Tampa Adult Entertainment: Events that shaped the year

December 30, 2009

Two high-profile Plant City murder cases moved through the courts during the year, including a life sentence for Benjamin James Wibben, 30, who pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and robbery in the 2005 slayings of Heather, 26, and Darren Kaiser, 37. The Plant City couple were shot and killed at the Internet car sales business they operated from their home. The killer stole a sports car and two laptops, authorities said.
In the other murder case, former First Baptist deacon Samuel L. Smithers lost an appeal of his death sentences for the 1996 murders of two Tampa prostitutes. The Florida Supreme Court refused to overturn lower court rulings to vacate Smithers’ convictions in the brutal slayings of Christy Elizabeth Cowan, 31, and Denise Elaine Roach, 24. The Tampa women were picked up in a seedy area of East Tampa and killed at a Plant City-area home where Smithers was caretaker.

See the full article from “Tampa Tribune”



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