[Narrator] A renowned Missouri snake breeder is found dead.
It could've been a snake that's loose in the facility.
And the facility had
somewhere between three and four thousand snakes.
It's a little unnerving.
He is on the ground in the barn, covered in blood.
[Narrator] Until investigators find something more sinister
slithering about...
[Marcus] There was legitimate concern,
and we have to vet all the information that we get
to get to the truth.
[Narrator] To get justice for this father of two,
investigators must sort through potential motives.
[Lucas] He was very successful.
He had cash around, all these valuable snakes.
There may still be investors in Frank Renick's past business
that were still upset with the family.
[Narrator] But ultimately,
the source of the venom is found close to home.
We began to learn that their relationship
wasn't quite as good as she said it was.
[Marcus] We kinda operate under the guise,
if you have nothing to hide, you hide nothing.
She covered up her actions and lied countlessly.
She was not willing to walk away.
[music]
[Narrator] Nestled in between Saint Louis and Columbia,
Montgomery County, Missouri is a quiet stop along I-70.
But on June 8th, 2017, at 6:36 P.M.,
911 operators receive a frantic call
from 29-year-old Lynlee Renick that shatters the calm
of the otherwise peaceful summer evening.
[Narrator] Hysterical, Lynlee passes the phone
to her brother-in-law, Sam,
who says they just found his 29-year-old brother, Ben,
dead at his rare snake breeding facility,
Renick Reptiles.
In that moment, I think I was in a state of shock.
Probably for that and, and some time after.
[Narrator] As Montgomery County first responders
rush to the scene,
they are on high alert.
[Darrin] When we got the call that there was a man dead,
it was suspected that it could've been a snake
that's loose in the facility.
And the facility had somewhere
between three and four thousand snakes.
So, it's a little unnerving not knowin' exactly
what you're gonna walk in on.
[Narrator] EMTs and deputies arrive at Renick Reptiles.
[Lucas] This is a large barn;
two different stories,
concrete floor, with rows and rows and rows of plastic bins.
And in each and every one of these bins
is a different snake.
[Narrator] Sam Renick directs them
to the facility's entrance.
They proceed with caution to the back of the barn,
where they find his brother, Ben.
[Lucas] Ben is on the ground in the barn, covered in blood.
His face and his skull looks deformed.
[Darrin] The EMT were checkin' for signs of life.
When they rolled the body over,
underneath the right armpit was a shell casing.
[Narrator] It's clear to investigators that
this kind of damage wasn't caused by a snake.
He had been shot in the back several times,
and then ultimately shot in the back of the head.
[Darrin] It was at that point they realized that
there was no doubt it was a homicide.
[Narrator] Investigators with the Montgomery County Sheriff
and Missouri State Highway Patrol
arrive on the scene.
They find Sam and Lynlee outside,
both having just learned that Ben's death wasn't an accident.
[Sam] I thought that perhaps
he was attacked by one of the snakes,
but the coroner let me know that this was not a snake attack.
That Ben was, in fact, murdered by a gun.
It hit me like a ton of bricks.
I didn't believe it. Everyone loved Ben.
[Darrin] Lynlee was wailing and screaming and things in the car
I got her to calm down enough to where she understood
what I needed, and asked if they could
get her down to Montgomery County
for an interview.
[Narrator] Born in 1987,
Ben Renick grew up in Montgomery County, Missouri
on a 40-acre family farm with his brother, Sam.
[Sam] It's unique growing up on a farm.
I think Ben might've been 12 years old
when he got his first snake.
[Richie] I would go to his house after school,
and his family was just always super warm and welcoming.
The nicest people you could ever meet.
[Narrator] Despite the idyllic country setting,
Ben's childhood was far from perfect.
[Sam] When Ben and I were young children,
my mother was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer.
Ben and I, we took care of ourselves.
Took care of each other.
[Narrator] In 2008, when Ben was 21 years old,
his mother ultimately lost her battle to cancer.
[Sam] My mother was a fighter.
She stayed in stage four for 15 years.
She taught Ben and I a lot.
Resilience...
Self-sufficiency...
Love.
[Narrator] The loss devastated Ben's family,
especially his father.
In 2012, four years after his wife's death,
Frank Renick took his own life.
[Sam] It was tough seeing my family struggle
as much as they did.
But my father loved my mother more than anything.
He had the farm set in Ben's name as a sole owner
for a number of reasons.
