Lewis Bennett jailed: what happened on honeymoon yacht
British man gets maximum sentence for wife's boat death
A British man has been jailed for eight years in the US over the death of his wife during their honeymoon on a yacht in the Caribbean.
Lewis Bennett, 42, from Poole in Dorset, was originally charged with murder, after prosecutors claimed he sank the boat intentionally to kill Isabella Hellman and inherit her Florida estate. The charge “was downgraded to involuntary manslaughter in a plea deal”, reports Sky News.
During a hearing in Miami this week, Bennett apologised to Colombian-born Hellman's family and asked the judge for a shorter sentence so he could raise the couple's two-year-old daughter. The child is currently being looked after by his parents in Scotland.
Subscribe to 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 you may permit me to be with my daughter as soon as possible, I want to bring her up in a manner that is respectful to my wife's wishes,” Bennett said. But the judge dismissed the plea, delivering the maximum sentence available.
Bennett must also pay $22,910 (£18,100) in restitution and will spend three years on supervised release after serving his sentence, a spokeswoman for the US Justice Department said.
What happened to Isabella Hellman?
The couple were returning to their home in Delray Beach, Florida, after a month-long cruise in the Caribbean when their 37ft catamaran sank.
Amateur sailor Bennett - a mining engineer with dual British-Australian citizenship - says he awoke on the night of 15 May 2017 to the sound of a loud bang, and discovered that the catamaran was badly damaged and taking on water.
According to court documents, he told investigators he did not remember calling to his 41-year-old wife as he prepared to abandon ship and “did not deploy flares to illuminate the area in order to look for Hellmann or to signal his position in the open water”.
It was not until 45 minutes later, when Bennett had escaped his yacht and was aboard a life raft, that he made a distress call and reported his wife missing. Her body has never been found.
What happened to Bennett?
Bennett was recovered from the life raft along with £30,000 worth of rare coins “stolen from a yacht he had worked aboard in 2016”, reports the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). He was already serving a seven-month sentence for smuggling when he was charged in February with his wife’s death.
Prosecutors had alleged he murdered Hellmann and deliberately sunk the catamaran to end his “marital strife” and inherit her home and wealth.
“Expert testimony found the vessel had been deliberately sunk by allowing water into the hull,” says HuffPost.
Text messages indicated a fraught relationship between the pair, who had argued over money and their daughter, Emelia, the Daily Mirror reports.
But prosecutors reduced the charge to unlawful killing without malice and Bennett pleaded guilty.
“Although nothing can ever erase the pain and suffering caused by Lewis Bennett’s criminal acts, the US Attorney's Office and our law enforcement partners hope that the defendant’s admission of guilt is a step toward justice for the victim, Ms Isabella Hellmann, and her family,” said Fajardo Orshan, US attorney for the Southern District of Florida.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Geoff Capes obituary: shot-putter who became the World’s Strongest Man
In the Spotlight The 'mighty figure' was a two-time Commonwealth Champion and world-record holder
By The Week UK Published
-
Israel attacks Iran: a 'limited' retaliation
Talking Point Iran's humiliated leaders must decide how to respond to Netanyahu's measured strike
By The Week UK Published
-
Crossword: November 2, 2024
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Human skull in charity shop
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Mexico volcano ‘a wormhole’ for aliens
feature And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
New technology could reveal private thoughts
feature And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
Florida principal forced to resign over Michelangelo's David display
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Stolen alligator returned 20 years later
feature And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
Ron DeSantis’ ‘appalling stunt’: flying migrants to Martha’s Vineyard
feature Florida’s Republican governor flew two planeloads of illegal migrants to the Massachusetts island
By The Week Staff Published
-
A sunshine state of mind: the mass exodus to Florida
feature Could Florida be the new New York?
By The Week Staff Published
-
Florida Senate passes GOP bill banning abortion after 15 weeks, sending it to governor
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published