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What's going on, everybody? I'm Mariah. And I'm Tez. And welcome back to Sisters Who Kill.
Now, if you're a real player and you really know how to play the game correctly, you usually have some type of schedule, right? Like you got the girl coming over Monday, Tuesday, maybe over the Wednesday, maybe take a break on Thursday because, you know, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, that's what you're going to spend with your main boo or the one that you'd rather be seen out in public, right? So what happens when your Monday, Tuesday girlfriend is trying to upgrade to the Friday, Saturday, Sunday? ♪
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free money free money is out there just go get it by starting your podcast today our players this week are eric samoa he is the victim and katrina ben our murderess could
Katrina Ben was born on March 11th, 1977 in a small town called Silver Creek, Mississippi. Like this was a legit small town in Mississippi with a population of 209. Nobody lives there. Katrina was an extremely smart, extremely bright young lady. And she knew that her life was bigger than this small town. She had dreams of getting out. She wanted to travel. She wanted to see the world. She wanted to see all that the country had to offer. And while growing up in high school, she loved to take care of people.
She was the person that was taking care of her friends, taking care of her family, taking care of anybody that needed. So she decided to take that passion and gear it towards nursing. So after graduating from high school, graduating from high school was a very big deal at the time from the area that she was. She graduated. She went to college at Jackson State University. Shout out to the HBCUs. And she majored in nursing.
She was finally starting to, you know, really fulfill her dreams. And after four years, she graduated in 2003 and got a job at the University of Mississippi Medical Center as an RN on the oncology floor where she helped administer chemotherapy to cancer patients. So the love and care and passion that she had for her job was just, it oozed out of her. All of her patients loved her. They said that she was lovely.
They said that she took really good care of everybody. She was extremely knowledgeable. She actually would be the nurse that she remembered your birthday. She remembered what your family members look like. So the people that worked with her, the patients that were with her, they really felt like she was a nurse that cared. You know what I mean? It's good to have a nurse that care because sometimes, especially when you're going through cancer or any type of medical emergency, you just...
It's hard to find nurses that really give a fuck about you. Well, I guess I think it's more so it's hard to find the doctors and you got to lean on the nurses to get you through. Yeah, but I've been in situations where nurses don't give a fuck either. But I do see that across the board, nurses definitely give a fuck more.
But anyway, she was a great nurse by all intents and purposes. And it counts. Yeah. So she worked at the University of Mississippi Medical Center for several years, but she was only achieving part of her dreams because she knows she still wanted to travel. She wanted to see the world. So Katrina applied for a traveling nursing agency and she got hired. She's so excited. She's like, I'm about to leave this place.
Let's go. She gets this position and it's going to have her traveling to different cities, states all around the country. Right. So every three months Katrina would have a contract at a different hospital. And she's like, this is great. Like I'm getting everything I've ever wanted. She went to California. She went to Texas. She went to Georgia, Chicago. She was everywhere. Right.
And the agency paid for everything and paid her even better. Like she was making coin on top of it. So she's doing quite well for herself. Her family wanted her to settle down. But Katrina loved traveling and nursing. And she's like, you want me to stop this? Oh, no, baby. Oh, no. She's like, I like the money that I'm making. I like seeing the country. I like traveling. Like I'm fulfilled right now. I'm good. Right. I'm not really worried about a relationship now.
That ain't to say she wasn't having no fun. She had her little situationship here and there in all her little cities, you know. But she didn't have to worry about commitment because in three months, she was out of there. On to the next one. So in March of 2012, Katrina's next contract was in Silver Spring, Maryland. This is a super bougie, really rich, educated, really diverse part of Maryland that's really close to D.C.,
They had her set up in the luxury Viridian apartments at Silver Springs Metro. And these were nice apartments. Like these weren't no old poo-poo apartments. They had a pool, a club, a gym, a salon, a convenience store, a restaurant there, a valet. Like this is nice living.
the definition of luxury. So she officially moved in on March 11th of 2012 and she started working and joined the Minities. DMV has a really active nightlife so she was getting to know a lot of people there and one night about two weeks after she moved in she was waiting on the elevator and she kind of
bumped into this fine ass man. He introduced himself. He said his name was Eric. And she said, okay, well, hey, I'm Katrina. He asked her what she did for a living. And she was like, oh, you know, I'm a nurse. And that actually perked Eric's ears up because he was in the process of starting his own travel nursing agency. And then all of a sudden out pops this fine ass nurse. And he's like,
Look what God has sent to me. The two start chatting. It's clearly flirtatious tension between the two and they exchange numbers. Eric Samoa was a 34 year old Ghanaian American who lived in the Viridian apartments along with Katrina. So he was a car salesman at the local Jaguar dealership and he was also an entrepreneur. He was getting to the money. All right. He was described as a nice, happy man, but also liked the life of the party.