One of them being I was getting divorced,
and I didn't need to have any of those assets in my name.
[Narrator] On their own,
the young men looked toward the future.
For Ben, by around 22 years old he knew what he wanted.
[Sam] He really wasn't aiming towards college after school.
He went full fledged with his reptile business.
[Narrator] Ben converted a barn on the farm
into a world-class snake breeding facility.
[Sam] Ben was really going for the designer pet aspect of
the snake breeding.
He was looking for the genetic patterns
that nobody else had, or that were rare.
[Narrator] As his reptile business was taking off,
24-year-old Ben reconnected wit an old friend,
23-year-old Lynlee Jo Gallatin.
[Sam] Ben and Lynlee went to two different high schools.
You know, she was familiar with him and, and they got together.
She was sweet, she was bubbly.
[Narrator] Born in 1988,
Lynlee grew up in nearby Wellsville.
Like Ben, Lynlee also knew what it was like
to lose a parent.
[Sam] Her mother was ill in her early life,
and, and did pass.
Her father took very good care of her.
[Narrator] After graduating from high school,
19-year-old Lynlee attended massage school.
[Lucas] The day that she was supposed to
sit down for her board exam
is the day she found out she was pregnant.
Lynlee Renick has a son with a man.
And essentially, Lynlee is left to raise this child on her own.
[Narrator] When she started seeing Ben in 2011,
the relationship moved quickly.
[Sam] Lynlee and her son moved into the house that
he built on the family farm,
and Ben kinda went right into fatherhood.
Soon after that, they had their first child together.
[Narrator] Lynlee temporarily set her career aside
to help Ben grow his business.
Lynlee gave up a lot of her time as well to help Ben.
Lynlee was very deeply a part o the business.
[Richie] Ben was a successful snake breeder,
and he was kind of a pioneer in that whole industry.
He was definitely very well known in
the snake breeding community, like I would say worldwide.
[Narrator] In 2014, Ben and Lynlee married.
You know, Ben was really happy to be finally married to Lynlee,
and start a life together.
[Narrator] By 2016, two years into their marriage,
with the reptile business booming,
the happy couple was ready to attempt another venture.
Lynlee opened Ascensia Spa in nearby Columbia.
[Sam] Ben did make some large investments
in the spa initially,
to get things up and running.
[Narrator] With two successful businesses
and two beautiful children,
Lynlee and Ben had it all.
[Sam] They worked together on building her business,
and it looked to be in a good position
to be successful.
It was a happy time.
[Narrator] But on June 8th, 2017,
their promising future comes undone
when Lynlee and Sam find Ben dead inside the snake barn.
The early information that Sam had given to us,
he believed it to be a snake.
But that was quickly ruled out by EMTs on scene
through the presence of gunshot wounds in Ben's body.
[Sam] I did talk with the police.
They took me in,
and I had to drop my two children and Ben's two children
off with this poor babysitter and ask her to hold them.
[Narrator] With Lynlee and Sam on the way to the station,
investigators head inside the barn
and take a careful look at the crime scene.
There were some shell casings that were underneath Ben's body,
but we also discovered divots.
[Narrator] The small indentations in the floor
show that Ben was shot several times
after he hit the floor.
[Devin] Those divots matched up directly
with him being shot while he was on the ground,
and those bullets traveling through his body
and striking the tile below him.
[Narrator] It's clear that whoever killed Ben
wasn't leaving until they were sure he was dead.
[Devin] We found four or five shell casings.
With the damage that was done to Ben's body,
we took that to account.
There was legitimate concern,
and, and we have to vet all the information that we get
to get to the truth.
[Narrator] Coming up.
Did a family feud turn deadly?
She said maybe it would be better for their family
to live elsewhere.
This doesn't go over well with him.
[Narrator] Or does the key to solving this case
lie in another long-buried secret?
[Sam] My father mismanaged that company,
and he had defrauded a number of people out of investments.
[Narrator] On June 8th, 2017,
Missouri investigators are on the scene at
a rare snake breeding facility,
where owner, 29-year-old Ben Renick,
has just been found shot to death inside.
The concern about a snake on the loose
that could've caused this
was squashed when we found the shell casing
and realized he had been shot.
[Narrator] The coroner determines Ben was shot
eight times from behind,
with the majority of the bullet coming after he hit the ground.
He likely died within two hours of the call to 911.
