Victim’s mom files wrongful death lawsuit

Friday, Aug. 26, 2005 | 9:47 a.m.

The mother of the man killed by Michael Kane says she doesn't want money or revenge -- she wants justice.

Robbin Trowbridge-Benko has decided to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Kane, who was on LSD and had used methamphetamine in October 2001 when he fatally stabbed her 23-year-old son, John Trowbridge.

In September 2004 a Clark County jury acquitted Kane of the murder charge by reason of insanity. Kane was ordered to undergo treatment at Lake's Crossing, the state mental facility in Sparks, with the understanding that if he recovered, his case would be reconsidered by the court.

Two months ago doctors at Lake's Crossing said Kane was no longer mentally ill, setting up a hearing Sept. 2, the first of its kind in Nevada.

District Judge Jennifer Togliatti is to determine whether to release Kane back into society. She could decide to reject the findings of Lake's Crossing and order Kane to undergo continued treatment and be evaluated again in six months.

Togliatti has scheduled a status check to see if doctors from Lake's Crossing have reviewed the trial testimony and to set a date for them to return to court and testify about the trial experts' findings.

Trowbridge-Benko said the words of Kane's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Scott Coffee, made her reach her boiling point and decided on the lawsuit.

"To hear Scott Coffee over and over again on television saying 'Michael Kane is very excited about going forward with his life and excited about being released' was about all I could take," Trowbridge-Benko said.

"And Coffee would slip in 'oh and Michael is very remorseful.' I haven't been excited about life in four years."

Trowbridge-Benko said making matters worse is that Kane "has never once said he's sorry or that he was wrong."

"Maybe a scarlet letter needs to be branded on Michael Kane," Trowbridge-Benko said. "If Kane receives a civil guilty verdict, perhaps society will force him to acknowledge his actions. For now, his actions are a cross I have to bear, and he's bearing nothing."

Trowbridge-Benko said she is not looking for a monetary gain from the lawsuit. She expects "every penny from a judgment would go to legal expenses." She said any extra money would be used to start a charity in her son's name so that others who find themselves in need can benefit.

She said the lawsuit isn't about her wanting "vengeance," but instead about Kane being held accountable.

Trowbridge-Benko is currently searching for an attorney to handle her case pro bono. She said her family and friends are holding fundraisers to to help with the expenses "so there may be money for an attorney at some point, but I can make no guarantees."

She said she is looking for an attorney who would work with her and who "on a personal level understands the tragedy that has happened here on so many different levels."

Trowbridge-Benko said the attorney would have a "passion for the law and a passion for their fellow citizens of Nevada" and help make sure that Kane and others like him don't commit murder and walk away unpunished.

The Legislature had abolished the not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity plea in 1995, but in 2001 the Nevada Supreme Court ruled the law violated the due process rights of the defendant.

The Legislature, however, failed to include a mandated monitored release program for those individuals such as Kane who are found not guilty by reason of insanity and later determined by doctors to be no longer mentally ill and fit to re-enter society.

In such programs, individuals deemed no longer mentally ill are released back into society and kept track of via monthly meetings, phone calls and often counseling.