Page 13 - Sergeant Davis News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

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 ...

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 ...

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 the...

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 cour...

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...