The Alleged Crimes of Joseph and Lee Bennion, Pt. III

Victims Statement #2, pp. 123 through 139.

Author’s Note: Readers, go to Das Cafe in Spring City, have a meal and donate to David Lee Hamblin’s victim Tobias Schroeder. His family members run Das Cafe, and they have suffered greatly during the two years that the Hamblin case has unfolded. If you want to support victims, go have a good meal and donate to Tobias Schroeder’s expenses, which are substantial as he has taken off of work multiple times over two years to attend hearings in Hamblin’s criminal case.

That’s Das Cafe in Spring City at 33 N Main St, Spring City, UT 84662, open Tuesday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Let the Schroeder family know they have support in their community. If you’re not in Utah, you can call Das Cafe to learn how the family would prefer to receive your donations. Stand with victims. Support Das Cafe and Tobias Schroeder.

DO NOT CONFRONT OR HARASS CHURCH OF SATAN MEMBERS DISCLAIMER:

Yet again, I remind you, my readers-or, as the Bennion’s attorney and son-in-law Caleb Proulx terms you, my acolytes-not to directly harass or confront any alleged member of the LDS Church of Satan. Do not indirectly contact or harass any alleged member of the LDS Church of Satan. Doing so could be construed as stalking, and stalking is illegal. Do not commit two or more acts directed at any specific individual who is alleged to be a member of the LDS Church of Satan, such as following, monitoring, observing, photographing, surveilling, threatening, or communicating to or about an individual, or interfering with an individual’s property, or approaching or confronting an individual, appearing at their workplace or contacting their employer or coworker, appearing at their residence or contacting their neighbor, entering property owned leased, or occupied by the individual, or sending material by any means to the individual or for the purpose of obtaining or disseminating information about or communicating with the individual to a member of the individual’s family or household, employer, coworker, friend, or associate of the individual, placing an object or delivering an object to property owned, leased, or occupied by an individual, or to the individual’s place of employment with the intent that the object be delivered to the individual, or using a computer, the Internet, text messaging, or any other electronic means to commit an act that is a part of the course of conduct…UNLESS you have a legitimate business purpose for doing so, such as investigative journalism or satirical content. DO NOT DO ANY OF THESE THINGS WITHOUT A LEGITIMATE BUSINESS PURPOSE.

In this series, we are covering the specific allegations made against Joseph Wood Bennion and his wife, Lee Patricia Udall Bennion, by Rachel, Eliza, and Katherine Hamblin, the daughters of Lee’s fourth cousin and her former Spring City neighbor, David Lee Hamblin. Hamblin is currently facing prosecution for two criminal cases in Manti and American Fork, Utah. I will be appearing via Webex at a court hearing to argue my motion to lift the ex parte civil stalking injunction the Bennions filed against me in Manti’s Sixth District Court, which I covered here and here. You can read my reply and motion here.

VS 2, pg. 123

Date: Summer 1996

Time: Daytime

Location: Spring City House

One day Joe, Redacted, and Redacted were standing around the kitchen talking. Redacted was making hot dogs as part of our lunch. I walked through the room to the kitchen sink to get a drink. On the way back to the dining room, Redacted grabbed my arm and said to Redacted to throw him a hot dog. He was laughing and told me to take my pants and underwear off. I gave him a pleading look to let me go and he gripped my arm tighter and smiled at me and called me "Little Redacted" and told me I had to obey him. I dropped my pants and stood there with my eyes on the floor. He told me to get down on my hands and knees. I obeyed. He took the hot dog and crouched down next to me and started trying to push it into my anus. Joe and Redacted started laughing so hard that Joe said he was crying. Redacted kept swearing and laughing because the hot dog was too soft to go in easily. Redacted said it would work better if it was pan fried. She started cooking one. Redacted kept making Jokes about how the one in me was like Joe’s penis - too "flaccid." Then he spanked me and told me to crawl around. I was trying to keep my head down and cry silently. He made me "wiggle" my bottom so the hot dog moved back and forth. Then it broke and they laughed harder. Joe went over and picked it up and shoved it in my mouth and ordered me to chew and swallow it. Soon Redacted brought the cooked one over and Redacted grabbed it off the spatula and then dropped it saying it was too hot. When it had slightly cooled down he picked it up (still saying it was hot) and made me hold still while he pushed it into me. He complained that it was burning his fingers. It burned my skin and I cried out. Joe sat down at the table because he was laughing so hard. Redacted pushed Redacted aside saying what he was doing was “the wrong way.” She hit me and yelled at me to relax and pushed it into me. They made me crawl around some more. Redacted was leaning over the kitchen table and Joe had his head in his arms, laughing so much. Finally, I asked if I could go and they said yes. I ran upstairs to the bathroom.