[Darrin] The way Ben was found,
it looked like he had just been doin' his work
and had been interrupted.
[Narrator] Investigators consider
whether Ben was shot in a robbery gone wrong.
There was no, per se, gated security that would
prohibit or inhibit access to the facility.
So, it was just open door.
Ben had large amounts of cash in the facility
at different given times.
And so, there was a theory
that maybe this was a robbery that went bad.
[Narrator] With the hope of learning more,
investigators head to the station
and turn their attention to the 911 callers,
Ben's wife, Lynlee, and his brother, Sam.
They start by interviewing Lynlee.
Lynlee said that she spent the day working in Columbia
at the spa.
[Narrator] As Lynlee prepared to head back home around 6 P.M,
she made an alarming discovery.
[Lucas] The school had called and said,
"Ben hasn't shown up to pick up your children."
[Narrator] Unable to reach Ben,
Lynlee says she rushed to get the kids and head back home.
The first person she called was Sam Renick, not 911.
She called Sam because he was already on the property.
[Narrator] Still considering the possibility of a burglary,
investigators ask Lynlee about her husband's business.
It seemed she was very forthcoming.
She wanted to help.
[Narrator] After learning of Ben and Sam's
rocky relationship,
investigators are eager to sit down with Sam next.
[Narrator] With Lynlee's claims in mind,
they ask Sam about the family farm.
[Narrator] Uncertain if Sam is holding back,
investigators quickly cut to the chase.
We seized his shirt from that day.
We did a download of his phone.
The decision was made to polygraph Sam
to see if he had any knowledge or involvement.
[Narrator] As Sam's polygraph is being scheduled,
investigators ask Lynlee to mee them back at the farm.
We actually had Lynlee do
somewhat of an inventory on the snakes.
She didn't believe any snakes were missing.
[Narrator] They find no proof of missing cash, either.
[Lucas] Nothing is stolen.
Nothing looks obviously broken into.
Robbery gets taken off the table.
[Narrator] Days later, Sam takes the polygraph.
[Devin] Sam Renick came down to Jefferson City
and submitted to a polygraph examination.
And he passed the polygraph test.
He deeply cared about finding a resolution to this case.
[Narrator] Investigators are also able to
confirm Sam's alibi.
[Devin] He wasn't able to physically be there
when he was at work.
We confirmed that a couple different ways.
[Narrator] With Sam ruled out and robbery off the table,
investigators press Sam for a new lead.
Although he continues to insist
that his brother didn't have any enemies,
he admits that their late father did.
[Sam] My father started his own pet food company
in Montgomery County.
He had mismanaged that company.
And he had defrauded a number of people out of investments.
[Lucas] In 2012, a federal grand jury
indicted Frank Renick on fraud charges.
Essentially that he was taking investors' money,
not putting it into the business,
and essentially paying off previous investors
to the company that he was running.
Shortly after that federal indictment came out,
Frank Renick committed suicide.
There may still be investors that were still upset
with the Renick family.
That was a path we were gonna have to go down.
[Narrator] Investigators obtain a search warrant,
and start looking at Ben's social media accounts
for any potential threats.
So there were some thoughts that it could be tied to that,
in some way.
That there could be someone angry at the family
or wantin' to get revenge for what had happened.
Some money they had lost.
That was definitely looked at.
[Narrator] Investigators find nothing from social media
to back this theory up.
However, they do find evidence of a marriage in turmoil.
Lynlee and Ben communicated with Facebook message just as much
as they did with text.
I read through all the Facebook messages
on both their accounts, and Ben gave an idea,
although he never specifically would say it,
that she was cheating on him.
He would bring up concerns about her bein' on her phone,
or her goin' to the bathroom with her phone.
I had start to put together tha Lynlee may be havin' an affair.
[Narrator] Coming up.
Out of a hunch, detectives find fact.
They'd met on a dating site.
[Narrator] And the secrets don't stop there.
Ben was having to front a lot of bills.
This created a really big wedge
[Narrator] Weeks after the murder of
well-known snake breeder Ben Renick,
Missouri investigators are combing through
Ben and Lynlee's social media and text messages
when they find evidence of a tumultuous marriage.
I had 20 thousand plus pages of Facebook messages,
and then all of their text conversations.
We began to learn that her and Ben's relationship
wasn't quite as good as she said it was.
We kinda operate under the guise,
if you have nothing to hide, you hide nothing.
