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Not Guilty Plea in Family's Murder

By Jon Ellis

Story Created: Nov 1, 2006 at 9:49 PM CST

Story Updated: Nov 2, 2006 at 12:03 PM CST

AP - A man has pleaded not guilty to killing his parents and three younger sisters in the family's home in southeast Iowa.

According to court documents filed Wednesday in Van Buren County, Shawn Bentler, 22, filed a written plea to five counts of first-degree murder. He was also ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation Nov. 17.

Bentler was arrested on the morning of Oct. 14 after his family was found shot to death in their home in Bonaparte.

The victims' include Michael Bentler, 53, his wife Sandra, 47, and their daughters -- Sheena, 17, Shelby, 15, and Shayne, 14.

Bentler was found later that day near his home in Quincy, Ill.

Bentler remains in the Van Buren County Jail on a $2.5 million bond.

Investigators have offered no motive for the slayings, one of the worst mass killings in Iowa history.

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