The Murder of Gary Bentley
For this case, I watched the newest episode of American Monster. It’s season 10 episode 1, titled ‘Friends Outside of Work.’
A loving father and husband is found dead in his home.
Background
Gary Bentley was born on August 31, 1984. He was extremely close with his parents, Gerald and Lisa, and sister, Amy.
Gary was a typical country boy. He liked to be outdoors, hunt and collect guns. He worked as an electrician.
Gary met his future wife, Tasha in 2006. They dated for about 6 years and married in September 2012. They had one son together and seemed very happy. Tasha worked as a nurse.
Gary and Tasha Bentley
Tasha’s Behavior
In 2016, Tasha and Gary went on a vacation in Jamaica with their friends, Kevin and Amy Day. Gary had learned that Tasha was having performance issues at her job and was about to get fired. They argued a lot during that vacation. It also led to an argument between Gary and Kevin.
When they returned home, Tasha was fired from her job. She was able to get another job, but she was often very grumpy and standoffish.
In 2016, Tasha called her father-in-law, and Gary’s father, Gerald. She claimed that her car had broken down, and needed a ride. Tasha’s car had actually been set on fire, but this wasn’t the first time this had happened. Tasha had 3 cars that had been set on fire. It seemed like she had just wanted the insurance money, and knew how to get it.
By 2017, the marriage was crumbling. Gary’s family and the couple’s friends suspected that Tasha had been having an affair. Tasha would constantly be on her phone, and claim to be working long hours. When asked by his family, Gary wouldn’t want to discuss the problems in their marriage.
The Crime Scene
On December 10, 2017, Tasha contacted Gerald. Tasha said she had returned home and found the garage door open. Tasha said she was afraid to go inside. Gerald drove over and entered the house through the garage. He walked through the kitchen, and into Gary’s bedroom. Gerald found Gary dead in his bedroom. Gary had been shot in the head.
Gerald contacted the Kentucky State Police at 7:56 pm.
Gary was found lying with his head facing away from the doorway. He was also covered with a blanket. A shell casing was recovered in the bed. The gun safe was open and had several missing guns. No electronics were missing, and the house hadn’t been ransacked.
Gary did have several dogs, which would have alerted him to someone being in the home if they weren’t familiar with the person.
Tasha was interviewed in a patrol car. Tasha said she had seen Gary that morning before he left to go deer hunting. Tasha claimed she had called and texted Gary a few times that day, but he hadn’t responded to her.
Tasha said that she had gone to their friends Kevin and Amy’s house later in the day. Tasha was asked if Kevin should be someone the police needed to look into. Tasha said Kevin and Gary had an argument while they were in Jamaica due to drinking. Gary had actually thrown a drink in Kevin’s face.
Kevin had an alibi and was eliminated from the suspect list.
The Motive
On December 11, Gerald contacted the police. He told them that Tasha’s friend, Amy Day had information for them.
Amy had called Tasha on the day of Gary’s death. Tasha hadn’t answered at first, which Amy believed was due to Tasha being upset by her husband’s death. Tasha later called Amy back. While they were discussing the funeral, Tasha said she didn’t want to go. Amy said she immediately had a gut feeling that something was off.
Amy told the police that Tasha had been having an affair with a co-worker of hers named Anthony. Tasha had been planning to leave Gary on January 14, and move in with Anthony.
Gerald and Amy also revealed that Tasha and Gary had been researching life insurance. Gary was upset about it and against it. Tasha had wanted to take out a $1 million dollar life insurance policy.
The Confession
On December 11, Tasha was asked to go to the police station for an interview. She was asked about Anthony. Tasha claimed they were friends at and outside of work. Tasha did eventually admit that she and Anthony were having an affair and that she had been planning to move in with him.
Tasha was also confronted about the life insurance policy. She denied killing Gary. But, the police believed that Tasha had shot Gary, or that she had hired someone to do it.
During her interview with the police, Tasha said she killed Gary because he was abusing their son. She said Gary had hit their son in the back of the head.
Tasha got her gun out of her purse and shot Gary in the master bedroom. Tasha had the gun right against the back of Gary’s head.
It was determined that Gary had never abused his son.
Tasha admitted that she had emptied the gun safe to make the crime look like a robbery gone wrong. She said the guns to Anthony to hold onto. They were located in Louisville at Anthony’s sister’s home. The murder weapon, a handgun with purple grips, was recovered.
Anthony was interviewed. He admitted to having an intimate relationship with Tasha. But, he had an alibi. He and his sister were both ruled out as suspects.
The Conviction
It’s believed that Tasha killed Gary while he slept, and then staged the scene to make it look like a robbery.
At 6:54 pm, Tasha called Gerald and said that something was wrong. Tasha hadn’t been at her home at the time but with Anthony.
On July 20, 2021, Tasha pled guilty to murder. She was sentenced to 55 years in prison.
Tasha’s mugshot
FINAL THOUGHTS
Tasha tried to justify killing Gary. She also tried to say that he had abused their son. It’s absolutely sickening. Gary was nothing more than a loving father and son. His family knew that something was wrong, but he had never discussed it with them. This is not victim blaming, but I wonder if his life would have been saved if he had discussed anything with his family.
Sources
https://thecinemaholic.com/gary-bentley-murder-where-is-tasha-bentley-now/
