Jury watches slaying interview

Detectives build evidence, claiming that Daniel Lee Parbel wasn't just a bystander.

By JAMAL THALJI, Times Staff Writer
Published November 16, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [David Degner | Times] Daniel Lee Parbel, on trial for murder, sits at the defense table during jury selection.

NEW PORT RICHEY - Two men worked over a third as the videotape rolled.

They were Pasco County Sheriff's detectives, interrogating Daniel Lee Parbel weeks after a man's mutilated remains were found in a burned SUV in September 2005.

Parbel admitted that he was there when John Jason Benjamin died - but only as a horrified bystander.

He denied involvement in the murder. But with each denial, he also offered a new answer to solve the puzzle.

"Every time you tells us a story," Detective Eric Seltzer told the suspect, "you give us a new piece."

"Which means you're not telling us everything," Detective Jim Medley said.

Parbel had the right to remain silent. Instead, he just kept on talking, slowly implicating himself in - but never confessing to - Benjamin's death.

The jury in Parbel's murder trial watched the tape Thursday with rapt attention.

* * *

Benjamin was a 37-year-old optician and father of two who fell prey to drugs. Authorities say Parbel ran in the same circle of drug users - a group to whom Benjamin owed, but could not repay, a $300 drug debt.

That's why they took Benjamin captive, the state said, hours before his death on Sept. 25, 2005.

State witnesses on Wednesday said Parbel played a key role in holding Benjamin against his will, assaulting him, then burning the body inside the SUV.

On Thursday, the jury heard Parbel say on videotape he rode around town with Benjamin, who was held captive as he struggled to come up with $300.

Then he admitted that he was more than just a passenger. Parbel said he threatened Benjamin's mother over the phone.

"I told them if we don't get our money we're going to kill their boy," Parbel said. He knew that sounded wrong, he told the detectives.

* * *

Parbel said he stood outside the SUV while another defendant, Christopher Wright, slashed Benjamin's throat.

Wright, 46, goes to trial in December. He and Parbel, 37, face up to life in prison if convicted.

The detectives told Parbel the evidence showed a violent struggle took place outside the SUV.

"You gotta stop withholding information," Medley said. "We know that he was beaten."

"I did not ... beat that man," Parbel said.

* * *

The jury also heard from a forensic examiner who said Benjamin's blood was found on a pair of jeans found in Parbel's apartment. They heard a medical examiner say Benjamin may have died before the fire.

Jurors also heard from more jailhouse witnesses who said Parbel admitted to killing Benjamin himself.

William Ohrmund said that while they were in jail Parbel told him that he slit the injured man's throat to silence Benjamin.

"He could not stand the gurgling," Ohrmund said.

On the videotape, Parbel denied pouring gasoline on the SUV or putting Benjamin inside.

But Ohrmund said Parbel told him a different story.

"Gas can do wonders, kid," Parbel told him. "They don't have nothing on me."

Jamal Thalji can be reached at thalji@sptimes.com or 727 869-6236.

[Last modified November 15, 2007, 22:29:48]