FL FL - Isabella Hellmann, 41, catamaran off Cay Sal, FL Keys,14 May 2017 #2 *GUILTY*

[SuperTmo]

I believe that jurisdiction would be in the country where legal action would be initiated. At least that was the case with my situation.
I hope the US relatives take immediate action.

The UK won't have jurisdiction over the baby. She is a US citizen. Does she have UK citizenship? I thought her dad was Australian. She's been there less than 3 months. The US would and a case filed in Florida should be heard there because she was born there, has lived all of her life there, and hasn't been gone from the state for 6 or more months. That's my understanding at least.! I think the UK would waive any jurisdiction they had in this case.

 

[Mercedes]

Query: Can we assume that if Bennett had not reported the coins as stolen to the police, then he would not have been arrested for stealing coins? Ironic?

 

[Gardener1850]

The UK won't have jurisdiction over the baby. She is a US citizen. Does she have UK citizenship? I thought her dad was Australian. She's been there less than 3 months. The US would and a case filed in Florida should be heard there because she was born there, has lived all of her life there, and hasn't been gone from the state for 6 or more months. That's my understanding at least.! I think the UK would waive any jurisdiction they had in this case.

Bennett has dual citizenship with the UK and Australia. His baby could be eligible for citizenship in all three countries, depending on the laws of each country.

Bennett is a dual citizen of England and Australia, and the Post has been unable to determine when he moved from England to Australia, except that he registered his solar panel firm in Queensland, Australia, in 2011. Cameron Stewart, Washington correspondent for the national newspaper The Australian, who’s been reporting the story in cooperation with The Palm Beach Post, had said government sources told him Bennett left Australia in February 2016, writing in his departure form that he planned to visit his native England and to stay there no more than 12 months. Instead, he appears to have been in the Caribbean and Florida.

Hellmann’s friend Sara Cortes said Bennett rarely came to Florida. She said Bennett would fly Hellmann to meet him and his catamaran at various ports, including Tahiti and Singapore. Cortes also said the couple visited Bennett’s parents in England. Bennett registered solar panel corporations in Australia and in Delray Beach. But Cortes has said Bennett told her he was a plumber and Isabella told her Bennett had come into some family money and had poured most of it into the catamaran and that he made a living transporting people.

http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news...ents-raises-questions/1lEa1KbIDhKiD7qKcDNz7M/

BBM. I found the rest of this info about his travels very interesting as well in light of this new info. :thinking:

 

[Mercedes]

I think the jurisdictional issue needs to be answered by an international lawyer with experience in this area of the law. For us regular lawyers, it would be a nightmare. I don't know if country of birth, last place of residence, or place where crime occurred (I.e., what crime) would prevail. Even if Bennett were incarcerated, his daughter is still his daughter, and I would think the baby could be raised by someone, say his parents, until he is capable of doing so. This is an interesting legal argument. When I have time, I may look into it, but it is certainly not my area of expertise.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

The UK won't have jurisdiction over the baby. She is a US citizen. Does she have UK citizenship? I thought her dad was Australian.

Her father has joint UK/Australian citizenship. From what I've read he was born in the UK and both his parents live here.

She's been there less than 3 months. The US would and a case filed in Florida should be heard there because she was born there, has lived all of her life there, and hasn't been gone from the state for 6 or more months. That's my understanding at least.! I think the UK would waive any jurisdiction they had in this case.

I don't know. The reality is that her surviving parent brought her to the UK. As the father, and the legal spouse of the mother, he would have parental responsibility in UK law and would normally decide what happens to her. If he is in prison, then social services would get involved. However, standard practice would be to place her with her family (ie grandparents) unless there were specific reasons not to, eg one of the grandparents was a full-time carer to the other or they did not have a spare room to provide suitable accommodation for her.

 

[LisaWL7TR]

I wonder if she accidentally found this stolen loot..I couldn't see her agreeing with this..


[emoji237]Always My Own Opinion[emoji4]

That was what I was thinking that she found his coins!

 

[bears10]

Her father has joint UK/Australian citizenship. From what I've read he was born in the UK and both his parents live here.



