Military proceedings set against elusive Bennett

U.S. Marine Corps court-martial proceedings will begin Tuesday in the unusual setting of the Clark County Courthouse.

The object of the military tribunal is Arthur Bennett, who had been facing the court-martial action on child molestation charges four years ago when he was presumed to have been killed in a fiery explosion near Lake Mead.

Tuesday's hearing is not the official court-martial but an Article 32 hearing to determine if probable cause exists to take the next step.

The occupant of Bennett's destroyed trailer in 1994 was identified as Bennett by a military dentist who was operating from memory because the defendant's records were missing.

The remains are buried in the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City. The corpse has never been identified.

The contention now is that Bennett destroyed his own records and faked his death to avoid the military disciplinary action that could have put him in a federal prison.

Bennett surfaced in Utah in November amid charges of other sexual misconduct, charges that resulted in a plea bargain and a sentence of three to 45 years in prison.

Bennett had changed his identity to Joseph John Benson, dyed his hair red and rejoined his ex-wife and three daughters in Hurricane, Utah, 150 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

He had been described as an affable braggart who endeared himself to the town's teenagers.

Investigators in Utah have alleged that Bennett's new life in the small town near Zion National Park was funded with more than $200,000 in insurance payments over his bogus death.

The family also had been receiving about $3,000 a month in Social Security death benefits.

The military trial may be the least of Bennett's worries.

The 45-year-old defendant faces murder charges in the death of the man burned beyond recognition at Lake Mead and the possibility of the death penalty looms if he is convicted of first-degree murder.

District Attorney Stewart Bell said the court-martial is being held in Las Vegas to keep Bennett's chances of escape to a minimum.

"He is a bona fide escape and security risk," Bell said. "He faked his death, disappeared and created a new identity. He has an incentive for flight."

"It was easier to have the military come here than transfer Bennett to a military installation in Arizona for trial," he said.

Investigators are trying to determine if the body they found is linked to a car that was abandoned about the time of the Feb. 3, 1994, fire.

In state court, Bennett is charged with murder, kidnapping, two counts of sexual assault of a minor, insurance fraud, arson and theft. A June 7 trial is set in District Judge Donald Mosley's courtroom.

At the time of the fire that lit up the night sky in 1994, Bennett was a Marine staff sergeant stationed at the Yuma Marine Corps Air Station and facing a court-martial on child molestation charges over incidents there and in Okinawa.

"It was Arthur Bennett's trailer and Arthur Bennett's truck that was found at the scene," Metro Police Lt. Wayne Petersen said as the case originally unfolded. "He was despondent. He was facing court-martial. He had previously attempted suicide. It appeared that Arthur Bennett had taken his own life."

A wake for Bennett, a 30-year Las Vegas resident originally from Weehawken, N.J., was held at Palm Mortuary downtown. Peterson said Bennett's family knew he was alive and had been in contact with him.

The true identity came to light when Hurricane police checked the fingerprints taken of a man they were pursuing on sexual misconduct charges. The fingerprints identified Bennett, who was listed in Metro's computer as deceased.

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