A British sailor murdered his wife and then deliberately sank their catamaran during their honeymoon cruise in a bid to inherit her estate, US prosecutors claim.
Lewis Bennett, of Poole, Dorset, was found to be smuggling rare stolen coins when he was rescued alone on a life raft off the coast of Cuba in May 2017. He and Isabella Hellmann, both 41, had been sailing in the Caribbean when Bennett made an emergency call saying that she was missing and their 37ft boat was sinking.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
If Hellman were presumed to have died in an accident, he would be in line to inherit her home and the contents of her bank account, notes The Daily Telegraph.
However, investigators claim there were inconsistencies in Bennett’s story. In February the FBI charged him with Hellmann’s murder, which he denies.
Court papers filed in the US this week allege that he killed his wife to end their “marital strife”.
The documents reveal that the family of the missing woman, a former estate agent, bugged her apartment in Delray Beach, Florida, “to listen to Bennett’s conversations because they suspected him in her disappearance”, says The Guardian.
Prosecutor Benjamin Greenberg also asked a Florida judge to admit into evidence conversations with loved ones where Hellmann is said to have discussed arguments with her husband over a mooted move to Australia, their dire finances and the raising of their daughter.
Greenberg said the conversations show that couple were “consistently” rowing, with “potentially one of the arguments ultimately resulting in the murder of Hellmann”.
Bennett is currently serving a seven-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to transporting coins worth $38,480 (£29,275).
Prosecutors allege that Colombian-born Hellmann may have discovered that her husband of three months was in possession of the gold and silver coins, stolen from his former employer, which would have made her an accomplice to smuggling.
Greenberg argues in the court papers that this “potentially led to an intense argument resulting in Hellmann’s murder”.
“Hellmann’s murder would remove the marital strife from the defendant’s life, allow the defendant to live his life as he pleased, and would enable him to inherit money from Hellmann’s estate, all of which provide strong circumstantial proof that the defendant had a strong motive to murder Hellmann,” the presecutor concludes.
-
Political cartoons for November 2Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include the 22nd amendment, homeless camps, and more
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago.
-
‘Never more precarious’: the UN turns 80The Explainer It’s an unhappy birthday for the United Nations, which enters its ninth decade in crisis
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designationThe Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
