John Hult notes that it has been one full month since Richard Benda, second director of Marion Michael Rounds's Governor's Office of Economic Development and key player in South Dakota's now-federally scrutinized EB-5 visa Ponzi scheme investment program, died of a gunshot wound in a grove of trees near his brother-in-law's farm near Lake Andes. Attorney General Marty Jackley, who appears to have immediately taken on investigation of this unexplained shooting death, has yet to make any statement on how Richard Benda died.
I've been waiting for someone to give some context for how unusual it is that an entire month should pass without any official statement on the cause of a suspicious death. John Hult says it's extraordinarily unusual:
Generally, if there’s a suspicious, newsworthy death and some question about the cause – in a child abuse case, for example – I go to the register of deeds office and pay $15 for an informational copy of the victim’s death certificate.
The certificate lists the cause or causes of death, next of kin, place of injury, method of burial and a handful of other bits of factual data.
It usually takes a while for these certificates to be filed. If it isn’t in the state’s system when I make a request, I pay up front, collect the receipt and wait for a call from the clerks telling me that the record is ready.
In cases where an autopsy is performed, the preliminary results usually are enough to allow the state to file the death certificate. In four and a half years on the crime beat, I’ve never had to wait longer than a week and a half.
For Tyrese Ruffin, the son of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson who died in a suspected case of child abuse, I paid on Oct. 15 and picked it up Oct. 22. That’s one week from the payment and just shy of two weeks removed from the 2-year-old’s death on Oct. 9.
I paid for a copy of Benda’s death certificate on Oct. 30. As of this morning, there’s still nothing [John Hult, "What Happened to Richard Benda? We Still Don't Know," Amicus Lector, 2013.11.20].
In four and a half years of reporting, Hult has never encountered a delay in delivery of a death certificate as long as the delay the state has imposed on Richard Benda's death certificate.
Attorney General Marty Jackley, you have some explaining to do. Who killed Richard Benda... and do we need to watch out for a murderer on the loose?
The shooting death is the kicker on a high-finance scam that goes directly to the door of then-Gov. M. Mike Rounds. The gunshot victim is at the heart of the money trail. No wonder they're so ham-fisted in handling it!
Who shot him? What caliber bullet or was it a shotgun blast? Who else was in the shelterbelt and why? How long had Benda known about the federal probe and who else knew about it, and when were they told and who told them and why?
When somebody is running a scam and defrauding South Dakotans - whether it's a contractor, or a phone scam, or a fake raffle - the Attorney General's office usually puts out a press release about that too. Still nothing from the AG on Annette Bosworth's raffle scam.
When it is difficult to know, they are not telling what they do not know yet. Either killed by disgruntled investors, or by someone wanting to coverup what he did for them. Those who invested over one hundred million and it is being auctioned off at a starting price of one eighth of that, they can only cover their investment by buying it. With that much investment money rather than loans, they should easily made it a profitable business. Investors are seriously wronged.
It's starting to sound like a Kathleen Taylor mystery novel.
So who is investigating this, Marty or the US Marshals?
Jerry, don't be like the NSA. It's rude.
I don't think Dr. Bos is involved in this H15Bvisa thing and I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have paid 500 thousand moolas for a green card for her hubby.
Grudznick:
I have been evaluating Larry Rhoden's record on illegal immigration votes, and I am not pleased with what I see. Explain to me why your candidate cosponsored and supported 2011's SB 156 "to prohibit the employment of unauthorized aliens," and yet the very next year OPPOSED 2012's SB 155 "to prohibit the employment of unauthorized aliens."
What happened between 2011 and 2012 that changed Larry Rhoden's mind about employing unauthorized aliens in South Dakota? Why did he Co-sponsor and support 2012's HCR 1015 "urging the FEDERAL government to secure our NATIONAL borders and enforce US immigration laws" and yet in the same session oppose SB-155 "to prohibit THE EMPLOYMENT of unauthorized aliens?"
WHY?
Who cares if Bosworth is involved in this scandal, she has plenty of her own.
Grudznick, why is South Dakota the only state in the country that is refusing to release information about doctors who have been excluded from Medicaid?
http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/content/sd-refuses-release-names-docs-kicked-medicaid
Speaking of marrying to get a green card, that Filipino church that bought Scenic was involved in such dealings, and have been raided previously by federal authorities.
What do you think about human trafficking, Grudz? Is that something any decent human being should support???
Is there anything else your candidate supports besides the indentured servitude of illegal aliens and human trafficking? How about the sex slavery of 12 year old girls? Does he support that too?
Bree, anymore than three posts in a row, and Grudz won't let you cook us dinner.
I'm about to cook Grudz for dinner.
Remind me to put in an early app to see that death certificate, Bree.
Rick, the questions about bullet/caliber ought to be easy to answer. Others present on the scene? tougher. What did Benda know? Possibly impossible, unless investigators took depositions or Benda kept a diary.
A diary. Imagine if Benda kept a diary.
Was Benda on Facebook, or some other social media?
Someone sold his soul to the devil, and his name is Grudz.
Yes, Lanny, though not much. Why do you ask?
It would seem a simple statement on the type or caliber of the weapon that killed Benda would be easy. Does a death certificate specify murder or suicide or does it just state the facts for example, "wound from shotgun fired with muzzle pressed against body" "wound from shotgun fired from a distance of X feet" or "wound from 9mm pistol" or "wound from high powered rifle." The physical cause of death is a matter of science and should have been determined weeks ago. The puller of the trigger is a harder question and isn't part of the death certificate.
Failure to timely release a death certificate illustrates as well as anything in recent memory the stupidity, hubris and the extent and power of the Republican good old boy club in Pierre.