I don't know. The reality is that her surviving parent brought her to the UK. As the father, and the legal spouse of the mother, he would have parental responsibility in UK law and would normally decide what happens to her. If he is in prison, then social services would get involved. However, standard practice would be to place her with her family (ie grandparents) unless there were specific reasons not to, eg one of the grandparents was a full-time carer to the other or they did not have a spare room to provide suitable accommodation for her.

I'm still not convinced that LB ever went back to the U.K. With the baby. Also for all we know, his parents don't want to care for the baby.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

One article above said of the 225 silver coins with him in his raft most were English silver coins and the rest were Canadian Maple leaf coins. Would there be more value if the coins were sold for the metal vs the collectibility of the coin?

It sounds like those are all the coins he had with him when he was rescued, so I wonder how the coins he had hidden in his shoes at the condo got there. They were found during the search warrant, right?

Maybe Bennett had some of the coins hidden in Cuba, and his alleged trip to Cuba was to retrieve those, rather than to look for Isabella as he previously claimed? Perhaps he did not want to transport all of them at once, especially if the "accident" wasn't really an accident, but rather a plot to harm Isabella for a life insurance payout?

 

[JerseyGirl]

A detention hearing is scheduled for Friday at 2 p.m.at the Key West federal courthouse, and an arraignment is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 11, at 2 p.m.in Key West.

http://appsforpcdaily.com/2017/08/missing-wifes-husband-arrested-by-federal-bureau-of/

 

[JerseyGirl]

Here are some of the details regarding where he moved to and how/why he flew back to the US:

Lewis Bennett took his baby daughter and moved to England following his wife Isabella Hellmann’s mysterious disappearance at sea in May.

Bennett flew into West Palm Beach Saturday night for an insurance interview, even though the insurance company had offered to do it by Skype while he remained in England.

As soon as Bennett left the building, the FBI arrested him Monday on charges of transporting stolen goods.

http://www.wpbf.com/article/husband-of-missing-delray-beach-woman-arrested/12108644

 

[meanmaryjean]

Here are some of the details regarding where he moved to and how/why he flew back to the US:

Lewis Bennett took his baby daughter and moved to England following his wife Isabella Hellmann’s mysterious disappearance at sea in May.

Bennett flew into West Palm Beach Saturday night for an insurance interview, even though the insurance company had offered to do it by Skype while he remained in England.

As soon as Bennett left the building, the FBI arrested him Monday on charges of transporting stolen goods.

http://www.wpbf.com/article/husband-of-missing-delray-beach-woman-arrested/12108644

BBM: Bwahahahahaha

 

[Mercedes]

Maybe Bennett had some of the coins hidden in Cuba, and his alleged trip to Cuba was to retrieve those, rather than to look for Isabella as he previously claimed? Perhaps he did not want to transport all of them at once, especially if the "accident" wasn't really an accident, but rather a plot to harm Isabella for a life insurance payout?

Or because, as Lisa and WVWoman theorized, Isabella found out about the stolen coins, and Bennett disposed of her.
To me, this is such an awful thought that anyone would off another human being over coins. Sad.

 

[bears10]

Or because, as Lisa and WVWoman theorized, Isabella found out about the stolen coins, and Bennett disposed of her.
To me, this is such an awful thought that anyone would off another human being over coins. Sad.

I think either could be possible but I'm leaning towards him killing her for life insurance money since he asked for her to be declared deceased a day or two after the coast guard called off the search. I wonder if the trip was staged as a honeymoon trip but he really had a different plan all along. Go collect his "treasure", then on the way home, once he had all of the coins, murder Isabella and make it look like a tragic accident. Collect life insurance money and head back to the U.K. Or Australia with his loot and insurance payout and never return to the US. Unfortunately things took a wrong turn when LE got suspicious of the coins and Isabella was not pronounced dead as quickly as he'd hoped. This is JMO and a creative story I am playing in my head

What a moron for coming back to the US for an insurance interview. Maybe he thought they were going to write him a check on the spot or something. 🙄

 

[meanmaryjean]

