Warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised. This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.
It all began with a 9-1-1 call from the Bentler home. The caller, 14-year-old Shayne Bentler, told dispatchers her brother was going to do something. In the background of the call a woman, said to be mother Sandra Bentler, was heard saying, “No Shawn,no” before a gunshot silenced her voice.
When police got to the home, they discovered Michael and Sandra Bentler and their 3 daughters, 17-year-old Sheena, 15-year-old Shelby and 14-year-old Shayne gunned down in their home.
Just hours later, police arrested 22-year-old Shawn, who lived in Quincy at the time.
The week-long murder trial in May revealed the violent deaths of the Bentler family, and the greed that led Shawn to pull the trigger. Prosecutors believed he killed his family to get his parent’s almost $3 million estate.
Shawn always denied his guilt, even taking the stand in his own defense. But that did him no good. A judge found him guilty of shooting his family to death. During his sentencing, the Bentlers’ family spoke to Shawn and the court about their loss.
Julie Bentler, Mike Bentler’s Sister said, “I will never understand how you could look each of them in their eyes and do this. Your mother begging you, “Shawn, don’t,” and you pulling the trigger and killing her anyway. I’m not sure God will forgive you for that.”
Gregg Bentler, Mike Bentler’s brother said, “They built a successful business. That, sadly, ultimately got him and his lovely wife and children killed by his own son’s greed for money.”
Chris Mendez, Sandra Bentler’s sister said, “I hate that when I want to talk to my sister, I have to go to the cemetery.”
Lisa Simmons, Mike Bentler’s Sister said, “I think you will be tormented for the rest of your life on earth and what lies ahead. I’d like to believe people pay dearly for their sins and you are treated in life as you treat
others so Shawn….God help you, you’ll need it.”
The judge sentenced Shawn Bentler to 4 concurrent life sentences and one consecutive life sentence, which means he’ll spend 2 lifetimes behind bars, with no chance for parole.
At the Bonaparte Cemetery, the Bentler family lies at rest. The faces of this beloved family look out from these headstones. Family members say even with the trying times this trial has brought to the family, it helps to be able to visit and see their smiles, the way they were before that terrible night.
Because of his 2 consecutive life sentences, Shawn Bentler will never visit his family at the Bonaparte Cemetery. He will, however, come here later on when his sentence is served and he is laid to rest with the rest of his family here at the Bentler family burial plot.
Here are some facts we’ve discovered about what has happened since Shawn Bentler’s sentencing for this KHQA FactFinder report.
Shawn Bentler is now serving his life sentence in the Anamosa State Penitentiary in eastern Iowa.
He has appealed his conviction to the Iowa Supreme Court. Right now, attorneys for both the defense and the state are in the process of filing their briefing of the case. The Supreme Court will screen the case to decide whether to hear it or pass it along to the Court of Appeals. But that step is several months down the road.
Also, a judge has ruled Bentler is not eligible to receive his family’s almost $3 million estate.
Iowa law prohibits a convicted person from benefiting from his victim’s murders.
Lawyers have said the estate would be divided among Bentler’s 2 young daughters.
At 3:55 am police arrived at the Bentler home, a beautiful and large rustic home atop a hill. Inside they found the body of Michael Bentler in the doorway to the master bedroom. His wife Sandra was found deceased at the top of the stairs. The couple’s daughter Shayne was found in her bedroom closet with parts of the telephone receiver around her and imprint of the phone on her face (Iowa V. Bentler). It appeared as that she had been shot while on the phone with 911. Shelby Bentler, one of the couple’s other daughters, was also found inside her closet with her cell phone near her body. The last of the Bentler girls, Sheena, was found dead in her bed. All five members of the Bentler family had been shot with a .22 caliber rifle.
A chilling 911 call from Shayne Bentler painted eldest son Shawn Bentler as a suspect. During the call, Shayne said her brother “was going to do something.” In the background were other horrifying sounds: a voice saying, “Shawn, don’t,” followed by a gunshot, and Shayne screaming, “Shawn, no!”
The line went dead after that, and call backs went unanswered. A second 911 call came from Sandra Bentler’s cell phone and went unanswered. Again, the dispatcher called back, but no one picked up.
October 14, 2006, five members of the prominent Bentler family (father Micheal, 53; mother Sandra, 47; and daughters Sheena, 17; Shelby, 15; Shayne, 14) were killed in their Bonaparte home.
When police arrived minutes later, all five victims were found dead along with spent shell casings scattered throughout the home. Immediately, the question everyone had was, why?
The answer seems to be money, although the reasoning is murky. Known to be affluent, The Bentlers owned a grain elevator and lumber company in Mount Hammil, and the businesses served much of Southeastern Iowa. The family also attended St. Boniface Catholic Church in Farmington, were regulars at sporting events and well-liked by neighbors.
Growing up, Shawn was never in trouble. He was considered a nice kid, and friends at John Wood Community college, which he attended for a few months, remembered him as a friendly guy. At one time, Shawn worked with his father at the family business, but at the time of the murders, he was living in Quincy, Illinois, about sixty miles away.
Bentler house
It seems that Shawn Bentler was the son who never lived up to his families expectations. After moving to Quincy, he floated from job to job and had money problems. Keith Gratz grew up with Shawn and lived with him in Quincy until just a few weeks before the murders. According to Gratz, Shawn was consistently behind in his bills and child support for his two young daughters.
During their time as roommates, Shawn often traveled to Iowa and returned with suspicious items like jewelry to pawn. After the murders, Gratz realized Shawn must have been taking it from the family’s home.
Gratz heard of the murders from his mother, and knowing his friend was the prime suspect, Gratz visited the residence he’d moved out of just a few weeks before. He found Shawn Bentler sleeping peacefully on the couch.
