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In early 2012, a series of perplexing stories began to emerge from Barbara Scott, a 67-year-old grandmother. Her tales about her husband Benny’s whereabouts swung dramatically between him being in Oklahoma, their home state, and Lake Alfred, Florida, where they had resided for three years.
By late March, Barbara made a startling confession. She claimed that Benny, who was 77, had fallen ill, passed away at home, and that she had taken it upon herself to dispose of his body. This revelation not only bewildered but deeply unsettled her family.
Benny’s daughter, Pam Harris, shared her disbelief and horror during a November episode of Oxygen’s Killer Grannies. She recounted how Barbara had allegedly “dragged him out and buried him in their backyard,” a narrative that seemed straight out of a nightmare.
In an episode of the series hosted by June Squibb, titled “Granny’s Garden,” Pam likened the surreal experience to being trapped in an episode of The Twilight Zone, struggling to reconcile the bizarre reality with her own sense of normalcy.
Amidst the chaos, Barbara’s daughter, Sonya, took her mother to the police station. There, Barbara was questioned, accompanied by her attorney, as authorities sought to unravel the truth behind her shocking admission.
Barbara’s daughter, Sonya, brought her mom to police headquarters. Barbara was interviewed alongside her attorney.
“Barbara said that her husband had died while he was in the shower on Jan. 2,” recounted now-retired Polk County Sheriff’s Department Det. David Clark. “She thinks that he hit his head and fell.”
She said that she rolled him onto a rug and dragged him outside. Then, Barbara’s account took a startling twist. She claimed that she found a gun near the shower and Benny might have a bullet hole in his head.
“She says, ‘Well, I think he may have shot himself,’” said Clark. “I’m not sure. But I saw the gun.”
Barbara appeared lucid and didn’t seem to be having memories issues. But red flags raised when her account of Benny’s death suddenly went from an accident to a suicide.
Barbara Scott’s herb garden
Police searched Barbara’s residence and then focused on the backyard. As they dug in the herb garden, they were struck by the smell of decomposition.
They unearthed Benny from a shallow grave. His hands and feet were bound, and his head had a bullet wound.
“It looked like a professional hit,” said Clark. “This does not look like a suicide.”
Benny had been wrapped in a tarp, according to Lake Alfred PD Chief Art Bodenheimer. Barbara claimed she’d dragged him into the garage before burying him and that she tied him up to make it easier to move him.
Officials comb through evidence
Police carefully searched Barbara’s home for evidence that supported or contradicted her account.
They found traces of blood in the bathroom and garage and a gun in a drawer where she said it would be.
Neighbors told police they hadn’t seen Benny for months and that Barbara had been selling his belonging at garage sales. Barbara explained to them that Benny was in Oklahoma.
“She says, ‘He’s having a blast with his friends and he just realized that he was not cut out to be in Florida,’” said WTSP-TV former senior investigative reporter Mike Neeson, “‘Our marriage is over.’”
Police investigate Barbara Scott’s past
Detectives learned from Sonya that her mom had been under a lot of stress caring for her mother and stepfather as well as Benny.
When they dug into Barbara’s past, investigators found that she had a criminal record. She was arrested in 1988 for embezzling $64,000 and served five years for the offense.
Police also learned that her previous husband, Marvin Toolate, died unexpectedly at age 53 at home in the bathtub. His cause of death was ruled acute ethanol intoxication. In layman’s terms, said Deeson, “He drank himself to death.”
What Benny Scott’s autopsy revealed
After performing Benny’s autopsy, the medical examiner concluded the gunshot wound wasn’t consistent with a suicide.
Based on data from Benny’s pacemaker, he died at 3 a.m. on Jan. 2. That detail didn’t match Barbara’s account, casting more doubt on her version of the events of Benny’s death.
The cause of death was deemed to be a gunshot. The manner of death was ruled a homicide.
Detectives turned their focus on finding out where the gun that killed Benny came from. They learned that Benny and Barbara had visited Oklahoma and that a .22 caliber handgun his son-in-law Gary Harris had stored in a garage was missing.
That description matched the gun found in Barbara’s Florida home.
Barbara Scott charged with murder
Investigators presented their evidence to a grand jury. Barbara and her defense team presented her side of the story. She claimed that Benny killed himself, she didn’t know where the gun came from and admitted she buried him.
“I think what Barbara was maybe trying to get across,” said Pam, “was that Benny, my dad, found the gun and took it and drove it back to Florida with him.”
On April 12, 2012, the grand jury came back with a first-degree murder indictment. Barbara was arrested.
Barbara Scott tried and convicted
Barbara remained in custody for about two years and she steadfastly maintained her innocence.
When the trial began, prosecutors presented the theory that Barbara killed Benny to relieve herself of the burden of caring for him. They argued that Barbara stole the gun from her son-in-law.
On April 24, 2014, Barbara was found guilty of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence. She was sentenced to life in prison.
Watch Killer Grannies Sundays at 8/7c p.m. on Oxygen.
