Naman Shrestha
The episode titled ‘Secrets of the Snake Farm’ of NBC’s ‘Dateline’ chronicles the gruesome 2017 murder of a popular snake breeder named Ben Renick, who was found lying in the pool of his own blood in New Florence, Missouri. During the investigation, multiple potential suspects emerged, making things complicated for the detectives. After uncovering some dark family secrets, they were led right to the perpetrator. The documentary features insightful interviews with the loved ones of Ben Renick and the officials, including the lead investigator of the case.
Ben Renick Was Found Dead Inside His Place of Business
Benjamin Blue-Brich Renick was welcomed into the world by Frank James and Charlene Marie (Kemmish) Renick on August 4, 1987. Referred to as Ben by his loved ones, he spent his early days in his hometown of Saint Louis, in St. Louis City, Missouri. The Renick household was a loving one, packed with the laughter of Benjamin and his brother Sam Renick. A graduate of Montgomery County R-II High School (2006), Ben was a bright and ambitious individual with big plans for his future. Family has always been integral in his life, so he was naturally devastated when his mother passed away after an illness in 2008. Around two years later, when he was 24, he rekindled his friendship with Lynlee Jo Gallatin. Aside from their compatible personalities, the two shared the grief of losing their mothers.
While their passing left an irreplaceable void in their lives, both Ben and Lynlee carried their memories deep in their hearts and moved forward. One thing led to another, and they got into a relationship. Ben also embraced Lynlee’s son from a previous relationship, like his own. At some point in 2012, Ben lost his father to suicide. As he coped with the loss, he had the unwavering support of his partner. After a while, they decided to share a living space. Ben built a house on the farm he inherited from his father (after his passing), and the pair started a life together in New Florence, Montgomery County. Soon, the two tied the knot on April 13, 2014, in St. Charles, Missouri. Over the years, the Renicks added another family member to their world. Ben and Lynlee’s world revolved around their kids – son Matthew Alyn Renick and daughter Emilia Marie Renick. His reptile breeding facility, Renick Reptiles, which Ben built on the barn of his family farm, mainly dealt with the breeding of designer pythons.
Besides being an avid reptile enthusiast from an early age, Ben also liked to play drums and collect horror movie props. Being a family man, he cherished his wife and kids with all his heart. On the evening of June 8, 2017, when Lynlee and their kids arrived at Ben’s snake facility in New Florence, Missouri, she called Sam and said she found Ben dead on the floor. Immediately, the authorities were informed of the situation. The authorities rushed to the crime scene and initially suspected Ben’s death could’ve been caused by a snake since the facility contained thousands of snakes. However, upon finding shell casings under his body, it was determined that it was a homicide. The autopsy revealed that the 29-year-old man was shot six times from behind and once in the back of his head, resulting in his demise. Without wasting any time, a homicide investigation was launched.
Police Came Across Multiple Suspects During the Investigation
Since Ben Renick’s wife, Lynlee Renick, found him dead, the authorities interviewed her. When asked about her whereabouts at the time of the murder, she claimed that she was at her spa. She told them that she received a call about her husband not showing up to pick up their children from school, after which she went to his workplace. Lynlee expressed her suspicions about Ben’s brother, Sam, being involved in the crime. She said, “When their dad shot himself, the way that everything was set up, Ben and I actually owned all of the property. Sam kind of basically just went to Ben, and he was like, ‘You need to give me half of the property.’ Ben was like, ‘No, I can’t jeopardize my family and this business.’ So, you know, he just said a lot of really hurtful things to Ben.”
The detectives then brought in Sam for questioning. He admitted that he felt it was unfair for his father to leave the farm solely in Ben’s name, but denied having anything to do with the murder. After he provided a solid alibi, he was eliminated as one of the suspects. Upon digging into Ben and Lynlee’s relationship, the investigators learned that the latter appeared to be involved in an extramarital affair. On top of that, Lynlee was also in a lot of debt, which was another reason for the deterioration of their marriage. It turned out that she also tried to cash Ben’s $1 million life insurance policy just a few hours after his passing. Moreover, she reportedly attempted to sell the family farm as well as his reptile business.
The Killer Was Eventually Brought to Justice For the Murder
Upon going through Lynlee’s cell phone records, the detectives found out that she had connected with a couple of more men around the time of the murder — Michael Humphrey and Brandon Blackwell. The latter, who was married and a father of two, had reportedly begun an affair just a few days before Ben’s killing, but he was ruled out as a suspect as he had a solid alibi. Soon, Lynlee and Brandon got into a relationship and relocated to Columbia, Missouri, after selling the farm for thousands of dollars. Their relationship began deteriorating, so much so that in 2019, she obtained a restraining order against him. Eventually, he was arrested for violating the restraining order in January 2020. Brandon told the authorities that Lynlee had told him that she had tried to kill Ben a week before he was killed, but failed to do so.
Lynlee allegedly told her coworker, Ashley Shaw, that she was getting abused by Ben and convinced her to help her get Percocet in order to poison him. Moreover, Ashley helped Lynlee get in touch with Michael Humphrey and establish a fake alibi for her by sending texts on Lynlee’s phone. When the detectives arrested and questioned Michael, he claimed that she had asked him to accompany her to Ben’s snake facility to pick up some of her stuff as she was leaving him. However, as per his accounts, she tried to convince him to commit murder for her at first, but ended up shooting him to death herself.
With enough witness testimonies against her, Lynlee was finally arrested on January 16, 2020, for the murder of her husband, Ben Renick. Before her, Michael’s trial took place in October 2021, which resulted in him being convicted of first-degree murder. In exchange for getting his conviction lowered to second-degree murder, he directed the authorities to the murder weapon. Although he was sentenced to life in prison, Michael was granted the possibility of parole. A couple of months later, in December 2021, Lynlee Renick’s trial for Ben’s killing got underway. In her defense, she alleged that Michael was the one who shot him. In the end, the jury wasn’t convinced and found her guilty of second-degree murder. She was sentenced to 16 years in prison on January 24, 2022.
