When Joan Bent was reported missing from her home in Watervliet, New York, in February 1986, the police did their best to get to the bottom of the matter. Furthermore, even Joan’s husband, Donald Bent, seemed understandably grieved and devastated by his wife’s death. Investigation Discovery’s ‘A Fatal Fling’ recounts the chilling murder and shows how the ensuing investigation uncovered a sinister plot brewing very close to home. Let’s dive into the case and find out where the attacker is currently located, shall we?
How did Joan Bent die?
Joan Bent was a loving wife who resided with her husband, Donald Bent, in Watervliet, New York. She was highly respected in the community and her family described her as a generous and lively woman who loved to make people smile. To the outside world, Joan and Donald had a perfect marriage and were both proud parents. With many friends and no immediate enemies, even Joan’s loved ones couldn’t understand why anyone would hurt her.
When Donald Bent reported Joan missing on February 17, 1986, the Watervliet police immediately did their best in the case. Donald seemed quite anxious and police believed he was terrified of something terrible happening to his wife. Joan’s search lasted several days without any progress. She allegedly disappeared while driving an untraceable Chrysler sedan.
People formed massive search parties and combed nearby areas as Joan’s family held out hope of her safe return. However, this was not to be the case; on the 11th day of Joan’s disappearance, authorities were able to locate the missing vehicle outside a Holiday Inn in Menands, Albany County. Inside, police discovered Joan’s frozen, deceased body.
Who killed Joan Bent?
The case initially saw little or no progress as, with no timeline or time for Joan Bent’s death, police were unable to zero in on the suspects. Although they interviewed Joan’s family thoroughly, there were no convincing clues to find a person of interest. However, once the medical examiner was done with Joan’s body, he discovered that she still had undigested food in her stomach.
Additionally, with the food in Joan’s stomach matching what the couple ate for dinner on February 16, it was confirmed that Joan was killed the night she disappeared. When authorities first interviewed Donald Bent, he seemed truly devastated and broken at the loss of his wife. He even mentioned how much Joan meant to him and he couldn’t imagine a life without her. Still, the show mentioned that there were talks that Joan had submitted divorce papers, a speculation that has not been confirmed until today.
However, suspicion finally fell on the husband as the meal in Joan’s stomach was still undigested. The couple ate their meals just before going out on the evening of February 16, 1986, which gave the murderer an extremely tight deadline. So, believing Donald responsible for the disappearance and murder, the police arrested him.
Where is Donald Bent now?
When arrested and tried, Donald Bent pleaded not guilty and said he did not kill his wife. According to the show, he insisted the prosecution had a personal vendetta against him and insisted on his innocence. However, the jury disagreed with this and instead found him guilty and sentenced him to 25 years to life in 1987. Interestingly, Donald held his plea of ​​innocence for months until in 2015, when he admitted to his daughter, Dawn Bent, that he was indeed the one who murdered Joan.
In 2011, Donald became eligible for parole and looked forward to getting out of prison, but his parole request was denied four times. Eventually, in 2018, the court decided to grant him parole and Donald was released from prison at age 86. Currently, Donald is over 90 and has a limited social media presence. While this makes it difficult to pinpoint his exact whereabouts, we can safely infer that, being on parole and not allowed to change states, Donald still resides somewhere in New York.
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