Pewaukee fatal bus stabbing, Florida man charged
PEWAUKEE, Wis. - A 21-year-old man from Panama City, Florida is charged with first-degree intentional homicide in connection to a fatal Pewaukee bus stabbing on Nov. 18.
Prosecutors say Drew Bennett admitted to stabbing the victim, identified as a 31-year-old man, while they traveled on a Greyhound bus between Milwaukee and Madison.
A criminal complaint states that the victim walked to the front of the bus and told the driver that he had been assaulted by another passenger – since identified as Bennett. The driver then pulled into a parking lot off of Interstate 94 near Redford Boulevard in Pewaukee.
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Upon arrival, Waukesha County sheriff's deputies found the victim on the ground outside the bus as others performed CPR. Deputies took over CPR until the fire department arrived, but the life-saving attempts were unsuccessful and the victim died.
An autopsy found the victim was stabbed once in the neck and had no other injuries of note.
Scene of fatal Pewaukee bus stabbing on Nov. 18.
The complaint states the bus had the driver and approximately 14 passengers on board. Deputies cleared everyone off the bus and found blood spattered in several areas, as well as a knife sheath on top of a blanket on a seat in the back of the bus. Passengers identified Bennett and another woman as being possibly involved.
The woman told deputies, according to the complaint, that she and Bennett had traveled by bus from Florida to Wisconsin to stay with family. She said she was sleeping and awoke to see the victim bleeding; all three – Bennett, the woman and the victim – were seated nearby one another in the back of the bus. The victim was sitting directly behind Bennett. The woman also told deputies that Bennett "likes knives" and collects them, but was unsure if he had any with them.
Deputies found a knife-sharpening stone in Bennett's backpack and later found a knife on the bus that was covered in what appeared to be blood.
Video from the bus did not show the actually stabbing because it was dark, the complaint states, but video from other times during travel showed Bennett with a knife in a sheath in his hand.
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In an interview with detectives, Bennett admitted to stabbing the victim, the complaint states – but he initially denied doing so. Detectives asked Bennett if he knew whose blood was on his hands and he said he did not and did not know where the blood came from. The complaint states Bennett said that he "heard things on the intercom" that a woman and child needed to be saved and something about a "secret mission." Bennett said he thought the victim had a gun, and he was "being a hero."
As the interview continued, Bennett said he stabbed the victim in the arm but later said he stabbed him in the neck area or in the shoulder. Again, Bennett said he did so because he thought the victim was "going to kill the woman and the child." After stabbing the victim, Bennett said he jammed the knife in because he didn't want the victim to "get away."
Bennett explained that he believed the woman and child he was "instructed" to save meant the woman sitting in front of him, who he said was speaking "fake Spanish" and instructed him to "use the knife," the complaint states; he said he did as he was told.
Drew Bennett
Detectives asked Bennett if he had ever heard voices before. Bennett said no and that he just wanted the victim off the bus and that he "put the fear in him." Adding "hopefully (the woman and child) got saved."
A passenger told police that they heard the victim fall and say "I've been stabbed" or something similar. The passenger also said they saw Bennett with a "distressed" look on his face, the complaint states.
Bennett made an initial court appearance on Dec. 10. A judge set cash bond at $1 million. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Dec. 22.
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