'Dateline' interviews Bennett

The twisted world of former Las Vegan Arthur Bennett comes to television tonight when "Dateline NBC" airs its interview with the convicted child molester who will stand trial in June on charges of faking his own death in a trailer near Lake Mead four years ago.

Bennett granted "Dateline" a jailhouse interview, portions of which will be included in the show scheduled to air at 9 p.m. on KVBC Channel 3.

"Dateline" correspondent Keith Morrison also interviewed Bennett's wife; Gene Davis, whose daughter was molested by Bennett; former Navy Petty Officer Lynn Briscoe, Bennett's neighbor years ago in Okinawa; and various investigators.

Bennett is behind bars at the Clark County Detention Center on charges of murder and arson in connection with a body, burned beyond recognition, that was found inside a charred trailer Feb. 3, 1994, near Lake Mead.

Authorities have yet to identify the body but believe the person was murdered.

Bennett was extradited from Utah last year where he was sentenced to a 45-year prison sentence for sexually abusing his two teenage daughters and another girl over a three-year period.

Authorities say Bennett was a sergeant in the Marines in 1994 when he allegedly staged his death by setting fire to a trailer near Gypsum Wash. At the time of the fire Bennett was under investigation after being accused of molesting another marine's child while stationed in Yuma, Ariz.

Bennett's family received $200,000 in insurance money after the fire and turned up next in Hurricane, Utah, 150 miles northeast of Las Vegas, where investigators contend that Bennett was passing himself off as Joseph Benson.

Police cracked the mystery in the fall of 1997 when a Utah girl told authorities that she was being sexually abused by her father. Police learned from his fingerprints that Benson was indeed Bennett.

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