Whisper
#byefelicia
Sorry if titles screwed up I got completely baffled with her being female cop listed as a male on her licence
May 30, 2011
June 6, 2011
Dec 16 2011
Susan Campbell
Sgt. Lynne Benton
http://www.kgw.com/home/Police-probe-suspicious-death-at-Gladstone-Beauty-Salon-122829639.htmlGLADSTONE, Ore. -- A body was found at a Gladstone Beauty Salon and police think she may have been murdered.
Investigators said Debbie Lee Higbee was found dead inside the Gladstone Beauty Salon at 430 Portland Avenue on Saturday. Higbee, 54, also went by last name of Benton.
Police said Higbee's long-term partner was Gladstone sergeant Lynne Benton (pictured at right) but investigators have not said if they believe that had anything to do with her death. Benton was on duty Saturday night when Higbee was found dead.
A search warrant, sitting in the victim's vehicle Tuesday revealed it was a homicide investigation.
Investigators are asking that anyone that may have been in the area of the Gladstone Beauty Salon on Saturday between 3:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. to contact police with any information that might aid in the investigation,†said officer Ulli Neitch with the Milwaukie Police Department.
Since the victim had been involved with a Gladstone police officer, the Milwaukie Police Department took over the investigation, which is normal protocol.
Investigators have not told the media exactly how they believe Higbee died. People interviewed near the salon by KGW said that detectives told them she had been shot. But another man said detectives told him she was strangled.
Higbee owned the hair salon and had also worked there the past 20 years
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Debbie Lee Higbee
June 6, 2011
http://www.kgw.com/home/Report-Gladstone-officer-was-married-to-murder-victim-123112373.htmlGLADSTONE -- The woman accused of murdering a Gladstone hair stylist has confessed to police, according to court documents obtained by KGW.
The court documents said that that Susan Campbell, 54, told Oregon State Police she was alone with Debbie Lee Higbee as she closed the salon on the day of her death. The court documents went on to say that Campbell admitted she "was involved in her [Higbee's] death."
Police also said, "Campbell admitted to participating in intentionally causing the death of the victim" and that investigators have recovered a handgun of the same caliber as one used in Higbee's murder, according to the court documents.
Campbell was scheduled to be arraigned in court Monday and she was being held without bail. She was arrested at her home on Ipswich Street in Gladstone last Friday. Police would only say she is an "acquaintance" of the victim.
The documents also said that Campbell knew details of the killing that had not been made public.
Background: Gladstone hairdresser death a homicide
Higbee was found dead last Saturday inside a beauty salon, was once married to Gladstone police sergeant Lynne Benton.
According to a report first published in The Oregonian, Sgt. Benton and Higbee took out a marriage license application last October in Clackamas County. Benton, who had earlier changed her middle name to Edward, listed herself as male, the paper reported.
They were married Oct. 28 in a civil ceremony performed by city pro tem Judge Linda G. Beloof, the Oregonian reported. Oregon law only recognizes marriages between a man and a woman, but the clerk's office doesn't require gender documentation, the paper reported.
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Susan Campbell
http://www.kgw.com/news/Court-testi...tranged-wife-killed-135676458.html?hpt=ju_bn6GRESHAM, Ore -- A detective testifying during a bail hearing Thursday said he believes a Gladstone police sergeant was involved in the murder of her estranged spouse last May at a hair salon.
The bail hearing was being held for 53-year old Susan Campbell, the woman accused of killing Deborah Lee Higbee-Benton. The Gladstone hair dresser was found dead on May 28th and according to court papers, Campbell confessed.
But even after that confession, multiple police sources indicated that investigators were taking a close look at Sgt. Lynne Benton after the death of her spouse. They were investigating a possible murder plot in which the sergeant hired Campbell, who was her best friend, to kill Higbee-Benton.
Sgt. Benton's Oregon driver's license lists the gender as male, although Lynne was born as a woman. In court Thursday, Benton was referred to as both "she" and "he" and Higbee-Benton was described as the sergeant's estranged wife.
During testimony Thursday, detective Brad Edwards, with the Oregon City Police Bureau, said that Sgt. Benton offered $2,000 to have her estranged wife killed.
"Lynne Benton had wanted this done a substantial time before and was actually getting irritated that Debbie Higbee ha not been killed any sooner," Edwards testified.
Defense attorneys questioned the proof to back up those allegations. They said there was no record of a $2,000 money transfer and the detective testified that investigators were still reviewing bank records.
Edwards also testified that the suspected motive in the murder plot had to do with Benton's job as a police sergeant. He said that Benton abused her wife and was concerned that if allegations of domestic violence went public, she could get fired.
Higbee-Benton was severely beaten and shot to death. The medical examiner described the violent murder as "kill, kill and overkill."
Sgt. Benton has been on bereavement leave since the murder. She has not been arrested but is the target of a criminal investigation. Gladstone Police Chief James Pryde said he could not comment on the case, due to personnel matters.
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