Planten Investigation Continues, Even After His Death
tiny dancer
Bennett Murder Suspect Would Have Faced Charges For Michigan Cold Case
POSTED: 1:40 pm EST January 3, 2006
UPDATED: 7:06 pm EST January 3, 2006
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Raleigh investigators said Tuesday that they are continuing
to investigate whether Drew Planten may have been connected to other
homicides.
"The fact that (Drew Planten's) life has ended has not ended our
investigation, said Sgt. J.C. Perry, of the Raleigh Police Department.
"I think it's very safe to say that Drew Planten was a very dangerous man,"
Perry later said. "He was capable of doing anything."
Investigators also released more details about what they found in Planten's
apartment that they said linked him to the May 2002 death of Stephanie
Bennett.
Among the evidence, included Bennett's bank statements and college loan
papers and newspaper articles about her death.
Perry also said detectives found women's underwear and references to as many
as 20 other women who they think may have been future victims.
Authorities were testing the underwear for DNA to determine who it may
belong to and have contacted all of the women whose names were referenced in
Planten's apartment -- all of who were alive.
"There are a lot of mixed emotions," Perry said. "We would have very much
have liked to brought Mr. Planten into a courtroom."
Wake County Assistant District Attorney Susan Spurlin, who was assigned to
handle the case against Planten, said that Planten's death spares Bennett's
family from a painful trial, but also deprives authorities of answers.
"It's disappointing that we will never answer the question, 'Why Stephanie?"
Spurlin said. "And hopefully, Drew Planten would have provided answers as to
why serial killers kill.'
Michigan Officials: Planten Would Have Been Charged
Spurlin also said Tuesday that investigators found items belonging to
Rebecca Huismann, a Lansing, Mich. Woman, who authorities believe was killed
by Planten in October 1999.
Investigators found a gun in Planten's apartment that was linked to
Huismann's death, as well as letters addressed to Huismann.
"I'm convinced in my mind that Mr. Planten was responsible in Ms. Huismann's
murder," said Lansing prosecuting attorney Stuart Dunning.
Even before Planten's death, Michigan authorities had scheduled a meeting
for Wednesday to decide whether Planten would be charged in Huismann's
death. Had he been alive, Planten would have been charged.
Lansing prosecuting attorney Stuart Dunning believes Planten, who he thinks
did not know Huismann, may have first focused his attention on the
22-year-old in a nightclub here she worked. Authorities were also able to
place Planten in Huismann's neighborhood around the time of her death.
"(In) my personal opinion, he was fishing," Dunning said. "He was looking."
The Huismann case, Dunning said, is now closed.
http://www.wral.com/news/5819594/detail.html
tiny dancer
Planten Was Accused Of 2002 Slaying Of Stephanie Bennett
POSTED: 12:30 pm EST January 3, 2006
UPDATED: 4:39 pm EST January 3, 2006
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Drew Planten, a suspect in the 2002 slaying of Stephanie
Bennett, killed himself Monday at Central Prison in Raleigh. Sarah Chandler,
Planten's mother, spoke to WRAL by phone Tuesday. She considers her son's
death tragic.
Chandler said she got the news of her son's suicide Monday from his attorney
in Raleigh. Right now, she is trying to remember the good times in her son's
life. "I think of his childhood and the happy times we had," she said.
Drew Planten hanged himself in his jail cell. Chandler, an attorney in
Michigan, said she always believed in her son's innocence and cannot imagine
he killed Bennett. She recently talked to her son before Christmas and was
concerned about his well-being.
a..
"He made some comments that made me worry. The last time I visited with him,
he was very depressed," Chandler said. "I don't want to say what he said,
but it sounds like he lost hope of ever getting out of there."
Chandler said she will investigate what happened at the jail and will do
whatever she has to do to rectify the situation if she finds Central Prison
was negligent.
http://www.wral.com/news/5818203/detail.html
tiny dancer
killed himself in prison, police in two states and a local defense attorney
are still trying to figure out what happened and how that impacts criminal
investigations.
Drew Edward Planten, 35, hanged himself Monday afternoon in his cell at
Central Prison, authorities said. Attorney Kirk Osborn said Planten
fashioned a noose from the hem of a bedsheet and also placed a plastic bag
over his head.
Planten was accused of breaking into Bennett's north Raleigh apartment in
May 2002 and raping and strangling the 23-year-old. Police arrested Planten
on Oct. 19 after a DNA sample investigators collected from his job at the
state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs matched semen found at
the crime scene.
A search of Planten's Raleigh apartment also turned up Bennett's laundry
basket, bank statements, student loan papers and articles about her slaying.
"I can say without any hesitation or reservation that Drew Planten killed
Stephanie Bennett," said Sgt. J.C. Perry, of the Raleigh Police Department.
"There's still quite a bit of work left to be done on this, in terms of
background information and looking into other possible cases."
Police also seized at least a dozen guns, knives and handcuffs from
Planten's apartment, as well as an extensive pornography collection, 97
pairs of shoes and women's underwear.
One of the guns, along with letters and a check, tied Planten to the October
1999 shooting death of 22-year-old Rebecca Huismann, an exotic dancer in
Lansing, Mich., investigators said.
