Kriti Mehrotra
On the morning of March 13, 1997, the entire world turned upside down for the family of Olga Dolores Petrello Parlante as the 71-year-old was found dead inside her home. As explored in Investigation Discovery’s ‘Killer in Question: The Bingo Queen,’ the resident of Emerald Palms Apartments in Dania Beach, Florida, was a kind, loving soul with no enemies. Therefore, the fact that she had been killed was almost unimaginable, leading to a lot of finger-pointing and an intense investigation that only came to a close more than two decades later.
Olga Parlante Was Fatally Attacked in Her Home
Born as the eldest of six children and the only girl to Anna Petrello and Phillip Petrello on January 21, 1926, in Hartford, Connecticut, Olga Dolores Petrello Parlante was a force of nature. She reportedly grew up surrounded by values of affection, care, empathy, respect, and support, so that’s precisely what she later put out in the world at every step of the way. In fact, once she settled in Broward County, Florida, alongside the love of her life, Anneo Joseph “A.J.” Parlante, she instilled the same qualities in her children as well as her grandchildren.
It thus comes as no surprise that whenever anyone in the community needed any aid, Olga was often among the first to offer her time, effort, and services, even after she fell ill. The 1980s were extremely hard for her because she not only lost her husband in 1983 but also had a stroke that left her with partial paralysis not long after. She was raising two of her grandchildren at the time since their mother was unable to, but she did not let her condition stop her from caring for others or leading an independent life.
In fact, by the time 1997 rolled around, the 71-year-old daily bingo player was enjoying residing by herself in the Emerald Palms Apartments in Dania Beach in Greater Fort Lauderdale. The mother of nine and grandmother of thirteen had a large support system, as many of her loved ones were based nearby; however, she preferred to have her freedom in every sense of the term. No one could have ever imagined she would be found dead in her dining room on the morning of March 13 — she had been beaten, gagged, and strangled to death. Her autopsy and investigations later confirmed she had been killed the night prior, likely between 10 and 10:30 pm.
Despite Physical Evidence, the Case Went Cold For 15 Years
It was Angelina “Angie” Nihoff who found her grandmother lying on the floor inside her apartment shortly before 9 am on the fateful morning, only for her to dial 911 immediately. The young woman was hysterical during the call, but later explained that she had come to check up on Olga under the belief she was still asleep after not being able to reach her on the phone. She had let herself in, as she lived just a block away and was often around anyway, having been raised by her grandmother — they thus shared a very comfortable, tight-knit bond.
In the investigation to follow, it came to light that although there were no signs of a forced entry, Olga’s home had been ransacked, and some of her personal belongings were missing. Her 20-inch television set, radio, and $53 in cash were gone, plus her bedroom as well as her purse had been so thoroughly searched that officials hypothesized it was a robbery gone wrong. However, they also looked into people close to her since the offense itself was quite brutal, especially as blood on her front door indicated she had tried to crawl away before she was dragged back in. What followed was a forensic analysis of the scene, which yielded several fingerprints and palmprints from across the home that did not belong to either the victim or any of her family members.
Some detectives then spoke to Olga’s loved ones, who revealed that she had recently been worried about her safety after receiving strange vibes from a man who had just moved in above her. She had allegedly clearly told them that if she was ever found strangled, he had to have been the one responsible, which raised several questions in the eyes of officials, but to no avail. Not only did the man have a concrete alibi for the time of the murder, but his prints did not match even a single one recovered from the scene. As for how police knew they had the right window for the homicide, the 71-year-old was dressed to go out but hadn’t made it to her nightly bingo event. They subsequently looked into local robbers, public tips, Angie, Angie’s then-boyfriend, and his family; however, nothing stuck due to a lack of evidence tying anyone to the matter. The case hence went cold and remained cold for 15 years.
Olga Parlante’s Killer Was Identified Through the Recovered Prints
Angie was reportedly the best lead detectives had since the initial polygraph test she took in the days after the incident came out as inconclusive, whereas she failed her second one in early 1999. Polygraphs are not admissible in court and not always accurate, but officials wanted to have information regarding her mindset before they interrogated her both times, as per the show. She vehemently maintained her innocence, but she did not have a concrete alibi for the fateful evening, as there were two short periods when she was unaccounted for. She claimed she had gone to a nearby store to pick up supplies for her sick boyfriend and her sick kids both times, but the store did not have surveillance cameras to corroborate her account. In addition, a small car, not too dissimilar from the one she drove, was reportedly seen in the apartment complex around 10 pm that night, which did not help her either.
Furthermore, it has been reported that a lot of her family ended up believing she had something to do with her grandmother’s murder, which created a divide. It wasn’t until 2012 that Angie’s name was cleared, as the lead detective’s move to the Career Criminal Division led him to reexamine Olga’s case through the prints. That’s when a palm print from a wall, as well as fingerprints from the handle of her open dresser drawer, the inside of her pocketbook, and several items from her purse, all came out to be a match to a single man. Then-44-year-old “career criminal” Bennie Hall was already incarcerated in state prison for an unrelated offense at the time, so detectives went to question him, just for him to deny any involvement.
Bennie Hall is Serving a Life Term in a Florida Prison
Although Bennie maintained his innocence, the physical evidence was more than enough to place him at the scene at the time of the crime, so he was charged with one count of first-degree murder. It took a few years for his case to go to trial owing to allegations that another person may have also been involved, especially because some of the recovered prints remained unidentified. However, there was no concrete proof of an accomplice, and it turned out that while officials did suspect Angie, they reportedly never wholly believed she could have been responsible for the crime. With the way she was wailing during the 911 call, her behavior in the years after the fact, and her unchanging narrative, even in the face of family pressure, they had a gut feeling about her.
In the end, on May 30, 2018, Bennie was convicted of one count of first-degree murder in connection with Olga’s 1997 death, for which he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Therefore, today, at the age of 58, he remains incarcerated at the mixed-security Cross City Correctional Institution in Dixie County, Florida, where he is expected to remain for the rest of his natural life. We should mention that Bennie has a long rap sheet, including convictions for robbery in 1984, 1987, and 2000, battery on an older person (above the age of 65) in the same 2000 case, burglary of an unoccupied Structure in 2000, and possession/sale of cocaine as well as marijuana in 2008.
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