An Arapahoe County jury on Friday found Alex Ewing guilty of murder in the horrific 1984 killings of a 7-year-old girl and her parents in Aurora — an emotional moment of justice nearly 40 years in the making.
The guilty verdicts on six all counts, which came after the jury had reached an initial impasse Thursday, is the culmination of a 37-year odyssey for the Bennett family, and another example of new DNA evidence reviving a cold case from decades ago.
“A weight was lifted off today,” an emotional Connie Bennett said after the verdict. The mother of Bruce Bennett, 27, and grandmother of 7-year-old Melissa Bennett — all killed in the 1984 home invasion, along with Debra Bennett, 26 — the 87-year-old admitted she’s “very happy it’s all over.”
“We’ve been waiting a long time for this,” Bennett said.
Ewing, 60, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of felony murder in the Bennett family’s slaying, one in a string of seemingly random attacks across metro Denver that terrified residents during a two-week span in early 1984.
The perpetrator of the grisly crimes became known as the “Hammer Killer.”
Bennett is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 17 to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 20 years.
Prosecutors allege Ewing used a hammer and a knife to kill Debra and Bruce Bennett, and their daughter, who also was raped. The couple’ss youngest daughter, 3-year-old Vanessa Bennett, was severely injured but survived the Aurora home invasion.
After the guilty verdict came down, family members hugged in the courtroom, tears streaming down some of their faces.
Eighteenth Judicial District Attorney John Kellner has been working on this case since he was part of the nascent cold case unit eight years ago.
“When we first looked at it, we thought that it was likely that the killer was long gone,” he said. “And we didn’t have much hope then. But science and progress keeps marching on.”
Authorities were stumped for decades by the horrific killings, but DNA evidence in 2018 blew the case open. Investigators were able to match Ewing to semen collected from the carpet and comforter in the Bennett sisters’ bedroom, giving prosecutors a key piece of evidence as they levied charges and tried this case.
“I hope that this case is a testament to all those who have lost someone, and are waiting and hoping,” Kellner said after the verdict.
Prior to the verdict being read, Ewing’s attorneys attempted to have the case declared a mistrial, arguing Friday that the jurors were coerced by being forced to deliberate a second straight day after reaching an impasse Thursday evening.
The judge, however, denied the request.
During closing arguments, Ewing’s attorneys argued that one person could not have carried out this crime, and that the prosecution’s evidence had been tainted over the years.
Ewing already was serving a 40-year sentence in Nevada for attempted murder after beating a couple nearly to death with an ax handle in August 1984, just months after the Bennets were found dead in Aurora.
He was extradited to Colorado after the Nevada Supreme Court ruled the move was warranted.
Ewing also stands trial in October in the killing of 50-year-old Patricia Smith, who was attacked at her Lakewood home with a hammer six days before Bennett slayings.