Laurie Bembenek

Lawrencia Ann "Bambi" Bembenek (August 15, 1958 – November 20, 2010), known as Laurie Bembenek, was an American security officer at Marquette University when she was arrested on charges of first-degree murder of Christine Schultz in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on May 28, 1981. Bembenek was convicted and sentenced in 1982 to life in prison.

Schultz was the ex-wife of Elfred O. "Fred" Schultz, a veteran officer with the Milwaukee Police Department. They had been married for several years and had two sons together when they divorced in November 1980. Bembenek and Fred Schultz married in January 1981 in Illinois, but the marriage was ruled invalid because Wisconsin does not allow remarriage less than six months after divorce. The couple officially remarried in November 1981, after Christine Schultz had been murdered.

The elements of the case made it a sensation, garnering national attention during the trial. In 1984 Bembenek and Fred Schultz divorced. In prison she completed a bachelor's degree.

She gained even more media notice in 1990 after she escaped from Taycheedah Correctional Institution in Wisconsin. With the revelation of new evidence about the lack of her DNA at the scene, a ballistics test showing the murder weapon was different than Schultz's gun, and evidence of an unknown male at the victim's house, Bembenek sought to have her conviction overturned. Appeals were unsuccessful because of her nolo contendere plea.

Bembenek had graduated from the police academy and served briefly with the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD), before being fired in August 1980 during her probationary period. She sued the department, claiming that its officers engaged in sexual discrimination and other illegal activities, but the investigation did not uphold her complaint.

Two years after gaining freedom in November 1992, Bembenek moved to Vancouver, Washington, where her parents lived. She worked at volunteer and paying jobs and married again. On November 20, 2010, Bembenek died at a hospice facility in Portland, Oregon, at age 52.

Early life

Lawrencia Ann Bembenek was the youngest of three girls; she was born on August 15, 1958, to Joseph and Virginia Bembenek in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Bembenek attended Bryant & Stratton College in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where she earned an associate degree in fashion merchandising management.

Career and marriage

After college, Bembenek returned to Milwaukee, where she worked in retail and had a brief stint as a model. In 1978, she appeared as "Miss March" in a calendar distributed by the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company.

In March 1980, Bembenek began training at the Milwaukee police academy. While still a trainee, she was accused by an anonymous tipster of smoking marijuana at a party. Bembenek denied the charge, which was investigated but never substantiated.

While still at the academy, Bembenek met and became close with Judy Zess, another female trainee. Bembenek graduated from the academy in the summer of 1980 and was assigned to the MPD's South Side Second District.

In her autobiography Woman on the Run (1992), Bembenek later claimed that the MPD was then composed of "brutal, lazy, apathetic and corrupt" police officers. She also said that female and minority officers were routinely subjected to harassment and abuse during training.

At a rock concert in May 1980, Zess was arrested for smoking marijuana. This violated her probation as a new officer and she was fired. Bembenek was dismissed from the Milwaukee Police Department on August 25, 1980, because of her involvement in filing a false report related to Zess's May arrest.

They shared an apartment with her friend Judy Zess, and Zess's boyfriend Thomas D. Gaertner.

Bembenek began working as a personal trainer at a health club. By May 1981 she was working as a campus security officer at Marquette University in Milwaukee.

A judge ruled the Schultz couple's marriage was invalid, stating that Schultz had violated Wisconsin law by not waiting six months after his divorce to remarry. Bembenek and Schulz married again in November 1981.

Murder of Christine Schultz

On May 28, 1981, at approximately 2:15 a.m., Christine J. (Pennings) Schultz was murdered in her Milwaukee home. She was shot point blank into her back through her heart by a single shot from a .38 caliber pistol. Christine was gagged and blindfolded, and her hands were tied in front of her with a clothes line.

Her two sons, Sean and Shannon, then 11 and 7 years old, were asleep in the house when the assailant entered their room. They found their mother face down on her bed and bleeding. The older boy, Sean, saw the assailant, which he described as a masked male figure in a green army jacket and black shoes. He also said the man had a long (approx. 6" or 15 cm) reddish-colored ponytail.