He was helpful, but he was also glued to his phone. They said if that phone was ringing, that meant he was making some money, so he'd never leave that phone behind, you know? He was always answering the phone, always on the phone. You know, he's a businessman. That's what they do. Hello? Like, um...
Like Angelica, mom, on her regrets. Yes. She was about her business. Stayed on the phone. Okay. So, you know, car salesmen or really any car salesman, the good one, the one really friendly, will talk to anybody, right? Knows how to make a conversation, but they're always waiting to make their next sale. Everything is a sale, right? Yeah.
So at the Jaguar dealership, Eric was a top sales guy. He was easily bringing home $10,000 to $20,000 a month. And he dressed like that's the type of money he was making. His car showed that that was the type of money he was making. His house showed that was the type of money he was making.
You know, he had a good job, a nice smile. He could talk. He smelled good. You know, he's obviously a ladies' man. You know, that's what he does. That's the kind of dude you want. Like, he looked good. He smelled good. He drive a nice car. Yeah. You know, he checking all the boxes. And his money is legal. Ooh. So he's like, go to Star for him, you know? So him being a ladies' man was quite easy for him. And he had him...
A few different women who he liked to entertain throughout the week. Exclusivity was not really his usual right now, right? 34 for a guy that's still kind of young, you know? We play in the field. We might be getting ready to settle down, but we're not quite there yet. That did not mean he was not a family man.
Yeah, he had two brothers and two sisters and they were close. And it was like we all talked to Eric often. We kept in touch. You know, we know like we really know who is dating because nobody was serious. But we love our bro all the same. He's a good guy. Both Katrina and Eric, they're relatively young. They're attractive. They're successful. And they start to enjoy each other's company, you know.
And something that they had in common is that they both really liked watching basketball. Like, they both loved it. So a couple times a week, they would come over to each other's house. Well, Katrina would go over to Eric's house. She'd, I guess, go up the elevator. I don't know. They're in the same apartment building. They would come over. She would come over. They'd watch the game. They'd fuck. She'd spend the night. She'd get up the next day. She'd go to work. He'd go to work. It was like a little routine. Like, it was a nice little... That's pretty... It's like when you...
I know you didn't have this experience in your dorm room, but like in my dorm, I was in the co-ed. So like the women were on the top two floors and the guys were on the bottom two floors. No, it wasn't even like that. We were in the co-ed. So if somebody was dating somebody that lived in that same dorm, it was nice. They would just, one of my roommates, I never saw her. She only came to change her clothes and leave. She slept in her nigga room. It was a routine. Routines work for people, but Katrina, she,
She was like, I'm starting to like you a little bit more than I probably should. You know, we're hanging out all the time. And she starts asking Eric, you know, what are we going to do? Do you see a future with us together? What does it look like? Why every time we hang out, it's over here and I can't go out with you or your friends. Why every time we hang out, it's in secret.
And, you know, we can't go to the bar or something. We can't go get a drink or something. We can't hang out. You seem to have a lot of people. Why can't I go? And he's like, no, no, we just chilling. We doing our thing. We fucking, we doing our, you know, this was the plan. So...
Eric is kind of flustered about the fact that she was asking him about this and then she's kind of pressing the issue. So on May 31st, 2012, they were supposed to watch the game together. They were like Katrina was supposed to come over, but Eric didn't hit her up, like didn't text her back. She's pissed. She's texting him like, what are you talking about? We're supposed to watch the game. You know, Miami Heat was playing the Celtics. Celtics won 101 to 91. Yeah.
And then at like 11, 12 p.m., way after the game is over, Eric texts her on some like you up type shit. And Katrina, even though she's pissed, she goes over there and they spend the night together. Of course she does.
So, a few days later, on Sunday, June 3rd, 2012, Katrina was snooping through Eric's phone. And we be snooping on, we gonna find something. But you just gotta confirm your suspicions, you know what I mean? Every time. Every time. Mm-hmm.
But what she found was that Eric was going to a party that night, and she told him that he could not go under any circumstance because they were supposed to be watching this OKC game. Like, and this just wasn't any game. This was OKC versus the Spurs in game four, and OKC just won 109-103. He's basically like, girl, fuck you, I do what I want. So he goes to the party.
And when he gets back, he texts her. It's like, hey, I'm back, you know. Let's catch the rest of this game, girl. And, of course, she came right over.
So the game's already been on for a while. He's already like late. They watch the game all the time. Like it's their thing, right? So you've already like already kind of blew her off and pulled her in the last minute. And now you got her over here listening on his phone and shit. Like, can she make you put the phone down though? So since he's so distracted, that's when she's like, you know, kind of peeping over his shoulder, snooping. And he texting hella bitches like right there in front of her. Tiffany, Ashley, Denise, everything.
