Oregon’s Colby Benson Sentenced to Life Imprisonment
It took a Multnomah County jury less than eight hours to find Colby Benson (40), aka ‘Shooter’, guilty of second-degree murder that, he said, he committed when ‘high on meth.’
Benson was found guilty of second-degree murder for shooting and killing Christopher Klein (30) on September 11, 2020. The incident occurred as Klein drove away from an apartment complex in East Portland.
Benson was sentenced to life imprisonment with the chance of parole after 25 years when he appeared in the Multnomah County Court earlier this week.
Benson Admitted to Killing ‘the White Boy’
During the trial, the court heard that Benson admitted to his girlfriend that he had killed ‘the white boy.’ He asked another woman to get rid of the gun and beat up a man who challenged him after shooting Klein.
On the day of the fatal event, Benson and Klein spent most of the day together at the Ventura Park Plaza Apartments in East Portland.
When Klein left and sat waiting at a traffic light in his silver BMW, Benson ran into the road and fired eight shots. Klein was struck three times in the back and once in the neck. He died on the scene.
Benson jumped into a waiting sedan and fled the scene to the Golden Spike Motel where his girlfriend, Debbie Vanos, was waiting.
Girlfriend Told Him to Get Rid of the Gun and His Clothes
Vanos told the court that Benson told her he had killed ‘the white boy.’ She told him to get rid of his clothes and to give the gun to a female acquaintance. Vanos said she was engaged to Benson and had not cooperated with authorities because she wanted her fiancé to be free.
No motive for the shooting was disclosed because Benson said he was so high on meth and could not remember most of the events of that day.
Mykia Page was at the Ventura Park Plaza Apartments where Benson and Klein spent most of the day. Page was romantically involved with both men.
Brandy Jo Pinter testified that on the day of the murder, she was in a drug house when a woman burst in, holding a turquoise pistol she said had been used to kill Klein. Pinter agreed to help get rid of the weapon that was later recovered in a traffic stop in Vancouver.
Jason Conley told the court that Benson beat him up after he had called the person responsible for killing Klein a ‘coward’ on social media.
The jury rejected the defense argument that someone else could have shot Klein because surveillance footage of the incident was blurry. The defense has indicated that Benson will appeal his sentence.