A day 17 years in the making: Gary Bennett starts to lay out innocence in murder case
Gary Bennett has been waiting for Friday for 17 years.
After numerous appeals, letters and court hearings, Bennett started to present evidence before a jury about why he is innocent of killing Eva Marie Martin.
Martin was found dead in her Horry County, South Carolina, mobile home on May 23, 2000. Bennett was convicted of her murder in 2003, but has maintained his innocence. Years ago, a judge granted Bennett a retrial on the charges, and that trial started in Horry County this week.
Friday marked a milestone as state prosecutors rested their case and Bennett and his lawyers began to provide their evidence to the jury.
Before they started to present the evidence, Judge Thomas Cooper found the state did not prove its case against Bennett on a conspiracy to kidnap charge. The judge allowed the counts of murder, armed robbery and first-degree burglary to continue.
Prosecutors say Bennett—who is serving a life sentence—was obsessed with getting the combination to the safe at the Taco Bell, where Martin worked. He then killed her on the May night after an argument. Bennett and his lawyers say he was not at her home, and law enforcement witnesses testified Bennett’s fingerprints and DNA were not found at the scene.
The state’s final witness was Adam Wiseman, who shared a jail cell in the early 2000’s with Bennett at J. Reuben Long Detention Center.
Wiseman said Bennett told him that he and Andrew Lindsey killed Martin. Wiseman noted that Bennett said they slit her throat and ransacked her home. Wiseman then wrote a letter to Horry County police detailing the alleged confession.
“I felt like I needed to tell someone,” Wiseman said.
Bennett’s lawyers questioned Wiseman about the supposed confession and he admitted Friday was the first time he sat on a witness stand and publicly talked about what Bennett said.
Bennett’s case
Several of the defense’s first witnesses addressed the testimony of Wiseman and Lindsey. Lindsey testified during the trial that he was inside the trailer when Bennett killed Martin.
Ginger Pop, an investigator with the 15th Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office, said she spoke to Lindsey years ago as prosecutors investigated the case ahead of trial.
During the interview with Lindsey, she took notes but said her recap did not note some details that Lindsey testified about from the witness stand. That included Lindsey did not talk about Bennett washing off blood, something he discussed during his testimony.
During cross-examination, Pop said that she doesn’t include every detail in her report, and it’s difficult to know what will be relevant years after an interview.
She also confirmed many details that Lindsey testified about were also in the notes, such as Bennett and Lindsey throwing the knife used to kill Martin in a dumpster.
This story was originally published October 23, 2020 at 11:06 AM.