Christine and Fred Schultz had been divorced six months when she was killed. Fred Schultz initially said he was on duty investigating a burglary with his partner, Michael Durfee, at the time of the murder. Years later he admitted the two men were drinking at a local bar.

When ballistics testing allegedly revealed that his off-duty revolver was the murder weapon, suspicion shifted to Bembenek. She had been alone at home, in the apartment she shared with Fred Schultz. She had access to both the gun and a key to Christine's house, which Fred Schulz had secretly copied from his oldest son's house key.

Trial and conviction

Bembenek's trial generated tremendous publicity. Newspapers began referring to her as "Bambi" Bembenek (a nickname she disliked). The prosecution portrayed Bembenek as a loose woman addicted to expensive living who wanted Christine Schultz dead so that her new husband would no longer have to pay alimony and child support.

Noting that Bembenek had financial problems, the prosecution claimed that she was the only person with the motive and means to carry out the crime. The gun used to kill Christine was Bembenek's husband's off-duty revolver; the prosecution claimed Bembenek was the only person besides Schultz who had access to the gun, which had blood on it. Bembenek supposedly also had access to a key to Christine's home. There were no signs of a break-in and no valuables taken. These were all elements of circumstantial evidence.

The strongest evidence, however, was two human hairs found at the crime scene, which matched ones taken from the hairbrush of the defendant. But Schultz's eldest son, an eyewitness, said he could not identify Bembenek as the person he had seen in the house and who shot his mother. Bembenek had dyed blonde hair, weighed 140 pounds and was .

Prosecution witnesses testified that Bembenek had spoken often of killing Christine. The prosecution produced a witness who said Bembenek offered to pay him to carry out the murder. According to witnesses for the prosecution, Bembenek owned a green jogging suit similar to the one described by Schultz's son. Other evidence was her owning a clothes line and a blue bandanna similar to what were used to bind and gag the victim. A wig found in the plumbing system of Bembenek's apartment matched fibers found at the murder scene. A boutique employee testified that Bembenek had purchased such a wig shortly before the murder.

On March 9, 1982, the jury found Bembenek guilty of first-degree murder; she was sentenced to life in prison. She was imprisoned at the Taycheedah Correctional Institution in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

Post-trial publicity, events and appeals

While Fred Schultz had initially stood by Bembenek, claiming she was innocent, he later changed his mind and in 1989 publicly stated that he believed she was "guilty as sin." They had been divorced in 1984. Bembenek in turn came to believe that Schultz was guilty of having hired a man named Freddy Horenberger to murder Christine, and allowed Bembenek to take the fall.

After her imprisonment, Bembenek filed three unsuccessful appeals of her conviction, citing police errors in handling of key evidence. She also noted the fact that one of the prosecution's witnesses, Judy Zess, had recanted her testimony, stating it was made under duress. Bembenek and her supporters also alleged that the MPD may have singled her out for prosecution because of her role as a key witness in a federal investigation into police corruption. Bembenek's supporters agreed with her claim that Horenberger, at the behest of Fred Schulz, had murdered Christine.

Following Bembenek's conviction, numerous affidavits were filed that alleged that, while imprisoned, Horenberger boasted to other inmates of having killed Christine Schulz. However, he publicly denied any involvement in the murder until his alleged suicide in November 1991. This followed his participation in a robbery and hostage situation. In an interview she gave to The Milwaukee Sentinel earlier that year, Bembenek said that Fred had written her a letter saying that he was living with a 19-year-old woman in Florida and had decided to end their marriage. Their divorce was granted on June 19, 1984.

Escape and capture

On July 15, 1990, Bembenek escaped through a laundry room window and was picked up by her fiancé, Gugliatto. The couple was spotted in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, two days after Bembenek's escape, driving in Gugliatto's truck. The abandoned truck was later found in a parking lot of a Target.

Bembenek and Gugliatto fled to Thunder Bay, Ontario, while sensational stories about their relationship swirled through American tabloids. Her escape also reignited publicity surrounding her case, and she became something of a folk hero. A song was written about her, and t-shirts were sold with the slogan "Run, Bambi, Run".

