GLADSTONE, Ore. — A former Gladstone police sergeant has pleaded guilty for his role in the 2011 death of his wife.
According to the Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office, Lynn Edward Benton pleaded guilty on Tuesday to first-degree manslaughter.
In 2016, Benton was found guilty of aggravated murder, conspiracy to commit aggravated murder and attempted murder in the death of his estranged wife, Debbie Higbee-Benton, who was found shot, beaten and strangled in her salon. Benton feared that Higbee-Benton would go to police with domestic violence accusations and damage his law enforcement career, according to court documents…