A Harlem man pleaded guilty Friday to fatally stabbing his wife in the back last year, telling the court he didn’t recall doing it.
“I had to be the one that done it,” Robert Bennett said in a statement to Columbia County Judge J. Grady Blanchard. “I just don’t recall the moment. If I done it, I had to do it out of love because I remember all the suffering.”
Authorities said he stabbed 60-year-old Michelle “Shelly” Bennett in the back with a large kitchen knife and then called 911 to report it. When officers arrived at the home off Gordon Highway on Jan. 18, 2023, they found the woman in the dining room, slumped over the table with a large kitchen knife in her back. EMS and Fire Rescue worked on the victim with unsuccessful results.
In court Friday, Bennett stood with defense attorney Robert T. Homlar and took responsibility. He pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and weapon possession. Judge Blanchard sentenced him to 25 years, effectively a life sentence for the elderly man. He had no previous record and there were no earlier calls of domestic violence to the home.
In a three-page confession that was written with the help of a cellmate, Bennett explained that his second wife suffered greatly from diabetes as well as injuries from a car wreck, which broke her back in three places and led to swollen lymph glands.
He explained that he watched his first wife, Earlene, suffer for 22 years from nerve problems, stomach cancer and cancer under the kidneys. Bennett said that required him to care for their young children by himself while holding down a full-time job as the “meat man” at Winn Dixie, where he worked for nearly five decades.
Two days before his first wife’s death, she told him to “find someone to finish his life with.” So when he met Michelle – 22 years younger than him – at the Cracker Barrel on Dyer Parkway, he dated her and eventually made her his wife.
“My children was totally against it but I needed a companion and I was happy with Shelly and that over shadowed their feelings,” he said. “Shelly and I enjoyed one another over the years. Her sickness and ailment set in and took a toll on her. She was so happy and outgoing until the pains of her ailments set in. Then she would cry herself to sleep at times.”
Bennett explained that his wife’s pain only got worse with three stints in one leg and two in the other. Her diabetes was off the charts, and marijuana only helped for so long. Before the car wreck, her body had completely rejected food and she required a feeding syringe.
“We all grieved for her on a daily basis because she had gotten so bad off. It was hard to see her in this state of being. My wife suffered day in and day out,” he said. “I loved my wife dearly. Possibly I snapped out of love and ended her pain for us. I feel if I had done it, it had to be out of love because of all the suffering we experienced.”
Bennett told the judge he never had any “criminal intentions with my wife.”
“Maybe I lost control because I didn’t want any more suffering for Shelly,” he said in his statement. “ I take full responsibility for my actions. I just can’t recall the event step by step.”
At the end of his statement, Bennett held out hope for a sentence that would free him someday.
“If I am ever released, I’d like to spend time with my grandchildren,” he said. “Every time I think about Shelly, I bout start crying.”
Here is Robert Bennett’s complete statement to the court:
“For a tragedy (sic) such as mine it’s become overwhelming. I believe in capital punishment and I believe in being truthful and honest. I had to be the one that done it. I just don’t recall the moment. If I done it, I had to do it out of love because I remember all the the suffering.
Let me start off with my first wife of 44 yrs. Earlene Bennett whom discovered a nerve problem, stomach cancer and cancer under the kidneys which was too dangerous to approach in operations.
Earlene suffered terribly for 24 our of 44 yrs of marriage. I had her two sisters and a good friend help me with the daily care for my first wife Earlene. Most of our marriage, I had to care for our young children as well like the day to day care, pick up and drop off to the day care and school while holding down a full time job as the meat man at Winn Dixie. I worked at Winn Dixie for 48 years.
Two days before Earlene died, she told me to find someone to finish my life out with. She gave me the OK to find another wife.
I met Shelly. She was a server at the Cracker Barrel on Dyer Parkway. She waited on our table, me and my buddy Chuck. We had words, exchanged information and got to know one another. We dated for about two yrs before we became close enough for me to ask for her hand in marriage.
My children was totally against it but I needed a companion and I was happy with Shelly and that over shadowed their feelings.
Shelly and I enjoyed one another over the years. Her sickness and ailment set in and took a toll on her. She was so happy and outgoing until the pains of her ailments set in. Then she would cry herself to sleep at times. The pain had gotten worser and worser. Shelly had three stints in one leg and two in the other. Her diabetes was off the charts.
We all grieved for her on a daily basis because she had gotten so bad off. It was hard to see her in this state of being. My wife suffered day in and day out. I loved my wife dearly.
Possibly I snapped out of love and ended her pain for us. I feel if I had done it, it had to be out of love because of all the suffering we experienced.
Shelly and I never lost love for one another. Never having a misunderstanding or any arguments. Marijuana would help occasionally, but then it got to where it was not helping. The doctors said that there was nothing that they could give her because one medication would coincide with the other.
Shelly’s lymph glands had swollen beyond reason following a car wreck. He back was broken in three places. Medical records would speak for themself. Her pains were unbearable for her and us, and there was nothing the doctors could do to ease her suffering and pain.
My wife is no longer suffering but at peace, but now I’m suffering more than before because of it. I had no criminal intentions with my wife ever.
I forgot to mention that my wife Shelly had feeding tubes 4 month before the car wreck. Her body started rejecting food along with all the other ailments at home. She’d eat and spit it up. Her food was administered with a feeding syringe.
She had gotten so bad, her pains and pressured were unpredictable. Maybe I lost control because I didn’t want any more suffering for Shelly. I take full responsibility for my actions. I just can’t recall the event step by step.
No matter what anyone may think, I loved my wife beyond reason. With all the ailments and pain caused a lot of agony and grief. But I never lost love for Shelly.
If I am ever released, I’d like to spend time with my grandchildren. Everytime I think about Shelly, I bout start crying.”
