Screengrab via WLOS
Michael Benanti and Brian Witham are featured on the April 10 episode of “Dateline.” The pair were found guilty in 2017 of an elaborate and violent kidnapping spree. The episode, “A Villainous Plan,” first aired in May 2019.
Following their arrest, Witham, 48, flipped on Benanti, 46, and let authorities in on the pair’s scheme. As a result, Witham received 30 years in prison for his part in the crimes from U.S. District Judge Tom Varlan. Prosecutors had agreed to cap Witham’s sentence at 42 years if he testified against his former partner. Witham is serving his time in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Benanti was sentenced to 155 years in prison as well as four consecutive life sentences for kidnapping. The sentence remains one of the harshest ever handed down in eastern Tennessee. Benanti is serving his time in Atwater, California.
Their crimes spread across six states with the majority of the crimes taking place in East Tennessee.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. In Maine, Witham Was Known as the ‘Polite Bandit’
Benanti and Witham met in prison in the early 1990s. Benanti was doing time after being found guilty of opening fire on two police officers in Pennsylvania in 1992 in an attempt to escape. Witham was in prison on robbery charges in Maine. In court following his 2015 arrest, the jury heard that Witham had been in-and-out of prison since he was 17.
In January 1997, Witham, then 26, was sentenced to 26 years in prison after being found guilty of robbing a Pizza Hut, a Friendly’s restaurant and a movie theater in August, Georgia. The Bangor Daily News reported at the time that Witham was known as a “the police bandit” thanks to his manor while committing his crimes. Witham said at the time that his drug addiction had driven him to commit his crimes.
During their time in prison in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, together, Benanti and Witham plotted to escape together in 1998 but the plan fell through.
2. Benanti Formerly Operated a Business Where He Safeguarded Money for Inmates
In 2008, Benanti was out of prison and had begun operating his business, Prisoner Assistant. The business acted as a safeguard for felon’s money while they served time in prison. Benanti was accused of skimming from the business in order to fund his lifestyle.
When Witham was released from prison in 2013, the pair met up again at a casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Witham went to work for Benanti’s company. Witham testified that the duo had planned to perform online crimes such as identity theft. The pair abandoned those plans, Witham said, because of the legwork involved.
Witham said the duo robbed a bank in Pennsylvania, which began their crime spree. After the success of that operation, Benanti and Witham turned their attention to kidnapping. The pair hatched plans to kidnap high-ranking bank employees and have them rob their own banks.
3. The Court Heard That Witham Would Stalk Victim’s Homes With Night Vision Goggles While Wearing Army Fatigues
Screengrab via WBIR
In February 2015, Witham and Benanti first kidnapped a Connecticut-bank executive and his elderly mother. Later that same year, Witham and Benanti set up a base of operations in a cabin in Maggie Valley, North Carolina. This allowed the duo to kidnap people in Tennessee, South Carolina and Georgia.
One victim, Abigail Harris, told the court during Witham and Benanti’s trial, via Knoxville News, “(Brian Witham) put a loaded gun in the face of my infant child as I was holding him in my arms, tears dripping onto his face. When you point a gun at a victim, you do it with the intent to terrorize … I do not think and I do not now believe he should be shown any additional leniency.”
The pair would research bank employees’ lives through Facebook and LinkedIn and then surveil them in person. The court heard in 2017 that Witham would stalk outside of bank employees’ homes with night vision goggles while wearing army fatigues. Eventually, Witham said that he and Benanti would raid the employee’s houses while wearing elaborate disguises and masks. They would hold the family hostage until their bidding was done.
4. Witham & Benanti Were Arrested in Part Because They Crashed Into the Car of the Daughter of an FBI Agent
Witham and Benanti crime spree came to an end in bizarre circumstances. The pair were evading North Carolina State Troopers and despite their successful escape, they left behind their stolen car as well as their GPS.
One of the cars that the pair had crashed into was the car of the daughter of an FBI Special Agent Peter O’Hare.
Following the kidnapping of bank teller Brooke Lyons and her 3-year-old son in October 2015. O’Hare was assigned to the case. Acting on a hunch, O’Hare sought out the car from the crash involving his daughter and retrieved the GPS. From there, authorities were led to the cabin in Maggie Valley. While there, investigators retrieved masks, firearms and other items relating to kidnapping.
Benanti and Witham were arrested shortly after that raid during an officer-involved chase in North Carolina in November 2015.
5. Benanti Remains the Prime Suspect in the Murder of His Girlfriend, Natasha Bogoev
Facebook/Natasha BogoevNatasha Bogoev pictured on her Facebook page.
Benanti remains the prime suspect in the shooting of his girlfriend, Natasha Bogoev. Bogoev was found dead in a hotel room in Pennsylvania with two gunshot wounds. Benanti convinced authorities that Bogoev had committed suicide.
Witham said in his testimony that things between Benanti and Bogoev had become strained after he was visited by U.S. Marshals in relation to a parole violation. It was shortly after that when Bogoev was found dead. Her body was later cremated.
Bogoev worked for Benanti’s company and was in the dark about her boyfriend’s crimes, Witham said in his testimony. The Knoxville News reported that at the time of Bogoev’s death, Benanti was cheating on her with a stripper from Roanoke, Virginia.
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