# Site General > General Herp > Herp Broadcast >  RIP Ben Renick

## ElliotNess

Sad and tragic news for the Herp Community.


http://www.abc17news.com/news/crime/...unds/533276409

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_kxr_ (06-09-2017)

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## ladywhipple02

OMG... that is terrible! I don't really even know what to think. What the heck is this world coming to? He was such a great proponent of this hobby and so young and had so much ahead of him...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

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## bcr229

Awful news.  :Sad:

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## Stewart_Reptiles

So sad Ben was one of the good guys out there, leaving behind a beautiful family. Hard to wrap my brain around this.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

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## Neal

Wow. So many good people getting killed. I'm lost for words.

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## Desertman

This is really sad. It sounds like he may have walked in on a robbery at his facility. 

Just terrible news

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## MonarchBall

Thoughts and prayers to the Rennick family!!

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## Seven-Thirty

Wow that is so messed up...

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## Lizardlicks

I just saw on facebook and popped over to see if anyone else knew about it.  This sucks, man.

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## Bcycling

Very sad.  I heard that all his snakes were accounted for.  Wonder what happened.

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## ceh23

Wow that is awful...

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## StillBP

Such a loss. It's always the good ones that bad things happen to.  My thoughts and prayers go to the Renick family

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## GODFATHER

He will be missed I loved that kid. I remember getting him drunk at our very first NARBC in Arlington when he was 17 we had some really good times. He always asked when I was coming over to see him since I'm not that far away but I couldn't ever make the time. I pray for Lynlee and the kids he was a great husband and father. I hope they find this POS that did this so we can make sure he suffers in prison forever. Lethal injection would be way too humane.

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## Aztec4mia

R.I.P Benny boy, it seems like just yesterday you were showing off your new website on Bob's old forum. Taken way too soon man.  :Sad:

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## Craiga 01453

Such a sad story

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## Jay1

RIP Bro, such sad news :Sad:

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## se7en

didn't know the guy, but knew the name. hopefully justice is served.

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_Albert Clark_ (06-13-2017),_Thom Noble_ (06-11-2017)

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## PitOnTheProwl

As much as this SUCKS!!!!
There is something to learn from everything that happens around us.
We may never find out what really happened but WE all also know there is a lot more scum in our hobby that we care to admit.
Be safe my family and always be prepared for the worst.
I could go on about self protection but just be smart.

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_Albert Clark_ (06-13-2017),_Aztec4mia_ (06-11-2017),ballpythonluvr (06-10-2017),*bcr229* (06-13-2017),*Bogertophis* (01-17-2020),Craiga 01453 (06-16-2017),_JodanOrNoDan_ (06-13-2017)

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## Ax01

i got the horrible news in an email from USARK. this is awful on so many levels.

i reached out to Ben last year when i was looking for a Banana Champagne combo. i hope he continues to cook up some amazing combo's in the life after. RIP Ben.

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## cletus

Very sad news.   My thoughts go out to his family.

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## bcr229

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/c...f90e45b35.html

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## ladywhipple02

At the risk of necro-ing a very old thread... there's been a break in the case: https://fox2now.com/2020/01/17/two-c...reeders-death/

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_AbsoluteApril_ (01-17-2020),*Bogertophis* (01-17-2020)

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## bcr229

Necro approved since it's a valid update.

RIP Ben.

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## Stewart_Reptiles

> At the risk of necro-ing a very old thread... there's been a break in the case: https://fox2now.com/2020/01/17/two-c...reeders-death/


That's shocking and considering the amount of support she received from the reptile community a lot of people are gonna be mad. But she will get her day in court.

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_AbsoluteApril_ (01-17-2020),*Bogertophis* (01-17-2020)

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## ladywhipple02

> That's shocking and considering the amount of support she received from the reptile community a lot of people are gonna be mad. But she will get her day in court.


My thoughts exactly... there were so many auctions and fundraisers for her and his family. And they always seemed so happy - which I guess is what everyone always says. Shocking is very appropriate.

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## wnateg

Related?

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-moed-2_18-cv-00031/pdf/USCOURTS-moed-2_18-cv-00031-0.pdf

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*Bogertophis* (01-17-2020)

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## bcr229

As an FYI my computer claimed the link with the story update is "unsafe".  This one is clean.
https://www.kmov.com/news/two-charge...515431300.html

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*Bogertophis* (01-17-2020)

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## bcr229

> Related?
> 
> https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-moed-2_18-cv-00031/pdf/USCOURTS-moed-2_18-cv-00031-0.pdf


Nice find and that's one heck of a motive.

