Shawn Bentler, center, sits with his attorney's D.J. Arbabha, left,
and David Sallen, right, during is his trial for the murders of the
his parents and three sisters, in this May 11, 2007, file photo at
the Van Buren County Courthouse in Keosauqua, Iowa.
Shawn Bentler watches a
videotaped interview made by investigators the day after
his family
was murdered
during his trial Tuesday, May 8, 2007, at the Van Buren
County
Courthouse in Keosauqua, Iowa.
Van Buren County Sheriff Deputy Rob Cavaniss holds a 22-caliber
rifle allegedly used to murder five members of the Bentler family
while being questioned during the trial of Shawn Bentler Monday, May
7, 2007 at the Van Buren County Courthouse in Keosauqua, Iowa. The
weapon was found by sheriff deputies along the driveway north of the
Bentler home.
Michael Halverson, a DNA analyst for the Iowa Division of Criminal
Investigation, points at blood droplets on a pair of socks, seized
from defendant Shawn Bentler on his arrest, while testifying during
Bentler's trial in the killings of the Bentler family Wednesday in
Keosauqua. DNA from the blood on the socks was matched to the victim
Sandra Bentler. (AP Photo Scott Morgan)
Julia Mendez, mother of murder victim Sandra Bentler, gives a victim
impact statement during the sentencing of Shawn Bentler, who was
previously found guilty of killing his parents and three teenage
sisters, Tuesday, June 19, 2007, at the Van Buren County Courthouse
in Keosauqua, Iowa. A judge sentenced Bentler to five life sentences
on Tuesday, bringing to an end one of the most grisly murder trials
in Iowa history.
Shawn Bentler stands as a guilty verdict is read at his murder trial
Thursday, May 24, 2007,
at the Van Buren County
Courthouse in Keosauqua. Bentler, 23, was found guilty of killing
his parents and three teenage sisters in what
prosecutors said was a plot to get
an inheritance.
(AP Photo) Scott
Morgan
