‘The truth came out:’ Man convicted of murder now a free man after 20 years
HORRY COUNTY, SC (WPDE) — Gary Wayne Bennett, 57, is now a free man after once sentenced to life without parole for murder.
Bennett was convicted in 2002 for killing Eva Marie Martin, 42, in her Horry County home.
He claimed his innocence for 20 years since he was arrested for murder in July 2000. He served 17 years for a separate burglary charge and then started his sentencing for his murder conviction in 2016. After his conviction, Bennett started studying and reading about the court system. He studied his own case for more than 7,000 days.
“It was a struggle. Always a struggle. You know month after month after month we just kept overturning rocks and finding out this and overturning this,” explained Bennett. “It’s a journey. This was a journey.”
He appealed his conviction through a process called Post Conviction Relief in 2008. In 2014, the State Supreme Court overturned it and ordered a new trial, saying his lawyer inadequately represented him.
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