Death Sentence Upheld Killer Contended The Jury Lacked Enough Information

For the second time, the state Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of Gary Benn for the slayings of a half-brother and a longtime friend in Puyallup.

Benn is on death row at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla for the shooting deaths of his half-brother, Jack Dethlefsen, and the friend, Mike Nelson, on Feb. 10, 1988.

Prosecutors said Benn killed the two out of fear they would report his involvement in an insurance fraud - the burning of his trailer - and because he was angry at Dethlefsen for removing him as beneficiary from his will and for allegedly bothering a former girlfriend.

In its 7-2 ruling Thursday, the court rejected Benn’s contention that a jury lacked enough information to properly reach the conclusion that the slayings were premeditated, a condition that made him eligible to die for his crimes.

In an opinion written by Justice Richard Guy, the court rejected Benn’s argument that his lawyer was not given relevant information about a jailhouse informant, Roy Patrick, in time to properly cross-examine the informant and cast doubt on his veracity.

Patrick testified that Benn had given him details about the killings while the two were in jail.

In dissent, Justices Charles Johnson and Richard Sanders said Benn had been denied his Sixth Amendment right to confront and cross-examine Patrick. They said the state failed to properly inform the defense about Patrick’s background or previous dealings with law-enforcement officials, or even to list Patrick as a state witness until the eve of the trial, thus depriving the defense of the time it needed to prepare for cross-examination.

Benn was “denied the opportunity to fully examine a consequential state witness,” the dissenters said.

This was the second time the high court has rejected a death-sentence appeal by Benn. In an opinion also written by Guy, the court rejected a similar appeal in 1993.

Benn, now 52, is among more than a dozen men awaiting execution at Walla Walla.