welcome back to dateline extra. i m tamron hall. with a shaky alibi, and evidence mounting, investigators charged bambi bennett and her boyfriend with two counts of murder. bambi s own sons didn t believe in her innocence, but there was one man who did. and he was prepared to fight for her freedom. returning to the deed, here s dennis murphy. bambi bennett sat in a jail cell stunned. she had just been charged with two counts of murder. i thought, i m just having a bad dream. this cannot be happening. not only were my parents just murdered, now i m being accused of being the ones that killed them. i said, y all have lost your mind. i said, this doesn t make any sense. i didn t do anything wrong.
her demons and mother and stepfather for a control of a million-dollar property that was in the family for generations. after both parents were murdered, police began to wondurgist how far bambi bennett would go to get what was hers. they followed a bloody trail of evidence that would lead them in the dispute exposing ugly secrets and suspicions but unmasking the murderer would prove far more complicated. here s dennis murphy with the deed. the old barn is a shambles now. the fields back in the day so lush and productive, gone to seed. the farmhouse empty. time was the farm land in horry county, some of south carolina s finest.
the farmhouse empty. time was the farm land in horry county, some of south carolina s finest. bambi bennett s grand dad opened a big spread and created a legacy for the generations to come. that barn used to be tobacco barn and my grand daddy built this. it was tobacco property? he did farming and tobacco. bambi s roots here are as deep as the old oak tree draped in spanish moss that still stands tall if the front yard. they say land is worth dying for because it s the only thing that lasts. and truer words might never have been spoken. in this case, a beautiful piece of land turned out to be nothing but trouble. this is where bambi bennett s family was ripped apart by an act of cruel, unspeakable violence.
county was forced to set bambi bennett free. but despite bambi s refusal to testify against her boyfriend, prosecutors believed they had enough evidence to bring rick gagnon down, including a surprise witness. here s dennis murphy with more of our story, the deed. rick gagnon was in a world of pain. locked up in the county jail facing two murder charges. he shared his woes with another guy in a jumpsuit, two inmates power walking together around the yard. we would walk around the pod, do laps. the jail yard buddy was named robert mullens, a petty crook who seemed strangely interested in rick s troubles. did he want to talk to you about the case? was he grilling you? all the time. all the time. but then it seemed everyone in this part of south carolina wanted to know more about this case and its two beloved victims. it took three years, but in 2008, the state was ready to try rick gagnon for the murders of
three-quarters of what it takes to replace it. what are you supposed to do? drive three-quarters of a car? now if you had liberty mutual new car replacement™, you d get your whole car back. i guess they don t want you driving around on three wheels. smart. with liberty mutual new car replacement™, we ll replace the full value of your car. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. welcome back. without solid evidence, the horry county was forced to set bambi bennett free. despite bambi s refusal to testify against her boyfriend, prosecutors believed they had