THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 12, 1997 TAG: 9702120541
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: MANASSAS LENGTH: 69 lines
Former FBI agent Eugene Bennett was convicted Tuesday of attempted murder, abduction and seven other felonies in a bizarre plot to kill his wife.
The jury found that Bennett tried to kill Marguerite Bennett by abducting her minister and threatening to blow him up if he did not lure her into an ambush at her church in Manassas.
Bennett stood impassively while the jury read all nine guilty verdicts, ending a two-week trial in which the former undercover agent claimed he was tormented by his wife's lesbian affair and a malevolent alter ego named Ed.
The jury recommended a sentence of 61 years in prison. Circuit Judge Richard Potter set the sentencing for May 15.
The jury of eight women and four men rejected Bennett's insanity defense. During the trial, defense lawyers argued that Bennett had been losing his grasp on sanity for years when his wife's affair with best-selling crime novelist Patricia Cornwell pushed him over the edge.
Marguerite Bennett testified during the trial that she had two brief encounters with Cornwell in 1992. She said she was relieved by the verdict. ``I've got to move on with my life. I do feel there is a future now,'' Marguerite Bennett said.
Prosecutors noted that Bennett had been trained to endure stress as an undercover FBI agent and a SWAT team member before that. They portrayed him as a manipulator who faked psychosis only when his attempt to ambush his wife on June 23 went awry.
``This is someone who is no different from the criminals he investigated except that he carried a badge for a while,'' said assistant Commonwealth's Attorney James Willett.
Bennett's attorney, Reid Weingarten, said an appeal was likely.
Bennett lured the Rev. Edwin Clever to the Prince of Peace United Methodist Church, tied him up and wrapped him in what he said was plastic explosives. He told Clever he would detonate the explosives if Clever did not call Marguerite Bennett to the church.
Marguerite Bennett, also a former FBI agent, said she took a gun and pepper spray to the church because she was suspicious of Clever's call. She said Bennett lunged at her inside the church, and she doused him with the spray and took cover. Bennett fled after she fired a shot at him, but no one was injured. The explosives on Clever turned out to be Play-Doh.
Bennett locked himself in his house, dialed 911 and began a rambling, sometimes incoherent three-hour dialog with emergency dispatchers and hostage negotiators. During the conversation, Bennett said an evil presence named Ed was trying to control him. When Bennett surrendered, he told police he had locked Ed in the garage. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
RECOMMENDED SENTENCES
The charges on which former FBI agent Eugene Bennett was found
guilty Tuesday and sentences the jury recommended for each:
Attempted murder, 10 years.
Abduction, 10 years.
Burglary, 20 years.
Threat to damage the church by burning, 5 years.
Possession of a handgun by a felon, 2 years.
Grand larceny, 3 years.
Possession of bomb materials, 3 years.
Possessing explosive materials, 5 years.
Using a firearm in an attempt to commit abduction, 3 years.
Total of recommended sentences: 61 years
KEYWORDS: ATTEMPTED MURDER CONVICTION TRIAL