UCI grad student sentenced to life in prison for ex-wife’s murder

A UC Irvine graduate student who shot and killed his ex-wife on campus in the midst of a child support dispute was sentenced Friday to life without parole plus 25 years to life in prison.

Brian Hughes Benedict, 40, was arrested soon after the shooting, which happened just outside a student and family housing complex in September 2009.

He was found guilty by a jury in August of special circumstances murder for financial gain and lying in wait, according to a news release from the Orange County district attorney’s office.

The shooting, which was witnessed by several people, shocked the normally tranquil Orange County campus.

According to prosecutors, just before the slaying, Brian Benedict and his ex-wife, Rebecca, had attended a court hearing at which he was ordered to pay child support.

When Rebecca Benedict went to pick up the couple’s then 4-year-old son from Brian Benedict’s on-campus apartment, the ex-husband attacked her with a hammer. When she ran from the apartment, he chased her down and shot her several times, prosecutors said.

Benedict, who was working toward a doctorate in physics, tried to leave the scene with the couple’s son, but witnesses and neighbors stopped him.

In addition to the sentence, the defendant was ordered to pay $191,000 in restitution to Rebecca Benedict’s family, prosecutors said.

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