at the center of any criminal investigation is a dark heart, and the iron hand of justice. >> honor, commitment, courage. >> you know, you can pretty much trust another marine. >> he was a decorated military man. then he was accused of child molestation and rape. >> i blacked out. and when i woke up, he was on top of me. >> you'll start to see the physical evidence, that what he'd done, he'd done to your daughter, you know, he betrayed your trust. >> but he managed to elude military justice before making his final escape. >> i personally couldn't believe that someone would kill themselves in a fire. >> was it suicide, or was there a more sinister explanation?

>> my exact words when i was told were, how do we know it's him? >> could he have faked his own death? >> that's what really did happen, then he's the biggest coward i know. >> on this dark heart iron hand. the vanishing. it is the u.s. marine motto, their code of honor and words they live by. semper fi, always faithful. but this crime file investigation is about a marine accused of violating that faith, accused of leading a double life and committing a series of crimes from child sexual abuse to murder. for years he managed to slip through the cracks of military justice, his secrets hidden beneath a stellar reputation as a marine. when the law finally caught up with him, he escaped again by taking his own life. or did he? here's keith morris. >> the end came on february 3,

1994, an explosion in a lonely gorge east of las vegas. the scripted end to a flawed life. when police reached the camping trailer, the propane fire had reduced it to ash and the body inside was unrecognizable. authorities ruled that the man inside, a united states marine, had ended his own life. it was suicide. should they have known? could they have known that nothing about the fire or the man inside was quite as it seemed? police had been manipulated, young women violated, a man murdered. and some say a soldier almost got away with it all. because the u.s. marine corps may have unwittingly protected a predator within. arthur bennett joined the navy when he was just 17. and five years later he became a marine. for years he seemed to meet the standard of military success. there were promotions,

assignments in asia, and nearly a dozen medals and letters of appreciation from the corps. he even found a bride on duty, a dancer from the philippines named amelia. >> he's very good-hearted man. very affectionate. all you're looking for a man was in him at that time. >> and you found it very easy to fall in love with him. >> i did. i fall in love with him and i marry him. >> together, they had three beautiful daughters. but three years before that trailer fire, a happy family portrait was beginning to disintegrate. the trouble began when the bennett family was transferred to a military base in okinawa, japan. former navy petty officer lynn brisco was arthur bennett's neighbor in okinawa and for a time his friend. >> we had similar interests, the possibility of a long-term friendship was there. >> but the friendship ended as quickly as it had begun, he says, when his 8-year-old daughter came to him with a disturbing story about a slumber party she attended at bennett's home.

>> the statement was mr. bennett is gross. what do you mean he's gross? at night he came into the room and put lotion on my legs. >> the news devastated her mother benita. >> it was hard making it through that night. that was our child. you know, as parents, things like that aren't supposed to happen to your children. you're supposed to be able to protect them from everything. >> the briscos filed a complaint with the naval investigative service. staff sergeant bennett denied the charges. his family rallied behind him. >> i think maybe it was just like a gossip. i believe it if i see it. >> i didn't see anything. >> i didn't see anything at that time. >> bennett's daughter, who shared a bed with the brisco's child at the sleepover said her dad had done nothing wrong. but brisco said before long the investigators uncovered another complaint. >> the agent told me, not only do we believe your daughter but

we have found out that there have other cases on the same floor where this man lives. >> you felt the system would get this resolved right away? >> yes. i expected a court-martial. i expected that he would go down pretty hard. that he wouldn't be able to harm any more children. >> social workers at the military hospital also interviewed the briscos' daughter and afterward wrote a memo saying that the child sexual abuse charges had been substantiated. but weeks passed. then months. and nothing happened. the marine corps took no action against staff sergeant bennett. >> he went about his daily life as if nothing had happened. >> that's because, according to military law, a commanding officer has the power to decide whether or not the military should try a soldier for a crime. in this case, the commander decided there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute staff sergeant bennett. >> i took the oath along with every other military person that i was going to give my life to

protect this country from enemies, both foreign and domestic. but i need to know that if my country sends me across the ocean, that my family is going to be taken care of. they let me down on that. >> finally, a year after the briscos filed their molestation complaint arthur bennett's tour in okinawa ended. there would be no court-martial, no jail time. instead, the staff sergeant was awarded another service medal and was transferred. >> he got away. >> arthur bennett returned to the states a single father. amelia had discovered an affair with a 17-year-old and was divorcing him. amelia feared she couldn't support herself and the three girls on her own in the states so she stayed behind in okinawa. and in a move she would come to deeply regret, she let arthur have custody of their 7, 8 and 10-year-old daughters.