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*Bogertophis* (01-17-2020),_ladywhipple02_ (01-17-2020)

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## Bogertophis

> Nice find and that's one heck of a motive.


I'll say it is.  Poor guy.... :Sad:

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## ladywhipple02

This link gives a lot more info... OMG

https://abc17news.com/news/crime/202...WXx3m-ciQLQ9FA

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_AbsoluteApril_ (01-17-2020),*Bogertophis* (01-17-2020)

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## AbsoluteApril

Thank for your the updates. This is so sad but hopefully now his wife and her (ex)bf will get some justice.

RIP Ben

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_jmcrook_ (01-17-2020),_ladywhipple02_ (01-21-2020)

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## Stewart_Reptiles

The latest https://abc17news.com/news/2020/01/3...ns-of-dollars/

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*Bogertophis* (08-11-2020)

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## bcr229

Trial update from this week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvqlz_VYFro

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*Bogertophis* (08-11-2020),Gio (08-11-2020)

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## Mr. Misha

This is so sad... Greed makes people do some awful things.

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*Bogertophis* (08-11-2020)

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## bcr229

https://abc17news.com/news/crime/202...-murder-trial/

October 20, 2021


Jury finds man guilty for role in Ben Renick killing


MEXICO, Mo. (KMIZ) -


Michael Humphrey's head dropped as twelve people told a court they thought he helped commit a murder.


The jury from southeast Missouri's Cape Girardeau County found Humphrey guilty of first-degree murder and armed criminal action on Wednesday night in the 2017 killing of Ben Renick. Humphrey drove the person law enforcement and Humphrey's own defense team said killed Renick - his wife, Lynlee Renick.


Prosecutors argued Humphrey also gave Lynlee the gun to use in the shooting, which Humphrey's team denied. Assistant Attorney General Kevin Zoellner, who tried the case alongside special prosecutor Kelly King, said he was pleased with the jury's verdict. He declined to say anything further due to Lynlee's upcoming trial. Sam Renick, Ben's brother, said he would reserve comment until the end of Lynlee's trial.


Humphrey left the courthouse around 9:45 p.m., about 15 minutes after the jury returned its verdict. Two sheriff deputies escorted him to a Montgomery County Sheriff's Office car to take him to that county's jail. Judge Jason Lamb will sentence him on Jan. 3.


Defense attorneys T.J. Hunsaker and Brianne Besheer declined to comment, as did family members of Humphrey.


The jury began discussing their decision in the trial around 4:30 p.m. The state rested its case at 2:35 p.m. on Wednesday after three and a half days of evidence, while the defense presented no evidence.


Zoellner said Humphrey's story that he knew nothing of Lynlee Renick and her co-worker, Ashley Shaw's, plot to kill Ben "doesn't fly with common sense." Zoellner pointed out text messages Lynlee and Humphrey traded hours after Ben was shot. The texts appear to show the two arranging for Humphrey to set up another massage appointment at Lynlee's former Columbia spa.


The jury watched an interview Humphrey did with the Missouri State Highway Patrol on the day of his 2020 arrest. Humphrey told Master Sgt. Marcus Reynolds he did not know of Lynlee Renick's plan to kill her husband when the two traveled to the Renicks' farm.


Prosecutors claim Humphrey drove Lynlee Renick to the property from her Columbia spa on June 8, 2017. The two allegedly worked with Shaw, a spa employee that testified on Tuesday that she helped Lynlee come up with the plot. Zoellner said Humphrey also gave Lynlee Renick the gun to use.


Defense attorney T.J. Hunsaker focused on Lynlee and Shaw's role in the plan. He said the two came up with the details of the plan and left Humphrey out of most of it, other than to recruit him to drive to the property. He criticized the highway patrol investigators for latching onto Shaw's version of events she gave after striking a deal with prosecutors to avoid charges.


