Page 5 - June July 2017

Elite Investigative Journal
Michael’s Murder - Capital Punishment Vs Life Imprisonment, pg 5-10
©2014-2017 SYT Global, Inc.
Michael’s Murder - Capital

Punishment Vs Life
Imprisonment

By Patti McMann

Photo Courtesy of google.com
This article examines capital punishment in murder cases, one case in particular. While many people support
the death penalty and have good reasons to support such a controversial issue, I will offer deeply personal and
compelling evidence to demonstrate why I do not support capital punishment.

A Brutal Murder and the Aftereffects

On January 15, 1982, in his birthplace of Oklahoma City, OK, a 29-year-old man was gunned-down in the
parking lot of a popular night club by his roommate, a person who he considered his close friend. The murder
victim had a young son, siblings, and one surviving parent. A very talented man, he built and sold wood
furniture and played the drums. He worked hard at everything he did, and he had many friends.

His murderer shot him twice, once in the chest, and once in the abdomen, but did not stop with just killing him.
He drove the victim’s body 50 miles from the murder scene where he dumped it in a drainage ditch like a sack
of garbage. A road crew found the body five days later. The man had been robbed and his clothing

partially removed. On January 30, 1982, the Oklahoma City police department notified the victim’s family of
his death.

The killer’s trial began in April 1982, and after deliberating for 22 minutes, a seven-woman, five-man jury
found 27 year-old Dennis Ray Benton* guilty of first-degree manslaughter and later sentenced him to 70 years
in prison.

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