Bennie hall murder olga parlante, identified bloody fingerprint, How Did She Die?
Olga Parlante's killing: who murdered her? How died She?
Investigation Discovery has carved a niche for itself by focusing on some shocking, real criminal cases. In 'Killer in Question: Bingo Queen,' the murder of Olga Parlante, a 71-year-old woman, is addressed. Though it happened in 1997, it remained unresolved until 2012, when a bloody fingerprint finally revealed the perpetrator. This article will give you case info.
How died Olga Parlante?
Olga moved to Florida in the mid-60s with her husband, Anneo, where she worked as a waitress, driving tractor-trailers. Ten years later, her husband (who suffered from emphysema) passed away and since then her life has revolved around 9 children, 23 grandchildren and 12 grandchildren. Bingo was also part of her everyday routine.
In reality, Olga was a regular at Seminole Casino near Hollywood and was also named "Bingo Queen." She told her son on March 12, 1997 that she was off to the casino. The reality, however was that she was battered, strangled with a blouse, and dragged back to her Dania Beach apartment as she tried to escape during a wrong robbery. These items were eventually declared missing from her home: 20-inch TV, AM/FM cassette radio, mantle clock, and cash.
What makes the crime even more horrifying is that Olga was reportedly paralyzed due to health conditions that involved heart attacks and strokes. Her granddaughter Angie Nihoff came for breakfast the next morning only to find a blood-soaked rag in Olga's mouth. She called 911, and the dispatcher told her to do CPR. However, Angie knew Olga had died because the body was cold and there were bugs.
Olga's apartment was ransacked and bloody handprints were also found on the scene. Death time was estimated at 10:30pm. Unfortunately, at the time technology did not support investigators discovering the identity of the guilty. The case went cold and wasn't solved until 2012, 15 years after the incident.
Who killed Parlante?
The lead investigator was Detective Frank Ilarraza of the Broward Sheriff's Department. While moved from homicide, he asked the crime lab to study the evidence gathered back in 1997. Bennie Hall, a convicted criminal, was the man behind the crime.
Known to harass the elderly, Hall had beaten and robbed an 87-year-old man at his Miami-Dade home in 2000. Not only this but five days after Olga's murder, Hall was arrested for drug possession and was already serving a sentence when charged for the homicide. She said I was in seventh heaven; what a relief."
In 1997, investigators obtained fingerprints and palm prints from the apartment walls, the inside of Olga's pocketbook, and a dresser drawer. The technology made the evidence inconclusive. Fred also claimed he had met psychics, hiring private investigators.
However with technology advances, Olga was eventually brought to justice. Broward County Sheriff, Al Lamberti, said, "Database is growing, and computer technology is improving year after year. It doesn't matter how long it takes: we'll get family justice, and this case is a prime example of this."
Twenty-one years after her death, she was sentenced to life imprisonment for first-degree murder. Her daughter, Maureen Rossi, told the trial guilty—"You're a coward. Mother forgives you. That's the person she was. I pray to God I will forgive you before I die, because I want to go to heaven with my mum. That's the only reason I'd forgive."
Hall, however, insisted he was innocent: "The last thing I'd do is take another person's life. With all the crimes I've committed, the one thing I've never done is to take a person's life." Besides that the authorities still felt like Hall had a complice that night. This is a working theory, however, and they could never charge another human.