>> i thought he could take care of my children. i know he loved my children. so i think i made the right decision at that time. >> she couldn't know the future, of course, and neither could the briscos. but even though he was now thousands of miles away, the briscos couldn't shake the feeling they hadn't heard the last of arthur bennett. a whole year had gone by since arthur bennett was accused of fondling two little girls, but marine corps officials had decided against prosecution and eventually shipped him half a world away from okinawa to the marine corps air station in yuma, arizona. staff sergeant gene davis was assigned to work with bennett on base. he was not informed of any official concern about his new partner. and in off hours, davis became bennett's friend. >> i was the type of person that tended to befriend a lot of people that were outcasts. >> are you motivated?

>> yes, sir! >> staff sergeant davis retired from the marine corps in 1998 after 20 years of service. when we met up with him, he was giving orders to his recruits in a weekly afterschool program that teaches kids about the marine corps. what is it about the marines that you like? >> of the pride, honor, commitment, courage. you can pretty much trust another marine. >> that's why, davis says, when bennett asked davis' 13-year-old daughter to baby-sit, it seemed just fine. but in the weeks that followed, his daughter seemed anxious, withdrawn. and when davis brought bennett by the house one afternoon when his daughter was home -- >> when she saw who it was, she decided she was sick, ran to the bathroom, closed the door, and wouldn't come out. >> when bennett left, davis confronted her daughter. >> she said well, dad, i've got something to tell you but you're

going to be really mad. >> i just broke down and i started crying. >> she said her ordeal began when she was baby-sitting. bennett came home and led her to a refrigerator filled with wine coolers and told her she could drink whatever she wanted. >> so you took it? >> i took it, being curious. >> when she finished the first bottle, she says, he offered her a second. but this time she says he handed her something else with the wine cooler, two tiny white pills. >> he told me that they would make it so that i would -- i could have as much alcohol as i wanted without getting drunk. >> you believed that? >> yeah. i believed him. >> she says when she tried to leave the room, the drugs and alcohol left her too dizzy to stand or walk. >> and i blacked out. and when i woke up, he was on top of me. >> what was he doing to you on top of you? >> he was raping me. >> what is it like when your daughter tells you that? >> first of all, you don't want to believe it. you would rather that it was a lie. then we begin to start to see the physical evidence. what he had done, he had done to your daughter. that he betrayed your trust. i mean, you trust another marine

with your life. >> bennett denied the charges, telling police the girl had lied about the attack. but the evidence against staff sergeant bennett was mounting. according to police reports, officers found the tranquilizers the girl described at bennett's home and a medical exam revealed she had been recently sodomized. the case was turned over to the military. then and only then did gene davis learn arthur bennett had been accused of sexual abuse in okinawa two years earlier and was never prosecuted. >> if they had prosecuted him my daughter would never have been hurt. >> but this time around the marine corps was prosecuting staff sargent bennett. they had a pre-trial hearing. the briscos' daughter testified, telling the court what she says happened to her in okinawa. a second okinawa parent told the court that bennett had rubbed lotion on his daughter's back and had shown her a pornographic film when she was 6 years old. and remember that 17-year-old bennett had an affair with in okinawa?

she testified as well, telling the court that bennett had sodomized her at gunpoint. the court indicted bennett on rape and sodomy charges and scheduled a general court-martial, the most serious legal avenue in the military. >> i talked to the prosecuting attorney and i talked to the defense attorney. they both told me, it looks like he's going to get 25 years. you know, i'm thinking, this is good. this is good. this is justice for what he had done. >> then something odd happened. not surprisingly, bennett had been restricted to base. but a month before the court-martial was to begin, he applied to go on leave. outrageous audacity? maybe not. after consulting a military lawyer, the commander agreed, released him from confinement, and gave him permission to spend 17 days in las vegas, unsupervised. >> they let him leave. >> for a man being court-martialed who could spend 25 years or more in jail, they give him two weeks leave?