And she finds out Denise, he been messing with her for over a year. But she's like, I ain't gonna say nothing. I ain't gonna say nothing. Because, you know, if you say something, you know, you snooping. You weren't supposed to be snooping. You just got to find another way to catch him, right? Mm-hmm. So, Monday, June 4th, the next day, they both go to work. Check it out.
Katrina comes over to Eric so they can watch the OKC game that night. OKC goes again and beats the Spurs in game five, 108 to 103. And during the first quarter, Eric tells Katrina that he needs to go drop something off to a friend and she shouldn't worry about missing the game because they're going to be back before the third quarter was over. The two leave and they go for a short drive to another apartment complex that's nearby. And when they pull up, this man named William Woodfork
who just so happens to be the plug, hops in the car. Eric and William, they do their little exchange, and Katrina and Eric head back to the apartment to finish the game. Right, so that is the evening of Monday, June 4th. Now, Tuesday, June 5th, we aren't exactly sure of the events that took place, but we're putting it together the best way we know how based off the information that we have. After Eric and Katrina go back to the house...
The game happens. OKC beats the Spurs 107 to 99 and they win the conference. It's a whole thing. They should be excited having a great night together, right? Of course they do. Because again, they was fucking that night and Eric goes to sleep while Eric is asleep. Katrina raises her 380 semi-automatic pistol and shoots Eric in the head while he lay naked in his own bed.
She gets ready to go to work. Remember, they stay in the same apartment building and she goes to work. At some point she comes back for a little while and then she goes about the rest of her day. So it's June 6th, the next day, and Katrina works again. She's going about life as usual. But Eric hadn't shown up for work and that was 100 percent not like him because, you know, my man loves his money, you know.
And his family and friends has also not heard from him. And this is also strange because he keeps a phone on him. So at this point, there's obviously something wrong, right? Nobody can get in touch with him. He's not showing up to work. We're concerned. So Eric's family calls the police and asks them to do a welfare check at his apartment. They go to the apartment and they ask the building manager to let them in. They let them in and immediately the cops smell this horrible smell.
They go to the bedroom and they find Eric's body laying naked on his side in a fetal position. And he's like in this maroon covered sheet and he's laying on a pillow and the lights are off and nothing really looked disturbed. He's like tucked in bed and they said he almost looked like he was sleeping. Right. They look closer and they see that there's a bullet hole in the middle of his forehead.
Eric's family is downstairs in the lobby of the apartments waiting on the police to complete their welfare check. They come back down and they tell the Samoa family that Eric's dead. They all break down crying and the cops say not only is he dead, but it looks like it's a suicide. His whole family said, there ain't no way in hell not my brother. They said, listen, Eric loved life.
Eric loved life and he lived it to the fullest every day. Ain't no way this man taking himself out. Right. So they're like, ah, you know, we hear this a lot. You know, people, when people kill themselves, the family never thinks that it's them. They never think they would do this, but you'd be surprised. Now, these are just the initial cops to check the scene and cops are taught to not disturb the scene. So they didn't really look too much. They didn't pull back the sheets or anything. Um,
But nobody saw a gun, which should have been clue number one, but I digress. I mean, yeah, because, I mean, he can't, what, get a gun, shoot himself in the head,
Get rid of the gun, crawl back into bed, go to sleep, die. Nah, I mean. That's impossible. Unless it was a slow bleed and he was like, man, but it would be blood everywhere. It was too clean to just be like, oh, I shot myself in the bed and I'm laying here now. So it didn't really make sense. And the cops, you know, go forward with the investigation and they're actually like, you know what? You're right.
This actually doesn't look like a suicide. So then the detectives start doing their jobs and they ask the family all the questions that you think they would ask. You know, does he have any enemies? Was he in any trouble in any type of debt? They're like, no. They were like, we know that, you know, he's a womanizer. But, you know, I don't think that he has enemies. He's been messing with some nurse, some other girl, some this, with some all these girls. And police are like, all right, well,
Let's see if we can start by searching some phone records. And they searched the phone records and they were like, OK, Eric is texting and calling a lot this woman, Denise.
So they were like, who's Denise? Family was like, I don't know who Denise is. They go and reach out to Denise. Denise is like, we've been in a relationship or we were, we were in a relationship for over a year and it was a pretty serious relationship. She was older than he was. She had like a degree in business, you know, he's ambitious as fuck, but they ain't work out. And she was clearly distraught when all this happened. Like she was visibly upset and she,
They were like, OK, they cleared her, whatever. Oh, she had an alibi. Her phone didn't ping where it was supposed to be. She didn't have an alibi. She was out. So they're like, OK, let's the family said that there's some other girl that lives in the building, but they don't know nothing about her. Let's take out the place, see if any clues connect.
