'Finally:' Murdered Utah grandmother's family looks to execution for closure
Claudia Benn was living a bustling life. She was working as a substance abuse counselor by day, helping people who wanted something better for their lives. By night, she was babysitting her grandchildren, helping her own children to be able to support their families.
Benn, 49, even served as vice chairman of the Shivwits Band of Paiutes, a federally recognized tribe in southwestern Utah.
That all came to a screeching halt on July 9, 1998, when her daughter’s boyfriend, Taberon Dave Honie, showed up at her home, broke in, and stabbed her to death after an argument, all while her three granddaughters were in the house in Cedar City, about 220 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.
“She was doing all the things she wanted to, with nothing holding her back," her cousin, Betsy China, told USA TODAY this week. "She was a rising star."
Now, 26 years after Benn's murder, Utah is set to execute Honie just after midnight Thursday, though he has been fighting the death sentence and asking for mercy. The execution, Utah's first since a firing squad execution in 2010, marks the end of a painful chapter for Benn’s family, who have been waiting decades for justice to be served.
USA TODAY is looking back at the crime, who Benn was and what made her special.
What happened to Claudia Benn?
On July 9, 1998, Claudia Benn was babysitting her three granddaughters. Her daughter, Carol Pikyavit, had been living with Benn along with her 2-year-old daughter, whom she shared with Honie, when Honie called. He was drunk and angry, and at one point, threatened to kill everyone in the home and take their daughter if Pikyavit didn't make time to see him, court records say.
Not taking the threat seriously, Pikyavit left the home and headed to work.
Honie headed to the house and began arguing with Benn. Honie told police that Benn started the fight and was calling him names through a sliding glass door before he snapped, broke through the door and went inside.
Benn had grabbed a butcher knife but was overpowered by Honie, who grabbed the knife and brought it to her throat, court records say. Honie says the two of them both tripped while the knife was at Benn’s throat and that she fell on the blade.
Police said Benn was found face down in the living room, with numerous “stabbing and cutting wounds” to her neck and genitals, according to court documents.
All three grandchildren were found at the home with varying degrees of blood on their clothes and body. There was also evidence that one of Benn’s granddaughters was sexually abused at some point, court documents say.
Claudia Benn's family recalls a beloved matriarch
Benn's cousin, Betsy China, said she saw Benn just hours before she was killed. The two were catching up and chatting, and Benn asked China if she wanted to go to her house to "veg out and watch videos."
Like any good grandmother, Benn was armed with movies, popcorn and all kinds of snacks, a tempting offer that China ended up declining. It was the last time China saw her cousin.
“I said, ‘No, I’m alright. I’m gonna stay home,'" she recalled. "I could have been in the situation, so horrific and awful and brutal."
Another of Benn's daughters, Benita Yracheta, also lived at home with her mom and was at work during the murder. To this day she has trouble untangling her mother’s memory from what happened that night, telling USA TODAY that she tries “to go to the good memories I have with her."
“I miss her a lot. And every time I think of her, I think of the house and whatnot,” Yracheta said.
Those “good memories” include an impromptu dance party with impersonators for The Supremes at the Utah State Fair or how her mom worked to put herself through college after she divorced her husband and left Kaibab, Arizona, and moved the family to Utah.
Benn would go on to receive a degree in sociology from the University of Utah, working at the Women’s Resource Center on campus before she was hired as a substance abuse counselor for the Paiute Tribe, according to her obituary.
Yracheta said she feels relieved that she can put her mother’s brutal death behind her, saying that justice is “finally happening.”
“I had told them that I had cried for this man that killed because now that he knows his death date, he’s trying to throw everything out there to stop it," she said. "My mom, she never knew her death date. She didn’t know she was gonna die that night, but I know that he needs to end it.”
Execution represents a ‘closing’
China said she wants to people to remember Benn as someone “who helped our people.”
She said coping with her cousin's death has been incredibly difficult, as she frequently looked to Benn for guidance in life. Benn always encouraged China, like a coach or sister would, advising her in difficult times.
“There was a big gap there in leadership within the family” after Benn’s death that remains to this day, China said. Right now, what she’s focused on is “trying to be here and finish this out,” remembering her cousin in a good way and knowing that justice is set to be served on Thursday.