A Michigan prosecutor told NBC-17 that they had planned to charge Planten in
the case this week, and he would have been tried there first before
returning to Raleigh, where he would have faced the death penalty in
Bennett's death.
But without the primary suspect, the Huismann case is now closed,
prosecutors said. Wake County prosecutors said they plan to shred some
17,000 pages of evidence in the Bennett case since they also no longer have
a criminal case to pursue.
Raleigh police said they continue to press forward with their investigation,
noting the names and addresses of other women both in Raleigh and around the
country were found in Planten's apartment. His DNA was entered into a
national database but didn't turn up any matches from open criminal
investigations, police said.
"I think it's very safe to say that Drew Planten was a very dangerous man,"
Perry said. "With respect to evidence, I don't want to get into great detail
because this is still an ongoing investigation for us. The fact that he's
ended his life has not ended our investigation."
Osborn, who had been appointed to represent Planten in the Bennett case,
said he has another investigation on his hands: How could Planten have been
allowed to commit suicide in prison.
"We haven't gotten many answers from authorities," Osborn said.
After his arrest, Planten was moved from the Wake County Jail to Central
Prison because he was unresponsive to requests. He was placed under suicide
watch, but two weeks ago, prison officials moved him back into the general
population, where inmates are checked every 30 minutes instead of every 15
minutes for those on suicide watch.
"I didn't know what kind of conditions they had him under. I assumed he was
under pretty regular observation," Osborn said.
Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison said even the most thorough precautions,
such as frequent monitoring and paper suits, can't stop someone bent on
committing suicide.
"You have suicides out in the community -- in the county and in cities --
all the time. Here, you're confined, but it's still a community," Harrison
said.
Two inmates have killed themselves in the Wake County Jail since Harrison
took office in 2002.
"We work very hard to keep it from happening, but if a person wants to do
it, it's very hard to prevent it," he said.
http://www.nbc17.com/news/5824475/detail.html
Phoenix
@hotmail.com says...
> RALEIGH, N.C. -- One day after the suspect in the Stephanie Bennett murder
> killed himself in prison, police in two states and a local defense attorney
> are still trying to figure out what happened and how that impacts criminal
> investigations.
>
> Drew Edward Planten, 35, hanged himself Monday afternoon in his cell at
> Central Prison, authorities said. Attorney Kirk Osborn said Planten
> fashioned a noose from the hem of a bedsheet and also placed a plastic bag
> over his head.
>
> Planten was accused of breaking into Bennett's north Raleigh apartment in
> May 2002 and raping and strangling the 23-year-old. Police arrested Planten
> on Oct. 19 after a DNA sample investigators collected from his job at the
> state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs matched semen found at
> the crime scene.
How did I miss this suicide? It's a big deal.
When a killer commits suicide, I'm torn. Sure it saves everyone time
and money, but it still bothers me as a member of society. We'd like
some answers, please, and some ownership of the crimes.
It's completely irrational. But I can't shake it.
bel
tiny dancer
"Phoenix" <avian...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.1e24f0b93...@news-server.carolina.rr.com...
It just happened yesterday afternoon, bel. As I was beginning to fix dinner
and flicked on the news, there it was at 5:00 pm. yesterday. I was totally
shocked, wanted to have this guy make it to trial and possibly see if he's
involved in other deaths besides Stephanie's and the woman in Lansing Mich.
Plus, I was hoping to hear more on his background. His mother, an attorney
herself, so far has two weird sons. One of his brothers was nabbed, in
Asheville I believe, for putting video equipment in the ladies bathroom
where he was employed. Haven't heard anything about the third brother, but
ya gotta wonder.
td
>
Phoenix
@hotmail.com says...
>
> "Phoenix" <avian...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:MPG.1e24f0b93...@news-server.carolina.rr.com...
> > In article <cxEuf.11471$vL4....@bignews1.bellsouth.net>, tinydancer357
> > @hotmail.com says...
> > How did I miss this suicide? It's a big deal.
> >
> > When a killer commits suicide, I'm torn. Sure it saves everyone time
> > and money, but it still bothers me as a member of society. We'd like
> > some answers, please, and some ownership of the crimes.
> >
> > It's completely irrational. But I can't shake it.
> >
> > bel
>
>
> It just happened yesterday afternoon, bel. As I was beginning to fix dinner
> and flicked on the news, there it was at 5:00 pm. yesterday.
That's a relief. I'm not as loopy as I feared.
Why did they take an unresponsive inmate off suicide watch?
I was totally
> shocked, wanted to have this guy make it to trial and possibly see if he's
> involved in other deaths besides Stephanie's and the woman in Lansing Mich.
> Plus, I was hoping to hear more on his background. His mother, an attorney
> herself, so far has two weird sons. One of his brothers was nabbed, in
> Asheville I believe, for putting video equipment in the ladies bathroom
> where he was employed. Haven't heard anything about the third brother, but
> ya gotta wonder.
I didn't know any of this. Very interesting. What happened to those
boys to make them so messed up? I doubt we will ever know since people
are getting wise to sharing their family info with strangers who write.
bel