This abuse allegation by Rachel Hamblin takes place in a familiar context: Joseph Wood Bennion was her next door neighbor, often visiting with her parents at her house. David and Roselle Hamblin were present, preparing lunch for their daughters. David Hamblin requested that Joe Bennion toss him a hot dog, which he used to sodomize his daughter. A second, cooked hot dog was eventually inserted into Rachel’s rectum. Due to the fact that Rachel Lee Hamblin was 15 at the time of the abuse, the two separate acts by David Lee Hamblin were a violation of Utah Criminal Code 76-5-402.2, Object Rape. There are two distinct acts, and therefore two separate counts of Object Rape, both of which would be first degree felonies. Roselle Hamblin, now Roselle Stevenson, and Joseph Wood Bennion were both accessories to the criminal act, in that they assisted David Lee Hamblin by providing the hot dog used in the sexual abuse.

Their participation in the object rape makes Hamblin’s actions a violation of Utah Criminal Code 76-5-405, Aggravated Sexual Assault. Under that statute, if an actor is aided or abetted by one or more persons in the course of committing Object Rape, the crime of Aggravated Sexual Assault is committed. Aggravated Sexual Assault is a first degree felony, punishable by up to a 15 year to life sentence.

The prosecutors in Utah County had Rachel Lee Hamblin’s statement in 2012, but they did not charge Joseph Wood Bennion or Roselle Stevenson with any crimes. They failed to convict David Lee Hamblin even though they had him on tape apologizing to his daughter for raping her. As a result, Hamblin was able to continue his criminal conduct with impunity for another decade. Joseph Wood Bennion and his wife were able to evade culpability and continue victimizing other children and adults.

VS 2, pg. 132

MURDER OF PETS AS INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS

Sometimes, outside of ceremonies, Redacted served us meat from our pets, threatening to eat us or serve us to our family if we were disobedient.

□ Date: 1994-1996

Time: Late afternoon

Location: Joe and Lee Bennion’s House, Spring City

One Sunday we had a big afternoon meal at the Bennion’s home (we often did this on Sundays). Joe was raising rabbits at the time and they had a line of cages in their backyard. He had killed his 6 or 7 year old daughter, Redacted, pet rabbit for the meal. He had not told her. When Lee brought the platter to the table, Joe grinned and made a big deal about picking just the right piece for her, saying it was chicken. She was hungry and excited to eat and he laughed. When she had eaten for a while, he laughed and told her she had eaten so-and-so (the name of her bunny). She ran away crying.

In this allegation, Rachel Hamblin describes a tactic Church of Satan parents utilized to terrorize, threaten, and psychologically condition their children: murdering their pets. David and Roselle Hamblin often forced their children to torture and dismember their family pets in ritualized settings.

Adah Lee Bennion is the only Bennion daughter who would fit this timeline. She was born in the late Eighties. This would mean that Joseph Wood Bennion intentionally served his daughter her pet rabbit with the clear intent of causing her emotional distress. He was successful. While this is not necessarily a criminal act, it provides insight into how Joe and Lee Bennion behaved as parents. Joe Bennion clearly enjoyed his daughter’s distress.

VS 2, pg. 132

HUMAN MURDERS AND CANNIBALISM

□ Date: 1994-1995

Time: Night

Location: Spring City House

One night Redacted woke us up and took us over the fence into the neighboring property and to the barn. We had our cloaks on and nothing underneath. Some people were standing around outside in dark clothing and cloaks. The moon was not shining. Two people at the door had their hoods up and nodded to Redacted as she took us in.

We walked in and there was just one kerosene lamp in a corner at a very low setting. The room was filled with people in their cloaks, chanting. Redacted led us through some of the people and I saw a naked and gagged man draped over another naked man who was on all fours. The bottom man just looked like he was just there to hold the other man higher. The top man was being beaten and whipped by several people, including Redacted who had his hood off. Joe had his hood oft standing in a "Y,” and was chanting a prayer to Lucifer. I looked around but it was hard to see faces as the hoods were up. I saw some torture instruments in their hands and they acted eager to participate. We were made to watch as groups of people were given a turn to abuse and mutilate the man.

They beat this man with whips, hammers, a crowbar, and a mace (a ball with spikes). They poured vinegar over his back in between. He was gagged tightly so his screams weren’t very loud. It was hard to tell how old he was because he was so beaten up. Joe came up with a knife and cut him over and over across his back. The man writhed in pain. At one point they switched out the person holding him up. Man after man sodomized him. With time, the rest of the group was getting more and more worked up. Some held their arms in a "V” and chanted/whispered prayers to be overtaken by Lucifer’s spirits. Then they threw the man on the dirt and someone cut off his penis. His gag was removed and the penis quickly stuffed in his mouth and the duct tape wound around his head over and over to keep it in place. Then they cut off his toes and fingers, one by one and would throw them to the crowd. People grabbed for them and chewed on them. The man’s testicles were cut off and tossed into the group. Then he was disemboweled and his throat was slit. People started attacking each other sexually. Redacted pushed us forward to the front. Redacted saw us. He shoved Redacted at Joe and me at Paul Larsen, who I saw had been one of the people to hold the man on their backs. Paul pinned me down on my back and raped me vaginally. An orgy was happening all around us. After a while, some men started cutting up the body and Redacted, Lee and another woman (I think she was the female partner of one of Joe’s male friends) stood by them and spoke to the men. They had Ziploc bags and were pointing out things they wanted. Then the body was wrapped up in a tarp and Redacted, joe, paul, and joe’s friend (male) carried the body out. Redacted said they were taking it to the "kiln" (pronounced by the Bennions and all as "kill"). Redacted and I had to shower downstairs when we got back to the house.