that must have seemed pretty amazing to you. >> i couldn't believe it. >> but bennett may have understood military rules better than davis. as the commanding officer said later, everyone followed the rules. three psychologists examined bennett and concluded he was neither suicidal nor homicidal. the commander decided there was no proof he might flee. so when bennett asked to go on leave, the commander felt he had no choice but to let bennett go. >> you know, i understood the fact that he had rights, too, but i said, what about my daughter? he's under a court-martial for raping my daughter, and for molesting these other girls. what are you talking about, not a danger to society? >> arthur bennett told his ex-wife, who was now living in california, that he was going carving at lake mead national park. a few days later as she and her daughters were making plans to meet him there, the phone rang. and the man said he was from the clark county coroner's office. >> i have a phone call telling

me that his trailer blew up. i freak out. i cry. >> arthur bennett's burned-out camper was found in a desolate corner of the desert in the lee of these sand it stone cliffs about a quarter of a mile from lake mead, nevada. the fire had done its work. the camper was utterly destroyed. the body inside thoroughly burned, unrecognizable. paperwork in a truck nearby identified bennett. but for a positive i.d., the coroner needed bennett's dental records. strangely, those records were missing. so bennett's military dentist went to las vegas, then signed an affidavit saying it was bennett. the coroner's office concurred and soon after declared the death a suicide. the police department agreed, though the investigating detective was skeptical. >> i personally couldn't believe that someone would kill themselves in a fire. it seemed a drastic way to kill

yourself. >> gene davis wondered, too. >> my exact words when i was told were, how do we know it's him? >> so did arthur bennett perish in that camper fire? bennett may be gone, but he would not be easily forgotten. and there were still lingering questions about him. did he actually commit suicide? when we come back -- >> i read the autopsy report. i read the investigation. and for someone to sign off on that, that's pathetic. >> so you didn't believe he was dead. >> no. >> did you make a practice of going around and telling people this was probably a fake death? >> yes, i did. >> what did they think about you when you cast doubt on their reports? >> i had caused some commotion, and i was not a happy camper. ts. of course, neither do i. solution? td ameritrade mobile trader. i can enter trades on the run. even futures and 4x. complex options, done. [ cellphone rings ] thank you. live streaming audio. advanced charts. look at that. all right here. wherever "here" happens to be.

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arthur bennett was a career military man with an unblemished record. that is, until accusations surfaced of child sexual abuse while he was stationed in japan. those are charges that can tarnish or terminate a military career, but not in this case. bennett wasn't punished, simply transferred back to the u.s., where it happened again. eventually he was charged with child molestation and rape and he was to be court-martialed. incredibly, though, just a month before he was scheduled to face military justice, arthur bennett was allowed to go on unsupervised leave. a short time later, he was dead, burned beyond recognition in a trailer fire. it appeared that arthur bennett had killed himself, but not everyone was convinced. once again, keith morris. >> it was all very official. the las vegas coroner ruled that arthur bennett's death was suicide, and after conducting their own investigation, the marine corps agreed. bennett set the fire himself to avoid spending the next quarter

of a century in jail. now the marine corps followed the rules again. since bennett was dead, the corps officially closed the rape and molestation cases against him. after reviewing staff sergeant bennett's service record, his commander ruled that his "term of service" had been honorable and that he was entitled to all the benefits that would result from an honorable discharge. the body was cremated and staff sergeant bennett didn't get just any funeral. he was laid to rest with full military honors. it was all done by the book. >> i was absolutely livid. the fact that we would do that, having evidence of what he had done. i was extremely angry. >> in fact, davis says he was more than just angry. he was suspicious because he didn't believe that arthur bennett committed suicide. in fact, he didn't believe

arthur bennett was dead at all. >> could it have been him? sure, it could have. but there was no proof that it was. >> a crazy idea, obviously, since both civil and military officials had declared him dead and buried his body. still -- >> i didn't take anybody's word for it. >> anybody's word, he says, but arthur bennett's. months before the trailer fire, davis told us, arthur bennett made a chilling threat, felling him that if anyone ever made an accusation that caused him to lose custody of his kids, he would fake his death, then come back and kill his accuser. i'd fake my own death, he said? >> yes, he did. >> and he'd come back and kill. >> that's right. >> sergeant davis says he was determined to find something or someone the other investigators had missed. he says he convinced someone in the legal office to let him see the military's investigative report and, he says, the more he read the more he became