Humphrey's two-hour interview in 2020 with Reynolds instead puts the gun in Lynlee's hands when the two arrived on the Renicks' property near New Florence. Humphrey said he went with Lynlee, his ex-girlfriend, to help her collect her stuff as she ended her relationship with Ben. Humphrey said he was there to make sure "things didn't get out of hand." Humphrey said when they got out of the car, Lynlee Renick tried handing him a gun, which he pushed away. Humphrey said he did not see the gun after that. Investigators have not recovered a weapon they believe was used in the shooting.


Zoellner questioned why Humphrey continued on with the interaction at the Renick property after Lynlee tried handing him the gun.


"What do we think of people who help people commit murder?" Zoellner asked the jury to consider when deliberating.


Humphrey said he and Lynlee met Ben at his snake barn, where the breeder kept thousands of his pythons and anacondas that made him a renowned and soon-to-be-wealthy businessman. Humphrey said it was only 10 seconds after they walked into the barn that he heard the first gunshot. He ran out of the building back toward the car, according to his interview.


"I didn't know what was going to happen at all," Humphrey said.


Shaw testified before that she and Lynlee Renick tried recruiting Humphrey to kill Ben. The two women previously tried to kill Ben by crushing up more than a dozen Percocets and placing them in a protein shake.


Prosecutors pointed out in opening statements that Humphrey's story on his involvement changed as investigators spoke with him. He first told the highway patrol he had car trouble the day of Ben's death and met with Lynlee that day to get a massage.


Lynlee Renick's trial is set to start in December in Boone County.

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*Bogertophis* (10-23-2021)

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## Bogertophis

MISSOURI WOMAN CONVICTED OF KILLING SNAKE BREEDER HUSBAND  -by Associated Press

 December 9, 2021 4:36 pm _ ,_
__
_Photo: Lynlee Renick_

_COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP)  A woman shot and killed her husband at his snake breeding business in mid-Missouri, a jury decided Thursday.  Lynlee Renick was convicted in Boone County of second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the June 2017 death of her husband, Ben Renick, who bred rare and exotic snakes at his business in New Florence.She faces a sentence ranging from 10 years up to life on the murder conviction and three to 15 years for armed criminal action.Renick, who was charged with first-degree murder, testified during the trial that an ex-boyfriend, Michael Humphrey, shot her husband after they went to the business so she could ask her husband for a divorce.



Renick acknowledged that she later lied about what happened but said she loved her husband and did not want him to die.
Prosecutors contended that Renick, Humphrey and another woman conspired to kill the victim because Renick was experiencing financial problems at a spa she owned and she was concerned he would gain custody of their children if the couple divorced. Prosecutors said Renick was the sole beneficiary or a $1 million life insurance policy on her husband.
Humphrey has been convicted of first-degree murder and is awaiting sentencing. The other woman involved was not charged.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI_

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_Albert Clark_ (09-26-2022)

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## bcr229

Good.

https://abc17news.com/top-stories/20...s-inheritance/

Aug 18, 2022

MONTGOMERY CITY, Mo. (KMIZ) -


A Montgomery County judge agreed to bar a woman convicted of killing her husband from collecting any part of his inheritance.


Judge Richard Scheibe ruled Thursday that Lynlee Renick cannot earn any money or property from Ben Renick's remaining estate.


A court-appointed guardian of Ben's assets asked the judge on Aug. 8 to bar Lynlee from collecting from the prolific snake breeder's estate. A jury convicted Lynlee in December of second-degree murder and armed criminal action for Ben's 2017 death. She and ex-boyfriend Michael Humphrey killed Ben at his snake farm, while each of them blames the other for pulling the trigger.


Administrator Carla Wood Tanzey argued that Lynlee's "misconduct" kept her from collecting property or estate allowances. She asked that Ben and Lynlee's daughter be considered the sole heir to Ben's estate.


Court records do not show how much Ben's remaining assets are worth. An ABC 17 News investigation previously found that Ben Renick had sold thousands of his snakes to NHL goaltender Robin Lehner for $1.2 million. The reptile business and Lehner settled a court dispute coming out of Ben's death on undisclosed terms. Lynlee Renick sold their Montgomery County property in 2018 for $740,000.


Ben's brother, Sam Renick, told ABC 17 News that the family was grateful Judge Scheibe stopped Lynlee from being able to collect anything from the estate.

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_Albert Clark_ (09-26-2022),_Alicia_ (09-29-2022),*Bogertophis* (09-26-2022),_dakski_ (09-26-2022),_Homebody_ (09-26-2022)

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