Mexican authorities arrest Minnesota man charged with killing parents
Authorities say the Minnesota man charged with killing his parents in Todd County earlier this week was arrested Saturday at a hotel in Mexico.
Dylan Bennett, 22, faces two counts of second-degree murder in connection with the fatal shootings of his parents Barry and Carol Bennett in Long Prairie, Minn.
Using information from local, state and federal authorities in the U.S., "Mexican law enforcement located Dylan Bennett shortly before noon today at a hotel in Cancun," the Todd County Sheriff's Office reported in a news release on Saturday afternoon.
Authorities had been tracking Bennett's cell phone, credit card and ATM activity in Cancun in recent days.
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The sheriff's office said Bennett had contacted Sheriff Steve Och just prior to his arrest, and said he was planning to turn himself in. Before officials in Minnesota could reach Mexican authorities, they had taken him into custody.
The FBI is set to transport Bennett back to Minnesota in the coming days, the sheriff's office said.
On Wednesday, the Todd County Sheriff's Office had received a 911 call about a man found dead at a rural Long Prairie home.
The caller had gone to check on a friend, who hadn't returned texts or phone calls since Tuesday. When deputies arrived, they found two adults dead. The arrest complaint said both appeared to have been shot multiple times. Investigators found an empty semi-automatic pistol magazine and 9 mm shell casings. The complaint also said autopsy reports indicate the elder Bennetts were shot sometime during the day on Aug. 19.
Investigators said Carol Bennett’s credit and debit cards were used in Wisconsin, Illinois and Ohio, and that Dylan Bennett allegedly withdrew “a large sum of cash” from his parents’ Long Prairie bank account. He also apparently flew from Columbus, Ohio, to Atlanta, Georgia, then on to Cancun.
While in Ohio, Dylan Bennett gave a “person a 9 mm handgun to hold for him,” court documents said.
Last December, Barry Bennett told the Todd County Sheriff’s Office that “his son, Dylan Bennett, while in a mental health treatment facility, had expressed homicidal thoughts about killing his parents,” according to the complaint.
Barry and Carol Bennett both were 63 years old. Barry Bennett was a former NFL player, who had a brief stint with the Minnesota Vikings.
MPR’s Kirsti Marohn contributed to this report.