convinced that arthur bennett was alive. >> i read the autopsy report. i read the investigation. and for someone to sign off on that, that's pathetic. >> pathetic, says davis, because of one glaring omission during the investigation of the fire -- arthur bennett's dental records, the only means of positively identifying his body, were missing. without dental x-rays to compare to the teeth of the corpse, the coroner relied on the only tools he had, the military dentist's rough notes and his memory. >> so you didn't believe he was dead. >> no. >> did you make a practice of going around and telling people that this was probably a fake death? >> yes, i did. >> what did they think about you when you cast doubt on their reports? >> well, i had caused some commotion, and i was not a happy camper. >> davis says his commander suggested he see a psychologist. suggested or ordered? >> well, in the marine corps you take a suggestion as an order. >> but gene davis didn't know that as he was telling his story to the military psychologist, in

california a woman he had never met was hearing things that made her feel crazy. >> i can't understand what's going on. >> amelia bennett says it was a telephone call again, this one late at night. the caller didn't say who it was. he didn't have to. >> he just said one word, and i knew it was him. it means i love you, and he hung up. >> it was true. he was alive. three years after okinawa, after the marines decided there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute molestation accusations, after they let him go on leave in yuma when a rape trial was pending, after they buried him with honors, marine corps staff sergeant bennett was reborn and gathering his family. a suspected child molester was a free man. hurricane, utah, a small desert town about two hours from lake

mead, nevada. it's a place that embraces strangers. in the spring of 1995, the town opened its arms to a newcomer named joseph benson. benson and his family lived in a tiny house on the outskirts of town. he told neighbors he was a private detective who had recently retired from the marine corps. but there were things about his past he did not tell anyone, things no one in town had any way of knowing. the man they knew as joseph benson was really marine corps staff sergeant arthur bennett. and back in yuma, arizona, where he had been indicted for raping a 13-year-old girl, everyone thought he was dead. well, almost everyone. >> i never stopped loving him. >> incredibly, three months after crying over his casket at a military funeral, amelia bennett and her three children had reunited with arthur. but now he had a different name. joe benson.

why did you go back to him? why did you agree to do that? >> i'm thinking the protection of my children and the protection of my family. >> she says joe benson threatened to do terrible things if she didn't do as she was told or if she gave away his secret. >> he said that i might not see the light anymore. >> what did he mean by that? >> kill me. >> so amelia went along. when he told people in hurricane that he was her boyfriend and that her first husband had died in an explosion. each month amelia collected almost $2,000 in death benefits, and she says they used 10,000 of arthur's $200,000 military life insurance as a down payment on a house. but the deception became truly bizarre in that little house when they closed their door at night. the children were forced to live the lie, too. what about the children? >> they know him as joe benson. >> but amelia said her children

didn't like joe benson. she says they found the fiction of their lives painful. to outsiders, it all appeared perfectly normal. amelia got a job as a seamstress and joe did odd jobs around town. in his spare time, he volunteered at the local high school, helping students build stage sets for the drama club. and we might never have known this story, the perfect crime complete. but the man the marines hadn't stopped now couldn't stop himself. >> when we come back -- >> we had a couple of girls come up to the police department, contact me and they that they believed there was some sexual abuse going on with joe benson and some other victims. i think he thought he was uncatchable. >> but then he started the old behavior again. >> couldn't stop. i truly believe that he couldn't stop. [ snoring ] [ thunder crashes ] [ snoring ] [ male announcer ] vicks nyquil cold and flu.

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at the center of any criminal investigation is a dark heart and the iron hand of justice. >> wanted decorated marine arthur bennett had fooled a lot of people into thinking he's dead, that he killed himself to avoid court-martial for sexually molesting young girls.

but arthur bennett it turns out has risen from the ashes to escape his past and start a new life. his ex-wife amelia knows that he's alive, and now the entire family is living a lie. while amelia bennett is prepared to keep his secret, she can't imagine the consequences. >> we had a couple of girls come up to the police department, contact me and say that they believed there was some sexual abuse going on with joe benson and some other victims. >> the girls said the victims were joseph benson's 13 and 15-year-old stepdaughters. of course, copeland had no way of knowing they were the man's biological children. >> i said, it's not true. because deep inside me he was a real father of my daughters. so maybe they're only accusing him because they thought every stepfather does something bad to their stepdaughters, you know. >> every stepfather? remember, this is the same