It kinda makes you suspicious on what else
she's withholding from investigators.
[Narrator] Detectives decide it's time to
speak with Lynlee again.
I was candid about it and asked if she was having
an affair or a romantic relationship.
And that's when she explained t me that
she was seein' someone else.
It was a local person there
that helped with her business from time to time,
and that they would meet approximately twice a month.
He was a marketing professional that was trying to help the spa,
named Aric Bremmer.
[Devin] She stated that time,
that was the only affair she was having
and she apologized for not telling about it the first time.
[Narrator] Following the interview,
investigators check in with Aric.
[Devin] He had an alibi. He was on a trip with friends.
And from that point forward,
we didn't believe that Aric was involved in the homicide.
[Narrator] Curious if Lynlee's affair with Aric
might not be the only one,
they subpoena her phone records
I spent a lot of time goin' over those,
and there was a pattern that developed
with her and a, an associated phone number.
[Narrator] Investigators trace the number
to 34-year-old Brandon Blackwell.
[Devin] I travel to Brandon's work and
had a candid conversation with him.
And he explained to me that they had met on a dating site.
Brandon was very open and honest and forthcoming with me
about his relationship with Lynlee.
He conceded that they had started a sexual affair,
turned out it was just three days before the murder.
[Narrator] But like Lynlee's first lover,
he also offers up an airtight alibi.
He worked for a secure power plant type company,
it was very easy to determine if he was at work.
[Narrator] On June 19th, 2017,
11 days after Ben's murder, investigators request that
29-year-old Lynlee come back in
so they can ask to look at her texts.
[Devin] She consented to that.
I found text messages from the day of the homicide
with her and a "Mike H."
They talked the whole day of the murder,
and then they hadn't talked since.
[Marcus] Lynlee actually talked about him.
Michael used to work at a business
that installed stereo equipment.
[Lucas] Ashley Shaw is the business manager.
She's a very organized person
who is trying to keep this business on track.
She's very close with Lynlee.
[Devin] She seemed slightly taken aback
with us asking more questions about Michael,
and I realized I needed to lear a little bit more about Mike.
I was able to set up a meeting with Michael.
[Narrator] On July 17th, 2017,
Michael arrives for his interview.
He also says Lynlee had come and reconnected with him because
Ashley Shaw wanted some stereo work done,
and he decided, "Why not?"
There's plenty of places to go to get car stereos put in
than some boyfriend that you haven't seen in ten years
that you knew could do it.
Nothin' about that was makin' sense to me.
[Narrator] Despite their suspicions,
investigators release Michael and concentrate on
the messages between Lynlee and Ben.
A lot of that was them fighting about money
or their relationship.
[Devin] We learned that Lynlee was not payin'
her business loan on time.
She owed an electric company five thousand dollars,
she owed an architecture firm about five thousand dollars.
And Ben was just starting to learn through
emails with her bank.
Ben was having to front a lot of bills for Lynlee's spa,
and this created a really big wedge between the two.
[Narrator] Investigators question if
the couple's money problems could be a motive for murder.
Then suddenly, a call comes in from an insurance agent
handling the Renick policy.
[Devin] The investigative specialist from
the life insurance company
asked if Lynlee was a suspect i the case,
and I stated that she was.
And because of that, they were holding
that million dollar life insurance policy.
[Narrator] The agent claims Lynlee began trying to
cash in on the million dollar policy
within hours of Ben's death.
That, I think, was a red flag for her,
that it was called in in less than 12 hours.
It was very suspicious.
[Narrator] Even more damning,
in the months since Ben's murder,
Lynlee has been busy trying to cash in on more
than just the life insurance...
Quickly after the murder, she decided to sell that farm.
And Ben's business, his snake business.
[Lucas] Sam Renick does try to step in and stop this sale.
So, they have to go to court to figure out all of these assets.
[Narrator] On October 5th,
almost five months after the murder,
investigators tell Lynlee they need to talk to her again.
I explained to her a polygraph may be some way
for us to exclude her as a suspect.
[Narrator] Lynlee agrees.
This is maybe Lynlee's fifth or sixth interview
that she's done at this point.
She takes a polygraph test,
and Lynlee fails this polygraph test.
Followin' the polygraph, she lawyered up.
[Marcus] We believed that Lynlee had somethin' to do with it,
we just hadn't gotten to the point of
having the probable cause to arrest anyone in the case.
