Benjamin Holmes (born 1952) is a man from

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

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, US, who is known for faking his own death and evading detection for 20 years.

Biography

In 1979, Benjamin Holmes was an auto repairman in

working on his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

. Holmes was approached by Italian Mafia members and was asked to make a muffler for a gun. He refused, and took the story to the police; however, Holmes was approached by a cop who also began to pressure Holmes to outfit his guns with suppressors. In October 1979, Holmes returned to his home from work and discovered the lights in his house were off, including a light that he had always left on. When he entered his home and hit the light switch, he was engulfed in a fiery explosion. The light switch had been connected to a bomb. During hospitalization for treatment of the burns he suffered, Holmes was visited by someone who accused him of attempting to burn down his own house to collect insurance money. Upon leaving the hospital, Holmes saw the news that he was wanted for several violent crimes he did not commit, and that a

shoot on sight ''Shoot on Sight'' is a 2007 British film directed by Jag Mundhra and produced by Aron Govil. The film was marketed and distributed globally by Aron Govil Productions Inc. The cast includes Brian Cox, Sadie Frost, Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri. ...

order was announced. It was then Holmes realized that someone was setting him up. Out of desperation, Holmes came to the conclusion he had no choice but to fake his own death. He set the stage for a

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

inside his car using a

syringe A syringe is a simple reciprocating pump consisting of a plunger (though in modern syringes, it is actually a piston) that fits tightly within a cylindrical tube called a barrel. The plunger can be linearly pulled and pushed along the inside ...

from his medicine cabinet to withdraw and splatter his own blood around the car in an attempt to make it look like he was shot. He left the car running on a deserted road and headed for

Lorain, Ohio Lorain () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Black River, about 30 miles west of Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 65 ...

, where a friend was waiting for him. Over the next several months, Holmes grew a beard and let his hair grow long. He bought a fraudulent driver's license and

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several Process of tatt ...

ed himself to cover the burns on the backs of his hands. He eventually found work in an auto shop. In 1988, seven years after his disappearance, Holmes was presumed dead and his wife was issued a death certificate. She then collected a $100,000 life insurance check for the presumed loss of her husband. With the extra money, Holmes moved with his wife and young daughter to a new neighborhood in

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...

. Twenty years after his presumed "death", Holmes caught his wife having an affair, confronted her, and was shot by his wife twice in his midsection.http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_23_98/ai_67185248/ He was rushed to the hospital, where a high school classmate working as a nurse recognized him. Holmes was then found out, but no charges were filed against him. Holmes still lives in Youngstown and is currently writing a book about his life.

Television appearance

In September 2011 Holmes was featured on the first episode of the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

show '' I Faked My Own Death''.

References

External links

* https://tvschedule.zap2it.com/overview.html?programSeriesId=SH01442775 * http://video.tvguide.com/I+Faked+My+Own+Death/Gun+Shots+Galore/10829110?autoplay=true&partnerid=OVG * http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-schedules/series.html?paid=1.14361.26322.40851.x * http://partners.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/20001203mag-thernstrom.html * http://www.snapjudgment.org/price-silence {{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Benjamin Living people 1952 births Date of birth missing (living people)

Biography

Television appearance

See also

References

External links