amelia bennett who had forgiven her husband many times before, who admits she lived for years in denial. who knew about okinawa and yuma and a faked death and still came back to him. amelia bennett claimed that at first she couldn't believe her husband would molest their own daughters until she confronted the eldest and her worst fears were confirmed. >> i said you're not a virgin anymore? she said yes. so we both hugged each other and we were crying. she told me that she didn't want joe in the house anymore. >> that's how you knew for sure it was him. >> yes. >> finally, on halloween 1997, six years after the accusations in okinawa, three years after his phony death at lake mead and after two years of secrets and lies in hurricane, arthur's daughters ran away from home and talked. >> the story was that their

father had been raping them for years. >> but they told only half the story. they didn't tell anyone that arthur bennett was alive. they accused the fictional joe benson of sexual abuse. so as detective copeland approached the house to make the arrest, he had no way of knowing about joseph benson's secret or how far he would go to keep it. when he arrived, benson's front door was locked and barricaded. copeland raced to a side door and broke it down. copeland found benson in bed, his eyes closed, an open bible pressed to his chest. joe benson was unconscious, a bottle of sleeping pills at his bedside. an ambulance took him to the hospital, pumped out his stomach. it was only after that, when copeland began to realize there was more to this story, more to this man, than he knew. >> i asked him, social security number. and he said he couldn't remember it. >> ding dong. >> yeah. i said, for 20 years in the marines, you don't know your social security number? he said, i'm on medication.

i just can't recall. >> copeland knew something wasn't right. but what? he sent benson's fingerprints for identification, and finally learned the truth. >> i think he thought he was uncatchable. >> but then he started the old behavior again. >> couldn't stop. i truly believe that he couldn't stop. >> arthur bennett, a man who might have been in jail if he had not been granted leave, was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault, one daughter, then 16, later testified that her father had raped her every night since she was 14 years old. another described slumber parties where bennett fondled other teenage girls as they slept. a 13-year-old friend testified he had raped her, too. arthur bennett's days as joseph benson were finally over. but for investigators in three states, the search for answers was just beginning. how did he keep his secret so long and so well? where did all of that insurance money go?

and if it wasn't arthur bennett who died in the hellish trailer fire right here in the nevada desert, who was it? >> when i found out he was alive, i realized, obviously, we've got a murder now. because that victim didn't climb into that trailer and allow himself to be burned to death. >> who was that victim? one man must know, must know all the victims. but what will arthur bennett say? >> when crime files continues, would arthur bennett shed light on his alleged crimes and what would he have to say when we meet him face to face? >> the thing is it's so twisted around, built up so big, it's like i had an oversees and three states sex spree. >> are you a rapist? >> no, i'm not. >> are you a murderer? >> no, i'm not. >> arthur bennett knows what happened out here, and hopefully we'll be able to identify our victim and prosecute him for murder.

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hey, there, everybody. two brand-new polls show turmoil in critical primary states. in florida, the state that decided the republican nomination last time has gingrich in the lead. i am alex witt. once a marine with a sterling record, authorities say arthur bennett faked his own death to avoid prosecution and built a wall of deceit that finally crumbled in utah where he had gone to start a new life with a new name.

as we return to our crime files investigation, the suspected child molester has been apprehended and charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse. among the alleged victims, his own daughters. will arthur bennett admit to these crimes and how will he explain the burned body found in his trailer? once again, keith morrison. >> he is pale and looks almost timid in his orange prison jumpsuit, a far cry from the confident figure he once cut in a marine corps uniform. mr. bennett. >> how are you doing? >> during our interview, we asked bennett what happened in yuma where gene davis' daughter claims he offered her drugs and alcohol then raped her. and in hurricane, where, while he masqueraded as a man named joe benson his own daughters accused him of raping them. we asked him about the allegations in okinawa, and up finally what happened in lake mead where that elleish trailer

fire killed a man who was later buried in arthur's grave. repeatedly he insisted he was a good father and a faithful soldier who for reasons he could neither fathom nor explain had been falsely accused of an unspeakable crimes. >> everything here is so twisted around, it had been built-up so big, it was like i add an ov overseas and three state spree. >> are you a rapist? >> no, i'm not. >> are you a murderer? >> no, i'm not. >> a lot of stuff is in the records that makes it look like you're not being straight with me. a lot of evidence has been piled up by the military, by the police, by your accusers, that makes you look like you're lying to me. >> well, of course they're going to build things up and show things the way that they want it to be. >> but what about his own daughters? were they building things up,