[Narrator] Over the next few months,
Lynlee continues to fight Sam in court
over the sale of the farm.
She also goes public with her relationship
with Brandon Blackwell.
We started seeing Lynlee's social media accounts
pop up with another man.
And then, very quickly after that,
we found out that she was pregnant.
[Narrator] Coming up.
A witness comes forward...
[Lucas] Police get a call from an inmate.
He's got some information to share.
[Narrator] And a twisted tale unfolds.
[Narrator] Months after Ben Renick is gunned down
inside his snake breeding facility,
his murder remains unsolved.
And the primary suspect, his wife Lynlee,
remains a free woman.
[Sam] Lynlee entered a relationship
with Brandon Blackwell
almost immediately at the time of the murder.
Brandon was married and had two kids.
He left his wife, and him and Lynlee had a child together.
[Narrator] As time passes,
investigators keep an eye on Lynlee.
She eventually prevails in her court battle
with Ben's brother, Sam.
[Sam] We had the farm set in Ben's name as a sole owner.
But when he passed, it went to Lynlee, solely.
I lost.
A farm that my family spent 40 years maintaining.
We could've never imagined losing the farm in that way.
[Lucas] In 2018, Lynlee goes through with the sale of
the Montgomery Country property for about 740 thousand dollars.
[Narrator] But Lynlee isn't as lucky when it comes to
Ben's life insurance payout.
The life insurance payment is never made to Lynlee.
[Narrator] That same year,
Lynlee relocates to Columbia with Brandon and her three kids
[Lucas] Brandon and Lynlee's relationship was marked
with a lot of fighting.
In 2019, Lynlee says that she's had enough with this,
and gets a restraining order taken out against Brandon.
[Narrator] In a stunning turn of events,
authorities catch a break in January 2020,
when Brandon is arrested after violating that order.
Brandon Blackwell was in the Boone County Jail,
he wanted to talk to one of us.
[Devin] Brandon explained that it took some time,
but eventually she would tell him a little more
and a little more.
[Narrator] According to Brandon,
the week prior to Ben's death,
Lynlee made the first attempt on his life.
[Devin] According to Brandon,
Ashley Shaw, her co-worker, helped her obtain narcotics,
in this case, Percocet,
and come up with a plan to poison Ben.
They crushed up Percocet pills in a protein shake,
but that attempt failed.
[Narrator] Ben's Facebook messages
support Brandon's story.
[Darrin] We discovered something on the Facebook messages
about Ben getting very ill from this protein shake.
[Narrator] Brandon tells them
that when the Percocet didn't work,
Lynlee came up with another plan.
[Marcus] She reached out to Michael Humphrey,
an old boyfriend, and asked him for help.
Brandon Blackwell should not have known those facts
unless he was told by Lynlee.
[Narrator] Two days after the interview with Brandon,
authorities arrest Michael Humphrey.
Lynlee had spun this tale of domestic violence
and domestic abuse.
Michael believed this. Michael wanted to help.
He had brought her the gun to her spa in case she needed it.
[Narrator] Then, two weeks later,
she asked Michael to go with he to see Ben.
[Narrator] But when they arrived,
Lynlee revealed she'd brought the gun with her.
[Devin] They entered the facility,
Michael said he was barely in the doorway
at the front of the facility
when he started to first hear shots.
He confirmed that Lynlee was the one that had shot Ben.
He wouldn't tell us what happened to the gun
after the murder.
[Narrator] That same day,
investigators arrest 29-year-old Ashley Shaw.
While she's waiting there, her attorney shows up.
And they both say, "We will tell you that story
if you give us that immunity."
And they get the agreement in place,
and Ashley Shaw tells 'em everything that she knows.
[Narrator] Ashley says she agreed to help Lynlee
because she told her she was in an abusive relationship.
[Marcus] She's telling these people
she's havin' troubles at home
and she's soliciting them to help her get rid of her husband.
[Lucas] Ashley Shaw says that
she was the one who got the Percocets.
She was the one who also helped
find Michael Humphrey for this, as well.
She was right there with Lynlee the entire time
to try to set all of this up.
[Narrator] When Michael and Lynlee traveled to the farm,
Ashley stayed behind at the spa
to help establish Lynlee's alibi.
Lynlee left her phone and asked Ashley to actually
make correspondence or texts on the phone
to make it appear that she's in the spa.
