Ben Lightsey Arrested On Murder Charge In Wife's Death - St. Johns County, FL

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By: Jessica Clark - 11/17/2008

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. . . . . Benjamin Lightsey

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, FL -- Ben Lightsey is expected to make his first appearance in court Wednesday morning. It will be just 24 hours after surrendering to authorities who have charged him with the murder of his wife, Melissa.

The attorney who Lightsey hired Monday night told First Coast News that he woke up Tuesday morning to learn there was a warrant for his client's arrest. He says he found Ben, and told him to turn himself in. The attorney says Ben has done everything he's asked him to.

Lightsey is being held on no bond at the St. Johns County Jail, on first-degree murder charges. The state attorney's office says it has 21 days to put the case before a grand jury to decide on formal charges.

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About 6:00 Tuesday morning, investigators -- with an arrest warrant in hand -- went to arrest Ben Lightsey at his father's house in St. Augustine.

However, Ben Lightsey was not there.

"He had been staying off and on at his father's house," Sgt. Chuck Mulligan with the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office said. "We believed he'd be there this morning, so we went there early before the family got up and moving about their daily business. Unfortunately, Benjamin was not there."

Deputies then searched the county.

Later, St. Johns County Sheriff David Shoar said, "This morning about 9 a.m., Ben's attorney called me personally and turned Ben into me."

Deputies say Ben Lightsey walked into the Sheriff's Office with this attorney around 10 a.m.

Lightsey did not answer any questions as deputies walked him to the county jail.

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http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/l...124086&catid=3

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Woman's Body Pulled From Ocean

VILANO BEACH, Fla. -- Fifteen hours after a woman disappeared in the ocean after a wedding reception in Vilano Beach, a body was recovered in the same area.

Just after midnight, 36-year-old Melissa Lee Lightsey was reported missing by her husband. She was last seen swimming in chest-deep water at Surfside Park.

According to Lightsey husband, the woman had been at a wedding reception in downtown St. Augustine on Saturday evening before the couple went to Surfside Park. He said she went into the water to swim.

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http://www.news4jax.com/news/17943792/detail.html

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Police: Wedding Guest's Death Suspicious

Woman's Body Found In Ocean

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Lightsey's Death Ruled Suspicious

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, FL -- As the investigation into the death of Melissa Lee Lightsey continues, authorities say they have found enough information to rule the death "suspicious."

Deputies say Lightsey's husband, Ben, reported her missing early Sunday morning. Deputies say he told them he last saw her swimming in chest-deep water near Surfside Park around Vilano Beach.

Earlier in the evening, Melissa and Ben Lightsey attended a close friend's wedding reception at A1A Ale Works in downtown St. Augustine.

People at the reception say Lightsey and her husband were seen having a fight.

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http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/c...storyid=123509

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Melissa Lightsey's Death Ruled a Homicide

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ST. AUGUSTINE, FL -- The medical examiner in St. Johns County has ruled the death of Melissa Lightsey a homicide.

In a statement released from his office, the medical examiner says the death was trauma to the head, face, and neck.

The medical examiner also says Lightsey sustained injuries caused by a boat after she died.

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36-year-old Lightsey was a mother of two small children.

Jim Bryan is Lightsey's stepfather. He told First Coast News Thursday he suspected Melissa had been killed when she had not called her mother by 11:00 Sunday morning.

"I had a gut feeling that there was foul play," Bryan said.

He said he also suspected foul play because his step-daughter did not like to be in the ocean.

The preliminary autopsy report says Lightsey did not die from saltwater drowning.

She was dead before she hit the water," Bryan told First Coast News. "She had been strangled to death and badly beaten."

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Parents Speak Out About Daughter's 'Suspicious' Death

VILANO BEACH, Fla. -- The parents of a woman who disappeared and died what investigators are calling a suspicious death after attending a wedding reception said it all seems strange to them as well.

Melissa Lightsey's parents, Jim and Melinda Bryan, spoke out Wednesday evening about their daughter's death for the first time since the 36-year-old's body was found off Vilano Beach last weekend.

"Right now I'm numb, but every once in awhile I lose it. I can't believe this has happened to her," said Melinda Bryan.

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No One Ruled Out as Suspect in Lightsey Death

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, FL -- A St. Johns County Sheriff's Office spokesman said, "no one is ruled out" as a suspect in the murder investigation of 36-year-old Melissa Lightsey.

