Monsters Among Us: Taberon Dave Honie raped and killed Claudia Benn, his ex-girlfriend’s mother murder; Sentenced to death*

On July 9, 1998, defendant Taberone Dave Honie killed Claudia Benn. Between approximately 8:00 and 8:30 p.m. on July 9, defendant telephoned Carol Pikyavit–the mother of defendant’s child, T.H., and the daughter of the victim, Claudia Benn. Defendant was intoxicated and asked Carol to join him at the home of his girlfriend at the time, Shilo John. Carol refused and told defendant she was going to work. Defendant responded by threatening to kill Carol’s mother, Claudia, and the children of Carol’s sister, Benita. He also threatened to take T.H. from Carol. Carol discounted defendant’s threats because he had threatened her life before. Defendant called twice more before Carol left for work at 10:30 p.m., and the caller identification system recorded one more phone call from Shilo John’s residence after Carol left for work. Carol left T.H., and Benita left her two children, D.R. and T.R., with Claudia that evening when they went to work. The children were dressed and ready for bed when they left.

Later that evening, around 11:20 p.m., a cab driver picked up defendant. Although defendant was intoxicated, he directed the cab driver to an apartment complex near the victim’s neighborhood where he got out. Later on, at approximately 12:20 a.m, several police officers arrived at the victim’s home in response to a 911 call from a neighbor. Upon arrival, the officers discovered that a sliding glass door in the rear of the house had been broken by a rock, with the glass substantially removed to permit access to the house. The police ordered the occupants inside the house outside, and the defendant was encountered exiting the house through the garage. Defendant was covered in blood and stated to the officers that he killed the victim by stabbing her with a knife. Defendant was arrested, and the officers inspected the house. Inside the house police officers discovered the victim’s body partially nude, lying face down in the living room. A telephone was in her left hand and a large blood-stained kitchen knife was lying near her head. Blood had pooled on the carpeted floor underneath her neck, and blood was located on her exposed buttocks, on her lower body, and on the floor near her. One bite mark was identified on the victim’s left arm. Drops of blood were found throughout the house: on the kitchen floor, on kitchen drawers, on the bathroom floor, in the bathroom sink, and on the walls near the bathroom and where the body was found. Blood was also smeared on closet doors. One of the officers found the three children inside the house. Two of the three children had some blood on them, and the other child, D.R., was covered with blood. Further, D.R. was found wearing only a t-shirt; she was not wearing the panties she was wearing when her mother left for work. D.R.’s panties were recovered, and blood found on them was eventually determined to be D.R.’s. D.R. was given new panties the night of the murder, but she continued to bleed into the new panties. At trial, expert testimony indicated that the source of the bleeding, abrasions to her genital area, was consistent with rubbing or fondling, and not likely accidental. Following the trial, during the sentencing proceeding, defendant’s expert witness, Dr. Nancy Cohn, testified that defendant admitted to her that he sexually molested D.R. by digitally penetrating her.

The postmortem examination of the victim’s body revealed that defendant brutally slit the victim’s throat. Defendant had cut the victim’s neck from ear to ear. Four “start marks” on her neck ran together into a deep cut from the front of the neck through to the backbone in the back of the neck. Three deep cuts into the backbone were identified.

Defendant also mutilated the victim’s lower body, stabbing and cutting her multiple times both in and around the vagina and anus. Defendant stabbed the victim in the vagina at least three times. The external surfaces of the anus were cut, but the deeper penetrating injuries were in the vagina, including two wounds that went through the vagina and into the pelvic cavity in her abdomen. Defendant also severed the perineum, the band of tissue between the back wall of the vagina and the front wall of the anus. The medical examiner who performed the autopsy testified that the victim could have been sexually violated prior to death, but she could not testify for certain, however, whether the injuries to the victim’s vagina and anus were inflicted before or after the injuries to the neck, or whether the vaginal and anal injuries occurred prior to or after death. While minimal compared to the above injuries, the victim’s scalp, mouth, and buttocks were also bruised.
Over the course of three interviews with law enforcement officers on the morning of July 10, defendant admitted he had argued with the victim, yelling through the sliding glass door. Defendant confessed to using a rock to break the door and enter the house. Further, defendant told officers that he attempted to penetrate the victim’s anus with his penis.

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INMATE INFORMATION

Taberon Honie
Courtesy photo

Offender Number: 134877
Offender Name: TABERON DAVE HONIE
DOB: Wed, 29 Oct 1975
Height: 5 Feet 11 Inches
Weight: 230
Sex: M
Race: Native American
Location of Offender: Utah State Prison
Housing Facility: OQUIRRH
Aliases:
TABERON DAVE HONIE