HAMILTON — Kraig Walter Benson, accused of killing his wife and a bartender in Superior in August 2023, has been found guilty.
A jury in Hamilton on Thursday found Benson guilty of deliberate homicide and of using a weapon in the offense.
He was charged for the shooting deaths of Jenny Benson and Logan Gardner at the Four Aces Bar.
Benson was found not guilty of mitigated deliberate homicide.
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Defense attorneys had argued that Benson was in extreme emotional distress at the time of the shooting because he had just learned of an alleged affair between his wife and Gardner.
Benson took the stand in his on Wednesday and testified he had no recollection of the killings.
Prosecutors countered during cross-examination that Benson was able to remember certain things Jenny had said to him just before the shooting, but then testified he couldn't remember the shooting itself.
The sentencing date for Benson has not yet been set.
(AUGUST 29, 2023) Kraig Walter Benson is facing two charges of deliberate homicide in Mineral County after the shooting deaths of two people at a bar in Superior on Sunday, August 27, 2023.
Benson was taken into custody late Sunday night west of Lolo after officials say he fled the scene in Superior.
Benson is accused of fatally shooting his wife Jenny Benson, and bartender Logan Gardner, inside the Four Aces Bar on Sunday night.
According to court documents, surveillance footage shows a man leaving the bar to retrieve an item from his vehicle before returning to sit down next to a woman.
Court documents state the footage then shows the man pulling a gun from his waistband and shooting the woman in the head before turning to fire at the bartender.
After firing several shots, the man left the scene in a Chevy Tahoe; a witness followed who reported his location to law enforcement.
The man, later identified as Benson, was arrested early Monday morning west of Lolo.
Jenny Benson was taken to the hospital in Superior but later died from her wounds. Gardner died at the scene.