And sure enough, they do. On June 9th, 2012, the police are just staking out the apartment and they see a woman leave the apartment and have a nurse logo. What is it called? License plate thing. You know, like, I'm an RN. I love being a nurse. Those type of things. Bumper sticker? Not a bumper sticker. License plate. License plate. The thing that, like, the trim, the border, the frame, the...
And so the police stop her and they're like, hey, do you know somebody named Eric? And she's like, Eric? Eric? Eric who? Why? What happened? And the police are like, oh, well, Eric Samoa, he's been murdered. She says nothing. And they're like, do you know him? Do you mind going down to the station with us? And she's like, I can go down to the station with you. So she does. So she goes down to the station and she's like,
You know, me and Eric, we wasn't too serious, but, you know, we was close. We had, like, a consistent thing going, okay? She was like, we had our routine. We watched a game together and everything. And she was like, I'm actually, like, a little through-pulled. Like, it's all taking me aback right now because I've been texting him, and he ain't been responding. And I'm like, it's something up, but, like—
is it because he's dead? Like, I thought it was something wrong with Duxfordshire telling me it's because he's dead. Like...
Can you just put me at ease? And it was like, yeah, like, no, it's not that he's blowing you off, ma'am. It's that he's dead. And she was like, okay, because I know. She's very much like, oh, well, that explains why I ain't heard from him. Like, yeah, girl, that explains it. So she goes on to tell the story of what happened that last night that they was together. And, you know, she's talking about the game. And she says, you know,
that he went to go get some weed and she was like I mean I ain't smoke no weed cause I don't do that but he went to go get some and I was like okay I'ma ride with you she was like she's like she gets um so they goes for the ride and she was like
He goes to see this guy and she was like, I wasn't like too much in a business. She's like, I don't do that. I don't want to be in it. I don't know nothing really. You know what I mean? But she was like, it was fast. She was like, the light didn't even change. I don't know if he served them at the light or something. She was like, but like, what light could even change? She got his stuff and we left. Like, I didn't think it was done. We went back, we finished the game. She said, this might be TMI, but we had sex for a while. Yeah.
And yeah, we went to sleep. And she was like, so, I mean, I don't know. She was like, but then we, well, I thought we went to sleep, but then Eric gets back up in the middle of the night and he was like mumbling something about he got to go get some money or something. And he steps out the room and he comes back smelling like weed. She's like, so I guess he went to go smoke.
So he walks back in the room and she was like, Eric, baby, what's going on? And he was like, let the girl go back to sleep, right? She sang then on June 5th. The next morning at 5 a.m., she woke up a little bit earlier than usual because she had to go get gas on her way to work. So she said she kissed Eric and to her surprise, he ain't move. But she was like, man, he just tired. He's sleeping heavy, right? Must have put it on him good last night, right? So...
She goes in the living room and there's a man in there on a couch. And she says, I recognize this man. It's William, the plug from last night. She was like, I was already headed out. But then he kind of like pushing me further, like get the fuck out, like pushing me out the door. The apartment.
Video surveillance has her leaving the apartment at 6.34 a.m., and then she returns at 7.05 a.m., and she's parking in front of the apartment. She goes in for about five minutes, and then she leaves again. And the police is like, okay, you left for like 31 minutes and then came back. What'd you do? And she says, oh, because I made it to work, and then I really like had my phone, so I had to go back and get my phone. She was like, you know, let me know how I can help you guys. She...
Tells the police, oh, that's William Woodfork right there. He's the drug dealer from the night. He's the guy who pushed me out the apartment. He's the fishy nigga that you're looking for, right? So the police is like, okay, need to go find William. So that day, the cops go and they pick up William for distribution so they can ask him some questions. It was like, tell us about Eric. And he was like...
I don't even know what y'all talking about. I don't even sell weed. What do y'all do? Like, this is wild. Y'all even got me in here. They're like, listen, nigga, we know you sell weed. That's not even our main concern right now. Why you kill this nigga? And he's like, kill him. Hold on a second. I'm just a plug. He's like, y'all going way above my pay grade right here. I don't even do all of that.
So he tells him, like, yes, I did sell this man weed, but I did not kill him. They was like, listen, we got somebody saying that they seen you in his house. They saw you there that morning the night he died. I don't even know where that nigga live. Listen, he said...
I sell a little from time to time. Yes. Do I know Eric and is he one of my customers? Yes. Did I go to his apartment? No. I don't know where this man lives. He said, I'm not a delivery man. I'm a weed dealer. Niggas come to me to pick up. Why would I know where he lives?
