ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 28, 1997 TAG: 9701280057
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MANASSAS
SOURCE: Associated Press
A judge refused Monday to move the trial of a former FBI agent accused of trying to kill his estranged wife and taking a minister hostage.
Lawyers for Eugene Bennett argued that extensive publicity about the case meant he could not get a fair trial.
``Everyone seems to know about this case ... and the publicity has been universally hostile,'' defense lawyer Reid Weingarten said. ``The defendant has essentially been portrayed as a monster in the publicity.''
Bennett, 42, is accused of using the hostage minister to lure his then-wife to her darkened church in June. Prosecutors say Bennett planned to kill her as the culmination of a complicated, months-long scheme to collect $1 million in insurance and win custody of the couple's two daughters.
He is also charged with threatening to blow up the minister and with scattering bombs or bomb parts across suburban Northern Virginia.
Bennett held off officers for hours after the confrontation at the church, saying he could not surrender before conquering an evil alter ego named Ed. When he emerged, Bennett told police he had locked Ed in the garage.
The case gained added notoriety when divorce papers showed Bennett accused Marguerite Bennett of carrying on a love affair with crime writer Patricia Cornwell.
Bennett is expected to claim that anxiety over his wife's alleged lesbian lifestyle helped push him over the edge, but defense lawyer Jeffrey Gans says he does not plan to call Cornwell as a witness.
Cornwell has never detailed her relationship with Marguerite Bennett, whom she met while gathering notes at the FBI training academy in Quantico for her books about a crime-solving coroner.
Prince William Circuit Judge Richard Potter noted the case has attracted national coverage, and wondered aloud where defense attorneys thought Bennett would be sufficiently anonymous.
Potter also refused Bennett's request that a hometown jury be sequestered.
Bennett's lawyers say he will claim temporary insanity. A psychiatrist hired by the defense found Bennett suffers from multiple personalities.
Bennett pleaded innocent and claims to remember little about the events of June 23. He faces up to two life terms in prison if convicted of all charges.
The trial begins in earnest today and is expected to run two weeks.
The former FBI agent was forced to resign after his wife reported in 1992 that he cheated on bureau expenses. Marguerite Bennett was also an FBI agent at the time, but resigned in 1994 after her husband was convicted and sentenced to a year in federal prison.
The couple has since divorced.
Potter ruled Monday that a statement Bennett gave to a police detective four days after his arrest cannot be used during his trial. Bennett had no lawyer present during the 20-minute interview.
The detective told Bennett he was there because police had found several bombs and suspected Bennett planted more.
Bennett said he knew nothing about bombs, and quickly mentioned that he had hired a lawyer. In the same interview, Bennett suggested his wife planted the bombs, and said she threatened to blow him up at the church.
Bennett also gave a lucid account of some events at the church, apparently contradicting his claim that he does not remember most of the evening.
Prince William Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert acknowledged that the interview took place without a lawyer, and that no one read Bennett his Miranda rights. But the prosecutor said the interest of public safety was paramount.
``There comes a time when we have to dampen or lessen that individual right in favor of society,'' Ebert told the judge.
Potter found that Bennett's Fifth Amendment and Sixth Amendment rights were violated.
Neither Ebert nor defense lawyers commented after the hearing Monday. Both sides agreed not to talk to reporters until after the trial.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Former FBI Agent Eugene Bennett arrives at theby CNBManassas Courthouse Monday for the start of his trial. He is
expected to claim that anxiety over his then-wife's alleged lesbian
lifestyle helped push him over the edge.