too? why would she lie? >> i have no idea why. >> i suppose that's where people say arthur bennett -- we don't believe you. we don't believe you because your own daughters, own daughters, say you did it. >> i look at it this way. people can believe what they want to believe. i know i'm innocent. that's the way i'm going to stand. >> but declarations like those haven't swayed law enforcement officials all across the u.s. soon after our interview, a utah court sentenced bennett to three 15-year terms in prison for sexually abusing his daughters and another teen. and las vegas officials charged him with first degree arson, kidnapping and murder for that trailer fire in the desert. in our interview, bennett admitted that he was at the campsite when that blaze began. still, he insisted, he didn't cause the explosion or see the

man whose charred remains were found inside. claims las vegas homicide detective mike franks simply doesn't believe. >> arthur bennett knows what happened out here, and hopefully we'll be able to identify our victim and prosecute him for murder. >> frank suggests that bennett found a drifter or a homeless person, someone who wouldn't be missed, and lured him to the campsite that night. >> he could incapacitate him with a taser and/or the alcohol, turn on the fuel, and throw a match in there. >> probably get himself a little bit burned on the way out. >> a little bit. >> indeed, look at this picture of arthur bennett taken during his secret time in the weeks after the camper fire. >> there's a saying that homicide cops work for god. a homicide cop is the only people that stand up for the dead guy. and in a way, we -- i let the dead guy down.

>> if all the accusations against arthur bennett are eventually proved true, if it turns out that the career soldier was a serial child molester and murderer, how did he get away with it for so long? how could a man like that not only survive but thrive in the united states marine corps? ♪ we will fight our country's battles ♪ >> those are questions gene davis would like to see the marine corps answer. what would you ask them if you could? >> people in okinawa, i'd ask them, you're a marine, you know. we're supposed to stand up for what's right. what happened? a little bit of bad news or bad publicity would make you lose your backbone as a marine? >> the briscos say they'd like an apology from the marine corps. >> an apology to my child,

apology to davis' daughter, an apology to his own children. >> the military owes them that. >> they do. and not a form letter either. >> and the briscos would like to see something else -- a change in policy. they suggest that when a child accuses a soldier of sexual abuse, the base commander shouldn't have the power to dismiss the charges without a trial. >> i understand the system. that commanding officer needs to have a certain amount of authority. but it should not be absolute. i mean, there are some things that should be out of his hands. >> for answers, we went to marine corps attorney colonel donald davis. how could the marine corps have missed arthur bennett? >> the answer is that the marine corps didn't miss arthur bennett. they did check out the charges and they were being pursued, of course, with a vengeance at the time staff sergeant bennett disappeared. >> colonel davis acknowledges that the circumstances surrounding this case are tragic. but he insists there wasn't much else the corps could have done to keep staff sergeant bennett

behind bars before he faked his death at lake mead. when bennett was granted leave in yuma, says the colonel, there was no evidence he was a risk to others or himself, or that he might flee. so according to the rules, the commanding officer had no choice but to let him go. and in okinawa, davis says the base commander decided there wasn't enough evidence to make a criminal case against bennett stick. the family of this girl understood that the charges had been substantiated, that their story was believed. >> the standard in the marine corps court-martial is the same as the standard in any court system in our country, beyond a reasonable doubt. one of the things a commander does, he has to look at this and weigh the likelihood of conviction, given the strength of the evidence in the report, against the likelihood of an acquittal and the commander at this point made the decision not to go forward. >> but what about that memo written in okinawa that said the child sexual abuse charges had

been substantiated? well, davis says that the finding was made by a social worker, not a criminal investigator, and that the burden of proof in that office is lower. colonel davis says that without strong evidence, the commander may have chosen to spare a young child the trauma of a courtroom ordeal. >> you really have to be there and see the look in the eyes of a victim when an individual whom they have brought charges against is acquitted and walks out of the courtroom a free man. no one is served by that. >> so you let it go? >> staff sergeant bennett was redirected into the family services arena, and he was moved to another base. >> where he did it again. >> there was -- he -- >> where he did it again. >> he was moved to another base on okinawa, and subsequently committed the crime of rape, a crime that was different. >> in retrospect, the marine

corps acknowledges there were aspects of this case that could have been handled better, and a few months after our report first aired, the corps set out to prosecute bennett for rape, sodomy, indecent acts with minors, and desertion. for the briscos and other families, the upcoming court-martial marked the end of a ten-year quest for justice. >> all along he's gotten away with it and i want to be able to look in his face and let him know, oh, no, you didn't. not this time. and you're going to pay for all of it. >> but this sad saga was far from over. bennett, a man with a houdini like talent for escaping punishment, had one last trick up his sleeve. >> what could arthur bennett possibly do to escape justice this time around? how will the final chapter be written in this bizarre story? when we come back -- >> it was like being raped all over again.

