25 years later
Twenty five years would pass before the justice system gave her the answers she sought. Detectives said a co worker, John Alcantara of Downey, shot Bennett, 51, and with the help of another man dismembered the body, stuffed the remains in trash bags and dumped them in the Puente Hills Landfill. Both worked for the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts; Alcantara was a gardener in a maintenance crew Bennett supervised. On Tuesday, a Norwalk Superior Court jury convicted Alcantara, 52, of the killing. The Bennett family will be at his sentencing today. "I didn't give up because someday we would get him behind bars," said Berva Bennett, 76, of Oregon. "I didn't know how long. It took 25 years." She and her daughters, Barbara Blatt, 48, of Texas and Brenda Bennett, 50, of Oregon returned to California to attend the trial, which lasted seven weeks. They stayed for a month at a San Dimas RV park in a borrowed recreational vehicle. They later moved to a San Dimas motel. Brenda Bennett took unpaid time off from her job as an accounting specialist with the city of Salem's Parks,[url=http://www.masterclass-detailing.co.uk/category/ralph-lauren-polo-outlet/]Ralph Lauren Polo Outlet[/url], Recreation and Community Department. "I would have quit my job in a heartbeat. This was my dad," Brenda Bennett said. The disappearance Deputy District Attorney John Lewin said Robert Bennett gave Alcantara a poor performance review that prevented the younger man from getting a promotion. The two also argued the day before Bennett disappeared. On Feb. 16,[url=http://www.masterclass-detailing.co.uk/category/polo-outlet/]Polo Outlet[/url], 1983,[url=http://www.article-web.co.uk/category/hermes-wallet/]Hermes Wallet[/url], an employee complained to Bennett about Alcantara threatening him. Bennett went to Whittier Narrows where Alcantara got in his truck and they drove off. Bennett was supposed to tend bar that night at a private party in Pasadena. When he didn't come home that afternoon,[url=http://www.masterclass-detailing.co.uk/category/cheap-polo-shirts/]Cheap Polo Shirts[/url], Berva Bennett grew worried. She and family members called hospitals thinking he might have been in an accident. She also contacted the local sheriff's station to report him missing. Blood was found in an area of Whittier Narrows called "the jungle" by sanitation district workers. Detectives said it was type A, the same blood type as the missing man. On Feb. 17,[url=http://www.masterclass-detailing.co.uk/category/ralph-lauren-polo/]Ralph Lauren Polo[/url], 1983,[url=http://www.article-web.co.uk/category/hermes-birkin-bag/]Hermes Birkin Bag[/url], the county pickup truck Bennett drove was discovered parked in front of the Jolly Roger Restaurant in Industry. Detectives suspected foul play. Searches were conducted at the Puente Hills Landfill and later at the Spadra Landfill. Sheriff's homicide Detective Steve Davis said Alcantara was suspected from the beginning. But there wasn't enough evidence. A month passed. A year. Then decades. The Bennetts grew frustrated. "Everything pointed to him. How could he not be arrested?" Brenda Bennett asked. Berva Bennett talked to psychics and kept in touch with detectives. Brenda Bennett said she searched for her father's body around Whittier Narrows for about 10 years. The once tightknit family also grew apart. "Our pain was so severe. We started going further and further apart. Barney did not know how to talk about it. Bradley didn't want to talk about it at the time," Brenda Bennett said. She had nightmares for years and grew overprotective of her children. She wouldn't go walking by herself. The uncertainty of the case gnawed at her sister. "If he had been ill. But knowing all of a sudden he was gone. No remains, not knowing where he was. No one arrested,[url=http://www.article-web.co.uk/category/hermes-online-sale/]Hermes Online sale[/url]," Blatt said. She said when her father disappeared, she didn't know how to react to people. "You can't tell people how you feel. It's too horrible," Blatt said. Sheriff's Detective Mike Scott picked up the case in 2000 and visited Berva and Brenda Bennett in Oregon. He cautioned them not to get their hopes up and told them it will be a long,[url=http://www.article-web.co.uk/category/hermes-handbags/]Hermes Handbags[/url], hard road. "We started getting our hopes up that justice may come some day,[url=http://www.article-web.co.uk/category/hermes-belts/]Hermes Belts[/url]," Berva Bennett said. In 2004, a co worker told investigators Alcantara admitted to shooting Bennett, chopping up the body and disposing of it with the help of another colleague,[url=http://www.article-web.co.uk/category/discount-hermes-bags/]Discount Hermes Bags[/url], Mike Davis. Davis died in 1997. Alcantara's ex wife relayed a similar tale. Detective Davis, who inherited the case from Scott, found four people who weren't interviewed in 1983. Berva Bennett's phone rang Nov. 30, 2005. Davis told her of Alcantara's arrest. Twenty seven months and 11 days later, the jury found him guilty of first degree murder. Berva Bennett wants a chance to thank the jury and is grateful to all the witnesses. Family man Berva Bennett met the man who would be her husband on a blind date her cousin set up. In 1950, Robert Bennett was in the Navy and had just returned from a furlough. They married after dating for three months. They moved from Iowa to California, where they raised four children Barney, Brenda, Barbara and Bradley. Bennett was into woodworking. He built furniture and even an 18 foot long boat from scratch. He could swim, scuba dive and water ski. He taught his wife and children how to water ski. "He was a jack of all trades. He was very good at what he did," Blatt said. When he went missing, Bennett was grandfather to a 2 year old boy and a 3 month old boy. There are now eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren who know him from pictures and stories. Bennett has a marker and empty grave at Oakdale Memorial Park in Glendora. His family hopes someday his remains will turn up and they can lay him to rest. "I would give anything to get my husband's body back even if he is in the dump," Berva Bennett said. 3026