 million. During the trial, further evidence was presented against him, including two small drops of his mother's blood found on the ankle socks he was wearing when he was arrested. Despite Shawn taking the stand and denying any involvement, claiming he had a good relationship with his family, the evidence was overwhelming. A former coworker testified that Shawn had often spoken of hating his father and had commented that he wouldn't have to worry about money after his father died.
In May 2007, a judge found Shawn Bentler guilty on five counts of first-degree murder. The following month, he was sentenced to five life sentences in prison. The judge ordered four of the sentences to be served concurrently, but the fifth, for the murder of his mother, Sandra, was to be served consecutively due to its merciless nature, as she was heard on the 911 call begging for her life. No other suspects were ever considered in the brutal slaying that extinguished the lives of Sheena Lee Bentler and her entire immediate family.
