Bentler Murder Trial Begins, 911 Call Key Evidence

By Dave Franzman, Reporter

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By Becky Ogann

Story Created: May 7, 2007 at 5:19 PM CST

Story Updated: May 7, 2007 at 8:50 PM CST

KEOSAUQUA - A dramatic recording of a 911 call mentions murder defendant Shawn Bentler by name and ends with the sound of gunfire.

Shawn Bentler is on trial for killing all five members of his family at their southeast Iowa home last fall.

The 22-year-old who was living in Quincy, Ill., was arrested soon after the shootings in October.

His parents, Michael and Sandra Bentler, as well as sisters Sheena, Shelby, and Shayne, were found dead in the family home in Bonaparte.

A number of deputies described how they rushed to the scene and found five bodies in the large home. But the 911 call itself to a dispatcher here may be a key piece of evidence.

Within hours, authorities called to the murder scene at this southern Iowa home were looking for remaining family member Shawn Bentler.

The 911 call made by Shayne Bentler mentioned her brother by name.

Deputies who responded to that frantic cry for help told the judge what they saw. The first one to the scene noticed a door ajar and found a body inside. Fearing the shooter was still in there, he waited for help. Another deputy told how he found Michael Bentler in a bedroom.

"I noticed he was nude. Blood pooled around his face on his back. What appeared to be a bullet hole in his right ankle," said Brad Hudson, Van Buren County Chief Deputy.

Investigators found a .22 caliber rifle in a ditch and matched the bullet from one of the victims to this weapon. But no physical evidence tied Bentler to the rifle. But when he was picked up at his Quincy, Illinois, home on another warrant and held for questioning, he made this telling remark to an Illinois police officer: “(sobbing) you would not be alright if your parents were dead too.”

On Monday, the defense called all this evidence circumstantial and explained that the 911 tape could be a possible case of mistaken identity.

They argued in a darkened home, the family may have mistaken a disgruntled employee or another intruder for Shawn Bentler.

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