The skull of a missing murder victim has been found in Campo, said a prosecutor Feb. 26 at the sentencing of his killer.
A gag order about the skull’s discovery was lifted Feb. 26 by San Diego Superior Court Judge Joan Weber before she sentenced Brian Eleron Hancock, 49, to 83 years to life in state prison.
Deputy District Attorney Jeffrey Dort said a skull was found by a biologist in 2018 about 500 feet where police investigators found a hatchet, but it wasn’t identified until after Hancock’s trial had already started in January.
Dental records of Peter Bentz, 68, showed the skull was his, but no other body parts were found, said Dort.
“Rarely has this court seen a more diabolical crime,” said Weber.
Hancock’s attorney, Jimmy Rodriguez, had already told the jury that Bentz told Hancock he was going to Mexico on vacation and may still be there. Rodriguez asked the judge not to admit the skull as evidence and she agreed, imposing a gag order on attorneys and the victim’s relatives about it.
Dort told jurors that Bentz was last seen alive on Nov. 21, 2017, and that Hancock’s cellphone pinged off a stationary location in Campo for 4 1/2 hours on Nov. 24, 2017.
Dort argued to jurors that Bentz was likely buried in Campo somewhere. Dort told jurors that Hancock told his wife that he worried he “didn’t bury him deep enough and someone would find him.” Hancock said it was in a remote area with coyotes.
Investigators found the tag of a tool in Campo that Hancock purchased with one of Bentz’s credit cards.
A friend of Hancock testified he told her he stabbed Bentz seven times. The victim’s blood was found in 17 locations in his Ocean Beach apartment under the carpeting.
The jury was told Hancock was enraged after believing he had been videotaped having sex with another woman by Bentz. No such video was ever found.
A jury convicted Hancock of first-degree murder on Jan. 27 after 2 1/2 days of deliberations. Hancock was an electrician who lived in National City.