Bentler was arrested that morning and eventually charged with five counts of first-degree murder. His trial began in June, 2007, with Shawn waiving his right to a jury.
On the stand, Bentler was said to show very little emotion as he talked about his family, especially his father, calling him the best provider. He did admit his father often gave him money or paid for things he needed, and confessed to pawning his mother’s jewelry, as well as stealing money and gasoline from his parents.
A witness for the prosecution claimed Shawn often spoke ill of his father. Cornell Williams worked at Shottenkirk Chevy in Quincy with Shawn (until Bentler was fired).
“He didn’t like his father at all. He’d say he (his father) would be dead soon and that he would eventually inherit his money.” –Cornell Williams
The mother of one of Shawn’s daughters also testified that Shawn claimed he would soon have plenty of money, specifically mentioning his parents death. But The 911 call detailed above proved to be the State’s best evidence.
The State also had forensic evidence–the white ankle socks Shawn was wearing when he was arrested contained small amounts of Sandra Bentler’s blood. A DNA analyst claimed an impact would be needed to make the blood spatter on the socks.
It’s believed that his father was Shawn’s biggest threat, so he attacked him first, hitting him with the butt of a Remington .22 and then shooting him in the leg and head. Shawn then went after the rest of his family, and the State insisted the murderer had to be someone familiar with the house because of its unique design.
“How do we know that? From the accuracy of the shots. They were shot in the head. Someone would have to know their way around the property, to the house, and their way in that house to know how to get up to the upper bedrooms. Someone had to know where lights were located to turn them on and off.”
–Assistant Iowa Attorney General Scott Brown.
Shawn Bentler was found guilty of five counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to five consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. I believe Shawn is guilty, and the motive was the nearly 3 million he stood to inherit from his family’s estate (his daughters ultimately inherited it after a judge’s ruling), but Shawn seems to have jumped from petty thief to murderer so suddenly. What made him snap?
Shawn Bentler killed his whole family for financial gain. Hardworking people who struggle to make ends meet cannot fathom a person like Shawn Bentler. His parent’s provided him with all the tools necessary for him to live a fulfilling life but he wanted more without working for it.
He set his sights on his parent’s fortune and plotted to obtain it.
Shawn was the oldest of four children born and raised by Michael and Sandra Bentler of Bonaparte, Iowa. His three sisters Sheena, Shelby, and Shayne completed the family.
Michael owned a successful lumber yard and a grain elevator, allowing him to provide a comfortable life for his wife and children.
Shawn was an average student who ran track while his sisters were excellent students and athletes. Perhaps to stand out from the rest of the family he tried to make wealth his identity.
He didn’t get into trouble except for one incident. Shawn started bullying a friend in high school and bragging about how rich he was. The friend got sick of it and they fought. Both got suspended for a couple of days.
After high school, Shawn enrolled in a community college but dropped out before his first semester was over. He worked jobs at Lowe’s and Home Depot. Both ended because of his poor attendance. He once told one of his bosses that his father suffered a heart attack and died to get out of work.
During this time he had two children with two different women. To try and help his son, his father gave him an opportunity to work for him building houses. When that ended he started selling cars.
Shawn liked to boast that he was making a lot of money but he could never pay his bills. When he was pressed by his roommates for his portion of the bills he would drive the hour-plus trek to his parent’s and return with jewelry and bags of quarters.
He relied on Michael and Sandra heavily while also stealing from them. His parents often brought him food, unable to fully cut him off from their support. But they were getting sick of his laziness and Shawn knew that
He told the mother of one of his daughters that he was on the brink of receiving a lot of money from his mom and dad. Then all of his problems would go away. But because he didn’t have the work ethic of his parents he concluded that he would have to take it by force.
People close to him knew he didn’t like his dad. They just didn’t know what that meant for the Bentler family.
In the early morning hours of October 14, 2006, Shawn took his roommate’s car and drove an hour and 20 minutes to his parent’s house. He entered the home and grabbed a rifle, quietly walking to the basement.
The door was shut behind him to try and prevent the rest of the household from waking up. Shawn aimed the gun and fired at Sheena, the oldest of the three girls, killing her.
As he went back upstairs and continued to the top floor where the rest of the family slept, his mother woke up. Shawn shot her but she was still alive and able to wake up her husband.
Michael confronted his son and the two fought over the gun. Shawn gained control and bashed his father over the head with the butt of the rifle then promptly killed him.
Sandra tried fleeing, screaming for the girls to call 911. At 3:38 am Shayne connected with an operator.
Shayne: “My brother is going to do something but I don’t know what.”
Sandra’s screams can be heard through the phone. She repeatedly screamed, “Please Shawn don’t!” Then gunshots rang out and her life ended.
Moments later Shawn finds Shayne hiding in her closet on the line with the 911 operator. She pleads, “Shawn, no!” Followed by the line going out after Shawn shoots her dead.
A minute later Shelby calls 911 but by the time they pick up, it is too late. Shawn finishes off his family by killing her. Knowing that the police would be there any minute he hurried out of the house, forgetting to grab his cell phone.
He drove down a side road and threw the gun in a ditch then floored it back to his place.
It didn’t take long for the police to figure out who their suspect was. The 911 call contains his mother and sister’s pleas while saying his name. Nothing was stolen or staged to make the house look burglarized. And his cell phone was left behind.
Like the rest of his life, Shawn put no effort into planning his monstrous crime. He thought he could get away with it and then reap the benefits of their life insurance and other assets.
Money is all he saw when he looked at his beautiful family. His laziness, greed, and sociopathy were far greater than any affection he held towards them. The police apprehended him hours later without issue.
In May of 2007, Shawn Bentler was convicted of five counts of first-degree murder. His appeal was denied in 2008 leaving him to serve five life sentences.
