All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court of law.
(Fremont County, WY) – 39-year-old murder suspect Bennilee Strock of Pavillion has requested to have her confession stricken from the record, citing intoxication, unavailability of a requested lawyer and BIA officer, and alleged officer intimidation.
The initial motion to suppress evidence hearing was in April, and the continuation occurred on May 18th, where final legal decisions have yet to be made.
Strock, was arrested for allegedly stabbing and killing her husband, 41-year-old Jeffrey Strock, on December 24, 2020.
At the May 18th hearing, presided over by Judge Marvin Tyler, new evidence was presented by Strock’s public defender Valerie Schoneberger, which included bodycam footage of Strock in an inebriated state as she was brought in for questioning.
In this footage, Strock uses profanity throughout, repeatedly asking “Where am I?” and “I don’t even know what’s happening.” She then asks for a BIA police officer whom she could speak to instead of Fremont County Sheriff’s Office officers, which she had been told was her right as an enrolled Tribal Member.
While Strock’s intoxication is clear in the video, Fremont County Attorney Patrick LeBrun argued that alcohol tolerance plays a key role in whether or not Strock was drunk to the point of “mania” during her confession, when her BAC was reportedly at a .144%.
Lebrun brought out the first witness, Fremont Counseling Services Clinical Director Rebecca Parker, to give her assessment on Strock’s inebriation levels.
Parker stated that based on her experiences and knowledge of Blood Alcohol Content levels, the videos shown of Strock during her interview confession did not display the “dysphoric” characteristics of someone with a .144% BAC, and that her alcohol tolerance was the reason behind this.
The next witness, Lester Emerson, owner of Possum Pete’s, was asked about Bennilee and Jeffrey’s drinking habits, as well as the events leading up to the December 24th stabbing.
According to Emerson, in the 7 to 8 years he has known the Strocks to frequent his establishment, they would come to drink anywhere between 3 to 5 days a week, and anywhere from 4 to 6 hours each visit. It was also noted that Bennilee did not drink as much as Jeffrey during these visits.
He alleged that Jeffrey, who had a BAC of .328% the night of the murder according to County Coroner reports, was also there almost every morning to buy “a six-pack of beer and a pint of whiskey.” He also stated Jeffrey had to be “loaded into the truck,” by Bennilee, which was a “pretty common” occurrence.
Schoneberger then brought out the third witness, Licensed clinical social worker Damon Laird, to give his thoughts on tolerance and BAC elimination rates.
According to Laird, Blood Alcohol Content elimination rates occur at .015% per hour, which would mean that even though Strock’s BAC was at .144% at the time of the 2:00 AM interview confession, it would have been closer to a .219% at the the time of the altercation, around 9:00 PM.
He then stated, “The BAC never lies. Tolerance is not an ability, it’s a liability. A person with high tolerance isn’t better off cognitively, they just have more practice functioning and speaking at a .2% BAC level, which is a level where blackouts of memory can occur.”
Kelsi Sullivan, one of the responding officers to the stabbing, was then brought out as another witness. Sullivan stated that Strock was very emotional at the scene of the crime, and seemed inebriated to the point of non-compliance to her requests to move to another area. She also alleged that Strock attempted to crawl back to Jeffrey once she was moved to another room, and had to be dragged away.
Schoneberger then attempted to play a second body-cam video, which allegedly showed the intoxicated and shocked state Strock was in moments after officers arrived at the scene of the crime. There were technical difficulties, and the video had to be sent to the Judge by other means.
Strock herself was then brought out as a witness. Strock stated that she “consumed a lot more than she normally would” on the night of the murder, and that she “does not remember everything that happened, just bits and pieces.”
In regards to the body-cam video footage, Strock claimed she was “shocked” at her behavior and the foul language she used. “I perceive myself as a role model, seeing how I acted in that video, I did not act like role model.”
Strock also stated she felt too intimidated to speak to Fremont County Sheriff’s Office detective Anthony Armstrong, saying that is common for her to feel when she is around larger men. She also claimed his line of questioning left her confused, possibly leading to a coerced confession that left her without a lawyer.
Lebrun, in his closing statement, responded to these claims by referencing Strock’s behavior in the interview video. “When she was being interviewed, no mania was exhibited, she was answering questions. If she felt intimidated, nothing seen in the interview could be seen as coercion.”
At this point, the hearing ran out of time before Schoneberger could give her closing remark, which was then requested to be delivered by email within a week’s time. Lebrun will then have a 24 hour period to supply his rebuttal after reviewing her closing remarks.
County 10 will provide further coverage and information on this case as it becomes available.