Bench Trial to Begin For Custer County Murder Suspect

benevento

July 27, 2020

By News Director Jared Atha

A Clinton man accused of murdering his ex-wife will see a bench trial begin Tuesday in Custer County District Court.

40-year-old Brandon Joseph Benevento will appear before a judge Tuesday morning after being charged with 1st degree murder in April of last year. Benevento is accused of shooting his ex-wife, Heather Benevento, multiple times at in an Arapaho convenience store parking lot in the early evening of April 20, 2019. The woman would later die from the shooting wounds at an Oklahoma City hospital later in the evening.

Brandon Benevento was arrested a short time later and formally charged with the felony on April 22, 2019.

Before the incident, court records show Benevento had pleaded guilty to violating a protective order filed against him by his late ex-wife about a month before the shooting.

Tuesday’s bench trial is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m.