While on the run, Bembenek used the name "Jennifer Gazzana" and got a job working as a waitress. The couple evaded capture for three months. She also worked as a fitness instructor.

On October 17, 1990, the couple was arrested after a tourist saw a segment about Bembenek's escape on America's Most Wanted TV series. Gugliatto was deported to the United States a month later and was eventually sentenced to one year in prison for his role in the escape. Bembenek voluntarily returned to the United States on April 22, 1991.

Life after prison

Bembenek wrote a book about her experience, titled Woman on Trial (1993). After her release, she had various legal and personal problems: she was arrested again on possession of marijuana and filed for bankruptcy.

She was diagnosed with hepatitis C, which she had acquired from her mother at birth,

In 1996, she moved to Washington state to be near her retired parents in Vancouver, Washington. There she met U.S. Forest Service employee Marty Carson. They married in 2005. Bembenek said that she had been held in an apartment by handlers in preparation for appearing on the Dr. Phil television show. A spokesman for the show said they intended to protect her from media harassment. Bembenek said the confinement felt too much like her time in solitary in prison; she tried to escape and suffered the injury. She sued Dr. Phil, Paramount and 52 staffers from the show.

Bembenek continued to proclaim her innocence, but the Wisconsin Supreme Court refused to overturn her "no contest plea", saying that such a plea cannot be withdrawn. In April 2008, Bembenek filed a petition with the United States Supreme Court, seeking a reversal of the second murder conviction. Bembenek's attorney pointed to evidence withheld in the original trial, including ballistics tests that showed the murder bullets did not match Fred Schultz's gun, male DNA found on the victim, evidence showing that the victim had been sexually assaulted, and the eyewitness testimony of the two young sons who claimed that the intruder was a heavyset, masked man. Bembenek's petition argued that the court needed to clarify whether defendants who plead guilty or no contest have the same right to review evidence as those who plead not guilty. Her appeal was denied in June 2008.

Death

On November 20, 2010, Bembenek died at a hospice facility in Portland, Oregon, from liver and kidney failure.

Representation in other media

Her case inspired two television movies, a podcast and various books and articles.

Woman on the Run: The Lawrencia Bembenek Story (1993) is an American drama film written and directed by Sandor Stern. It is adapted from Bembenek's memoir, Woman on Trial. It stars Tatum O'Neal and Bruce Greenwood.
In 2004, MSNBC produced and aired a biography of Laurie Bembenek on their Headliners and Legends television show, but she did not participate.
WTMJ-TV anchor Mike Jacobs had a two-part interview with Bembenek that aired on that station's 10 p.m. newscast on October 28 and 29, 2010.
In April 2022, Apple Podcasts and Campside Media released the 8-part podcast series about Bembenek and her case. Run, Bambi, Run is hosted by Vanessa Grigoriadis. It is based in part on a book of the same name by Kris Radish.
In September 2023, Gordon Gano and Eric Simonson wrote a musical about the life of Bembenek, Run, Bambi, Run at Milwaukee Rep in Downtown Milwaukee. The premiere featured Erika Olson as Laurie, Armando Gutierrez as Fred Schultz, Jess Kantorowitz as Judy, and Douglas Goodhart as Ira Robbins.

Television media about Bembenek

Calendar Girl, Cop, Killer? The Bambi Bembenek Story (1992), starring Lindsay Frost
City Confidential Milwaukee: The Legend of Bambi Bembenek (Season 6, Episode 1 original air date on A&E Network 03/27/2002)
Woman on the Run: The Lawrencia Bembenek Story (1993), starring Tatum O'Neal
The Perfect Murder: Deadly Divorce (2015) original air date 07/01/15 on Investigation Discovery
On the Case with Paula Zahn: Bambi Is Captured on Investigation Discovery]
Vanity Fair Confidential: Was Bambi Framed? original air date 02/19/2018 on Investigation Discovery.
The Playboy Murders: Run Bambi Run (2023) on Investigation Discovery

References

Bibliography

External links

Article from Fox News about her 2002 fall and leg amputation