A surprise guilty plea and a demand for immediate sentencing was entered in 3rd District Court Friday by Robert Eugene Bennett, charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death and dismemberment of Larry Duane White in February.
Bennett, 51, entered the plea during arraignment before 3rd District Judge James S. Sawaya who complied with the request for sentencing and imposed a 5-years-to-life sentence as prescribed for first-degree felony offenses.Defense attorney Andrew Valdez told the court he had met several times with Bennett over the past week following a preliminary hearing in 3rd Circuit Court that resulted in Bennett being bound over for trial on the charge.
Valdez told the court he discussed the possibility with Bennett that testimony elicited during the preliminary hearing might lead to consideration of lesser charges.
"Mr. Bennett, to use his words, said he no longer wanted to `desecrate' the victim or members of the victim's family and wanted to end the matter today," Valdez said. "He also indicated very strongly that he wanted to be sentenced today without a pre-sentence report."
When questioned by Sawaya, Bennett said he fully understood his action, was not being coerced in any way, and that he voluntarily waived his right for a pre-trial report.
"Absolutely sir," Bennett responded when Sawaya asked if he was indeed guilty and had actually committed the crime.
Bennett was charged in May with one count of second-degree murder in the shooting death and mutilation of White, his former chess teacher. White disappeared in February, and his legs were found in a trash bin behind a Salt Lake supermarket Feb. 22.
Bennett, who also went by the name Bill Anderson, was arrested in April in a Las Vegas boarding house on a federal warrant for Social Security card fraud. Those charges were later dismissed, but evidence found in the Las Vegas apartment led authorities to Bennett's former South Salt Lake residence.
Detectives May 8 unearthed a headless, limbless torso buried in the yard of the home. A head, wrapped in plastic, was found about 10 feet away the next day.
Beaverton, Ore., investigators are still looking at Bennett as the suspect in the disappearance of his wife, Floy Jean Bennett, 37, on Feb. 22, 1978. Coincidentally, on Feb. 22--11 years later--White's severed legs were found in a Salt Lake trash bin.