I don't know him like that. Never been in his house. Nothing. So the police take his fingerprints. They continue to investigate. And then they realize his fingerprints ain't in that apartment. Nope. He's not on any of the cameras. Nope. And his phone never pinged anywhere near the Viridian Apartments. I'm just trying to sell a dime bag to this. Listen. You know. So they clear him for murder. And he's no longer a suspect. But he did get...
wrapped up on some weed charges they really should have let that man go right so around this time police are like all right it's time to narrow in on Katrina I think that she has to be involved because why else would she lie to us in the early stages everybody else was very forthcoming everybody else told us their truth they may not have liked to but they did but her she's
I don't know something about her we don't like. So let's get a search warrant. Before the investigation, Katrina had another assignment. She was headed to Baltimore. So the police went to her apartment there. They had a search warrant. They were looking for some type of weapon, like a gun, some type of evidence, anything that would connect her to the crime. On June 19th, 2012, when they searched her apartment, they didn't find anything.
When they were there, although they found nothing, they recorded audio. She didn't know about it. And the detectives asked her, you ever owned a gun? She was like, no, I never owned a gun. And they were like, okay, you never owned a gun. She's like, no, I never owned a gun. And they didn't find a gun there. So they went ahead and went on their merry way. They also took her computers because they was trying to see what them was talking about. They couldn't charge her. So they went back home.
Home to do more detective work. So it's June 21st, 2012. The case is going cold. Eric's family is ready to lay him to rest and have the funeral. And it was packed. It was a beautiful funeral. But guess who was sitting in the second row? Miss Katrina Ben, y'all. The family's pissed, but they like, listen...
Just let her move a little funny and she gone, you know? We ain't even gonna feed into it. So months pass. Eric's family is just getting more and more disappointed, you know? They say people deal with it one of two ways. They either want to just move on and get past it. They don't care who did it. They just want to, you know, get past it. And there's people who want to figure out who the fuck did it, right? And their family wanted to know who the fuck did it. And...
They are on the police's ass. She said we was all calling him every day and he would answer each one of our phone calls and explain to us how they still had nothing yet, but they was trying.
They're just they're so happy at the detectives diligence and working this case. And they say, you know, it's good that they got a young cop, a little rookie like cop, because he still had the passion and the drive to keep fighting these cold cases. Right. Because this wasn't his main focus. After it goes cold, you get new cases, you move on. But he was like, anytime I have some free time, I was back on this case. And, you know, the family appreciated that. Katrina, on the other hand, did not.
She was getting very irritated about the diligence that they were showing in this case. Constantly wanting to talk to her. And she was like, you know, this is very inconvenient. I got a job. I have a job. I'm working. Can you keep calling me asking me about this man? I done told you what I done told you. And that's all I'm going to tell you. At this time, she's going back and forth between Maryland and Mississippi. She's visiting family. She's working. She's acting like nothing happened.
And Katrina's family, they're kind of split. Some people think she might have did it. Other people are like, nah, especially her brother. Not my sister. She's innocent. Y'all just trying to put a name on this. Absolutely. Using her for a scapegoat. Mm hmm. And, you know, some just didn't think the story made sense at all. Right. This man who she wasn't too serious with. She's so jealous that she killed him. No, that's crazy. Yeah.
Her brother Robert was like, you know, I, of course, believe that my sister is innocent, but the cops got her nervous, always asking her questions all the time. And they just they really about to hand my sister up for some shit she ain't do.
2012 comes and goes. We're into the new year. We still don't have enough evidence to convict or even arrest Katrina. So like I said, the cop on the case, he's young. He's eager. He cares about this case. As much as the family has called him, he feels like he knows Eric and he's like attached now. He was like, I've got to...
you know, find justice for this man. So he's like randomly looking at police records and recovered property, trying to figure out something to give him a lead. And maybe he can at least find the gun that was used for Eric. You know, if something gets turned in and maybe he can get something else out the phone. Right. So one day in 2013,
An investigator came across a recovered property report of a .380 caliber gun, the same type of gun that was used to kill Eric, being recovered on June 7, 2012, which was the day after, you know, Eric's body was found. The gun, when it was found, was partially disassembled. It was found two miles away from Eric and Katrina's apartment. It was on the side of the road, like by the guardrails, and it was found in the middle of the street.
The person that found it literally was sitting in traffic on like 495. Apparently that's very heavy traffic up north. I have no idea. Somebody found it, turned it in and no one knew what happened with it. And it just sat in the evidence room for an entire year. So they traced the serial number and they found out that the gun was registered to a person from Prentiss, Mississippi.
10 miles away from Silver Creek, Mississippi, which, if you remember, is Katrina's hometown. So the police were like, oh, did this just move in my direction? So what do they do? They travel down to Mississippi and they try to find the origin of the gun, maybe find a receipt, whoever, a registration, something like that.
They were trying to basically trace it back to Katrina. And when they got there, they were just playing pawn shop roulette. Because you know how guns go. One pawn shop, a nigga buy it. Another pawn shop, somebody buy it. Another pawn shop, somebody buy it. Another pawn shop, y'all know. Finally, they get to this one pawn shop and it's the last like one. And he's like, yeah, I remember selling it.
