MILWAUKEE -- There were enough bits and pieces, twists and turns in the murder case for an Agatha Christie novel. It could have been titled 'Murder in the Fast Track.'
For the denouement, they might have gathered everyone in a room, then found the killer by elimination.
In this case, jurors who deliberated 3 days pieced together enough circumstantial evidence to convict Lawrencia Bembenek -- a striking 23-year-old blonde, former policewoman and Playboy bunny -- of murdering the first wife of of her husband, himself a former police detective.
A revolver belonging to her husband, Elfred Schultz Jr., was identified as the murder weapon and he quit his job because of the case.
Crowds packed the courtroom for the two-week trial, the most sensational in Milwaukee in years. It ended last week with Ms. Bembenek, a fitness buff who taught aerobics exercises, sentenced to life imprisonment.
Jurors said they believed she was the person in a green jogging suit and wig who entered Christine Schultz' home last May and shot her. One juror said it took so long to reach a verdict because they wanted to be sure the gun hadn't been planted, and indeed belonged to Schultz.
The jury had been split 6-6 before a re-reading of hours of testimony, he said.
'We wanted to find any way possible to get the lady out of it. We gave that lady every benefit of doubt we could possibly have given her.'
Defense attorney Donald Eisenberg, angry with the decision and actions of the judge and prosecuting attorney, is expected to appeal, pursuing his theory that the defendant was 'set up' for a murder committed by someone else. He said Ms. Bembenek had steadfastly denied her guilt to him as well as the jury.
The case had all a little of everything.
Before the trial, the judge said the evidence was the 'most circumstantial' he had ever seen. Ms. Bembenek was easily the leading character, one day dressing demurely, another day more daring.
On the final day, she wore a sweater skirt and blouse. She seemed to take the verdict calmly. Her husband wept, his head buried in his hands.
A former girlfriend of Ms. Bembenek quoted her as saying she wanted Mrs. Schultz 'blown away' so her husband wouldn't have to pay the huge support payments and they would have more money for life 'in the fast track.' A boyfriend of the girlfriend was quoted as saying Schultz might have been the killer.
Witnesses said they saw Ms. Bembenek buy the jogging suit and wig, which were not produced as evidence. The defendant said she didn't own either.
Two young sons of Schultz who were home with their mother when she was killed said the assailant wore a green jogging suit and wig. The eldest son, now 11, said the murderer was not Ms. Bembenek.
When it was over, Circuit Judge Michael Skwierawski said the evidence, taken as a whole, 'wove an inescapable net,' pointing to Ms. Bembenek 'beyond a reasonable doubt.' He said he was satisified with the verdict.
Eisenberg told the judge the verdict was a 'travesty of justice.' He claimed the police investigation 'was a sloppy, lousy job. I'm really suspicious. Something is rotten.'
Schultz said he would remain in Milwaukee and wait for his wife to be freed. That could be in a minimum of 11 years.
