Hearing delayed in Lynn Benton murder retrial

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]A suspect once convicted of a high-profile murder is getting another chance in court.

[00:00:05]>> It's a trial that's been 14 years in the making and now faces another delay.

[00:00:10]Former Gladstone Police Sergeant Lynn Edward Benton stands accused of his wife Debbie's 2011 murder, but a conviction in 2016 was overturned after an appeals court ruled evidence had been collected illegally. Fox 12's Julia Lopez brings us the latest details in this case.

[00:00:28]We waited for Benton in court for an hour. He was expected to enter a plea before trial set to begin in July, but finally the hearing was called off entirely. I asked lawyers why the delay and neither side would speak to why there's a hold up. Now, we've covered this case since the beginning. In 2011, Debbie Higby Benton was found dead in a hair salon that she owned. Prosecutors alleged her spouse Lynn Benton hired two friends to kill his wife to avoid domestic violence allegations.

[00:00:57]Investigators said Higby Benton was left beaten, strangled, and shot in her shop.

[00:01:02]Her brother Tony Stevens spoke in court back in 2016. The one thing you can't take away from me are my memories of her big laughter, her big smile, our love I will always have for her in my heart.

[00:01:14]That was after a jury convicted Benton of the murder, but this was overturned in 2022 when the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that police had illegally gathered evidence for the trial. Judges said the conviction hinged on confessions Benton allegedly made in jail to a fellow inmate. In documents, that inmate worked as an informant to the extent he was called {quote} an agent of law enforcement.

[00:01:38]Now, Benton gets a second chance in court with the new trial scheduled for July. We'll continue following the story closely and let you know what caused the delay and when Benton is back in court.

[00:01:48]Reporting in Oregon City, Julia Lopez, Fox 12 Oregon.