Trial Nears for Final Defendant in Delaware Murder-For-Hire Case

A judge is holding a final case review for the last of four defendants charged in the murder-for-hire killings of a Delaware couple.

Monday’s court proceeding comes as a trial looms for Dominique Benson in the 2013 deaths of Joseph and Olga Connell.

Authorities say Christopher Rivers, who is serving life in prison, planned the killings to collect on an insurance policy he and Joseph Connell took out on their auto repair business.

Benson was convicted last year of conspiracy, but jurors couldn’t agree on murder and gun charges, prompting a retrial on those charges.

Co-defendant Aaron Thompson was convicted of murder in June and faces life in prison at his September sentencing.

A fourth man, Joshua Bey, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and was sentenced to five years in prison.