I think either could be possible but I'm leaning towards him killing her for life insurance money since he asked for her to be declared deceased a day or two after the coast guard called off the search. I wonder if the trip was staged as a honeymoon trip but he really had a different plan all along. Go collect his "treasure", then on the way home, once he had all of the coins, murder Isabella and make it look like a tragic accident. Collect life insurance money and head back to the U.K. Or Australia with his loot and insurance payout and never return to the US. Unfortunately things took a wrong turn when LE got suspicious of the coins and Isabella was not pronounced dead as quickly as he'd hoped. This is JMO and a creative story I am playing in my head

What a moron for coming back to the US for an insurance interview. Maybe he thought they were going to write him a check on the spot or something. ��

Or MAYBE the insurance people led him to believe a check was imminent in collusion with LE?

 

[La Louve]

Wow! I know there were a few nautical folks on here in the early days of this thread - can any of you comment on the "14 gallons of water" he had with him in the life raft? The items listed bring a lot of suspicion that he planned to be in the lifeboat potentially for a long time awaiting rescue and wanted to ensure survival. Under normal circumstances this makes sense, but in an emergency situation I would imagine you are lucky to have a few gallons of water and the beacon.
Thoughts from anyone with actual nautical experience?

Not a nautical person but these aqua-tainers are what I use to transport water to Burning Man. They hold 7 gallons. Two of those full of water is just under 100 pounds of weight.

This is such amazing news about LB. And I'm not really surprised because I'm one of those who's been side-eyeing him since the beginning. But I didn't have any inkling of coin smuggling! Crazy stuff. I think it's very interesting that he is not being granted bail.

On the issue of the baby, I'm not sure how it works in the UK but in the US (at least in most states IMO) neither set of grandparents would have legal custody of the baby and would have to specifically petition a court for such custody to be granted to them.

I hope Isabella's family has a good lawyer.

Rest in Peace Isabella, justice is coming :rose:

 

[bears10]

Not a nautical person but these aqua-tainers are what I use to transport water to Burning Man. They hold 7 gallons. Two of those full of water is just under 100 pounds of weight. View attachment 122479

This is such amazing news about LB. And I'm not really surprised because I'm one of those who's been side-eyeing him since the beginning. But I didn't have any inkling of coin smuggling! Crazy stuff. I think it's very interesting that he is not being granted bail.

On the issue of the baby, I'm not sure how it works in the UK but in the US (at least in most states IMO) neither set of grandparents would have legal custody of the baby and would have to specifically petition a court for such custody to be granted to them.

I hope Isabella's family has a good lawyer.

Rest in Peace Isabella, justice is coming :rose:

He's probably being held without bail because he's a huge flight risk. Even if he has to surrender his passports, his nautical background makes him a flight risk IMO.

I'm still holding out hope that the baby will end up with isabellas family. she's all they have left of Isabella.

 

[Bently]

BBM: Bwahahahahaha

Bwahahahahaha :floorlaugh: :floorlaugh: :floorlaugh:

 

[Satchie]

I wonder if he went back to the US to see whether the FBI had discovered the gold coins hidden in his boat shoes. Bet he's been stressing over the coins ever since LE asked for the return of the first batch.

 

[JerseyGirl]

I wonder if he went back to the US to see whether the FBI had discovered the gold coins hidden in his boat shoes. Bet he's been stressing over the coins ever since LE asked for the return of the first batch.

I agree. He could have skyped the interview with the insurance company. I believe he needed an excuse to come back to the States to "check on things" Little did he know the FBI was on to him.

 

[SuperTmo]

I wonder if he went back to the US to see whether the FBI had discovered the gold coins hidden in his boat shoes. Bet he's been stressing over the coins ever since LE asked for the return of the first batch.

I thought he left after the search warrant was served. I remembered though that he had a heavy backpack he left the raft with. Then there was the luggage left behind in the raft. It was the coins in the raft that tipped off the investigators. That was the 9 rolls of silver coins. The ones in his shoe were gold. I think those were in his backpack, because the coast guard didn't take his backpack. They just kept the stuff from the raft.