Bennett back in uniform for hearing

Bill Gang

Tuesday, Feb. 23, 1999 | 10:53 a.m.

Former Marine Arthur Bennett, who is charged with faking his death in a trailer fire at Lake Mead in 1994 to escape military charges of sexual assault, faced a military judge and those assault charges at the Clark County Courthouse today.

Approximately 15 witnesses were expected to be called to testify against him in the Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a grand jury hearing. More than half of the witnesses are alleged to be victims of sexual misconduct while he was stationed at the Marine base in Yuma, Ariz.

Wearing the uniform of a staff sergeant and a military-regulation haircut, Bennett, 45, faced judge Lt. Col. Kenneth B. Martin as the military added a charge of desertion from his disappearance four years ago.

If Martin decides there is sufficient evidence, Bennett will face a military court-martial in Las Vegas, but prospective jurors would be drawn from Marine installations around the Southwest, according to procedural rules discussed before witnesses were called.

Bennett was presumed to have died Feb. 3, 1994, in a fiery explosion of his trailer near Lake Mead. A burned body found inside was identified as Bennett.

But Bennett wasn't dead. He resurfaced in November in Southern Utah, where he had changed his hair color and identity and reconnected with his ex-wife and children.

His true identity surfaced after fingerprints following his arrest in Utah on other sexual misconduct charges matched those on file for him in Clark County.

The military proceeding was kept open to the public by Martin despite objections from Bennett's military attorney Capt. Jason Edelmann that the defendant has been the object of allegations of racism and threats to his life.

The tiny courtroom on the fourth floor of the courthouse was packed with about 10 Marines, including the father of two victims. In the back of the courtroom was Bennett's mother and brother and a handful of spectators.

The proceeding is being held in the county courthouse because of security issues and the belief that Bennett is a flight risk.

Bennett is charged with a variety of sexual misconduct charges and counts of battery, assault with a loaded firearm and obstruction of justice over events at the Yuma Marine Corps Air Station and in Okinawa.