Posted on 10/22/2006 4:52:30 AM PDT by Free Vulcan
BONAPARTE — On a long, winding country road they came Thursday morning.
By car, truck and SUV, thousands arrived at a small southeast Iowa high school to grieve, share memories and say one last goodbye to the five slain members of a Bonaparte family.
At around 9:30 a.m., the line to get inside Harmony High School was backed up three–deep. But slowly and solemnly, more than 2,000 people made their way inside to pay their last respects to the Bentler family, victims of one of Iowa's most gruesome mass murders.
An hour later, the Rev. John Spiegel, one of four priests officiating at the Roman Catholic funeral Mass, preached a sermon of forgiveness and healing. Spiegel urged those in attendance not to turn their grief into a lifetime of hate.
Instead, Spiegel told mourners to heed the example of mercy and forgiveness shown by the Pennsylvania Amish in the wake of a shooting rampage earlier this month that left five girls dead.
"Would it not be better to love rather than hate?" asked Speigel, a priest at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Ottumwa and a family friend.
"When the balance of life is weighed down by a great hurt, it will not be made to balance by a great hate."
Speigel also spoke of forgiveness for Shawn Bentler of Quincy, Ill. The couple's oldest child was charged this week with five counts of first–degree murder.
"Would we serve well the memory of these who loved so much ... by hating the one they called son or brother?" Speigel asked.
"If the charges brought by the state of Iowa are substantiated in court, the state will do us well to take away his liberty."
The bodies of Michael Bentler, 53, Sandra (Mendez) Bentler, 47, and their daughters, Sheena Bentler, 17, Shelby Bentler, 15, and Shayné Bentler, 14, were discovered in the early morning of Oct. 14 in their rural Bonaparte home. Police allege the family was gunned down by Shawn Bentler.
Amid flowers and family photographs, tears flowed as statements of eulogy were given by a handful of friends and family.
Gregg Bentler of Iowa City said his brother was a hard worker who strove to make his community better.
"He was the first to come and the last to leave when help was needed. He was about family, friends and this community. Mike was the best brother and godfather I could imagine," he said.
Christina Wilson of Fort Madison described Sandra Bentler as a loving stay–at–home mom who was active in school functions. Wilson said the past week has been difficult, but feels her big sister will continue to watch over her.
"You will always be my guardian angel," Wilson said.
Nowhere was the tragic deaths more keenly felt than at Harmony High School, where the three sisters were students.
According to classmates, the sisters excelled at academics and sports, but also were pranksters who never took life too seriously.
Sheena Bentler was remembered as a gifted athlete and anticipated class valedictorian. Friends say she was a talented writer who loved to hunt with her father.
The senior had dreamed of becoming a commercial airline pilot after high school.
An excerpt of a story written by Sheena Bentler titled "Paradise" was read aloud by a classmate.
"If I could be anywhere right now, I would be somewhere secluded. I would not have to think about important things. It would truly be my paradise."
Harmony High School sophomore Sam Pace discussed her friendship with Shelby Bentler. She recounted a time when a bicycle mishap left her best friend all wet.
"She decided to give her bike a bath. She lost control of the bike, and it went into the freezing water. She had to ride her bike home freezing," Pace said amid laughter. "She was crazy, and she always made me laugh."
Shayné Bentler, who answered to the nicknames Nay–Nay and Rufus, loved basketball and softball. To her friends, the youngest sister was a carefree spirit who lived life to the fullest.
A line of cars stretched from the high school as mourners followed four hearses to the family's final resting place in the village's cemetery.
Hundreds gathered under a blue canopy, framed by a freshly–harvested cornfield and orange–yellow trees, as a final blessing was given to the family.
As the sun broke through the clouds, one mourner remarked, "The gates of heaven just opened up to call them home. They made us smile, now they can make St. Peter smile."
Miles away from the funeral, Shawn Bentler of Quincy, Ill., was being held in the Van Buren County jail in Keosauqua on suicide watch.
Bentler's arrest stems from a 911 call made by Shayne Bentler at around 3:38 a.m. Oct. 14 from the family's residence at 23894 Hawk Drive.
Shayne Bentler told a dispatcher her brother was "going to do something." Next came the sound of a gunshot and someone yelling, "Shawn, no!"
Then the line went dead.
Authorities said they received a second 911 call at the same time from Sandra Bentler's cell phone, but it didn't reach a dispatcher. When a dispatcher tried to return the call, it went unanswered.
At around 10:30 a.m., Bentler, a father of two young girls, was arrested by the Adams County, Ill., Sheriff's office in Quincy on a warrant for possession of drug paraphernalia.
The 22–year–old was extradited Monday to Van Buren County where he is being held on a $2.5 million cash–only bond.
I spoke with a friend who is a substitute teacher at Harmony and knew all four kids and their parents as well as having been to their house. She is at a loss to explain how Shawn could have done what he did.
Links:
Two good articles about them:
Awful story. It sounds like the son went bad; the article mentions that he had two children (but no mention of a wife) and was arrested for possession of drug paraphrenalia, so I'd imagine he had probably been a family problem for awhile. Very tragic, and I always really feel for families that have a problem like this with one member. They sounded like lovely people, I will pray for them and their community when I go to Mass today.
I was thinking about this story as I lit the morning fire. What on earth got into this young man ?
What a horrible thing your community has witnessed.
Thanks for posting this so the rest of the world will know what we've been watching unfold this past week.
But it won't happen because Iowa does not have the death penalty. You can blame the Ds and Rs on this one, and it is all politics. The Ds of course don't want it, for whatever their twisted reasoning.
The Rs had their chances to enact it, but it serves their purposes better as a campaign issue. The death penalty is approved by a majority of Iowans, however, as long as it remains that way, and the Rs don't get it passed, they can use it as a campaign issue. "My D opponent is opposed to the death penalty, blah, blah. If elected, I will vote to begin the death penalty in Iowa, blah, blah." And since that is popular with the people, the Rs can keep saying it as long as they don't actually ever pass it.
Yes you can call me cynical.
This is horrific! As we continue to heal from the tragic murder of little Amish girls here in Lancaster County, we will also keep this devastated family and community in our thoughts and prayers.
What a shame.
**The death penalty is appropriate in this case**
I can picture this guys liberal lawyer pleading for mercy because he is now an orphan and without eany other family.
See: Menendez Brothers, California.
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