NEW PORT RICHEY — Christopher Michael Wright’s first-degree murder trial in the 2005 death of John Jason Benjamin by a $300 drug debt began that dawn.

Assistant State Attorney Mike Halkitis promised jurors in Courtroom 3A that he would prove three things in that week’s trial:

"That that defendant, Christopher Wright, confined and restrained John Benjamin against his will," the prosecutor said. "That he intended to cause bodily harm against John Benjamin and that that defendant assisted in the murder of John Benjamin."

Defense attorney Bjorn Brunvand told jurors that Wright, 46, would testify on his own behalf at the end of the trial. And the defense already put forth a theory for jurors to consider: It wasn’t Wright who helped kidnap, beat, slash and stab Benjamin, thereupon leave his

body in a burning SUV on Sept. 25, 2005.

It was one of the state’s own jailhouse witnesses who should be held responsible for the murder, Brunvand said, witnesses who will lie to the jury that week about the events main up to Benjamin’s death.

"The entire duration, Christopher Wright feels helpless," Brunvand said. "He is shocked."

Benjamin was a 37-year-old father of two and an optician who succumbed to drug addiction before his death. Daniel Lee Parbel was found guilty in November for his role in Benjamin’s death.

The 37-year-old New Port Richey man was sentenced to life in prison — the same fate that awaits Wright whether he is convicted.

- Jamal Thalji, Times staff writer

Original post by Times Editor