Former Cop Convicted of Killing Wife Takes Plea, Escapes Death Penalty

Former Gladstone Police Sgt. Lynn Benton took a plea deal Tuesday morning, waiving the sentencing phase of his trial, and agreeing to serve "true life" in prison. Benton, who had been convicted on Friday, faced the possibility of the death penalty.

The jurors were supposed to start hearing the sentencing portion of his trial on Tuesday. Benton did not address the jury on Tuesday, but the court did hear from several people connected to Benton's victim, Debbie Higbee-Benton.

"The beating she took, no one deserves that, not even you," Higbee-Benton's brother Tony Stephens said. After the family finished their statements, prosecutors played two voice mails from Higbee-Benton that Stephens had saved. Benton heard, one last time, the voice of the woman he once professed to love.

The hearing took about 20 minutes.

In deciding to plead guilty, Benton kept his right to appeal the guilty verdict.

Over the course of the trial, his lawyers brought up several issues that could again be raised on appeal.

As the jury announced the verdict last week, Benton showed no emotion in the packed courtroom. The jury deliberated over the course of five days. It considered testimony from more than 70 witnesses over the five-week trial.

Benton did not take the stand in his own defense.

Benton had been charged with aggravated murder and conspiracy to commit aggravated murder.

The City of Gladstone issued a statement praising the jurors for their work and expressing sympathy to the family of Debbie Higbee-Benton, who had been murdered.

"The jury heard a tremendous amount of evidence for a tragic situation and made a very difficult decision," the city said in a statement. "Our condolences and deepest sympathies go out to the family of Debbie Higbee and all those affected by this tragedy. Debbie was a beloved member of our community and missed by those who knew her. There are no winners in this case and these lives are forever altered."

It was May 28, 2011, Higbee-Benton had not shown up for dinner. Two of her friends who were supposed to meet her called the shop next to Higbee-Benton's Gladstone Beauty Salon.

That shop owner called Higbee-Benton's husband, Gladstone Police Sgt. Lynn Edward Benton.

Benton went to the salon. Higbee-Benton was in the back. She was dead.

A deputy medical examiner who arrived at the scene determined the cause of death to be a heart attack. However, the next day, the autopsy determined that she had been strangled and shot. Her murder was a homicide.

The prosecution argued that Benton wanted his wife dead to stop her from accusing him of domestic violence, which could have jeopardized his career.

Benton's lawyers argued the prosecution's case was built on an unreliable informant with a long criminal history.

Benton is one of three people charged with aggravated murder in connection with Higbee-Benton's murder— a charge that could bring the death penalty.

Each will be tried separately.

Also charged is Jayson Jaynes, who is scheduled to go on trial next March, and Jaynes' mother, Susan Campbell, who was the first arrested and had pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated murder as part of a plea deal that was recently revoked.

A trial date for her has not yet been scheduled.

Photo courtesy Clackamas County Sheriff's Office