because he had the last word. he had the last laugh. he basically said, you know what? i don't care if i'm in court. i don't care if i'm in jail. i will win. and in a way he did. >> he pulled the strings up until the end. until the end. dog gone it, he did it again. ae where we can get some work done. there's a three-prong plug. i have club passes. [ male announcer ] now there's a mileage card that offers special perks on united, like a free checked bag, united club passes, and priority boarding. thanks. ♪ okay. what's your secret? ♪ [ male announcer ] the new united mileageplus explorer card. get it and you're in.

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arthur bennett, who faked

his suicide to escape court-martial is about to face a military court again. he's charged with raping his own daughters and sexually molesting other young girls. he's also charged with murder in the state of nevada. returning to our crime files investigation, arthur bennett has another escape plan, and as you're about to see, this time there's nothing fake about it. again, here's keith morrison. >> the davis and brisco families gathered in las vegas for arthur bennett's court-martial. >> i was finally going to have justice. i was hoping that the outcome would also dishonor him as a marine, to take away anything that indicated that he was an honorable marine whatsoever because he wasn't. >> months earlier, gene davis' daughter and a string of young women, eight in all, had testified in a pretrial hearing, telling the court that when they were children the staff sergeant had fondled or raped them.

>> it was horrifying until i got up on that stand. >> this is davis' daughter kaylynn, today, out of the shadows speaking publicly about her ordeal in yuma, where she told the court bennett drugged and raped her when she was just 13 years old. >> i looked at him, and when he realized that i could look him straight in the face, point him out, and that i was going to be the one telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, he started to shake. i was so happy that this time i wasn't the scared child. he was. >> and bennett had good reason for fear. if convicted of those charges and the murder case in vegas, he faced life in prison or execution. locked up in a jail downtown, bennett continued to deny it all. the rapes, the fraud, the murder. in rambling notes, he wrote that

he was tired of living in a cage, that god and no man should be his judge. and so on the eve of the trial, he orchestrated an event that bore an eerie resemblance of how this strange story all began. he found a way to evade justice, at least said kaylynn davis, it sure felt that way to her. >> it was like being raped all over again. because he had the last word. he had the last laugh. he basically said, you know what? i don't care if i'm in court. i don't care if i'm in jail. i will win. and in a way he did. >> just hours before the legal proceedings were scheduled to begin, arthur bennett slipped a bedsheet through a vent in his cell and hanged himself. >> he pulled the strings up until the end. doggone it, he did it again. >> this guy didn't have any guts whatsoever. and if he committed suicide, if that's what indeed did happen,

then he's the biggest coward i know. >> you'll notice gene davis' emphasis on the word "if." well, he says this time around he's not taking any chances. >> i don't truly believe he's dead until i see the body. >> davis wasn't the only one who needed reassurance. mike franks, the same homicide detective who investigated bennett's fake death five years earlier, personally attended the staff sergeant's autopsy. >> i went down and looked at him, checked the prints and dentals and everything. it's him. >> for franks, perhaps the most disturbing aspect of arthur bennett's suicide is the secret that went to the grave with him, the identity of the man who died in arthur bennett's place all those years ago. >> when they kill themselves, you never really find all the answers. that's what we've been trying to do, find out who this victim was. we're not going to be able to do

that. >> arthur bennett may be dead, but in nightmares of young women scattered around the u.s., terrible memories linger on. >> i'm going to have to die with this in my head and in my heart, no matter how hard i try to forget it, no matter how hard i to move on. it's always going to be there. it's not something that i can go back and change. >> on august 3, 1999, five years after authorities thought they had laid arthur bennett to rest in a military graveyard, they buried him for real in a civilian cemetery on the outskirts of las vegas. this time there was no military fanfare, no mourners or tears. just a backhoe and a handful of cemetery workers lowering his casket to the bottom of a pauper's grave. this is $100,000.

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