Local man convicted in wife's fatal stabbing

PONTIAC (AP) -- An Oakland County man has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of his wife. A jury took about 90 minutes last Friday to convict Ellery Bennett in the Aug. 18 death of Lisa Bennett, his wife of 13 years. Bennett had testified he stabbed his wife in self-defense after she attacked him first. The 47-year-old resident of West Bloomfield Township will be sentenced to mandatory life in prison on March 9. Defense attorney Mitchell Ribitwer told jurors the prosecution had not established premeditation or deliberation, which are two elements needed to find a person guilty of first-degree murder. Forty-six-year-old Lisa Bennett was a drug company representative who had filed for divorce a week before the killing. Published: Tue, Feb 15, 2011