Friday, April 3, 1998 | 10:18 a.m.
Arthur Bennett, the Utah man once believed to have been burned beyond recognition in a fiery explosion near Lake Mead four years ago, was expected to be indicted today on murder charges in that bizarre death.
A Clark County Grand Jury had been hearing testimony since March 11 in the murder of the still unknown man.
Despite an indictment, it may be a while before Bennett can be brought back to Las Vegas to stand trial. He is facing child molestation charges in Utah and his trial recently was ordered moved from St. George to Salt Lake City because media coverage made it impossible to seat a jury that was unaware of the case.
Since 1994, it was believed the dead man was Bennett based on a tenuous identification by U.S. Marine Corps investigators. Life insurance had been paid and the charred remains 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, flush with $200,000 in insurance money, moved with his ex-wife and three daughters to Hurricane, 150 miles northeast of Las Vegas, where he assumed the identity of Joe Benson, an affable braggart who endeared himself to the town's teenagers.
Although the identity of the man interred as Bennett still is unknown, District Attorney Stewart Bell has said there is sufficient information for a grand jury to conclude the fire victim was murdered and Bennett, now 44, was responsible.
At the time of the fire that lit up the night sky on Feb. 3, 1994, Bennett, a Marine staff sergeant stationed at the Yuma Marine Corps Air Station, was facing a court-marshal on child molestation charges.
"It was Arthur Bennett's trailer and Arthur Bennett's truck that was found at the scene," homicide 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 Feb. 7, 1994, at Palm Mortuary downtown. His funeral service was the next day, followed by a private burial in Boulder City.
But Peterson said Bennett's family knew he was alive and had been in contact with him.
The misidentity came to light when Hurricane police checked the fingerprints taken from the man they were pursuing on sexual misconduct charges. The fingerprints identified the man as Bennett, although he was listed in Metro's computer as deceased.
Metro detectives have been trying to determine who died in the 2 a.m. explosion on the Lower Gypsum Wash near the north shore of Lake Mead.
Petersen said witnesses saw Bennett near the trailer a few hours before the fire and that suggested he was the victim.
Identity of the body was aided by a Marine dentist, who didn't have a chart on Bennett but had worked on his teeth.
Although Bennett has been pursued on murder charges, investigators admitted the body was too badly burned to determine the cause of death or tell if the victim had been injured prior to the fire.
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