Man assaults and shoots woman before concealing body under a sleeping bag, say police

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Benjamin Wilkins was sentenced to 75 years in prison for beating and shooting Jacqueline Goodwin to death in Anchorage, Alaska. (KTUU)

A man hit a woman over 100 times, shot her in the stomach, bound her with zip ties, gagged her and taped a plastic bag around her head before covering her body with a sleeping bag. He then put the body it the car and crashed into a pole.

Cops in Alaska made the grisly discovery in 2016 and charged Benjamin Wilkins with murder. On Wednesday, a judge sentenced Wilkins, now 43, to 75 years behind bars.

Anchorage police on June 27, 2016, responded to the traffic crash in the 2800 block of Debarr Road near Alaska Regional Hospital. Cops quickly realized Wilkins was impaired. As they were waiting for the tow truck, they saw what appeared to be a passenger under a sleeping bag and found the body of 30-year-old Jacqueline Goodwin. She had plier marks and bruises throughout her body and her teeth were broken, the Juneau Empire reported at the time. The medical examiner determined the cause of death was from asphyxiation, blunt force trauma and gunshot wound to her stomach, the outlet reported.

According to the Anchorage Daily News, prosecutors said medical examiners estimated Wilkins had hit Goodwin over 100 times.

Cops found more startling revelations when they searched Wilkins’ house. They found more than 30 pounds of drugs including meth, heroin and Xanax, and $125,000 in cash. Wilkins’ brother Connor Stefano reportedly helped Wilkins load the body into the car. Stefano and their mother Jacqueline Stefano later pleaded guilty to hindering prosecution.

Superior Court Judge Andrew Peterson said during the sentencing hearing the case is noteworthy to him because “the level of cruelty is unimaginable,” the Daily News reported.

Prosecutors originally charged Wilkins with first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual assault. He faced 99 years in prison. But in November Wilkins pleaded guilty to second-degree murder with a sentence of up to 75 years in prison. He also didn’t have to testify against family members.

It’s not clear how Wilkins and Goodwin knew each other and prosecutors never established a motive for the murder.

His attorney, Assistant Public Defender Chong Yim, told the court that Wilkins’ family members could have murdered Goodwin. But the judge didn’t buy it.

“There’s simply nothing for me to look at here, or to even weigh in Mr. Wilkins’ favor,” Peterson said, according to local NBC affiliate KTUU.

Even hardened cops were stunned by the gruesomeness of the crime. Officer Joshua Vance, a 12-year veteran of Anchorage police, was the among the first on scene and said the case has taken more of an impact than any other.

“I don’t think, in my career, I’ve ever seen anything this bad,” Vance testified, according to KTUU. “I didn’t know how to react because it was something you just aren’t ready to see.”

Wilkins previously served eight years in federal prison for pointing a gun at police in 2003. Prosecutors said he started selling drugs following his release from prison and the end of his parole.

At Goodwin’s funeral, her family described her as a happy child with a contagious laugh, KTUU reported. But her demeanor changed after the death of her mother when she was 13. She then detached and turned to a life of drugs up into her death. She also was diagnosed with schizophrenia, family said. Her sister also died. Her family hopes she’s in a better place.

“She’s with her sister and her mom and she’s not hurting, she’s not alone, she’s not suffering, her health is better,” her aunt Cora Rexford said. “That’s the part we feel relieved about.”