Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Family copes with nightmare of man's violent death

Detectives are trying to determine what happened to the man whose body was found burned beyond recognition.

By REBECCA CATALANELLO
Published October 14, 2005

NEW PORT RICHEY - Margaret Benjamin, 75, wasn't prepared for the call she received Sept. 24.

"I want $500 within a half-hour or your son is dead," she recalled the person on the other end as saying.

That call was followed by another, she said. It was the voice of her youngest child, John Jason Benjamin, the 37-year-old with a toothy grin, the spirited boy who was always the life of the party, always joking.

But this was serious.

"Has the money been wired?" he asked. The mother of four was panicked. Her Social Security check wouldn't come until the first of the month.

"Can you hold them off until the first?" she asked.

She heard him curse, in panic, then he hung up.

It was the last time she spoke to him. John Jason Benjamin's body was found Sept. 25, burned beyond recognition in the driver's seat of a charred 2004 Isuzu Trooper. He was alone in a development clearing at Hays Road and State Road 52 when a construction worker found him.

When Pasco County sheriff's detectives came upon the scene, they weren't even sure whether the charred remains were that of a man or a woman.

On Thursday, investigators announced they used dental records to positively identify the body as Margaret Benjamin's son. An exact cause of death hasn't been determined.

John Jason Benjamin, father of two boys, was a licensed optician who'd been struggling a lot lately - with money and drugs. He had been trying to turn his life around after a bout of depression, a difficult divorce and the recent loss of his house.

"He didn't deserve to die in that fashion," Margaret Benjamin said Thursday in her New Port Richey home. "He wasn't a bad boy. He got off track for a time. But he wasn't a bad boy."

Family members said investigators told them Oct. 7 that the body in the Isuzu was John Benjamin's.

The vehicle, the family already knew from media reports, belonged to Sherry Harris, 34, stepdaughter of Port Richey police Chief Bill Sager. Harris, also known as Sherry Walton, is being held in the Pasco County jail on unrelated charges of grand theft and uttering a forged instrument. She remained jailed Thursday on bail totaling $40,000.

Robert Benjamin, John's fraternal twin, said the family hadn't heard of Harris until after his brother's death. But the Benjamins were careful Thursday not to talk much about what they've been told about the investigation into John's death, fearing it would jeopardize chances of a fair prosecution.

The nature of Benjamin's relationship with Harris remained unclear Thursday.

Teresa NaDell, John Benjamin's sister, filed a missing person's report on him with New Port Richey police on Sept. 27.

NaDell had been taking care of his children, Jonathon "JJ," 15, and Dylan, 10, when he came by the house to pick up his children three days earlier, on Sept. 24.

NaDell said her daughter gave Benjamin a ride to a spot near a house - she wouldn't say whose house - to pick up his car. He crept around the property in an attempt to retrieve his vehicle without anyone inside noticing him, NaDell said. After 20 minutes passed without Benjamin returning, NaDell's daughter left.

NaDell, 45, said she had seen a news report Sept. 25 that an unidentified body had been found, Margaret Benjamin said. She said she wondered for an instant if it was her brother, but she dismissed the thought - until she hadn't heard from him for two days.

They buried him Wednesday after a ceremony attended by dozens of friends.

On Thursday, family members were able to laugh about the guy they knew, even through the pain of his death.

"He wasn't like a lost cause," sister Michele Benjamin said. "We didn't see him that way."

Family members described John Benjamin as the life of the party. He was a playful guy whose high energy kept the room buzzing. He attended Tarpon Springs High School, got his high school equivalency, did manual labor before deciding to attend classes at Hillsborough Community College to get licensed as an optician, Robert Benjamin said.

His life turned difficult after his 2000 divorce from Pamela Benjamin, his siblings said. He had custody of the children. But the couple spent years in and out of court over child-support issues, the family said.

The Benjamins said they believe John started getting into drugs about three years ago. His money problems escalated about three months ago, they said. But after recently getting diagnosed with bipolar disorder, things in his life seemed to be on the upswing, his siblings said. He was seeking counseling. He was talking civilly with his brother, despite past conflicts that had led Robert Benjamin to seek a temporary injunction against John for violence.

NaDell said despite his troubles, she'd never thought of John's life ending this way.

"Never. Never in my wildest nightmares."

[Last modified October 14, 2005, 01:40:20]