Trent Benson

Trent Christopher Benson (born October 7, 1971) is a South Korean-born American murderer, serial rapist and suspected serial killer who was linked via DNA evidence to at least four rapes in Mesa and Phoenix, Arizona from 2004 to 2007, two of which resulted in death. Benson was subsequently convicted and sentenced to death for these crimes in 2011, and is awaiting execution on death row.

Early life Trent Christopher Benson was born on October 7, 1971, in South Korea, but was abandoned by his birth parents and left to wander the streets before being taken in by an orphanage at age 3. There, he was adopted by David and Elizabeth Benson, an American couple from Fosston, Minnesota who already had several other adopted children. According to relatives and friends, the Bensons were described as a loving and caring couple who took good care of all their children.

Benson attended the local Fosston High School, where he was noted for his skills in track and field, singing in the school choir, and eventually becoming captain of the swimming team. There, he continued with his job at a local dealership and eventually married a woman named Merchelle Tohonnie, with whom he had a son. Their marriage lasted for several years before they eventually divorced, with Benson citing Tohonnie's supposed alcoholism as the main factor for this decision.

Murders On November 1, 2004, Benson left a local strip club, and on his way back home, he picked up 21-year-old Alisa Marie Beck. After paying her for sex, he became enraged when she complained about his performance, causing him to hit her head on the steering wheel and choke her until she lost consciousness. He then left her partially-clothed body in an alleyway less than a mile away from his house, and drove away. Beck's body was found later that day. The arrest came as a shock both to his neighbors in Mesa and his family and friends back in Fosston, all of whom considered him incapable of committing such horrific acts. His ex-wife was interviewed in the aftermath of this announcement, and while she claimed that he was emotionally abusive, Tohonnie claimed to be as shocked of this revelation as others were. The jury found no mitigating circumstances in his case, recommending that he be sentenced to death for the murders. Subsequently, Benson was sentenced to death for the murders and 135 years imprisonment for the sexual assaults.

As of February 2025, he is still alive and remains on Arizona's death row.