The receipts are in the back, but, you know, this is an old building. We've got damage, okay? You know, the rats be eating the shit back there. You know, sometimes the termites be eating the old receipts. I mean, I can give you the boxes, but good luck sorting through it. And the detective's like, I've come too far to give up now. So he takes the box of receipts. They go back. They're looking through them. And finally, a receipt is found for the purchase of that .380 caliber gun.
by none other than Katrina Benn. So finally, they have some type of proof, some type of grounds to stand on for the gun to be tested for the bullet that was found in Eric's head. And of course, it was a match. Of course, right? So now June 21st, 2013, three days after the search warrant in Baltimore and Katrina was arrested at her parents' house in Mississippi, taken to Maryland to be arraigned for first degree murder and then the use of a firearm and the commission of a crime of violence.
On the day of her arrest, police do another interview where they audio and video record her again. And they ask her, you know, why you ain't tell me you had a gun? She said, you ain't never asked me if I had a gun. I ain't kill no one. So there'll be no reason for me to say I have a gun. I mean, you never even asked.
You said, have I ever held a gun? Have I ever followed a gun? I've been stalked and followed home and grabbed in multiple states when I travel. I mean, like 11 different people have stalked me. So in Jackson, I had that gun, but it's so old. I haven't had to pull it out recently. 11 people stalked you. You got stalked in 11 different cities.
I would never, ever stop carrying my gun. That's why I say bullshit. I don't care if there's been a five-year break. If 11 different people stalked me, I would never feel safe. I would never be without my weapon. The detective's like, okay, girl, where's the gun now? She says, I don't know. It's someplace. She said the last time I seen the gun was when I was in Atlanta in 2010, but I ain't needed it since. So you just left your gun in Atlanta? Even if I'm not using a gun.
I'm going to make sure I know where that shit is. Because if somebody get hemmed up on my shit, it becomes my problem. You think I'm trying to let that shit get loose? Hell no. Detective Rubin then tells her, I've actually found your gun. And I've actually tested your gun. And I actually know that your gun was used to kill Eric. And of course she denies, denies, denies. You lie until you die. Denied, denied, denied. Right? Right.
She said somebody must have stolen that gun or maybe Eric stole the gun from her when he helped her move or some shit. You know, he helped her move to Baltimore two weeks before the murder. Maybe that's what happened, but it was not her. She ain't seen that shit. She ain't had that shit.
She keeps talking to the police and she's so pissed at them. She's like, y'all really ruining my life. Y'all got me here about this bullshit, all of this or whatever. I'm over it. She continues to maintain her innocence and she gets set to stand trial.
So on October 15, 2014, two years after the murder of Eric, Katrina's trial begins in Montgomery County, Maryland.
The prosecution begins with their opening statements by telling the jury, listen, don't y'all be fooled by this docile demeanor that this woman has. Don't be fooled by the fact that she's an RN. Oh, that's fine and dandy. What we're going to prove today is that not only is she a pathological liar, but she is a murderer. They said, listen, she probably don't lie to y'all today.
She's probably going to lie to y'all throughout the duration of this trial. She had absolutely no remorse. She tried to pin this gruesome execution on an innocent man, William, even though y'all gave him shit. And they said, look, she lied to us. She's misled us. And she's going to do that over and over again. And we're going to prove that.
with text messages and with murder weapon that we have for you here in court so these text messages if you were asking they are text messages where Katrina would be like texting Eric like last night was good as fuck daddy like oh you was doing your thing last night so she was like bigging him up and then there were also text messages of Eric showing off those messages to his boys and Eric's
demeanor in the text messages were more like, you know, this is who I'm fucking with. Just fucking. And Katrina was more like, you know, this is what I want. What I really, really want. And since he wasn't as into her as she was into him, they were trying to say that that's the reason why she killed him. It's...
They said in the opening statements, she has never been dumped and she wasn't going to start now. And as somebody who had never been dumped the first time I got dumped, I was pretty upset about it. I'm not going to lie, but I don't think I'd kill. So, you know, the defense is like, listen, Katrina has said in the police interview that she did not even know that Eric was dead until the police told him that.
Now, the police are like, no, we got your computers. We got all this stuff. You were all over Eric's social media between the time where he's presumed to be already dead and when we found his body. You visited his Facebook. You wrote RIP all over the Facebook walls. Girl, you knew. You sitting there calling the family, sending your condolences. We were not the ones to break the news to you.
So stop lying. We know you've done it right. And then the fact that you just proceeded to go like everything was all peachy and everything. We just know. But the defense is like, no, this is coincidence. This is circumstantial. There's no real proof that Katrina killed Eric Samoa. There's your reasonable doubt right there. Jury understand beyond a reasonable doubt. And it's just it's not completely wrapped up for us over here.
