HPP: Because he was under the impression that his wife and a bartender were having an affair, a man from Montana will spend the rest of his life behind bars without the possibility of parole.
In connection with the killings of his wife, Jenny Benson, who was 49 years old, and bartender Logan Gardner, who was 43 years old, Kraig Walter Benson was given a sentence of 140 years in jail on Friday.
During the month of October in the year 2024, he was found guilty of two counts of purposeful homicide.
In a direct conversation with the perpetrator, Jenny Benson’s father expressed his desire for him to have a wretched life behind bars. Meanwhile, the defendant’s daughter expressed that she did not feel secure or protected with her father in the world.
In addition, the defendant’s sister, Kris Norton, expressed her opinion, as reported by a local news outlet.
“Kraig is not just my brother but someone I deeply admire,” she stated. “His actions in this matter do not reflect who he is. It breaks my heart to see my nieces lose their mother to this tragedy. What breaks my heart even more is the anger that has divided our family and friends to live in anger is a life sentence.”
On August 27, 2023, the defendant opened fire at the Four Aces Bar in Superior, Montana, resulting in the deaths of both his wife and Gregory Gardner.
According to an affidavit, surveillance footage from the pub and a nearby company captured everything that took place.
Inside, the Bensons were seen sitting at a table, as captured on video. Kraig Benson stepped outside at one point, smoked a cigarette, and then returned to the bar after retrieving a firearm from the Chevrolet Tahoe that belonged to his wife of the time.
The video that has been timestamped shows him coming back to the table with his wife in the middle of the bar at 9:19 o’clock in the evening.
During the chaos that ensues as customers flee the establishment, he reaches into his waistband, pulls out the revolver, and then shoots her in the head.
She slips from her bar stool into the floor, and he fires at the bartender while retreating toward the front door. He reaches the handgun over the bar toward the bartender, and he fires at the bartender.
Benson fires once more at his wife as she is lying on the floor, and then he fires at the bartender so that he may shoot him three more times when he is lying on the floor at the entrance.
Following this, the murderer places the firearm on the bar and then drives away in the Tahoe. He was taken into custody without delay when the Tahoe was observed driving erratically on a highway in Missoula County while it was equipped with a flat tire.
He testified in his own defense during the course of his trial.
“She told me that she was not going to go home with me, that she was going to go home with Logan,” Benson stated. “I went outside, and I’m pretty sure that’s why I went outside … and was going back into the bar and having the last conversation.”
“To my friends and family, thank you for your support,” he stated. “To my children, I love you more than life itself,” he said while crying on the stand.”
A devoted and kind mother, Jenny Benson was remembered. She worked as a freelance commercial real estate appraiser and maintained a ranch and horse stable.
“Jenny took great pride in raising her daughters, Paige Benson and Tailor Benson,” her obituary said. “She also had a special place in her heart for her dogs and horses.”
Gardner could make friends with nearly anyone, according to a joint GoFundMe campaign for the victims.
“He greeted everyone he knew with his big warm smile or like some would say ‘s—-eating grin,” according to the page. “He could make anyone’s day with his big-warm embrace and was always gentle and kind. A great listener and friend, he would do anything for almost anyone without question and help a friend whenever he could.”