Jail inmate shares his feelings with pen pal
The man charged with killing his Delray Beach wife, who disappeared during a honeymoon at sea, says he thinks about her, “every waking moment.”
According to a report in a British newspaper, Lewis Bennett made the claim in a letter to an unnamed pen pal.
Bennett is accused of killing Isabella Hellman with “malice aforethought” and then intentionally sinking the couple’s catamaran in May of 2017 to make it look like there had been a boating accident, according to the FBI.
In the pen pal letter — published in London’s Daily Mirror — Bennett describes a mundane life at Miami’s Federal Detention Center but talks about his extremely supportive family and his wishes to see his 18-month-old daughter, Emelia, who is being cared for by his relatives near Southampton, England.
Bennett was sentenced to seven months in prison after pleading guilty to stealing gold coins from a vessel he worked on as a crew member in 2016 in St. Maarten.
He has yet to formally enter a plea for the murder charge involving his wife that was filed in February.
Meanwhile, family members of Isabella Hellman are none-too-pleased with his prison musings – accusing him of trying to keep he and Isabella’s daughter from them.
“It comes as a shock that he is talking to other people from jail,” Hellman’s sister, Adriana DiFeo, told the Mirror. “This is very upsetting to us.”
DiFeo told the newspaper the family has been trying to reunite with the child but calls to Bennett’s lawyer and sister lead nowhere.
Bennett’s mother Sheila, 78, and father Tom, 80, are caring for Emelia at their home in Hythe, near Southampton, the report said.
In his letter, Bennett writes about his days spent eating bad food, reading, exercising, sleeping and living with 120 other inmates in an area the size of a tennis court.
He complains of boredom and depression but adds he is able to communicate with family and friends via phone, email and hand-written letters.
Bennett also missing wife for state of mind.
“She was such a positive person and always encouraged me to focus on the ‘now’ and to enjoy each and every moment,” he wrote to his pen pal. “I try to take her advice, but the here and now for me at this moment is difficult to appreciate.” credits helping his his