Her Deadly Rival true story

This movie debuted first on CBS in 1995 as a movie f the week. It was advertised as a moved based on a true story.

On TV

Her Deadly Rival is on tv today. You can catch it on Lifetime Movie Network. Check your local listings for times.

Photos of Patsy Bennett, Patsy Hester and James Bennett

Still looking for some photos of Patsy Bennett aka Patsy Hester and James Bennett. I have been in contact with at least one family member on Patsy's side, but I have been unsuccessful in getting their side of the story. If anyone has any pictures of either the victim Patsy or James Bennett that would be helpful.

The Case of Patsy Bennet aka Patsy Ann Hester and James Mcdonald Bennett of Georgia

 The Case of Patsy Bennet aka Patsy Ann Hester and James Mcdonald Bennett of Georgia by Traciy Curry-Reyes


The real case took place in Antioch, California in 1988. I had the opportunity to speak to one of Jim's daughters by his first wife. This daughter had a very distant relationship with him since there were some harsh feelings over the break up between Jim and her mother. According to her and others who knew Jim, he had a dark side.

The daughter describes the first time she met Patsy as follows:

Out of the blue, Jim came to her home with a young girl, young enough to be his daughter, named Patsy Hester. Patsy met Jim while he was working as a foreman in Georgia. Patsy was immediately taken by Jim. He was quite the talker. He could charm the pants off of any woman. At the time Patsy was a single mom with a young son. Patsy stated that she met Jim while working as a cleaning lady for a local motel. Jim was staying there while he worked on a construction site. She described how she had been having a really difficult time, and was struggling to raise her son with low paying work. So when she met James Bennett, she fell in love and became dependent on him. Jim's daughter described Patty as a petite woman who stood about 5 feet tall with a very sweet personality.

James Mcdonald Bennet, has been described as the kind of guy that you would invite over for dinner, and probably let spend the night. He was very charasmatic and made friends easily. He also had a dark side. Patsy told several people that she was deathly afraid of him. She told his older daughter, that he was always showering her with gifts when there was money. He liked for her to dye her hair dark and to wear really red lipstick. She said that one minute he would shower her with gifts, such as roses, beautiful dresses, perfume, and candy, and the next minute he was someone she didn't recognize.

The movie was completely made up. It was Jim's side of what happened. Here are the real facts in the case.

Pasty Ann Hester and Jim Bennett (they were not legally married) were living together in Georgia. They had a baby girl together. The daughter is not sure, but she thinks they lived near a small lake or pond, and that they had a horse or horses. They lived together for a while until Jim left her and the two kids. He claimed that he had to work in California, and that he had to go alone. Patsy stayed behind, but somehow, they talked, and she really wanted to come out to see him. She suspected that he had taken up with someone else. When she arrived in California with her 2 children, a boy and a girl, she found him staying in a seedy motel in Antioch, California. According to Jim, shortly after, a woman named Mary Alexander began stalking them up until Patsy's death.

Here is how the events unfolded according to the daughter that Jim fathered with Patsy. On June 28, 1988, they (the boy and girl) had been playing outside in front of the motel room on their bikes. Jim came outside, called them in, and showed them their mother, Patsy, who was lying on the kitchen table with a towel wrapped around her head. They were horrified to see their mother in that condition. She was still alive. All the daughter remembers is that Jim was walking around explaining to them "see what she's done?" " I had nothing to do with it." the little girl and her brother who were around 8 and 11 at the time, stood in shock wondering why their father had not called 911. He did not call 911 until after Patsy had passed away. The children slept in the motel room that night. The police investigated the case, and at first Jim was a suspect in what they thought was a homicide. There was a question about the gun shot, and the angle of the bullets that were found. Jim explained to the police that Patsy was mentally ill, and that she had freaked out because Mary Alexander, the other woman, kept calling, and sending letters and roses to the room. She then went into the bathroom and shot herself.  The police eventually rule the case a suicide.

Meanwhile Jim Bennett and the two kids returned to Georgia to bury Pasty. They visited his older daughter, by his first wife. She describes the meeting this way:

She had heard about the shooting, and was feeling quite nervous when she saw Jim at her home with the children. The children were distraught. The small daughter was very fragile and withdrawn. She asked her to brush her hair for her. She said that her mom always brushed her hair. Jim had arrived to tell his side of the story. While telling the story of what happened, Jim opened up a suitcase showing pictures of the scene. The daughter said that in the suitcase, were tons of love letters from Mary Alexander, roses, lipstick, hosiery, and perfume, all across the bed. The room looked like a floral shop. Jim said that they kept getting calls from Mary Alexander, and that she kept insisting she had met him at the local tavern. The daughter said that she never ever believed Jim's story. She said no one believed him, and no one could understand how the police believed it.

Jim went on to tell everyone he knew about the story. James Bennett had actually done a few talk shows about the incident, and eventually Jim along with a detective in the case pitched the idea to a writer for the movie "Her Deadly Rival." The multiple personality disorder, I cannot confirm. I was told that there was some documentation to show that Patsy had been treated for a mental condition, but they felt that she was stressed out over the emotion and psychological abuse that she had received from her husband Jim. Jim had taken her to the er a few times for a so called mental condition, and it is believed that this is the documentation that was used in order to prove that she did have a mental condition which led to her suicide. The younger daughter confirmed that Jim was literally driving her mother crazy with his tricks and mind games.

Aftermath

At the time of Patsy's death, Patsy was 35 and Jim was 59. This case completely ruined the lives of Patsy's children. The son eventually ran away from Jim as a young teen, no one in the family has been in contact with him, and the small daughter was eventually taken away from Jim by the state.. The movie Her Deadly Rival came out in 1995.  James Mcdonald Bennett lived until 1998. He died at age 69 from lung cancer in Georgia. The daughter is now grown, and she is still traumatized by this case according to her older sister.

Here is an entry by Findagrave to view her burial location.

Extra tidbit

Jim always called his daughter "princess"

James Bennett told his story on tabloid shows around the time the movie premiered 

Harry Hamlin had no idea this movie was based on a true 
story at first

Many questions still linger about this case. Why was her death finally ruled a suicide, and did she really have multiple personality disorder?  Also, why hasn't this case been reopened and reexamined to include a homicide finding?