Could it be? Yeah. But could it not be? Yeah, absolutely. Right. And then they're just like, do you really think this pretty, intelligent nurse with no criminal history is a cold blooded killer for a man she only knew for six weeks? It's just not possible. I mean, that's what they said about Angela Davis. Can you believe that this intelligent, beautiful woman would do all this for a man that...
She ain't met outside of prison jailhouse walls. You know what I'm saying? Like... It didn't fly the same as this one did, you know? In that case, they both were in love.
In this case, one was not. Right. So the defense finishes off by saying, you know, it's hard to even fathom. You've got the wrong girl, right? Y'all got to let Katrina go. On October 22nd, 2014, the jury reached their verdict and they found Katrina Ben guilty of both first degree murder and the use of a firearm in commission of a crime of violence.
Eric's family was happy with the verdict, but some of Katrina's family, they were shocked, like, and they were pissed about it. On February 22nd, 2015, before sentencing and after victim impact statements, it was Katrina's turn to make her statement. You know how, y'all know how sentences phase goes. You hopefully beg for, you proclaim your innocence or ask for, you know, something like that. And what she does is she,
presents more of like a eulogy. She said, I am deeply moved by your impact statements. Sorry for our loss. She spoke about how Eric was well loved and he will be missed by everybody. Everybody will miss the way that he laughed, the way that he smiled and
And it's just a sad situation overall. All this is during her sentencing phase when you're usually begging for some type of mercy. Eric's family did not take this lightly. They were like, that was disrespectful as fuck. That was just inappropriate. It was inappropriate. Like, even if you didn't do it and you're still proclaiming your innocence, that wasn't the way to go about that moment. I mean, sometimes you got to have some couth.
Just a little couth about yourself. The sentencing does not go well for her. She is sentenced to life.
for first-degree murder without the possibility of parole and 20 years for her use of a firearm in a commission of a crime of violence. The judge says Katrina Benz has no hope for reform and called her cold and calculated. Eric's family believes that justice is done but wishes Marilyn had the death penalty because they believe she deserved to die since Eric had to die. Eric's mom said life will never be the same again for our family.
Eric was a shining star of our family. His brother Michael said, it was like 25 bears coming off my back. And when he handed down that sentence, it just made our day. Can't bring my brother back, but it will be closure for our family. Some of Katrina's family members
Still thinks that she's wrongly convicted because they feel like the police weren't looking for a real killer. They were just trying to put a name on it. But Katrina is now 45 years old, living in the Maryland Correctional Institute for Women. She has written many appeals and they have all been unsuccessful. And I'm sure they will continue to be. Yep. All right, y'all, it's time for... Well, I'm not black. I'm OJ.
I didn't do it, but if I did, this is how I would have got away with it. First of all, if you're going to get rid of a gun, get rid of a gun. It should not be on the side of the highway. There's no way it should be seen by the naked eye of some passerby. Not even somebody that lives there and know where to look. They said the gun was partially taken apart, but the barrel was left there.
The serial number was there. Right, and it was partial, but it was still there. Serial number, I would have got me a little etch thing, scratched that shit off. I would have fucked up that barrel, so if you try and do a testing on it, it ain't going to give you the same goddamn results. Like, get rid of everything, destroy everything, make it so that if they test it, it ain't going to tell them what it's supposed to tell them. Something, girl. I ain't do it, but if I did, I wouldn't have anything.
to owning and shooting a gun because the key is to not be a liar, right? Right. It's to work in half-truths, right? So if she would have said, I used to own a gun back in 2010, but I haven't owned a gun in years, and maybe what did you do with your gun and say I sold it at a pawn shop? Don't remember what pawn shop. Maybe picked a random state and put them on a goose hunt, right?
Right. But half-truths, girl. You saying that you've never shot a gun? Because it turns out that, you know, she was from the country. Her daddy apparently had several guns and she shot guns growing up. So for her to say that she had never shot a gun before, it was like far from the truth. Blatant lie. Yeah. Yeah.
Them simple lies and little white lies. They always add up. That's the theme of the show today, little kids. I ain't do it. But if I did, I if you're not going to fuck with that nigga, you need to make sure that there's absolutely no contact with him. You were all over his Facebook page and everything. You should have known when they took your computer how to reroute your story, your digital footprint.
It's there. It's every, it's, it's not going anywhere. Y'all better be, y'all better get safe out here on the internet. Gonna lose your damn identity. Let me see. I ain't do it. But if I did, I would have given him something that made him die in his sleep. Like just maybe a different weapon of choice. Right? I feel like guns are so bloody, so messy, so easy to trace back.
