Former police officer will be put to death for burning his romantic rival alive after love triangle turned sour
Former Florida police officer Otto Lenke, 67, has been sentenced to death for murdering mechanic Richard Benson, 57, at Benson’s motorcycle shop in Fort Pierce in 2021. The case turned on prosecutors’ claim that jealousy over Benson’s relationship with Lisa Diggs, who had previously been involved with Lenke, motivated the killing.
A jury convicted Lenke of first-degree murder in May and recommended the death penalty by an 11 to 1 vote; the judge imposed the sentence on Wednesday. According to the sentencing order, Lenke drove to the shop, shot Benson three times and set him alight with denatured alcohol while he was still moving. Surveillance footage captured the killing, and Diggs identified Lenke in the footage; she testified that their earlier relationship had become platonic.
- Otto Lenke was sentenced to death for killing Richard Benson in 2021.
- Prosecutors said jealousy over Lisa Diggs was the motive.
- The jury recommended death by an 11 to 1 vote.
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Florida allows the death penalty for certain murders, but a jury must first find the defendant guilty and consider whether the case meets the legal requirements for that sentence. The judge then makes the formal sentencing decision, taking account of the jury’s recommendation.
Otto Lenke was a police officer before retiring, and Richard Benson was a mechanic who ran a motorcycle shop in Fort Pierce. Prosecutors said Lenke’s past relationship with Lisa Diggs, who later became involved with Benson, was relevant to the motive; Diggs testified that her relationship with Lenke had become platonic.
The case matters because it involved evidence from surveillance footage and testimony about the relationships between the people involved. A death sentence in Florida can also be subject to appeals, so sentencing does not necessarily mean an execution will happen soon.