Benjamin Mitchell to serve 11 years in prison for brutal torture of local woman

Victim tells of harrowing events as she struggled for survival.

Benjamin Mitchell awaiting sentencing. Photo by Carrie Gloeckner.

POMEROY – Benjamin Mitchell will spend the next 11 years in prison for the brutal beating and vicious stabbing of a woman.

Benjamin Mitchell, 35, entered a guilty plea involving an incident that has permanently scarred one woman. He pleaded guilty in the Meigs County Court of Common Pleas Feb. 27, 2017 before Judge. I. Carson Crow.

“The deepest cut is the one inside of me,” the victim said as she addressed the court during sentencing. She went on to elaborate on a horrific experience she likened to a horror movie. At one point she said that was the way she viewed the situation as she tried to run for her life and fight for survival.

She said that night changed her life forever. She told the court of the terrible experience of fearing for her life, fearing that her children would loose their mother and the last thing she would know of this world was Benjamin Mitchell’s “cold, black eyes.”

With Meigs County Victim’s Advocate Theda Petrasko standing by her side, the woman detailed the ordeal. Several times during her statement to the court, the victim broke down sobbing. At one point through the tears, she softly asked God to give her strength to finish her statement. She told of being beaten, stabbed, even urinating on herself during the torture she endured. The last words she heard from Benjamin Mitchell were, “Dad, come help me finish this bitch off.”

At that point, Edward and Benjamin Mitchell struggled. It was in that moment she related how she believed this was the end and they would kill her. At that point she said she heard a beautiful voice, she believes was God, telling her to “get up and run.”

The woman ran bleeding heavily from the deep cut on her arm and the cut Benjamin Mitchell made into her face. She ran, barefoot into the darkness, eventually stumbling into a ditch. Benjamin Mitchell and his father were chasing her in a vehicle at that point. Because she fell into the ditch, they didn’t see her. She was begging God to let her live through the ordeal. The victim said she was able to eventually make it to another house. During the last part of that journey, she could only crawl to the house having lost a great deal of blood.

“That night I was saved,” she told the court, but added the trauma still haunts her everyday and she sees it every time she looks in the mirror. “I hate my life now” because when she closes her eyes she sees Benjamin Mitchell’s “black, evil eyes.”

Meigs County Prosecutor James Stanley asked the court to follow the plea agreement as presented to the court before the defense attorney addressed the court on his client’s behalf.

Defense attorney, Michael Huff, thanked the victim for her statement to the court and apologized on behalf of his client. He said the then 34-year old Benjamin Mitchell had been using methamphetamines heavily at the time of assault. According to Huff, Benjamin Mitchell had been on a seven to eight day long methamphetamine binge. Huff also told of Benjamin Mitchell growing up without his father, Edward Mitchell, because at one point the elder Mitchell was incarcerated for sexual assault of a minor. Edward Mitchell had served in the military as well and according to Huff, Benjamin suffered for having grown up in a single parent home and had various mental health issues. Benjamin Mitchell was assessed, however, and found to be competent to stand trial.

“He is still salvageable,” Huff argued before the court for his client saying that in 11 years Benjamin Mitchell will be out of prison.

Judge Crow asked the victim if she was in agreement with the plea deal. She said she was and Judge Crow proceeded to sentence Benjamin Mitchell. During the proceeding including the witness testimony, Benjamin Mitchell showed little to no emotion, simply blinked as Judge Crow rendered the sentence.

Benjamin Mitchell was indicted by a Meigs County Grand Jury on one count of Felonious Assault, a felony of the second degree, and two counts of Kidnapping, both felonies of the first degree. The indictment was handed down Sept. 16, 2016. In a plea agreement reached Tuesday morning, just prior to the start of the jury trial, Benjamin Mitchell pleaded guilty to one count of Felonious assault, a felony of the first degree and to an amended charge of Abduction, a felony of the third degree. For the assault charge, he will serve eight years and for the abduction charge, 36 months. Both are the maximum sentences for the charges. The third charge of Kidnapping was dismissed.

In addition to 11 years in prison, Benjamin Mitchell will have post release control for three years and a lifetime firearm ban. Judge Crow said Benjamin Mitchell could face up to one half of the stated prison term for a parole violation upon release. Judge Crow further said a new offense could mean additional time as well.

Both Benjamin Mitchell and his father, Edward Mitchell, were involved in the kidnapping and horrific assault of a woman at their Langsville home.

Edward Mitchell had previously pleaded guilty to charges for his involvement in the August 14, 2016 assault of a woman. Edward Mitchell will spend the next seven years in prison for his part in stabbing and brutally beating the woman. Edward Mitchell had entered into a plea agreement that would have meant he would have had to give “truthful testimony” in the trial of his son, Benjamin Mitchell. With the change of plea by Benjamin Mitchell, the trial will now not happen. Edward Mitchell will also have five years of community control when he is out of prison.

(Editor’s Note: The Meigs Independent Press is not naming the victim due to the guilty pleas and the terrible details involved in the case. Naming the victim would only victimize her further.)

For more information about this case as previously reported in the Meigs Independent Press, read the links below.