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Montana
Positively Montana (October 20, 2024)
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Montana
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.
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.
Kraig Walter Benson was sentenced Friday to 140 years in prison
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.
‘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.’
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
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.’
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.
Montana
Montana State's Tommy Mellott wins the 2024 Walter Payton Award
Montana State quarterback Tommy Mellott won the 2024 Walter Payton Award as the best offensive player in FCS football, beating out fellow top-three finalists Cam Miller (North Dakota State) and Targhee Lambson (Southern Utah). Mellott is the first Montana State player to win the award in its 38-year history.
PAYTON AWARD: Complete history of the top FCS offensive honor
Mellott received the Payton Award two days before playing in the 2024-25 FCS Championship game, his second appearance of his career. In 12 regular season games, the Bobcat quarterback completed 148 of 216 passes (68.5 percent) for 1,956 yards, 22 touchdowns and just one interceptions. He also ran for 640 yards and 11 touchdowns, leading Montana State to an undefeated record.
We Are All Witnesses⚡️@Tommy_Mellott #BobcatBuilt | #CATS pic.twitter.com/awenL3z6lc
— Montana State Football (@MSUBobcats_FB) December 15, 2024
Mellott is the 27th quarterback to win the Payton Award — the most of any position — since the award debuted in 1987. Quarterbacks have won the Payton Award in each of the last nine seasons and 20 of the last 21 seasons, with wide receiver Cooper Kupp’s 2015 win being the lone exception.
As the 2024 Walter Payton Award winner, Mellott joins an elite fraternity of FCS greats including Steve McNair (Alcorn State, 1994), Adrian Peterson (Georgia Southern, 1999), Brian Westbrook (Villanova, 2001), Tony Romo (Eastern Illinois, 2002), Cooper Kupp (Eastern Washington, 2015) and more.
UNBELIEVABLE 😱
TOMMY MELLOTT IS HIM.
📺 ABC@Tommy_Mellott | #BobcatBuilt pic.twitter.com/hUWw85AtgA
— Montana State Football (@MSUBobcats_FB) December 21, 2024
MORE AWARDS: Buck Buchanan Award history | Jerry Rice Award history
Top moments
See some more of Mellott’s top moments from 2024 below.
76-YARD CRIB CALL @Tommy_Mellott 🏠☎️#BobcatBuilt | #CATS pic.twitter.com/xFQwQMeSgx
— Montana State Football (@MSUBobcats_FB) November 2, 2024
𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗥𝗔𝗥𝗜 ⛽️@Tommy_Mellott x @tym4_ #BobcatBuilt | #CATS pic.twitter.com/0wLCBF8zvO
— Montana State Football (@MSUBobcats_FB) November 2, 2024
TOMMY MELLOTT MAGIC 😱@Tommy_Mellott x @Rohan_Jones2 pic.twitter.com/kmQWZuAh6V
— Montana State Football (@MSUBobcats_FB) November 17, 2024
ABSOLUTE DIME 🎯@Tommy_Mellott x @Rohan_Jones2 pic.twitter.com/mXNAQ6MZWV
— Montana State Football (@MSUBobcats_FB) November 23, 2024
50 Yard BOMB 💣@Tommy_Mellott x @tym4_ #BobcatBuilt | #CATS pic.twitter.com/GPCyCKnS5H
— Montana State Football (@MSUBobcats_FB) October 5, 2024
Montana
Touchdown Tommy! Montana State’s Mellott wins Walter Payton Award as top FCS offensive player – WTOP News
FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Montana State quarterback Tommy Mellott won the Walter Payton Award as the Football Championship Subdivision offensive…
FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Montana State quarterback Tommy Mellott won the Walter Payton Award as the Football Championship Subdivision offensive player of the year Saturday night, two days before the top-ranked Bobcats face North Dakota State in the title game.
Called Touchdown Tommy, the speedy Mellott edged North Dakota State quarterback Cam Miller and Southern Utah running back Targhee Lambson in voting announced at the FCS Awards Banquet.
The first Montana State winner of the award, Mellott had 147 points, receiving 16 first-place votes. Miller followed with 131 with 14 first-place votes and Lambson had 115 with five first-place votes.
“Very humbling moment,” Mellott said. “I’m very, very honored.”
Mellott has led Big Sky champion Montana State to a 15-0 record. The senior from Butte, Montana, topped The Associated Press FCS All-America team and was the Walter Camp FCS Player of the Year. He leads the division in passing efficiency and points responsible for.
“It’s a surreal moment for sure,” Mellott said. “Three years ago I was on the sideline after being injured in the national championship game, and I was talking on the mic to the quarterback coach at the time, Coach (Taylor) Housewright, and he said, `If you don’t become the Walter Payton Award winner, we failed you.’ So, I think it’s just a testament to what we’ve done as a program.”
Montana State and North Dakota State are set to meet Monday night at Toyota Stadium. Bobcats coach Brent Vigen received the Eddie Robinson Award as the coach of the year.
Central Arkansas defensive end David Walker won the Buck Buchanan Award as the top defensive player.
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