Man whose wife disappeared says he’s broke
MIAMI — A man facing a murder charge in the disappearance of his wife and who has been sentenced to prison for stealing rare coins told a federal judge Monday that he is broke and needs a public defender.
Shackled at the wrists and ankles and wearing a tan prison jumpsuit, Lewis Bennett said no lawyer wants to take his case.
“I’ve not been successful,” Bennett told U.S. District Court Judge Chris McAliley. “I’ll require the services of a public defender, if possible.”
McAliley granted Bennett’s request. A detention hearing was set for Friday. Bennett will be arraigned March 7.
Bennett’s wife, Isabella Hellmann of suburban Delray Beach, was last seen May 15 as the two sailed through international waters south of Key West. The FBI and federal prosecutors have alleged that Bennett killed Hellmann, his wife of three months and the mother of their 19-month-old daughter, then deliberately sank his catamaran and staged it as an accident.
A U.S. magistrate last week had set no bond for Bennett, citing the seriousness of the charges and the risk that the dual England-Australian national will flee the United States. He left the country for England for a few weeks last summer.
Bennett was sentenced last week to seven months in prison for stealing rare coins off a boat in the Caribbean on which he was a mate in 2016. Some of those coins were in Bennett’s possession when he was pulled from the water the night Hellmann disappeared.
Asked Monday if he was employed, Bennett said he has a “solar-power business” but doesn’t “receive an income. I haven’t for the last six months.” He also said he owns no property.