Why IHOP was the first stop after his murder conviction from 17 years ago was overturned
“How do you want your eggs?”
A simple question for most. It meant the world to Gary Bennett. He hasn’t had eggs his way in nearly 20 years. The only times he got eggs, they were hard-boiled, with a few pieces of shell included.
An hour after being acquitted of murder Thursday, he got his choice of eggs. The waitress asked Bennett how they wanted them cooked in his breakfast sampler at a North Myrtle Beach IHOP. It was the place he suggested for lunch after walking out of jail for the first time in two decades.
“Incredible. It’s simple, but it’s good,” Bennett said as he ate his plate of eggs, bacon, sausage and—of course—pancakes.
For two decades, Bennett’s only meals were chosen by prison staff. That changed when an Horry County, South Carolina, jury found him not guilty of murder, armed robbery and first-degree burglary. It was his second trial in connection to the death of Eva Marie Martin in 2000.
Bennett was convicted of murder in 2003 but has maintained his innocence. Through a series of appeals, he was granted a new trial, which ended Thursday. He immediately put his head down and wrapped his arms around one of his lawyers, Amy Lawrence, as the verdict was read. Cheers and a collective exhale went up from his legal team.
For about 10 minutes after the courtroom cleared, Bennett took photos and shared hugs with relatives and his legal team. He had to go back to J. Reuben Long to be processed for release. At 11:33 a.m., the now 57-year-old man walked out of jail. A sign behind him on the gate read “inmate exit.”
“Can I take anyone to lunch?” Bennett joked and held up a debit card with leftover money from his commissary.
Entering 2020 isn’t the same as the world Bennett left as technology has led to warp-speed changes. Bennett’s last cellphone was a flip phone, now everybody has a smart phone. “Everyone moves so fast on them,” he said. Outside the jail, his legal team had to show how to dial an iPhone to call relatives.
Lunch at IHOP with his legal team was filled with laughs and stories about their journey. But it also included a few new technological revelations. Bennett had to learn how to use a QR Code reader on the wall so he could see a menu.
The ability to listen to music on the phone was also quite the revelation. Bennett, a country music fan, could punch up any song he wanted on Spotify. His eyes filled with tears as he listened to Florida Georgia Line’s “H.O.L.Y.,” a song that he heard at a prison church ceremony. A friend soon cued up a performance on “Americas Got Talent” by a singer who was let out of prison, like Bennett, after serving decades behind bars.
“I hadn’t had the opportunity to listen to music in a long time,” Bennett told the table.
Bennett was quick to thank his lawyers at the Lovely Law Firm for their years of work on his release. He plans to write a book about his experience and efforts for acquittal in a crime he said he was not near.
“It was a journey of justice,” Bennett said.
Martin’s family reacts
The Martin family now has no one behind bars for Marie’s death. Co-defendant Andrew Lindsey was charged with murder, but pleaded to a count of accessory after the fact to murder and served a prison sentence before being released.
He testified at trial and has since returned to his Utah home.
Kelly Martin was 17-years-old when his mom, Marie, was murdered. He said he didn’t understand why Bennett was getting a “do-over” in the case. He does not doubt that the man just released from prison is the same person who killed his mom inside her Myrtle Beach area mobile home.
“I’m somewhat annoyed our justice system can be manipulated,” Kelly Martin said.
Kelly Martin wanted people to see his mom as the victim in the case, not Bennett.
Within minutes of the verdict, Kelly Martin said he was mad with the decision and it was a feeling that hadn’t changed hours later. He said his family was also disappointed with the jury’s decision.
“I’ve never had my mom’s temperament, her ability to forgive, her ability to find kindness in people and her inept ability to always been chipper when the world was gloomy,” he said, then turned his attention to Bennett. “You took more than a mom, you took a gift to so many people.”
This story was originally published October 30, 2020 at 2:49 PM.