She starts sending texts to Ben, texting and calling
that she was worried,
she kept asking him to pick up his phone,
But he didn't, because Ben was dead.
[Narrator] On January 16th, 2020,
over two and a half years after Ben's murder,
authorities finally have what they need to arrest Lynlee.
Lynlee was arrested at her residence in Columbia.
[Sam] They promised me that someday we would get there.
And despite my doubts at times, we did.
[Narrator] Coming up.
Will a last minute development seal Lynlee's fate?
We rushed it to the lab and realized that
we had the murder weapon.
[Narrator] Or will Lynlee continue to evade justice?
Lynlee takes the stand to tell her side of the story.
A side that she has not told anyone yet.
[Narrator] Over two and a half years after
her husband is gunned down
inside his exotic snake breeding facility,
Ben Renick's widow, Lynlee,
is finally arrested for his murder.
But she refuses to make a statement.
It took years to make an arrest.
It was a long process.
And that was tough, murder was not something that we thought
that Lynlee would even be capable of.
So, we were surprised.
[Narrator] Ashley Shaw, Lynlee's coworker,
is granted immunity
after agreeing to testify against Lynlee
and her co-conspirator, Michael Humphrey.
As trial begins in October 2020
Michael claims he didn't pull the trigger.
[Lucas] The way the law is,
is that you don't have to be the one that pulled the trigger
If you took part in it and you knew about it,
you are just as guilty as the person that pulled the trigger.
Michael was ultimately convicted of first-degree murder
and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
[Narrator] As prosecutors turn their attention to
preparing for Lynlee's trial,
they are contacted by Michael's attorneys.
[Devin] Michael's team of lawyers said that he was able t
give specifics about where the gun was.
Followin' that interview, Trooper Shafer and I found
it was in the attic underneath some insulation.
We rushed it to the lab and realized that
we had the murder weapon for the case.
[Lucas] Michael agreed to testify at Lynlee's trial.
In exchange, they would remove
his first-degree murder conviction,
and instead give him
a second-degree murder conviction,
and sentence him to life in prison
with the possibility of parole.
[Narrator] In December 2021,
33-year-old Lynlee Renick goes to trial.
In a surprising move,
Lynlee testifies on her own behalf.
[Lucas] Lynlee takes the stand to tell her side of the story.
Lynlee Renick tells the jury that it was Michael Humphrey
that pulled the trigger.
She was there, she didn't know that this was gonna occur.
[Narrator] But Michael and Ashley testify to the contrary.
This was wildly premeditated.
She tried to poison him first. He didn't die.
She covered up her actions all the way until the arrest,
and lied countlessly.
She was the one to pull the trigger.
[Narrator] Prosecutors argue that Lynlee's claims
that Ben abused her are unfounded.
And her true motive is crystal clear.
[Sam] I believe that greed is what killed my brother,
Lynlee's greed.
She knew that the farm was in Ben's name.
And he just took out
a one million life insurance policy.
The truth is that Ben was gonna find out
that Lynlee was having multiple affairs
and mismanaging the finances at her spa.
When that happened, Ben was gonna walk away,
and she probably wasn't gonna get much.
She was not willing to walk awa from those assets.
[Narrator] After a four-day trial,
the jury begins deliberations.
Lynlee was ultimately convicted of second-degree murder
and received 16 years in prison.
[Sam] We're happy that she was sentenced to
the 16 years that she was given
However, my brother's life was worth a lot more than 16 years
to those children.
All the lives that were destroyed by this,
by these actions...
It was not just, not for us.
How can we have such disparity in this?
I think, for one, it breaks down on the argument itself.
For Michael Humphrey, the argument was
it doesn't matter if he's the trigger person or not.
He was there, he knew about it, and he didn't say anything.
But for Lynlee's, it's much mor specific.
You have to believe that Lynlee was the one
that shot and killed.
And some jurors were maybe thinking that,
"Maybe it wasn't Lynlee that pulled the trigger,"
was enough for them to pull back on their punishment.
[Narrator] Following the disappointing sentence,
Ben's loved ones attempt to move on
while keeping Ben's memory alive.
For me to try imagine that somebody would wanna kill Ben
was just kinda unbelievable.
A little bit surreal, you know? It still is that way.
He would have had a long, beautiful life to live,
and that was stolen from him.
Those kids deserved a father, and they were denied that.
And the ripple effects of his murder will span generations.
[music]