FILE 684 / 21 March 2026 / 77 MIN / express

Murderer Mayor

Pembroke, New YorkListen

The town

N ↑Public placeTown centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

This is Pembroke, New York... we're going way out in western New York here about 0:03:22

History, in brief

Town note

Known as Oage, which the episode says means 'on the road'.

about 0:05:56

Town note

Originally established as part of the town of Batavia.

about 0:06:09

1812

Set off from Batavia in 1812, with part in the town of Darien and part in the town of Alabama.

about 0:06:15
All 4 history facts

Town note

Known as Oage, which the episode says means 'on the road'.

about 0:05:56

Town note

Originally established as part of the town of Batavia.

about 0:06:09

1812

Set off from Batavia in 1812, with part in the town of Darien and part in the town of Alabama.

about 0:06:15

The figures, as told

Money

Median home value$193,800
Median household income$73,917
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2026

Population

"4,261"

No direction stated.

As told in 2026 about 0:04:17

Median household income

"$73,917"

Comparison: "just above the national average". Direction: above.

As told in 2026 about 0:04:57

Median home cost

"$193,800"

No direction stated.

As told in 2026 about 0:05:30

Population of Corfu

"less than a thousand people"

Direction: below.

As told in 2026 about 0:13:22

The reviews

4.0 / 5 · average of 4

4 stars

“the town's total rating on Niche is four stars”
about 0:06:49

5 stars

“loves how much country there is, with open fields for riding wheelers and snowmobiles”
about 0:06:55

“everyone in town knows you and always welcomes you, and the school is small with more one-on-one between teachers and students”
about 0:07:27

4 stars

“if I could choose my heaven, my hometown would be the place with all the people I met and lived with there”
about 0:07:58

3 stars

“there is not much crime or violence, just the occasional DUI and speeding ticket, though a man once shot at firefighters responding to a house fire”
about 0:08:27

In New York

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The story

He was also about $28,000 in debt, much of it from a divorce, and ran a sideline car business, SF Enterprises, from 3 Corfu Plaza with Joseph Benequist, a retired corrections officer 20 years his senior whom he had met on the same shift at the Wyoming Correctional Facility in the mid-1990s.

Early that year Benequist bought a 2006 Pontiac G6 at the Adesa auction in Clarence for $13,300, paying $10,000 down through the business account.

At 8.41 p.m. a passing firefighter telephoned the Genesee County sheriff's dispatch about a suspicious man on North Lake Road, dressed entirely in camouflage with a white hood, who ducked between two parked cars when the firefighter slowed down. The man was carrying a lug wrench, a large screwdriver and a car jack. He produced a New York State corrections officer identification card, and the deputy agreed to drive him to his van at a gas station at North Lake Road and Route 5. The van was covered in blood inside and out, a pair of bloody latex gloves lay beside it, and the jack was missing.

At about 1.30 a.m. Sergeant Steve Mullen reached Benequist's isolated house on Knapp Road and found him frozen on the ground between the Pontiac and the Altima, in a large pool of blood with his skull visibly damaged. The medical examiner found at least six gashes on his head, two skull fractures, defensive wounds on his hands and at least seven or eight blows; he could have lived for one to four hours. In his watch pocket was a slip of paper with the name Dave and a phone number.

A search of his home on East Main Street on 20 February turned up car-business paperwork and a title the episode says suggested he had been cheating Benequist. On 18 March, still on the ballot as the Republican candidate for mayor, he lost to Todd Skeet.

The case

Murder of Joseph Benequist

Victims

Joseph Benequist (66). retired corrections officer, business partner, father of four and grandfather of nine

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 21 March 2026.

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Michael Benequist. the victim's son, testified about his father's signature and the auction videos
Theresa Zalaska-Wicks. retired corrections officer and friend of who spoke to him at the sheriff's office
Todd Skeet. won the Corfu mayoral election against
Sandy Thomas. Corfu village clerk, quoted on calls about the election
James Deal. deputy who found and detained
Steve Mullen. sergeant who found the body

The timeline

  1. the mid-1990s and Benequist become friends while working the same shift at the Wyoming Correctional Facility (Wyoming Correctional Facility)about 0:19:15
  2. January 26, 2009 The Corfu Republican caucus endorses for mayor (Corfu)about 0:20:43
  3. early 2009 Benequist buys a 2006 Pontiac G6 for $13,300 at the Adesa auction, paying $10,000 down (Adesa auction)about 0:22:34
  4. February 16, 2009 The G6 has a flat tyre and the jack from Benequist's Altima is broken, so he and Josh do not take it to the auction (Benequist house)about 0:23:22
  5. February 16, 2009 sets out in his mother's Ford Windstar to look for Benequist and his sonabout 0:26:05
  6. February 16, 2009, 8.41 p.m. A passing firefighter reports a suspicious man in camouflage and a white hood on North Lake Road (North Lake Road)about 0:26:33
  7. February 16, 2009, about 9 p.m. Deputy James Deal finds with wet blood on his knees, thighs, hands and shoes, carrying a lug wrench (North Lake Road)about 0:28:42
  8. February 16, 2009, evening Benequist is beaten with a blunt object in his driveway and left to die (Benequist house)about 0:38:02

Places and phrases

N ↑Public placeTown centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode