Fugitive's return to LV planned

Now that a former Las Vegan has pleaded guilty in Utah to sexual abuse, prosecutors can begin the process of bringing him to Clark County to face murder and other charges related to faking his own death four years ago.

Arthur Bennett, a Marine sergeant once believed to have been burned beyond recognition in a fiery explosion near Lake Mead in 1994, was indicted in April after he was discovered five months earlier living under an assumed named in Hurricane, Utah.

Bennett entered a plea bargain Friday with prosecutors in St. George, Utah, in which he was given a 45-year-prison sentence for three counts of second-degree felony charges of sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14.

A spokesman for the Clark County district attorney's office said it might take 90 days to bring Bennett back to Las Vegas if he fights extradition, or up to 45 days if he returns without a fight.

U.S. Marine Corps investigators identified the charred remains of a body found in Bennett's trailer as Bennett. Life insurance was paid to members of Bennett's family and the remains were buried in the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City.

Then in November, Utah authorities notified Metro Police in Las Vegas that the man they believed had died in a fire actually was alive and facing rape charges in Utah.

Investigators in Utah have said that Bennett was living with his ex-wife and three daughters in Hurricane, 150 miles northeast of Las Vegas, where he assumed the identity of Joe Benson.

The identity of the man interred as Bennett remains unknown.

At the time of the Feb. 3, 1994, fire, Bennett was facing a court-martial on child molestation charges.

He was a Marine staff sergeant stationed at the Yuma Marine Corps Air Station.

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