PASSINGS: Laurie ‘Bambi’ Bembenek, Rob Lytle

LAURIE ‘BAMBI’ BEMBENEK

Convicted of killing husband’s ex-wife, escaped from Wisconsin prison

Laurie “Bambi” Bembenek, 52, a former Playboy Club bunny and police officer convicted of shooting her then-husband’s ex-wife, died Saturday of liver failure at a hospice care center in Portland, Ore., said her longtime attorney, Mary Woehrer.

Bembenek worked briefly as a Playboy Club waitress before becoming a police officer in Milwaukee, where she married detective Fred Schultz. Bembenek was convicted in 1982 of fatally shooting his ex-wife, Christine Schultz.

Bembenek was sentenced to life in prison. In 1990, she escaped Taycheedah Correctional Institution in Wisconsin and fled to Canada with then-fiance Dominic Gugliatto, the brother of another inmate.

Bembenek and Gugliatto were captured about three months later. In a deal with prosecutors, she pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and served the remaining 10 years of that sentence on parole.

Her story was made into a book and TV movie starring Tatum O’Neal, “Woman on Trial: The Lawrencia Bembenek Story.”

In 2002, after completing parole, Bembenek filed a motion seeking testing for genetic material in the case in the hope of clearing her name. Later that year, she seriously injured her foot falling out a hotel window before an appearance in Los Angeles on the “ Dr. Phil” show, which had agreed to pay for some of the DNA testing. Bembenek’s right foot was amputated a few weeks later.

ROB LYTLE

Broncos running back scored touchdown in ’78 Super Bowl

Rob Lytle, 56, an All-American running back at the University of Michigan who scored a touchdown in the 1978 Super Bowl as a Denver Broncos rookie, died of a heart attack Saturday night in Fremont Ohio, Memorial Hospital spokeswoman Chasity O’Neill said.

Lytle was drafted by the Broncos in the second round in 1977. He scored on a 1-yard run in Denver’s 27-10 Super Bowl loss to Dallas. He played seven seasons with the Broncos.

Robert William Lytle was born Nov. 12, 1954, in Fremont. In 1976, he finished third in voting for the Heisman Trophy behind University of Pittsburgh’s Tony Dorsett and USC’s Ricky Bell.

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