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Montana husband learns fate for shooting wife and bartender in jealous love triangle slaying

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Montana husband learns fate for shooting wife and bartender in jealous love triangle slaying


A Montana man who fatally shot his wife and a bartender in a jealous rage will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Kraig Walter Benson was sentenced Friday to 140 years in prison for the August 2023 slaying of his wife Jenny, 49, and bartender Logan Gardner, 43, at the Four Acres Bar in Superior.

He received 60 years for each count of deliberate homicide, as well as an additional 10 years for using a weapon in a violent crime, KRTV reports.

Benson was found guilty of the homicides in October, after video surveillance of the dive bar showed him and his wife sitting at a table together, when he suddenly gets up to smoke a cigarette outside, according to Law & Crime.

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He could then be seen taking a gun from his wife’s Chevy Tahoe and returning to the bar, where Jenny is sitting on a stool by the bar as Gardner is bartending.

Benson then pulls the gun from his waistband and shoots Jenny in the head, causing her to fall onto the ground as he extends the firearm over the bar to Gardner, who tries to flee the scene.

At that point, the footage shows Benson shooting his wife a second time as she lies on the floor and Gardner three more times, even though he is already lying on the floor near the entrance to the bar.

Benson then fled the scene in his wife’s car, and Gardner was later pronounced dead at the scene, with Jenny dying a short time later at a local hospital. 

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Kraig Walter Benson was sentenced Friday to 140 years in prison

Jenny Benson, 49,
Bartender Logan Gardner.

He was caught on camera firing a weapon at his wife, Jenny, 49, and bartender Logan Gardner, 43, at the Four Acres Bar in Superior

The suspect was ultimately located the following day, when he continued to drive his wife’s Tahoe with a flat tire on a Missoula County highway.

Following his arrest, Benson repeatedly argued his wife was being unfaithful – and claimed he had no memory of the shooting.

During cross examination at his trial, Kraig testified that his wife ‘told me that she was not going to go home with me, that she was going to go home with Logan.

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‘I went outside and I’m pretty sure that’s why I went outside… and was going back into the bar and having the last conversation.’

Prior to sentencing Friday, Benson also claimed he ‘too lost my best friend that night… the love of my life’ and admitted ‘having no memory is no excuse.’

But he also continued to place the blame on his late wife.

‘At trial, the state made Jenny seem like an angel, a person with no flaws – they were wrong,’ Benson argued, according to NBC Montana.

‘Since my arrest, through the discovery process, it shows another side of my wife of 22 years.’ 

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Agent Ward, of the Division of Criminal Investigation, even testified during the trial that Benson made phone calls from jail mentioning that he wanted to take a paternity test for his two daughters he shared with Jenny.

Benson was arrested the following day, when he drove his wife's Tahoe with a flat tire on a Missoula County highway

Benson was arrested the following day, when he drove his wife’s Tahoe with a flat tire on a Missoula County highway

One of his daughters, Paige, then called her father ‘narcissistic’ in a victim impact statement during his sentencing hearing as she spoke lovingly about her late mother.

She and her sister went on to say they do not feel safe with Benson in the world 

Jenny’s father, Terry Savage, meanwhile, teared up in court as he said, ‘Jenny was my only daughter, the joy of my life, my best friend.’

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He added that he hopes Benson has a ‘miserable’ life in prison. 

Others also called Benson a ‘monster,’ with some claiming they still have post traumatic stress from the grisly double murder.

He will now serve his sentence at the Montana State Prison. 



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Montana’s measures to tackle housing crunch offer hope for Michigan

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Montana’s measures to tackle housing crunch offer hope for Michigan


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State House considers reforms that allowed greater variety of construction in Big Sky State

Michigan could follow Montana’s lead after state House members introduced a bipartisan package of bills aimed at making housing less costly.

“The bipartisan Housing Readiness Package modernizes our development processes to reduce unnecessary costs and delays, making housing more affordable and available across the state,” according to a press release from the House Republican caucus. “This is about ensuring Michigan is prepared for growth and that more residents have access to safe, stable homes.”

The package draws on ideas Montana successfully enacted in 2023 and 2025 to ease the state’s housing shortage. It includes Michigan House bills 5529, 5530, 5531, 5532, 5581, 5582, 5583, 5584 and 5585. The package is intended to restrain cities and counties from restricting accessory dwelling units, duplexes, and other non-single-family units; to limit protests and impact studies on developments; and to reduce local red tape.

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Housing costs in Michigan have almost doubled in recent years, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Michigan has exceeded the pace of housing inflation found in other states.

The average price of homes in the state was about 75% of the national average in 2012, but it is roughly 82% of the average today, according to Jarrett Skorup, vice president of marketing and communications at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

Inflation, interest rates, and rising construction costs have increased housing prices, Skorup told Michigan Capitol Confidential, but local government red tape is still making things worse.

“A lot of this is because of dumb, unnecessary, big-government policies at the local level,” Skorup told CapCon in an email. “This bill package protects the private property rights of citizens in a way similar to what Montana and many other states have done. It is good policy that will help people afford to live where they want.”

Montana made changes to legalize duplexes, allow accessory dwelling units, open commercial zones to housing, and permit taller buildings that can accommodate more housing units.

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The laws faced a legal challenge, but the Montana Supreme Court unanimously upheld the bipartisan legislation.

“There are a lot of similarities between what is being proposed in Michigan and what we accomplished in Montana,” Forrest Mandeville, a Republican state senator from Stillwater County, told Michigan Capitol Confidential in an email.

