Daughter finds closure in father's death

The news of Matthew John Bentz being shot to death two years ago in Mesa was about five hours old when one of the biggest murder cases in East Valley history went down. A quintuple slaying in the same city meant Bentz's death went largely unnoticed.

No one but police was looking for details about Bentz, 40, being shot during an argument and scuffle with Moody Dewitt Clark, then 22.

But earlier this month, Bentz's 16-year-old daughter Amy sent an e-mail to the Tribune looking for information about her father's death.

Only two weeks ago, Clark was exonerated when Bentz's death was ruled self-defense by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. When told Friday the circumstances of her father's death - including that he was shot three times with a gun he pulled and lost during a scuffle with Clark - Amy Bentz said she understood.

"I can't be mad about it," she said from McHenry, Ill., where she lives. "For my father to be killed is a big story, but the other one was bigger, I guess. This answers my questions. It's a relief to me. It's closure. But, it's not what I was expecting."

Bentz said her father, who she last saw in May 2003 shortly after he relocated to the Valley, had no police record that she knew of. He told her he was moving to Arizona for a job; she said he was a welder and did construction work. She said her mother, Kimberly Pieroni, told her about the death a day after it happened, but offered no details.

Amy Bentz said she's not sure if her mother had details, but still won't talk about it with her. Bentz, who lives with her mother, said Pieroni isn't pleased she is looking into her father's death.

Mesa police reports show that Bentz, an Apache Junction resident, was shot around 10 p.m. Feb. 20, 2006.

It wasn't long before that shooting was overshadowed by a bigger crime.

Mesa police received several 911 calls around 2:41 a.m. Feb. 21, 2006, reporting a woman screaming and gunfire at a home in Barrington Estates near Baseline and Ellsworth roads. A SWAT team broke in the door of the home about 5:15 a.m. and found the bodies of Steven Duffy and his brother, Shane, and Tammy Lovell and her children Jacob and Cassandra Lovell.

William Miller faces five murder counts in connection with those homicides. His trial probably will not begin until early 2010, according to court records.

In Bentz's incident, county attorney's office spokesman Mike Scerbo said in a prepared statement that veteran prosecutors reviewed the case against Clark and determined on July 11 that he was unarmed and acted in self-defense. Scerbo added that cases involving self-defense issues are complicated and often require careful and sometimes lengthy deliberation before a charging decision is made.

Police reports show that Bentz, James Ladd and Sara Kimble were in a room that Ladd lived in at the Majestic Guest Inn, 1554 W. Main St., on Feb. 20, 2006, when Clark - Kimble's boyfriend - arrived. Kimble told police that Bentz confronted Clark about robbing him of $500 at gunpoint about two weeks earlier. She said Bentz pulled a gun on Clark.

Bentz told Clark, "You can either leave with me and we can go out east somewhere, or I could just shoot you now," according to a statement Kimble gave to police.

Clark replied: "If you're not going to let me leave, I guess you're just going to have to shoot me."

Bentz then pushed Clark onto a couch in the room, according to police reports. Clark jumped up and the two fought. The men struggled for the gun and, according to Kimble, Clark got it and hit Bentz on his head. She said she heard three shots and that Bentz fell after the third shot as Clark ran from the room.

A police report shows that Clark got rid of the gun at a nearby tire store and returned to the motel to get his car and leave when police arrested him.

After police found Clark, he nodded his head toward Kimble and Ladd and said, "it was an accident. I didn't do it on purpose. Ask them."

Clark, Ladd and Kimble could not be reached for comment.

Bentz died at Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn hospital of what the Maricopa County Medical Examiner said were gunshot wounds to the left upper chest and left thigh. An autopsy report shows that Bentz also had five scalp lacerations.

Amy Bentz said she will always love her father and believes that he was trying to turn his life around in Arizona.

"I still feel the same about him," she said. "No information will ever change how much I love and miss my dad. He meant the world to me. He just apparently lived another life I didn't know about. But I still love him, no matter what."