MESA — Sometimes he bought a hot dog from her deli, and other times she bought ice from his store.
They were two business owners in the same Mesa strip mall — both single and both trying to make a living.
But on Thursday morning deli-owner Hgourtlande Just found out her "nice and friendly" neighbor, 36-year-old Trent Benson, was arrested in one of Mesa's biggest crimes in more than a decade.
A DNA match linked Benson to a string of rapes and slayings dating to November 2004, according to police.
"I was shaking," said Just, a native of Haiti, while gripping the countertop and lowering herself in shock. "I couldn't believe it."
The accused strangler and rapist appeared in court Thursday and will be jailed without a chance of posting bail.
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He was booked on two counts of first-degree murder, kidnapping, sexual assault and violent sexual assault.
Benson stood silently as a Maricopa County Superior Court judge read the charges to him in a jailhouse courtroom.
Court paperwork has been sealed because the investigation is not complete, Judge Sheila Madden said.
Prosecutor Vince Imbordino said the paperwork gave details about a police interview with Benson, but no information from that interview has been made public.
On Thursday, Benson's neighbors gathered in small groups throughout his apartment complex, in the 200 block of West Brown Road. They shook their heads in disbelief and chatted about how their long-time neighbor was a "family guy" and "the ideal father."
"He's kind of the go-to guy for the neighborhood," said Heather Miller. "We were hoping that it was someone else."
"I'm still hoping it's not (true)," added neighbor Kari Fredenburg.
Outside Benson's six-week-old business — called Lindsay Water and Ice and located near Lindsay Road and University Drive — a woman sat on a table Thursday waiting for the store to reopen. A "Closed" sign was prominent in the front window.
Lucia Barry's eyes opened wide when she learned of his arrest.
"He looks so nice, so handsome ... very gentle," said Barry, a regular customer at the tidy store that sold ice cream, snow cones and candy as well as water and ice.
The manhunt for the accused serial predator intensified last December after police linked two homicides through DNA. It expanded about two weeks ago when more rape victims were identified.
Both homicide victims were strangled and raped, and one of the rape victims was beaten nearly to death and left in a Phoenix street.
A fourth victim, who survived, was kidnapped in daylight at a busy intersection.
Alisa Beck, 21, was found Nov. 1, 2004, in an alley near McClellan Road and Country Club Drive, about a mile from where Benson has lived since 2000.
A 47-year-old woman was kidnapped at Horne and Main Street on Aug. 16 and taken to a residence, but she managed to escape and flag down a cab that took her home.
The naked body of Karen Campbell, 44, was found in the street in the 2700 block of East Leonora Street on Oct. 14.
The last known attack came on Nov. 4 at Seventh Street and Osborne Road in Phoenix.
Police said Beck and Campbell were involved in prostitution and drugs, and Benson had a history of arrests for hiring prostitutes.
He pleaded guilty in May 2001 to public sexual indecency, according to Mesa City Court records.
Family Court records show that Benson is divorced and had custody of his 7-year-old son at the time of his arrest. The boy is now in the care of Child Protective Services.
About three weeks before Beck's slaying, Benson filed an order of protection against his wife, whom he accused of being violent.
He made similar accusations in another order of protection and in divorce documents.
His wife, contacted by phone Thursday, declined to comment. His family in Minnesota couldn't be reached for comment.
"This was the gathering place for all the (neighborhood) kids," Fredenburg said. "I feel very badly for his son. I hope he is OK."
