Victim's sister hopes killer suffers

By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The sister of a murdered Niles woman wants her sister's killer to suffer in prison.
"The death penalty would have been good, but he wouldn't have suffered," said Georgianne Learn of Youngstown.
She wants Benjamin Beshara, 31, of Niles, to spend a long time behind bars.
"Once he's in there, I hope he suffers, after what he did to my sister," Learn said, moments after Beshara was sentenced Friday to life in prison without parole for the murder of his neighbor, Marilyn Guthrie, 61, plus 10 years each for the kidnapping and robbery of Guthrie.
Beshara was convicted on all three counts by a Mahoning County jury Tuesday and appeared for sentencing Friday before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum.
"Every time I think things can't get any worse, somebody like you shows up," Judge Krichbaum said to Beshara before pronouncing sentence. "This is just pure, unadulterated, cold-blooded murder."
Beshara, clad in orange jail clothing, shackled at the ankles and wrists handcuffed to his sides, professed his innocence in the case in a brief statement to the court.
"I wish I could bring her back," he added, offering his apology and sympathy to Guthrie's family for what happened to her and apologies to his own family for what has occurred.
His court-appointed attorney, Thomas E. Zena, said Beshara plans to appeal his conviction. Judge Krichbaum said he would appoint an attorney to handle the appeal.
What judge said
This could easily have been a death-penalty case, Judge Krichbaum added, calling the crime unconscionable.
He told Beshara that he no longer will have small, innocent women as his neighbors.
Beshara will be with "big, bad, ugly people like you, who you will live with forever," the judge said.
"We want you to know what you've taken away from us," Learn said to Beshara in a victim-impact statement given before sentencing. "You've left an emptiness in our hearts that can never go away."
Robin Ruschman of McDonald, Guthrie's sister-in-law, also gave a statement to the court, pointing out that Guthrie "loved helping people whenever she could."
She had cared for Beshara's father at a health-care facility and would have gladly responded to help the elder Beshara when Benjamin Beshara called her at 6 a.m. that day for a ride to get medicine for his father, Ruschman said.
Beshara "dumped her on the street like a common dog," Ruschman said. "He took away our innocence. No amount of punishment can take away the pain in our hearts."
Assistant Prosecutor Martin P. Desmond and Prosecutor Paul Gains had said they didn't seek a death-penalty specification at the time of Beshara's indictment because they weren't sure at the time they had sufficient evidence to support a capital murder case.
Guthrie was kidnapped from her apartment and killed early July 10, 2005. Beshara was secretly indicted and arrested in May 2006 and has spent 246 days in jail awaiting trial. He will get credit for the time served.
What killer did
Testimony presented at Beshara's trial showed that he duped Guthrie into coming out of her apartment on the ruse that he needed a ride to get medicine for his ailing father, whom Guthrie knew.
Beshara had three accomplices who turned against him and cooperated in his prosecution.
Anthony D. Johnson, 18, of Steel Street, pleaded guilty to kidnapping, aggravated robbery and involuntary manslaughter and will be sentenced Monday.
Two juveniles, Josiah Smith and Coryon Bertram, both 15 and both of Second Street, pleaded guilty to kidnapping in county juvenile court. They have been sentenced to detention for a minimum of one year and a maximum of the time remaining until their 21st birthdays.
Trial testimony showed that Beshara forced Guthrie into the trunk of her car and then went into her apartment apparently looking for money.
When he came out, he got behind the wheel of her car, and, with his three accomplices, drove into Youngstown, stopping once to open the trunk, demand money from Guthrie and beat her, witnesses said.
He then told his accomplices that she would have to be killed because she could identify everyone, according to testimony.
He drove to Parkcliff Avenue on the city's South Side, where he removed her from the trunk, threw her to the pavement and then ran over her twice with her own car, witnesses said. She died of a blunt impact to the head but suffered numerous other injuries as well. Her body was identified through dental records two days later.
gwin@vindy.com