Killer in Question is in Dania Beach, Florida, this week to look at the horrific murder of pensioner Olga Parlante, who was viciously killed by Bennie Hall during a robbery at her home.
On March 12, 1997, the remains of 71-year-old Olga Parlante were discovered by one of her granddaughters at her apartment in Dania Beach, not far from Fort Lauderdale. She had been badly beaten and was strangled to death.
The mother of 9 children and 15 grandchildren had been attacked by Hall, who then dragged his partially paralyzed victim back into her apartment. He strangled her with a blouse when she tried to crawl away.
Hall then trashed the place as he looked for valuables to steal before leaving with a television set, a portable radio, and a mantel clock.
The detectives were shocked by the brutality of the crime and worked hard to get a conviction, but a lack of evidence hampered them. They had pulled fingerprints and palm prints from the crime scene, but there was no way to compare them with national databases.
It took 15 years to catch Bennie Hall for murder
Fast forward 15 years, and forensic technology finally caught up to Bennie Hall. A new analysis of the prints left in Olga’s apartment pointed to the career criminal, who was already languishing in a Miami jail on an unrelated drug conviction.
It transpired that Hall had a long history of robbery and violence directed at older people in the Miami-Dade area. He had been arrested for cocaine possession just a few days after he killed Olga.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelIn July 2018, 21 years after Olga had been brutally murdered, Bennie Hall was sentenced to spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Olga’s son Michael Parlante addressed Hall at the sentencing: “You took her life for a TV and $25 in cash. I hope you got a good high off of that.”
More from Killer in Question
Follow the links to read about more murders profiled on Killer in Question.
In the small town of Mascote, Florida, 11-year-old Teresa McAbee was kidnapped, raped, and murdered. The number one suspect turned out to be the only police officer on duty that night, James Duckett.
More than a decade after the brutal murder of two hunters, Doug Estes and Jim Bennett, a cold case unit arrested Jeff Titus and put him in jail for the murders. However, the officers who originally investigated the case say he’s innocent.
Killer in Question airs at 9/8c on Investigation Discovery.