Mark Benson, convicted murderer of Jennifer Bukosky, her unborn child, and her 10-year-old daughter, Courtney Bella, wrote a letter to 620 WTMJ's Gene Mueller.
Apparently, Benson thought that was a good way to get some things he wants to say out to the public.
He was right.
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Mark Benson, 56, penned the letter on June 18, two days after he entered no-contest pleas and was convicted in Waukesha County on three charges of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle and two counts of causing injury while driving intoxicated.
Benson will be sentenced Aug. 10 in the deaths of Jennifer Bukosky, 39, of the Town of Oconomowoc, her unborn child, and her daughter, Courtney Bella. Also injured in the April 25, 2008 crash were Bukosky’s son, Zachary Bella, then 12, and a family friend, Deborah Gibbs, then 10.
From 620 WTMJ:
Mark Benson is speaking through a letter that he wrote to Newsradio 620 WTMJ's Gene Mueller. Benson was Gene's doctor; he operated on Gene's knee in the mid '80s.
In his letter, Benson references a blog post that Gene wrote shortly after the crash in which Gene described the Mark Benson he knew. Benson writes that the posting meant so much to his family.
Benson starts off the letter taking the blame for the crash. "I am 100% at fault and responsible for the tragic motor vehicle accident that resulted in the deaths of Mrs. J. Bukosky, her unborn infant, and her daughter Courtney Bella as well as serious bodily injury to Miss Deborah Gibbs, injury to Zachary Bella," Benson wrote.
Benson goes on to say that he thought he was legally allowed to drive on the day he smashed into Bukosky's car. Benson writes that when the judge revoked his license after a 3rd OWI, "I was told that I could not drive without a valid occupational license." He says he wrongly assumed that an occupational license he had was valid.
"I wish to HELL the judge would have taken my license (occupational) and car keys and said 'walk home a--hole!' It would have served me well," Benson wrote.
Yeah, Benson claims to be 100 percent responsible for the crash when he, the good doctor, took away the lives of three people; but he goes on to say that the judge should have taken his license and car keys away.
It sounds like Benson is spreading the responsibility around.
In his letter, Benson writes that on the morning of the crash he took prescribed medicine before having an MRI, meeting with doctors. Later in the day he says he had an epidural at a hospital. That was a few hours before the crash.
Benson says, "I simply don't understand how i can be charged as an intoxicated driver by a cop who sees me 3.5 hours post-accident! When this same cop testified under oath that he could not testify on whether I would be impaired one hour after he saw me or one hour prior."
Benson writes that after the crash, "the paramedics let me help them get the little boy out of the car!" Benson is likely referring to Zachary Bella. He is Jennifer's son. Zachary survived the crash.
It's pathetic that Benson claims not to have been impaired at the time of the accident.
According to a report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
A crime lab report submitted as evidence during Benson's preliminary hearing this morning showed he had Ambien; Xanax, which is used to treat anxiety; and oxycodone, a painkiller, in his system when his SUV slammed into Bukosky's car April 25 at a traffic signal in the northbound lane of Highway 67 at Pabst Road in Oconomowoc.
"We obviously think he was impaired.... The one in particular that we believe to be a high amount is the Ambien. They're all significant, but we believe that to be a very high result for the Ambien," Assistant District Attorney Kevin M. Osborne said after Benson's preliminary hearing.
As a doctor, Benson should know better than trying to ignore this crucial evidence. A lab report of what was in Benson's system at the time of the accident carries more weight than the judgment of a police officer without medical training.
Benson should know that prescription drugs have the capacity to impair one's functioning. The fact that he was mixing prescription medications makes them no less dangerous.
He also should know that a paramedic on the scene of such a horrific accident, trying to save lives, would allow Benson to assist. Moreover, Benson doesn't say how he assisted the paramedic, nor does he detail how beneficial his assistance was. I doubt that Benson did anything significant, requiring a high level of functioning, if he did anything at all.
...He ends the letter by writing, "thanks for reading my feelings of remorse, horror, & sorrow."
Does Benson mention how he was returned to jail about a week after Waukesha County Circuit Judge J. Mac Davis made the terrible judgment to reduce his bail? No, he leaves that out.
Benson didn't adhere to the conditions of his bail. He landed back in jail after it was discovered that he violated the terms of his release.
He was returned to the jail March 17 after he was accused of receiving a package of prescriptions from a second pharmacy and having firearms. His bail conditions require him to get prescriptions from a single pharmacy as a way to monitor drug use and prohibited him from possessing firearms.
I don't take that behavior to be indications of his "feelings of remorse, horror, & sorrow."
I consider his actions to be those of an individual that poses an extreme danger to the public.
_________________
From 620 WTMJ:
Mark Benson's handwritten letter to Gene Mueller
Transcription of Mark Benson's handwritten letter to Gene as prepared by his attorney's office
It's weird that Benson indicated that the letter was "CONFIDENTIAL." It certainly doesn't seem that he wanted the information in his letter to remain "confidential."
He asks Mueller to "shed some light" on his side of the story, seeing Mueller as a nonjudgmental figure.
He's using Mueller as a go-between to get his message out. Of course, Mueller and 620 WTMJ are making the most of Benson's letter, pimping and promoting it.
On his blog, Mueller writes:
You'll hear it Wednesday on Wisconsin's morning news. I'll read it in it's entirety in the 5:00 hour, and again at 7:30. We'll have reaction. We'll give you background and context. You'll also be able to read it for yourself online.
Quite the scoop.
Also, notice how sloppy Benson's handwriting is. The letter looks like a rough draft. It's as if he wrote it while under the influence.
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