Convicted killer Omar Benguit launches another bid to clear name
A CONVICTED murderer who grew up in Lymington has launched a second bid to clear his name.
Omar Benguit has spent the past 19 years in jail under the life sentence he was given after being found guilty of killing South Korean student Jong-Ok Shin – known as "Oki" – in July 2002. He is eligible for parole in 2022 and could go free if he confesses to it.
But his sister Amie has said on the Free Omar Facebook page her brother had told her he’d rather "be carried out of prison in a coffin than admit to something he didn’t do".
Benguit, who lived on the Flushards Estate in his youth and has always denied committing the crime, has submitted new evidence for a second time to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). It has the power to take potential miscarriages of justice back to court for re-examination.
The news was confirmed by the CCRC, which told the A&T: "It will be subject to an initial triage to determine if there is any significant new evidence and/or argument before an informed decision can be taken to review it or not."
Dorset Police – which led the investigation that caused Benguit, now aged in his late 40s, to be incarcerated – defended its conduct.
"This case has been through a series of reviews and any matter surrounding concerns regarding this conviction is ultimately a matter for the CCRC and the Court of Appeal," DCS Ben Hargreaves said.
"Dorset Police would follow the direction and instigate investigations if directed by the courts and responsible authorities.” He added: “As always, our thoughts are with Oki’s family and friends who remain devastated by their loss."
The development comes after another BBC documentary into Oki’s killing, and Benguit claimed to uncover evidence that could give him an alibi for the night of the killing and that prosecution witnesses said police pressured them into telling lies in court.
Benguit stood three trials before he was convicted in 2005 of killing Oki in Charminster, Bournemouth.
At the first two hearings the juries failed to reach a verdict but at the third he was found guilty and sentenced to life in jail. The trials were told that after Oki was rushed to hospital she told doctors she was stabbed by a man in a mask.
At Benguit's trials the main witness stated she was driving Benguit and two others when they spotted Oki on the night of the murder. She said the three men got out of the car and approached Oki before quickly returning, and Benguit had blood on his shirt.
After his conviction Benguit launched an appeal – but that was rejected.
He and his family continued to protest his innocence and in 2014 Benguit was granted special leave to return to the Court of Appeal by the CCRC.
At that hearing his legal team claimed "hair in the hand" killer Daniel Restivo was an alternative suspect in the Oki killing as hair was found near her body.
Restivo is currently serving a life sentence after being convicted of mutilating Bournemouth mother Heather Barnett in 2002, and killing Italian teenager Elisa Clapps.
They also raised how the main witness in the case had claimed on a television show she saw Benguit stab Oki – which they suggested was an "embellish" of evidence she gave at the trials.
However, three senior judges rejected that first CCRC bid after prosecutors said the "hallmarks" of Restivo’s murders were not in the Oki case, while a woman had said she had cut her hair just before the killing and discarded it outside her house.
The main witness had not changed her evidence Benguit was the killer, Oki’s murder was "opportunistic", Benguit was reported to have been heard making distasteful remarks about Korean women and seen using and sharpening knives, they added.
The prosecution also said another witness claimed Benguit confessed to stabbing Oki, while he gave a false alibi to police.
