'Very hard to keep moving forward ': No arrests, charges 4 years after Surrey father's murder
“I feel so bad for Paul. He deserved so much better.” Those are the words of Surrey widow Darlene Bennett, still grieving the murder of her husband four years ago in what police have said was a case of mistaken identity.
It was June 23, 2018 when Paul Bennett, the father of two young boys, was gunned down in the driveway of his home.
“We were there. The boys saw Paul. I did CPR on Paul,” said Darlene.
“The kids should still have him. They should still have their dad. They need him and he’s not there,” Darlene said, explaining that the horror of what happened is still emotionally crushing.
“My brain still will take me to that day and it’s very difficult to stop. And I wish it would.”
Paul Bennett, a nurse and volunteer hockey coach, was not the intended target on that tragic day.
“Why? I still can’t wrap my head around that, mistaken identity….You can take someone’s life and it’s not even the right person?” she said.
“It makes me very angry, and it makes me sad because I don’t want this to happen to other people and it does…No one needs to go through this. No one.”Paul and Darlene Bennett are shown in a family photo.
Video surveillance captured just before the shooting showed a car pull up and a dark figure run from the passenger side and then return a short time later. Police will not say if the car was ever located.
No one has ever been charged in the murder.
“I can only keep that hope that there’s answers one day,” Darlene said.
“It’s very hard to keep moving forward when you keep feeling like there’s something still waiting to hit you, like unfinished business and you just wonder when it’s going to drop,” she explained.
Darlene Bennett looks at a photo of her husband Paul who was killed in the driveway of their Surrey home in 2018. No one has been charged with the killing.
The Integrated Homicide Investigations Team declined an interview, saying it could jeopardize the integrity of the investigation.
“I understand that the public is looking for answers as is Darlene Bennett and her family/friends. There has been comparisons with the timelines on this file versus others. All I can say is that investigations are unique and timelines are not an indication of solvability or complexity,” wrote a spokesperson in an email.
Meanwhile, Darlene said she and her boys had to move from their family home as it was a constant reminder of the killing.
Paul Bennett is shown in an undated photo released by IHIT.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.