Woman stabbed multiple times; bond $3M
11:46 PM, Sep. 20, 2011
Services for Stacey Wright are set for 1 p.m. Friday at Anderson United Methodist Church in Jackson with visitation from 1-7 p.m. Thursday at Lakeover Memorial Funeral Home.
A top federal Transportation Security Administration official in Mississippi is in jail in Gulfport charged with murder in the killing of TSA worker Stacey Wright.
On Sunday, D'Iberville police said they found Wright, 43, stabbed to death multiple times in her apartment there. Authorities arrested Ruben Orlando Benitez, 45, who serves as the TSA's assistant federal security director in Mississippi.
He remained jailed Tuesday in the Harrison County Adult Detention Center, where his bond is $3 million. An initial appearance could take place as early as today.
Wright was married to Lt. Anthony Wright of the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol. But the two had been separated.
Benitez and Wright had worked together at the Jackson airport.
Benitez had been working in Jackson for the past several years, coming here from Chicago, where his wife still lives, TSA workers said. Wright had worked initially as a screener and then as a lead screener before taking the job as a supervisor on the Gulf Coast, they said.
Authorities believe Wright and Benitez had a relationship, said Clay Jones, a spokesman for the D'Iberville Police Department.
Jones said authorities received a call early Sunday morning from a family member because Wright "hadn't been answering her phone."
The family member knew Wright lived in the Landmark Apartments but didn't recall the exact number, he said. "She had just moved down about a month ago from Jackson so none of the neighbors knew her."
The security guard at the apartment went with a police officer to her apartment, Jones said. After opening the door, they found her lying on the floor, he said.
She had been dead for some time, and there was no way to revive her, he said.
Authorities believe an altercation or struggle took place prior to her death, Jones said. "From the physical evidence on the scene, you could tell."
After speaking to witnesses and co-workers, authorities developed a lead that resulted to the arrest of Benitez, he said.
News of the arrest of one of TSA's top officials in Mississippi came the same day the Violence Policy Center issued a report that found 93 percent of women are killed by someone they know, "most often a spouse or intimate acquaintance."
Many were killed "during the course of an argument," the study says. Most often, perpetrators used guns.
"Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to Stacey Wright's family, friends and TSA colleagues during this sad and tragic time," said spokeswoman Sari Koshetz.
"Grief counseling has been made available to TSA employees at Gulfport-Biloxi and also at Jackson-Evers International Airport where officer Wright previously worked," she said. "We are cooperating fully with the law enforcement investigation into her death."
Jones wouldn't comment on whether a possible murder weapon or any fingerprints were found.
"We did collect evidence on the scene," he said.
An autopsy is being done to help determine time of death, Jones said. "We don't know the time at this point. We do know she had been dead for two or three days."
To comment on this story, call Jerry Mitchell at (601) 961-7064. Follow him at twitter.com/jmitchellnews.
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