Laurie Bembenek | |
|---|---|
| Born | Lawrencia Ann Bembenek August 15, 1958 |
| Died | November 20, 2010 (aged 52) |
| Other names | Bambi Bembenek, Jennifer Gazzana |
| Criminal status | Released November 1992 |
| Spouses | Elfred Schultz
(m. 1981; div. 1984)Marty Carson
(m. 2005; div. 2007) |
| Conviction(s) | Life (1982 verdict) 20 years (1992 verdict) |
| Criminal charge | First degree murder (1982 charge) Second degree murder (1992 charge) |
Capture status | Released on December 9, 1992 |
Time at large | 95 days |
| Escaped | July 15, 1990 |
| Escape end | October 17, 1990 |
| Details | |
| Victims | 1 |
| Date | May 28, 1981 2:15am |
| Country | United States |
| State(s) | Wisconsin |
| Location(s) | Milwaukee |
| Killed | 1 |
| Weapons | .38 caliber pistol |
Date apprehended | July 24, 1982 |
| Imprisoned at | Taycheedah Correctional Institution |
Lawrencia Ann "Bambi" Bembenek (August 15, 1958 – November 20, 2010), known as Laurie Bembenek, was an American security officer at Marquette University when she was arrested on charges of first-degree murder of Christine Schultz in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on May 28, 1981. Bembenek was convicted and sentenced in 1982 to life in prison.
Schultz was the ex-wife of Elfred O. "Fred" Schultz, a veteran officer with the Milwaukee Police Department. They had been married for several years and had two sons together when they divorced in November 1980. The couple remarried in January 1981 in Illinois, but the marriage was ruled invalid because Wisconsin does not allow remarriage less than six months after divorce. The couple officially remarried in November 1981, after Christine Schultz had been murdered.
The elements of the case made it a sensation, garnering national attention during the trial. In 1984 Bembenek and Fred Schultz divorced. In prison she completed a bachelor's degree.
She gained even more media notice in 1990 after she escaped from Taycheedah Correctional Institution in Wisconsin.[1] After three months, she and her fiancé were captured in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. (This episode inspired books, movies, and the slogan "Run, Bambi, Run".)
Upon winning a new trial, Bembenek pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in exchange for reduced prison time. Ballistics tests had appeared to establish her husband's gun as the murder weapon, and she had access to it.[1]
In December 1992 Bembenek was sentenced to time served and ten years' probation. For years, she sought to have her sentence overturned.[2] With the revelation of new evidence about the lack of her DNA at the scene, a ballistics test showing the murder weapon was different than Schultz's gun, and evidence of an unknown male at the victim's house, Bembenek sought to have her conviction overturned. Appeals were unsuccessful because of her nolo contendere plea.[1]
Bembenek had graduated from the police academy and served briefly with the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD), before being fired in August 1980 during her probationary period. She sued the department, claiming that its officers engaged in sexual discrimination and other illegal activities, but the investigation did not uphold her complaint.
Two years after gaining freedom in November 1992, Bembenek moved to Vancouver, Washington, where her parents lived. She worked at volunteer and paying jobs and married again. On November 20, 2010, Bembenek died at a hospice facility in Portland, Oregon, at age 52.[3]
Bembenek died about 7 p.m. Milwaukee time in Portland, Ore., where she was in hospice care, her sister, Colette Bembenek of South Milwaukee, said Sunday. Bembenek, 52, who later changed her first name to Laurie, had been admitted to a hospital in recent days and then was transferred to a hospice, her sister said. Her health problems included hepatitis C and liver and kidney failure, Colette Bembenek said.