Although the police have identified the suspect who sexually assaulted and killed Stephanie Renee Bennett in her bedroom, bringing him into the light has not been easy.
The Body in the Bedroom
Stephanie Renee Bennett was born on April 30, 1979, in Virginia, USA. She was described as an independent, free-spirited, reliable, and beautiful person.
After graduating from Roanoke College with a business degree, Stephanie moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, and worked at a computer technology corporation. At the time of her death at age 23, she had been working there for 1 year.
On a day in May 2002, Stephanie did not show up for work or notify anyone. This was very unusual as she was known for being punctual and professional. Unable to reach their daughter, Stephanie’s parents contacted the apartment complex manager where she lived.
The manager then went to Stephanie’s apartment for a welfare check. There, he discovered the 23-year-old girl dead on the bedroom floor. Police quickly arrived at the scene upon receiving the news.
Stephanie lived on the ground floor. The apartment did not appear to have been broken into. But the strange position of the bedroom window curtain led police to believe the killer had entered through this way.
The autopsy revealed the victim had been strangled and sexually assaulted. Nothing was taken, so investigators ruled out the possibility of a robbery.
The Mysterious Man
At the apartment, police found a phone, a cup, and a box of tissues inside a closet in another bedroom. It appeared someone had been hiding in the closet waiting for Stephanie to return home.
No unusual fingerprints were found besides Stephanie’s and those allowed into her apartment. Police believed the 23-year-old was killed by someone she did not know.
The medical examiner determined Stephanie’s time of death was around midnight on May 20, 2002. The unknown DNA collected from the body was entered into the database but yielded no matches.
Stephanie had spoken on the phone with her boyfriend between 8 pm and 9 pm that night. This boyfriend was ruled out as a suspect as he was 4 hours away by car at the time.
While checking Stephanie’s emails, police found one from a few weeks before her murder. In it, Stephanie wrote to her aunt that she had not been sleeping well and was afraid someone was peeping through her windows. Coincidentally, a neighbor had once seen a man peering into Stephanie’s windows.
Police then spoke to Stephanie’s neighbors and other tenants in the apartment complex. Many of them reported seeing a tall, thin man wearing a sweater walking around the area repeatedly. The neighbors confirmed this was the same man seen looking into Stephanie’s windows.
Based on the witness descriptions, a composite sketch of the suspect was made and released publicly.
The Strange Man
This sketch then led police to a convicted sex offender who also lived in the same area as Stephanie. However, his DNA analysis did not match the unknown DNA found on the victim’s body.
Police re-interviewed tenants living in Stephanie’s apartment building. One of them provided new information. This person stated they had seen the tall, thin man walking a black Rottweiler dog. They also saw this man walking towards the nearby Dominion apartment complex.
Police spoke to the manager at the Dominion apartments. He confirmed a man with a large black dog used to live there but had since moved away. His name was Drew Planten, and he had a very strange personality.
Investigators quickly identified the suspect as Drew. The 35-year-old worked at the North Carolina Department of Agriculture. Co-workers described Drew as a loner who kept to himself.
When detectives approached Drew, he claimed he had never heard of Stephanie Bennett before. Police didn’t believe him since this high-profile case had received widespread media attention. Almost every resident within an 80km radius knew about Stephanie’s murder.
The Stalled Investigation
Drew refused to come in for questioning at the police station. When told detectives would visit his apartment the next day, Drew began shaking and lost his composure. He denied involvement in the murder and refused to provide a DNA sample.
Without Drew matching the suspect composite or any evidence against him, police could not get a court order to compel a DNA sample.
Investigators decided to try collecting Drew’s DNA surreptitiously from something he touched or used. However, Drew seemed to quickly catch on. A surveillance team monitored him for a week but could not recover any items for DNA testing.
At one restaurant, they saw Drew take the straw after drinking, rinse it in his water glass, and wipe the plate with his napkin for several minutes. When Drew left, police found he had forgotten the plate. They quickly took it for analysis.
However, the plate had a mixed DNA sample from improper cleaning at the restaurant. Male DNA was detected and bore similarities to the DNA from Stephanie’s rape kit. But it was still a very weak sample, so despite suspecting Drew, the police investigation stalled.
The Surprising Discovery
Although police had obtained Drew Planten’s DNA and the results showed similarities to the DNA found on victim Stephanie Renee Bennett’s body, the weak sample was not enough evidence to arrest Drew.
Investigators then obtained a search warrant for Drew’s workplace. His keyboard, radio, and other devices he used were checked, and DNA was collected from them. The final results conclusively matched the killer’s DNA. Drew was immediately arrested.
Police believe Drew had broken into Stephanie’s apartment and waited in her closet. After she returned home, Stephanie called her boyfriend between 8-9 pm then went to sleep. That’s when Drew emerged and attacked and killed her.
Searching Drew’s apartment, police found pornographic materials, lock-picking guides, and knives. More shockingly, they discovered evidence linking Drew to an unsolved murder case.
Drew had kept a letter addressed to a woman named Rebecca Huismann living in Lansing, Michigan. The postmark dated back over 6 years.
A Buried Secret
In October 1999, Rebecca was shot and killed. This murder case was never solved. At the time, Rebecca was a student at Michigan State University and worked as a topless dancer at a club. She didn’t want this job but needed extra money to buy a home with her fiancé.
The night she died, Rebecca drove up to her home’s doorstep but encountered someone. She was shot with a .45 caliber handgun. Rebecca’s purse was left in the car, ruling out the robbery. The only evidence was a spent shell casing. Investigators could not identify a suspect, with some speculating it may have been a club patron.
Two .45 caliber handguns were found in Drew’s apartment. Markings on his spent casings matched the one from Rebecca’s murder scene.
Police allege Drew stalked both Rebecca and Stephanie before killing them. Furthermore, evidence suggests Drew had already identified his next potential victim.
When brought to court, Drew resisted by refusing to open his eyes or walk. He had to be strapped to a gurney and wheeled in. In January 2006, while awaiting trial, this strange man committed suicide by suffocating himself with a plastic bag. Ultimately, the coward chose an exit leaving the victims’ families forever unable to learn exactly what happened to Stephanie and Rebecca.
