Inset, top to bottom: Otto Lenke in court for his sentencing hearing (WPEC) and Richard Benson (WPTV). Background: A shot of Lenke setting a fire inside Benson's motorcycle shop (WPEC).
A 67-year-old former police officer and firefighter in Florida will be executed by the state for killing his romantic rival by shooting the victim three times before dousing him with alcohol and setting him on fire while he was still alive.
Circuit Judge Michael Linn sentenced Otto Lenke to death on Wednesday for the 2021 murder of Richard Benson, court records show. In his sentencing order, Linn wrote that Lenke "executed a cold and calculated plan to murder Richard Benson in one of the most heinous, atrocious, and cruel ways imaginable."
A jury convicted Lenke in May of first-degree murder with a firearm and first-degree arson, then recommended the death penalty in an 11-1 vote. Jurors found three aggravating factors: the murder was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel; it was committed in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner; and it occurred during the commission of another felony, specifically arson.
The sentencing order described Lenke's preparations for the killing and how he repeatedly stopped the wounded shop owner from reaching the exit. The judge wrote that his independent evaluation of the case showed death was "the appropriate and just sentence."
On the morning of Feb. 17, 2021, Lenke removed the license tag from his car and drove about 40 minutes to Fast Frank's, a motorcycle shop in Fort Pierce, the order states. He parked at the opposite end of the row of businesses and waited about 20 minutes.
Lenke put on a motorcycle helmet with a tinted face shield and gloves. He carried a handgun and a bag containing two lighters and two containers of denatured alcohol before entering the shop through a rear door.
Benson had arrived to open the store and was working at a bench near the front when Lenke approached and shot him in the back at nearly point-blank range. After Benson fell and partially opened the front door, Lenke pulled him back inside by his feet.
Benson raised his hands toward Lenke, rolled over and raised them again. Lenke then shot him in the chest. Benson rolled over, apparently in pain, and Lenke poured alcohol over his feet. Benson dragged himself toward the front door, and Lenke again pulled him back inside.
Lenke then shot Benson a third time. After that third shot, Lenke poured both containers of denatured alcohol — which is a highly flammable form of adulterated ethyl alcohol — over Benson while he was still moving and set him on fire.
"Benson died while on fire and suffering from three gunshot wounds," the judge wrote.
Responders to the structure fire found Benson inside the shop. He was pronounced dead at 9:21 a.m. Investigators recovered three spent shell casings and two empty cans of denatured alcohol near the front door, along with surveillance recordings that captured the killing and Lenke's entry and exit.
Investigators spoke with Benson's girlfriend, who identified the person in the surveillance footage as Lenke based on his "particular walk" and the style of his black motorcycle helmet. Lenke and Benson's girlfriend had been longtime friends. Their relationship had briefly been romantic but was platonic by the time of the murder.
Around Jan. 19, 2021, Lenke delivered a boat he had built to Benson's girlfriend. During the visit, Benson called the girlfriend, and Lenke saw Benson's name on her phone. The order says Lenke became emotional and asked Benson's girlfriend "why she did not love him and asked if it was because she was seeing someone."
Investigators linked a Pontiac Bonneville seen near the shop to a car registered to Lenke but primarily used by his daughter. Surveillance footage showed the vehicle traveling toward the shop, parking nearby and leaving without a license tag.
Search warrant evidence showed Lenke's cellphone was at his residence when the murder occurred. After the murder, cellphone tracking showed movements to Lenke's hobby shop, a canal and a shoreline area of the Indian River Lagoon near Sebastian. Investigators recovered part of a Glock firearm from the lagoon area that was consistent with the murder weapon, but records did not identify who purchased the firearm secondhand.
Under state law, the case will be reviewed by the Florida Supreme Court before Lenke can be executed.
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