This event occurred while Rachel Lee Hamblin was between 13 and 15 years of age. This is important, because it is the difference between Rape of a Child and Rape, which Paul Larsen allegedly committed. Joseph Wood Bennion committed Murder; the rest of the men who sodomized the man committed forcible sodomy. Given that a weapon was employed and more than one actor was involved, the perpetrators committed aggravated sexual assault of Rachel Hamblin, the female whose name was redacted, and the male victim. Given that the predicate offenses of Rape, Rape of a Child, Forcible Sodomy, Aggravated Sexual Assault, and Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child occurred in the course of these crimes, the perpetrators may be charged with murder as well as those predicate offenses under Utah law.

VS 2, pg. 133

Murder of a hitchhiker

□ Date: 1992

Time: Daytime

Location: Southern Utah

We met a young man in his late teens/early twenties on the road to a CS “camping" trip to Southern Utah. We had stopped to the bathroom and Redacted started talking to a hitchhiker/backpacker. I could tell he was trying to "schmooze" him, as Redacted would say. He ended up coming with us and we had to move stuff around so he could sit in the car with us. He and Redacted talked about "spiritual" stuff all the way there. When we got to the campsite everyone was really excited that he was with us and were really friendly. The Bennions, Larsens, some of their friends, Redacted Steve and Redacted Jeannie and other people were there. They ate and they talked. Redacted and I tried to stay on the fringes and make dolls out of twigs and leaves. When it got darker, they had a big fire and Lee led the women in an orgy with the hitchhiker. Then they tied him up and killed him. Then everyone started having sex with each other. I was vaginally raped but I cannot remember by whom. Redacted called me over as "Tabitha" and I had to give oral sex to one of the women I didn’t know. He sat behind her and rubbed her breasts and kissed her neck while he made me give her oral sex. Then they cut up the man and some people ate him raw and others roasted parts of him over the fire using hotdog sticks. They also danced around the fire and played their drums. We had to stay the night and Redacted "cleaned" us (our genitals) with a water bottle and Dr. Bronner’s soap. The next day the adults did more ceremonies and orgies. I was raped by my Redacted (vaginally) and anally raped by Joe Bennion. I also had to give oral sex to Redacted and Ann Larsen. The adults talked for a while about disposing of the body and everyone decided to take parts of him and dispose of them on the way back. Redacted kept some bones for soup.

The adults who were present, specifically Joseph Wood and Lee Bennion, Steven and Jeanie Hamblin, Paul and Ann Larsen, as well as the unnamed adults that Rachel Hamblin did not recognize, are guilty of murder if the allegation is true. Rachel Lee Hamblin was under 14 years of age during the crimes described, and therefore Ann Larsen and Roselle Stevenson committed Sodomy on a Child. David Lee Hamblin committed Sodomy on a Child if Rachel Hamblin is telling the truth, in addition to Rape of a Child. Joseph Wood Bennion allegedly committed sodomy on a child, and the fact that multiple actors employing threats or force were involved in the sexual assault of Rachel Hamblin means that the actors were guilty of Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child.

Conclusion

Over the course of the first three posts in this series, I have outlined dozens of counts of sexual assault, multiple murders, child prostitution, sex trafficking, and other crimes. All of these allegations were available to the Provo Police Department and the Utah County Attorneys Office in 2012, and yet the Utah County Attorneys Office brought a mere 18 criminal counts against David Lee Hamblin and failed to convict him on a single count even with a taped apology from Hamblin to his daughter for raping her.

The absurdity is obvious, even before I continue into the third and fourth victims statements written by Katie and Eliza Hamblin. The Hamblin sisters provided the names of multiple potential corroborating witnesses when they named the children of their parents’ accomplices. There is nothing in the record from the GRAMA release of the 2012-2014 criminal case files against Hamblin to suggest that the police or the prosecutors ever interviewed those other children.

None of those children have come forward to deny or dispute the allegations made by Rachel, Eliza, or Katie Hamblin. If they did, they would likely open themselves up to a perjury charge, which is likely why Louisa, Zina, and Ada Lee Bennion have been conspicuously silent on the matter of these allegations. It is also explains why Joseph Wood and Lee Bennion chose an unsworn rather than a sworn declaration in their Ex Parte Verified Motion for a Stalking Injunction against me. Lying in an unsworn declaration is a mere misdemeanor under Utah law.

Part IV will be up tomorrow.