Man who faked his death pleads no contest to sex charges

Friday, May 29, 1998 | 2:50 a.m.

Arthur Gus Bennett told the judge he was sorry for the trouble he caused and prosecutors in Utah say the plea is an "insurance policy" to assure that Bennett will go to prison regardless of the outcome of the Nevada prosecution.

Bennett pleaded no contest to three second-degree felony charges of sexual abuse of a child under age 14. Each carries a sentence of one-to-15 years in prison and 5th District Judge James Shumate ordered the terms to run consecutively.

A no-contest plea means Bennett does not admit the crimes, but is not challenging the allegations against him. For sentencing purposes, it is the same as a guilty plea.

"I just want to say I'm sorry for anyone I've hurt," Bennett said. "I hope the court will understand that I'd like to put this under my belt as far as I understand what's gone on."

Bennett, 44, was known to his neighbors in nearby Hurricane, Utah, as Joe Benson, a gregarious veteran with a penchant to be a blowhard. He and his family moved to there in 1995 and Bennett quickly involved himself in a variety of community projects, most dealing with children and some involving the Hurricane High school drama club.

He was arrested on Halloween after an investigation into rumors that Bennett had assaulted a young girl. He was ultimately charged with 13 sex-crime felonies involving three girls - a pair of 13-year-olds and a 15-year-old - including his two daughters.

At a preliminary hearing, the girls described how he came to their rooms almost nightly and had sex. A neighbor girl recalled a slumber party at which Bennett moved from one girl to another in their sleeping bags.

What was a routine sex-crimes investigation, however, took a bizarre twist that has baffled police in three states.

Because Bennett is supposed to be dead.

His real identity was discovered through a routine fingerprint check by Washington County authorities after he was booked into jail.

Investigators say Bennett, a sergeant in the Marines, faked his own death in a trailer fire near Las Vegas in February 1994 while under investigation for allegedly molesting another soldier's child while stationed in Yuma, Ariz.

His family apparently collected a $200,000 insurance policy, changed their name and moved to Hurricane.

Police don't know whose charred remains they found in the ashes of the fire, but Clark County officials indicted Bennett in April on charges of first-degree murder, arson, insurance fraud, theft and sexual assault of a minor under age 14.

In exchange for his guilty pleas on Friday, prosecutors dropped a number of first-degree felony charges that could have landed Bennett in a Utah prison for life.

Deputy Washington County Attorney Brent Langston said he's satisfied the plea was adequate. Prosecutors have been reluctant to put the children through another trial and an earlier attempt to take the case to trial failed when the court could not find an unbiased jury.

Langston said he had reviewed the Nevada evidence and was confident Bennett will be convicted there and possibly face a death sentence.

Indeed, several defense motions made during the course of the case will remain under consideration by Shumate. Bennett, as a condition of the deal with prosecutors, retained the ability to withdraw his no contest pleas should Shumate rule in his favor.