Montana man gets 140 years for Four Aces double murder

Posted: January 5, 2025, 03:01 pm.

Last updated: January 5, 2025, 03:01 pm.

A Montana man was sentenced to 140 years in prison Friday for the 2023 shooting deaths of his wife and a bartender at the Four Aces Bar, a cardroom and slots tavern in the small town of Superior, Mont.

Craig Walter Benson, 49, was convicted in October of murdering 49-year-old Jenny Benson and 43-year-old Logan Gardner. The defendant believed that the victims were having an affair.

In August 2023, despite the murders being captured on the bar's security video and witnessed by multiple witnesses, Benson pleaded not guilty to two counts of intentional homicide and use of a weapon in the commission of a violent crime.

surprise attack

The footage shows the Bensons sitting together at a table inside the Four Aces. At one point, the defendant leaves the bar to smoke a cigarette. At the same time, before returning to his seat at the bar, he retrieves a gun from his car, a Chevrolet Tahoe.

At 9:19 p.m., he puts his hand in his waistband, takes out a gun, and shoots his wife in the head as the patrons disperse.

He then fires three more shots at Gardner, sets off the fire alarm and drives away in a Chevrolet. Benson was later arrested for driving with a blown tire on a highway.

In court, Benson testified as a witness. He claimed to have no memory of the incident and tried to blame it on his wife. At times, his testimony left those gathered in the courtroom breathless, local news outlets reported.

shocking testimony

“During the trial, the state made Jenny look like an angel, a person with no flaws. They were wrong,” Benson said, as reported by NBC Montana. “Since my arrest, through the discovery process, it has shown another side of my wife of 22 years.”

The prosecution objected to Benson repeatedly describing his wife as a “liar and cheater”.

He claimed, “I also lost my best friend, my best friend, and the love of my life that night.”

To my friends and family, thank you for your support,” he added. “My children, I love you more than my life.”

Benson's daughter, Paige Benson, called her father a “narcissistic person”, and said she “didn't feel safe with him in the world.”

His former father-in-law told the defendant that he expected him to live a miserable life in prison.