By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The Washington State Supreme Court affirmed a Lewis County murder conviction last week for a case that goes back sixteen years, stemming from an argument at a campsite near Ashford.
Kenneth L. Slert has been convicted three times of killing 53-year-old John Benson of Eatonville. The two met at a hunting camp, drank together and Slert fatally shot Benson in October 2000. He maintained it was self defense.
The second-degree murder conviction was thrown out three times.
In five to four decision, the justices said on Thursday the error at issue was harmless.
The former carpenter who lived in Tacoma has been in prison since after his first trial in 2004 serving a sentence of a little more than 23 years.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Which is what makes you a blithering fool!
Fools when stymied by facts always resort to curses and blows.
Blah, blah, Mr. Rupert’s undoing, blah, blah, blah, you sound like the rest of the county who just wishes for my demise. But they pout because that day will never come! Blah blah blah! I can’t TAKE YOU seriously because you are a windbag. And you are unwilling to have an adult conversation without hiding behind a fake name.
Mr. Rupert,
You made a public statement and I asked you for a public response. I assure you that I have done my homework and am intimately acquainted with Mr. Benson’s death!
The facts of the case were never in dispute. Each time the case was overturned on appeal, it was not because of how the case was investigated, but due to courtroom related issues. The evidence from the campground and the statements from Mr. Slert were presented to the jury. Each time the jury made a finding of guilt. The prosecution never presented a theory, they presented the evidence. Your assertion that there “are way to many loose ends” and “leaps in logic, theory, and evidence” is factually unsupported. Mr. Slert confessed to killing Mr. Benson. The evidence supported his admission, but did not support that he acted in self-defense. The most damning and contradictory testimony (in regard to a claim of self-defense) in the case came from the two Doctor’s; the Medical Examiner who performed the autopsy and the Ophthalmologist who examined Mr. Benson’s eye glasses.
Mr. Rupert if you make a public statement you should have the courage to back it up with a well articulated argument that is based in facts. No one of standing will ever take you seriously until you do. Your reckless indifference to facts, common courtesy and professionalism, has been and will continue to be your undoing.
Go review the court file just as I suggested! It’s totally a public record. Otherwise, buzz off!
I don’t need to explain or justify myself to someone like you.
Please enlighten us Mr. Rupert regarding the leaps in logic, theory and evidence.
This is truly a sad deal. It is too bad that the man does not receive a new trial. There are way too many loose ends in this case. I suggest anyone who has curiosity check the court file at the clerks office at the Law & Justice Center. You will see some of the leaps in logic, theory, and evidence that I speak of.