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Suspect's stories varied

First he said he knew nothing about a couple being slain. Later he said he saw the killer. Then he said a friend did it.

By CANDACE RONDEAUX
Published July 8, 2005

TAMPA - Benjamin Wibben wanted that car. He wanted it so badly he called the Plant City couple who were selling it six times, but he couldn't get in touch with them.

So he drove to their home in the middle of the night and was back home in Fort Myers with the black 1995 Mitsubishi 3000GT by the time their bullet-riddled bodies were found by detectives the next day.

Almost six months have passed since Wibben told Plant City detectives he was one of the last people to see Darren Kaiser, 37, and Heather Kaiser, 26, alive.

The couple were found dead around 1:45 p.m. on Jan. 15, a day after Wibben, 25, traveled to the home office where the Kaisers ran an Internet auto brokerage.

A month later, Wibben was charged with their murders, grand theft auto and armed robbery. At the time, police said little about their suspect. But details about the alleged killer and his motives emerged after prosecutors released court documents Thursday.

Hours before he was charged on Feb. 22, Wibben told Plant City detectives conflicting stories about the day he visited the Kaisers.

Initially, Wibben told police he met the couple at their home at 1905 Gordon Street after contacting them through their Internet business, Car Search 4 U. He told investigators he originally planned to buy a different car as a gift for his girlfriend but settled on the Mitsubishi instead. Wibben paid the Kaisers $11,400 cash for the 10-year-old car and loaded it onto a trailer before heading home, he said.

Then his story changed.

Actually, he told investigators, he had heard three gunshots while he was standing outside the Kaisers' garage office when a blond man with acne came outside and threatened to kill him too if he said anything about the shootings. So, Wibben said, he grabbed the keys and the title to the Mitsubishi off the desk where Heather Kaiser sat bleeding to death from a 9mm shot to the neck, and he loaded the car onto his trailer.

Then his story changed again.

What really happened, Wibben told police, was that he ran into a friend named Isaiah at a nearby convenience store. It was Isaiah who came up with the idea of stealing the car, Wibben said.

Soon after, they both returned to the Kaisers' house, and Isaiah disappeared inside the garage. Wibben said he heard three shots, then two more, and found Isaiah pointing a gun at Heather Kaiser's head. Isaiah threatened to get Wibben if he said anything about the murders. So Wibben grabbed the keys and title to the car from the Kaisers' office desk and loaded it onto the trailer, he said.

None of those stories added up for investigators.

A high school dropout, Wibben received a GED certificate and later attended a motorcycle mechanics school in Orlando. He enlisted in the Army but was discharged after he sustained a shoulder injury in boot camp. In recent years he was arrested for traffic violations and burglary, but he does not have a violent criminal history.

Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty for Wibben. His trial is scheduled for July 25.

Candace Rondeaux can be reached at 813 226-3337 or rondeaux@sptimes.com

[Last modified July 8, 2005, 01:02:17]