Sgt. Chuck Mulligan said, "Obviously there are a lot of folks in St. Johns County that are not suspects. But obviously the individuals surrounding the events, who had contact with her that night -- we're talking with."

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http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/l...123893&catid=3

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St. Augustine Man Arrested In Wife's Death

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- A man who waited six hours to call authorities to say his wife disappeared in the ocean Nov. 8 was arrested Tuesday morning on charges of first-degree murder.

Accompanied by his attorney, Benjamin Lightsey Jr. turned himself in at the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office about 10 a.m....

• VIDEO: Husband Arrested, Charged With 1st- Degree Murder

• VIDEO: Victim's Stepfather Says 'I Suspected Him All Along'

• VIDEO: Ex-Girlfriend Says Ben Lightsey Was Frightening

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http://www.news4jax.com/news/18005582/detail.html

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TIMELINE

• Nov. 8 -- Ben and Melissa Lightsey attend a wedding reception in St. Augustine.

• Nov. 9 -- At midnight the couple goes to Vilano Beach, where Ben says Melissa went for a swim.

• Nov. 9 -- About 12:30 a.m., Ben awakes after passing out and Melissa is gone. He goes to relatives for help.

• Nov. 9 -- Ben calls police and reports his wife missing about 6 a.m. Melissa's body is found in the St. Augustine Inlet 15 hours later.

• Nov. 11 -- Melissa's death is ruled a homicide, not an accidental drowning as first suspected.

• Nov. 18 -- Ben is arrested and charged with first-degree murder in his wife's death.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/18005582/detail.html

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Husband held in death of wife found floating in St. Augustine Inlet

A St. Augustine charter boat captain has been charged with murder after his wife's body was found floating in the ocean.

After years of waitressing and partying in Coconut Grove, Melissa Lightsey's life finally settled down.

She met her handsome husband at the beach. They had two children, a boy and a girl. Melissa Lightsey, an aspiring special-education teacher, enrolled in college.

Then she vanished.

A boater found her badly beaten body Nov. 9 floating in the St. Augustine Inlet, hours after her husband told detectives she had mysteriously disappeared during a midnight swim. She was 36.

On Tuesday, cops arrested her husband, Ben Lightsey, 30, on a murder charge.

Lightsey's arrest, say friends and family members from Miami to St. Augustine, erased the creeping doubts about her demise -- but signaled a tragic end for a vibrant woman.

Excerpt: Four years ago, Melissa and Lightsey married. She moved north and joined his Southern Baptist church. Soon came daughter Sunny, now 3, and son Zane, 2.

But cracks emerged.

Her friends say Ben Lightsey showed a jealous streak, breaking her cellphone, cutting up her favorite jeans and forbidding her to work.

''He didn't want her waiting tables because he was afraid other men would look at her,'' said pal Laura Devlin.

• Article Continued
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miam...ry/777906.html

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Lightsey Custody Arrangement has Grandparents at Odds

ST. AUGUSTINE, FL -- The parents of murder victim Melissa Lightsey are raising questions about the custody of the grandchildren since the arrest of their son-in-law Ben Lightsey, who has been charged with murder.

Lightsey turned himself in Tuesday after an arrest warrant was issued, charging him in connection with the death of his wife Melissa.

The woman's body was found in the St. Augustine inlet November 10. The medical examiner concluded her death was caused by trauma to the head, face and neck.

Jim Bryan, the victim's stepfather, says he and his wife have only seen their grandchildren once since Melissa's murder. The children, 3-year-old Sonny and 18-month-old Zane, are being cared for by Ben Lightsey's parents.

"They won't return my calls; they are very evasive," said Bryan. "They want to have the children." Bryan told reporters he was not ruling out going to court.

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http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/l...124180&catid=3

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Former Girlfriend Says Man Accused Of Killing Wife Was Abusive

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- After hearing about the death of Melissa Lightsey, a former girlfriend of Ben Lightsey came forward and told Channel 4 she had reasons to be frightened of him years ago during their relationship.

Katie Reynolds said she dated Ben Lightsey in 2003 for about one year. She said although at first he appeared to be her dream man, after a few months he was anything but what he seemed.

Reynolds was a waitress in Vilano Beach when she said one day Ben Lightsey came in and swept her off her feet. She said about three months into their relationship things began to change.

