Naman Shrestha
The episode titled ‘Wicked Witches’ of Investigation Discovery’s ‘Mean Girl Murders’ chronicles a case full of witchcraft and manipulation that led to the tragic demise of a promising young soldier named Joshua Bennett in August 2005 in Claremont, Illinois. As the investigation progressed, some dark secrets and a murder plot for someone else were revealed, leading the detectives to the orchestrator of the killing. Thanks to the confessions of the accomplices, the primary perpetrator was apprehended and brought to justice.
Joshua Bennett Was Killed While Trying to Defend His Mother
On July 27, 1985, in Mattoon, Illinois, Jerry and Jacqueline “Jackie” Bennett welcomed a little bundle of joy into the world in the form of Joshua “Josh” Thomas Bennett. In his childhood, his parents got divorced, after which he was raised alongside an older brother named Jake Bennett by their father. In 2004, after graduating from Mattoon High School, where he also participated in the JROTC program, he started basic training to join the army. During that period, he worked at an eatery in Louisiana as he also had a passion for cooking. After finishing his training in the summer of 2005, he enlisted in the US Army Delta Company at Fort Polk, Louisiana, during the Iraq War.
In his spare time, Josh also enjoyed being outdoors — traveling and exploring new places, swimming at the beach, riding his motorcycle, and spending quality time with his loved ones. Unfortunately, right before being deployed to Iraq to participate in the war, he received the tragic news of his father’s passing due to a heart attack in July 2005. Thus, he took a leave of absence and traveled back to his hometown, Mattoon, to attend Jerry’s funeral. While he was there, he also decided to meet his mother, Jacqueline, who had been living with her boyfriend, Lee Jackson, in Claremont, Illinois, at 175 East Fair Street. On August 22, he arrived at the residence and talked to his girlfriend, Jame Hopper-Talbert, that night on the phone.
In the early hours of August 23, when Josh reportedly heard Jacqueline’s screams for help after she was attacked by two intruders, he stormed to defend her. Jackie, Lee’s son, also got involved and managed to strike one of the intruders with the butt of his shotgun. He got into a struggle with the other intruder and reportedly shot him during the struggle. He also stabbed the other attacker in the leg, after which he fled the scene. Soon, the authorities were called to the scene of the crime. They found Joshua and Jacqueline bleeding on the floor in different rooms of the house. While Jacqueline survived the multiple stab wounds on her body, Joshua had died from a fatal stab wound to the chest.
Multiple Individuals Were Involved in Joshua Bennett’s Killing
As part of the investigation, the authorities interviewed the only witness of the crime, Jackie. He told them that he lived with his father, Lee Jackson, and his pregnant 17-year-old girlfriend, Lindsey Kasinger, but they had been visited by Josh the previous night for dinner. When he told them that he had stabbed one of the intruders in the leg, they looked for him in hospitals. On the other hand, they identified the other attacker as David Lindner, who was critically injured by the gunshot wound and slipped into a coma soon. He also said, “She put a hex on us.” Hours later, they located the second assailant at a hospital in Lawrence County. He was a 38-year-old man named Oscar Richard Eck. Soon, two women, Irenia Cotner and Jenny Wolfe, arrived at the hospital to pick Oscar up.
When they were asked about the incident, they denied knowing anything about it. The investigators then went to Oscar’s residence, where they interviewed his roommate, Misty Gangloff, who also denied having any knowledge about the attack. As they noticed witchcraft books in the house, the detectives brought Misty in for questioning. She claimed that Oscar and Jenny were her colleagues at Walmart, while she met Irenia through Jenny. Moreover, she revealed that all four of them were into witchcraft and the occult, and Irenia served as their leader. During the interview, Misty also admitted that a few months earlier, Irenia claimed that Lindsey Kasinger, her ex-boyfriend’s pregnant girlfriend, was responsible for putting a hex on them.
This way, she managed to manipulate the rest of the occult into believing that they had to kill Lindsey and her unborn child. She reportedly plotted her murder in a fit of jealousy as Irenia had been in a relationship with Jackie for four years. Upon interrogating Oscar, he also admitted to being a part of Irenia’s murder plot and involving David Lindner. As it turned out, on the fateful night, Oscar and David broke into Jackie’s Claremont house to kill Lindsey, but ended up injuring Jacqueline and killing Joshua, while Jessy served as the getaway driver. Within a week of Josh’s murder, the authorities arrested all individuals involved in the crime and charged them with first-degree murder and home invasion.
Irenia Cotner is Currently Incarcerated at an Illinois Prison Facility
In March 2006, 30-year-old David Lindner succumbed to his gunshot wound after spending several months at the hospital. As for Misty Gangloff and Oscar Eck, they pleaded guilty and avoided trial. While the former pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and was sentenced to seven years in prison in June 2006, the henchman pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in July 2007. Meanwhile, the other two women, Jenny Wolfe and Irenia Cotner, decided to take their chances at trial.
Jenny was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and home invasion. She received a 32-year imprisonment sentence. Meanwhile, the mastermind behind the murder plot, Irenia, was found guilty of the same charges on October 26, 2006. A couple of months later, in December, she was sentenced to 50 years for the murder conviction and seven years for the conspiracy conviction, both to be served consecutively. As of today, she is serving her sentence at Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln, Illinois, with her projected parole date scheduled for August 2055.
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