State's witness: Bentler spoke of parents' deaths

KEOSAUQUA (AP) - Shawn Bentler told the mother of one of his children a week before his family was slain that he wouldn't have money troubles after his parents died, the woman testified Wednesday.

Lexie Leslie, a stylist from Mt. Pleasant, said she and Bentler spoke about his lack of a job and that she told him he had to start helping pay for the care of their 19-month-old daughter Avaley.

"He said that when his parents were dead he wouldn't have to worry about money anymore," she said during the third day of Bentler's first-degree murder trial.

Bentler, who also has a daughter by another woman, is accused of fatally shooting his parents Michael and Sandra Bentler, and sisters Sheena, 17, Shelby, 15, and Shayne, 14, in the middle of the night on Oct. 14 at their rural Bonaparte home.

Leslie testified that Shawn Bentler asked her "if he had murdered somebody if I would continue seeing him and continue letting him see our daughter Avaley."

She also said she talked with Shawn Bentler by cell phone between 10:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. the night before the slayings. He told police that his mother came to visit him around 10:30 p.m. and that he left his cell phone in her car. That phone was found in the Bentlers' home after the slayings.

The defense objected to Leslie's testimony, saying it was hearsay and that it was prejudicial to their client. The case was being heard in front of Van Buren County District Court Judge Michael R. Mullins after Shawn Bentler waived his right to a jury trial.

Mike Halverson, a DNA analyst for the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation, testified Wednesday that white socks Shawn Bentler was wearing when he was arrested contained two small drops of his mother's blood. Halverson wore plastic gloves as he handled the socks in court.

Defense attorneys claim Shawn Bentler's mother did his laundry and that the blood could have transferred that way.

Another state analyst testified about tire tracks found at the crime scene that prosecutors believe belong to a car owned by Shawn Bentler's roommate, Travis Holder.

Investigators unsuccessfully attempted to make a replica of the tire tracks with a dental cast. Photos of the tire tracks were compared to the 1991 Ford Festiva owned by Holder. Prosecutors said the mismatched tires of the car matched the tracks found near an entrance to the Bentlers' home.

The defense has contended that Shawn Bentler's roommate saw him a couple hours before and a few hours after the slayings, and didn't have time to travel to his family's home in Van Buren County to commit the crimes. Quincy is about 78 miles from Bonaparte.

Prosecutors argue that Shawn Bentler, who had no car and no driver's license, sneaked out of the home and took his roommate's car.

Holder testified Tuesday that he had about a quarter-tank of gas when he left it at home Friday night, but he said that he noticed it was "in the red" when he went to work on Saturday, the morning after the slayings.

Jerri McLemore, an associate state medical examiner, testified Wednesday afternoon about the injuries the family suffered, and showed photos of numerous bullet wounds. A handful of family members left the courtroom before her testimony, others left during it or shielded their eyes and wept as the photos were displayed on a television screen. Shawn Bentler did not look at the screens, and cried and wiped away tears at times during the testimony.

McLemore said Michael, Sandra and Sheena Bentler each died of a gunshot wound to the head. Shelby died of gunshot wounds to the head, chest and arm, and Shayne was killed by wounds to the head and neck.

Prosecutors are focusing on the blood and tire track evidence, a videotaped police interrogation of Shawn Bentler, his conversation with Leslie, and a 911 call made from the Bentler home the night of the slayings.

The call begins with Shayne saying her older brother was "going to do something," followed by the sound of a gunshot and a scream, "Shawn, no!" before the line goes dead.

The judge said he would visit the Bentlers' home Thursday afternoon.