"He would sit outside the door to make sure that I was in the shower and not walking out and leaving," Reynolds said.

After that she said things got worse.

"He has grabbed me by the hair and dragged me through his house," Reynolds said. "For six months it went on because I was scared. He threatened to kill me. Every time I tried to leave he held a knife to my throat -- he held a knife to his wrist."

"The only thing I know about Ben for sure was that he was an extraordinarily violent, aggressive and abuse person," said Debbie Diana, who owned the restaurant where Reynolds worked.

She said she watched in horror as Lightsey abused Reynolds, who she said had become like a daughter to her.

"She was in a pickup truck with him when they pulled up to the restaurant and he literally flung her from the vehicle onto the ground, and then sped out and gravel hit her everywhere all over her body. She was scraped from head to toe," Diana said. "I witnessed tons of bruises on her. I witnessed scrapes. I witnessed him at the bar in our little restaurant, where he came unglued on her and attacked her and had to be pulled off her."

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Judge Denies Bond for Ben Lightsey

ST. AUGUSTINE, FL -- Ben Lightsey is back in jail after a brief court appearance Wednesday morning. Lightsey is accused of killing his wife, Melissa, earlier this month.

Lightsey appeared in court with his attorney, Patrick Canan. He was read his charge of first-degree murder. Lightsey answered a few questions by the judge.

Canan asked the judge for bond, but the judge denied the request, saying Lightsey is a flight risk.

• Article Continued
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/l...124233&catid=3

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27795719

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Murder Suspect's Friends Speak Out

ST. JOHNS CO. - Bill and Billy Hunsicker who charter “The Endless Summer” boat in St. Augustine are shocked to learn one of their crewmates, Ben Lightsey is now in jail charged with his wife's murder.

“It’s pretty frightening because you wouldn't believe that Ben would be involved in such a thing,” said Bill. “It’s just a horrible situation.”

The Hunsickers say in all of the years they've fished with Lightsey, they say he's never shown signs of aggression.

“He's the most laid back person you know,” said Billy. “Always happy go-lucky. Never seen a mean bone in his body.”

But according to documents from 2004, an ex-girlfriend once filed a restraining order against him. In it, she said quote “I am in fear of my life from this crazy man.”

In 1999 Lightsey was arrested on a DUI charge. The report says he was “verbally loud and used profanity when arrested.”

Many of Melissa Lightsey’s friends say they never saw this coming. Tuesday they gathered at the carousel in St. Augustine, a place where Melissa often took her two young children.

“It was always happy times being here,” said Jovanina Bossa. “Melissa was always happy and running around with these kids.”

Her body was found in the St. Augustine inlet last Sunday. Her stepfather, Jim Bryan, says he had a gut feeling from the beginning that her husband's story of her disappearance was untrue.

“The fact that there as no water in her lungs we knew she was dead before she got in the water so what can you think? He was the last one that saw her alive.”

Even though Ben Lightsey is the only one that has been arrested, Bryan believes Lightsey's father knows something.

Glenn Lightsey is a former detective at the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office.

“I'm sure he knows everything,” said Bryan. “I don't know how many hours he was out there on the beach with his son searching. They didn't call us until 7:23 in the morning.”

Marty Shaughnessy hired Melissa as a bartender at A1A Aleworks several years ago. He says what hurts the most is that her children are now left behind without a mother and a father.

“Such a good person and with little kids like that, that's the hardest part to accept.”

http://www.fox30online.com/content/t...3aa5ca4&rss=10

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Lightsey's Stepfather Says Husband's Story Doesn't Add Up

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ST. JOHNS CO., Fla. - Jim Bryan says he loved Melissa Lightsey like a daughter.

"As far as I'm concerned she was another daughter, I didn't call her my step daughter, she was my daughter," he said.

A daughter, a wife, and a mother of two. Her body was found in the St. Augustine inlet early Sunday morning. Thursday family and friends said their final farewells at her funeral service. Her husband, Ben, was there too.

"He's very grief stricken, remorseful, he cried a lot," said Bryan.

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http://www.cbs47.com/content/topstor...9-c6384275d246

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Man accused of killing wife appears in court

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- A St. Johns County judge denied Benjamin Lightsey, 30, of St. Augustine bond Wednesday. Lightsey is a suspect in the murder of his wife, Melissa Lightsey, 36.

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