If they came in there and it looked like he was sleeping, maybe even if he swallowed some pills, they assumed it was suicide, right? If he took some pills or even if it was... I mean, after further evidence, they was like, actually, the spot where he was shot is hard to kind of shoot yourself. That's central in your head or whatever. But, like, she could have maybe set it up as a suicide and got away with it, right? Yeah, but she...
She didn't think that far into it. No, no, she didn't. Um...
I just don't get it. Like, you are this successful and you have all these... You're doing well. You're having your career, like... Right. It just wasn't that deep, girl. If it wasn't you, it wasn't you. You know, it's a hard lesson to learn when you're... I mean, not to say that she was that young because, girl, you were old enough to know better. But a hard lesson to learn is that everybody ain't got to like you and people are allowed to be done with you and people are allowed to not take you seriously. You know what I mean? Now, maybe the lying and the cheating is one thing, but, like...
Once you find out, once you find out, your decisions are to deal with it or to leave, not to kill, you know? Like, you're either going to accept it or you ain't. But to get so mad that you're putting your hand, that you turn it physical about it, it's just, you the one looking crazy in the end.
I just think it's not worth it. It's never worth it? It's not worth it. And the only story that we know is a story that can't be pieced together. Is there more to the story? We'll never know. Parole or no parole? No parole. She ain't getting that shit. She don't really need that shit. That was really ballsy of you to give a eulogy and say sorry for our loss. That hour, that was it right there. Mm-hmm.
I don't know. It's very hard to parole people who are still denying the crime. There it is. And I was like, if...
She would have properly fessed up, properly apologized, properly did everything. I maybe would have considered parole. Or unless she has some type of evidence to show me otherwise. But no, girl, I think it's you. Everybody else thinks it's you. The jury thought it was you. The family thought it was you. It's you. We're not buying it. If it look like a duck, quack like a duck, wobble like a duck, then guess what? It's a duck. What about you? You say the same thing? No parole? Absolutely. Absolutely.
All right. We did it. This is one where you said you had video review. Audio. Audio. Audio review.
All right, y'all, it's time for some reviews from you. These reviews were sent to us on anchor.fm. We keep telling y'all, y'all can, you know, send us a voice message and we can air it on this podcast, either a review or, and I didn't do it, but if I did, this is how I would have got away with it. And here are a couple of reviews that we got.
Okay. I was watching... Hey, my name is Alicia. I'm from Philly. I love Sister Zoukiel. Let me tell you. I got introduced because I was scrolling through TikTok and this girl was telling this story that you guys had told. And when she linked it back to you, I was like, oh, cool. Let me go in there and see if there's more stories. So I downloaded the...
Apple, I think it's podcast or something like that. Found you on there. Boom. That was cool. So I'm listening, listening, listening. I tagged her on Instagram. So then I was like, okay, now I can see the people who they're talking about. That was a really good connection. Here I am. I,
Hi, you know, minding my business, scrolling through TikTok. And I come across the King Von story posted just yesterday. And I'm listening and it was real. She told the hell out of that fucking story. Thank you, sister. I'm listening and I see y'all logo. I had to fucking follow. Hey, y'all. This is Mahogany.
I love this podcast. This is the best podcast that I've been listening to so far. I cleared all my episodes in like five days, I think. But anyhow, I didn't do it, but if I did, on the Carlette Parker case, I wouldn't have left her ass in Mooresville. That's too far from her home. She lives in Anger.
You know, that's pretty far. And I would have put her in the car correctly. I would have at least put the seatbelt on her or something. That way it would look like she was driving. I would have at least crashed the car or something. I would have filled out the check correctly. You know, I would have at least tried to administer CPR or give her some type of aid because she is a CNA. Like, why would you not do that? But, yeah, thanks for listening to me.
Hi Taz, hi Mariah. My name is Kayla and first and foremost I want to thank y'all because I don't know man y'all y'all it's like y'all doing the lowest work or something I don't know I forgot how much I love true crime. I stopped watching it but then listening to y'all I got back interested in it and also I'm encouraged to start my own little podcast. I'm not in a true crime
part of the podcast world I'm gonna be in the healing side but and I hope y'all can listen to me one day um also Mariah please keep singing I don't care if a person tells you stop shut up keep singing I love it and I'll be in my car talking like y'all can hear me but keep singing keep going y'all I love y'all thank you so much for this podcast okay that's the end of the show for real this time
Bye-bye. So long. Farewell. No, if you want to... Thank you, my friend. Goodbye for now. Until we meet again. We were singing two different songs. Oh, my bad. It's okay.
It's okay. I liked where you took it, though. Anyways, if you guys want to keep up with us, you can follow us on Twitter at Sisters Who Kill. You can follow us on Instagram at Sisters Who Kill Pod, on TikTok at Sisters Who Kill Podcast, and you can join the discussion group if you answer the questions to get in. Anything else, friend? Talk to us. We'll talk back. All right. Bye.