Montana enacted laws that call for freedom to build duplexes and accessory dwelling units by right (with no need for extra approvals) in many cities. The Big Sky State also streamlined review processes and simplified public participation.

“These reforms were necessitated by a housing market that was seeing prices skyrocket and existing zoning that created a lot of single-family-only development in large areas,” Mandeville said.

A broad coalition supported the changes: builders, real estate agents, free-market advocates and some local government groups, Mandeville told CapCon. Housing prices and rents have stabilized since the legislation was enacted.

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“We tried to get government out of the way to encourage building without red tape,” Sen. Jeremy Trebas, a Cascade County Republican, told CapCon in an email about the housing situation in Bozeman. With a population of 60,000 and slow growth, the city faced a housing crunch, with a large inventory of aging and obsolete buildings. Expensive housing and taxes, Trebas said, were driving people to move to Washington, California and other states.

“If we could change land-use policy, encourage development of higher density like duplexes as infill, allow for housing in commercial zones (as it was a 100 years ago), reduce minimum lot sizes, and allow by-right accessory dwelling units and such, we could let the market work to produce density and supply without spending government dollars to incentivize it,” Trebas said.

Opponents of Montana’s reforms expressed concerns about more people moving in from out-of-state, said Trebas. He countered that Montana natives were hurt by high costs that price upcoming generations out of the housing market.





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‘Hannah Montana’ Vinyl Returns to Charts Following 20th Anniversary Special

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‘Hannah Montana’ Vinyl Returns to Charts Following 20th Anniversary Special


The buzz over the Miley Cyrus special has also led to a surge of renewed interest in the show’s popular soundtracks

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission.

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Hannah Montana celebrated its 20th anniversary this week with a brand new special on Disney+ that reunited Miley Cyrus and company for a look back at the nostalgic Disney Channel series. While the special unveiled plenty of surprises (including a new song and celebrity cameos), the buzz over Hannah‘s anniversary has also led to a surge of new interest in the show’s popular soundtrack.

Hannah Montana spawned five studio albums, including a soundtrack for Hannah Montana: The Movie. It also led to Best of Both Worlds Concert, a live album that featured Cyrus performing both in character as Hannah and under her own name. All of the albums were originally released on CD, though vinyl pressings of each release came later as well. Three of the albums debuted at number one on the Billboard charts and all of them were later certified gold or higher by the RIAA.

Now, a number of the albums have returned to the bestsellers list, with four Hannah LPs currently sitting in the Top Ten of Amazon’s soundtracks chart. Here’s a look at the trending releases and how to buy them online.

This Hannah Montana vinyl has returned to the top ten of Amazon’s overall soundtracks chart. This is the soundtrack to season one of the Disney Channel show in an Amazon-exclusive “green splatter” colorway. While the original soundtrack was released in October 2006, this vinyl edition was released this past January ahead of the show’s 20th anniversary.

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Best Of Hannah Montana [Clear LP]

Amazon’s bestseller is this “Best Of” LP, which comes in an exclusive limited-edition purple vinyl colorway. First released in 2011, the album was later made available on vinyl in 2019. Hot off the 20th anniversary special, the LP has returned to number one on Amazon’s Disney soundtracks chart.

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Hannah Montana: The Movie (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

This two-LP set features all the songs from Hannah Montana: The Movie, which hit theaters in 2009. The track list includes hit songs from the original film like “The Climb,” “Butterfly Fly Away” and “Hoedown Throwdown.” It also includes the 2009 “movie mix” of “The Best of Both Worlds.” The discs come in a lavender colorway inspired by the colors in the show logo.

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Hannah Montana 2 (Original Soundtrack)[Color Splatter LP]

This LP features songs from season two of the Disney Channel series, including hits like “We Got the Party,” “Nobody’s Perfect” and “Life’s What You Make It.” Amazon has this available on a special “color splatter” vinyl.

All of the above vinyl releases are part of limited-edition drops that are exclusive to Amazon.

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Hannah Montana - Hannah Montana 3 (Original Soundtrack) LP

Urban Outfitters, meantime, has this tie-dye edition of the Hannah Montana season three soundtrack on vinyl. From Walt Disney Records, the LP gets you 14 songs on a groovy, 70s-inspired disc.

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Need somewhere to play your new Hannah Montana vinyl? Amazon has this light pink record player on sale for under $60 right now as part of the site’s Big Spring Sale event.

Victrola Journey II (2025 Model) – Bluetooth Suitcase Record Player

From popular turntable makers Victrola, the Victrola Journey II is the latest version of the brand’s bestselling suitcase record player, which offers a portable way to take your records on the go. This unit features a three-speed turntable, built-in speakers (with “enhanced bass”) and both Bluetooth capabilities and headphone outputs.

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A star-making vehicle for Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana ran for four seasons from 2006 to 2011. You can stream every Hannah Montana episode and Hannah Montana: The Movie online through Disney+.



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Montana Lottery Powerball, Lotto America results for March 25, 2026

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The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at March 25, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from March 25 drawing

07-21-55-56-64, Powerball: 26, Power Play: 4

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

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Winning Lotto America numbers from March 25 drawing

02-04-09-30-43, Star Ball: 04, ASB: 03

Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from March 25 drawing

01-07-14-22, Bonus: 12

Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from March 25 drawing

35-38-41-43-62, Powerball: 08

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Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Montana Cash numbers from March 25 drawing

01-16-17-25-30

Check Montana Cash payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 25 drawing

01-26-40-46-50, Bonus: 03

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

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Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?

  • Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
  • Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
  • Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
  • Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
  • Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
  • Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
  • Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
  • Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.

Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.



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