LONG PRAIRIE, Minn. — The 22-year-old son of a former Minnesota Vikings defensive lineman and his wife has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder in their shooting deaths at the family’s central Minnesota home.
Dylan John Bennett is still on the run and is believed to have fled to Cancun, Mexico.
Police are asking the public for assistance in locating Bennett after his parents, Barry Bennett and Carol Bennett, both 63, were found dead Wednesday. It’s believed they were shot during the morning or afternoon hours of Monday.
Long Prairie, a town of about 3,500 people, is 30 miles northeast of Alexandria.
In charges filed Friday, it was reported that Barry Bennett told Todd County sheriff’s office officials last December that his son while in a mental health treatment facility “had expressed homicidal thoughts about killing his parents.”
After the bodies were found Wednesday, a law enforcement investigator reported that authorities found a vehicle that had been driven by Dylan Bennett in a motel parking lot in Columbus, Ohio, where a plane ticket was purchased and used for a Wednesday flight from Columbus to Atlanta and then to Cancun.
Based on usage of a cellphone, the investigator said it was believed Dylan Bennett was in Mexico on Thursday.
The bodies of his parents were discovered after the sheriff’s office received a call about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday from a friend of Barry Bennett. He said Bennett, a retired physical education teacher and coach at the Long Prairie-Grey Eagle school district, hadn’t returned his texts or call since Tuesday.
The investigator said the couple died of gunshot wounds. Barry Bennett was found in the entryway to their home in rural Long Prairie, while his wife was found on the kitchen floor.
It was discovered that a vehicle used by Carol Bennett was missing.
Dylan Bennett’s car was still at the home and the investigator said they found an empty box for a 9-mm handgun, a box for 9-mm ammunition and loose 9-mm rounds on the seat of the vehicle.
Police also learned that debit and credit cards of Carol Bennett were used at locations in Wisconsin, Illinois and Ohio on Monday through Wednesday. Additionally, the charges said a large sum of cash was withdrawn from an account belonging to the couple on Monday morning at a Long Prairie bank.
Police also stated Dylan Bennett had met a person in Columbus prior to the flight and had given the individual a 9-mm handgun to hold for him, according to the charges.
Autopsies on the couple were performed Thursday and Friday and it was found that Carol Bennett, who would have turned 64 on Thursday, had multiple gunshot wounds to her back and torso. Her husband had multiple gunshot wounds to his torso and head, according to the report.
Barry Bennett, who was raised in St. Paul, played 11 seasons in the NFL, mostly for the New Orleans Saints and New York Jets and for a short time with the Vikings. He played for Concordia College in Moorhead under longtime coach Jim Christopherson from 1974 to 1978. He was then drafted in the fourth round by the Saints.
He was also a national champion wrestler, winning three national titles in the NAIA and NCAA Division III tournaments.
Bennett was also a member of the Concordia College Hall of Fame.
Christopherson said Thursday night that he and his wife were “stunned” and “found it hard to understand.”
He said he hunted deer with Bennett in recent years.
“They were quality people,” he said of the Bennetts.
Christopherson said the couple raised four children and adopted two, including Dylan, who he said had just graduated from Bemidji State University and had found a job in China.
