MISSOULA
Two men have been charged in the November 2001 murders of three women at a Florence hair salon, a seemingly random act that shook the tiny western Montana town and stumped investigators for years. Brian W. Weber, 31, and Lincoln Benavides, 33, appeared before U.S. District Judge Jeremiah Lynch Tuesday, where they were each charged with three counts of murder while engaged in drug trafficking, cons p i racy to d i s t r i b u t e methamphetamine, distrib u t i o n o f methamphetamine and violent crimes in aid of racketeering. They pleaded not guilty. Both are detained. Missoula lawyer Craig Shannon, who is representing Weber, said Tuesday there wasn't much he could say about the case. "The prosecution hasn't given us any evidence," Shannon said. "They've had seven years, and they have yet to give us a page." Helena attorney Greg Jackson is representing Benavides; an afterhours call to his office was not immediately returned. The indictment alleges that Weber killed the women and that Benavides ordered the killing. Brenda Patch, 44, of Stevensville; Cynthia Paulus, 71, of Florence; and Dorothy Harris, 62, of Florence were found with their throats cut at Harris's salon, The Hair Gallery, late in the morning of Nov. 6, 2001. A federal indictment, handed down in February and made public Tuesday, alleges that Benavides was the head of a methamphetamine and marijuana distribution ring in western Montana beginning around the summer of 1999 and operating through December 2001. Prosecutors said Weber was a dealer and enforcer for Benavides. The indictment says Benavides' drug ring used "intimidation, violence, threats of violence, extortion, kidnapping and assaults to insure payment compliance from delinquent customers and deter others from becoming delinquent." The indictment does not say how the attack on the women was related to the drug ring. Raval l i County Sheri f f Chri s Hoffman did not return a phone message seeking comment. In November 2005, Weber told the Missoulian in an interview from jail that he had been questioned about statements made by Benavides linking Weber to the murders. In that line of questioning, Weber said authorities laid out a scenario where a relative of one of the victims owed Benavides money and suggested that Benavides sent Weber to settle the debt. Weber, who lived in Nampa, Idaho, at the time of the murders, was questioned within weeks of the killings. He has been in custody since July 2004 on drug charges and is serving a 10-year federal sentence for distribution of cocaine. Benavides has been in state prison since January 2005 after being convicted of criminal sale of dangerous drugs in Lake County, said Montana State Prison spokeswoman Linda Moodry. The death penalty may be available for convictions of murder while engaged in drug trafficking or violent crimes in aid of racketeering, U.S. Attorney Bill Mercer said. The attorney general of the United States will decide if prosecutors will seek the death penalty, Mercer said. (AP)
