MURDER CHARGES FILED IN MUTILATION SLAYING
AUTOPSY DISCLOSES 5 BULLET HOLES IN TORSO

Second-degree murder charges were filed against Robert Eugene Bennett Wednesday morning in 3rd Circuit Court.

The charges were filed after Salt Lake County deputies discovered a torso and head buried in the yard of the home Bennett rented in South Salt Lake.An autopsy showed five bullet holes in the decapitated, armless torso unearthed in the yard of a former South Salt Lake man.

Bennett had a five-shot, .38-caliber pistol in his possession when he was arrested in Las Vegas April 6.

Sheriff Pete Hayward said the torso, as well as a human head wrapped in plastic that was unearthed from the same property Monday, are believed to be that of Larry Duane White.

Hayward said the head was well-preserved and dental records will be used to identify it.

White, 52, was an unemployed free-lance writer whose severed legs were found outside a grocery store trash bin at 851 E. 45th South in late February.

The victim's arms have not been found. "We dug up the whole countryside. We did not find those," Chief Deputy Sheriff Charles J. Shepherd said Wednesday morning. "There's a possibility they may have been put in a Dumpster like the legs. We don't know."

Shepherd said the body parts were found under concrete slabs under a layer of dirt.

Hayward said deputies also found a hacksaw in a shed on the property at 664 E. King's Lane (2980 South) which is where Robert Eugene Bennett lived from December to February.

Bennett, 51, is being investigated in connection with White's grisly slaying and mutilation. He is in the Salt Lake County Jail awaiting trial on a federal social security fraud indictment.

Since his arrest, Bennett has been questioned numerous times about White's death but has refused to talk.

Sheriff's officials have contacted law enforcement officials in Beaverton, Ore., where Bennett's ex-wife has been missing for 12 years.

After discovering "soft earth" at Bennett's former residence, detectives, with the permission of the property owner, began digging. About 8 p.m. Monday, they found the torso, wrapped in a plastic bag, wedged between a pipe and septic tank about 30 inches underground. Hayward said the torso was clothed only in white shorts. Detectives also unearthed work gloves, a penny and a small neck chain, he said.