Benjamin Fawley CHARGED

Benjamin Fawley, a 38-year-old amateur photographer
who has been held in jail since September 2005 on
16 counts of child pornography charges, has been
indicted for first-degree murder in the death of
Virginia Commonwealth student Taylor Behl.
No arraignment date has been scheduled for
Fawley, who was indicted by a
Mathews County Circuit Court.
Behl was last seen Sept. 5 when she left her dorm
room to give her roommate time alone with her
boyfriend.
Her body was found Oct. 5, 2005 in a ravine
about 75 miles from Richmond.
Authorities have not released the cause of her death.
A gag order was issued in the case in October
after reports that Behl died during a sexual
encounter were reported.
Suspicious Items Found Looking for items
belonging to Behl, detectives searched Fawley's
apartment in September.
Police found at least 30 videos on Fawley's
computers showing children as young as
1 year old engaging in sexual acts and charged
him with possession of child pornography.
They also found a box of bones, a piece of a
box spring bearing a reddish-brown stain,
a machete, sex toys, a .32-caliber cartridge
and a pair of white women's underwear.

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LINK:
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Ben Fawley charged in
death of Taylor Behl
By Jerry Schanke 01/17/2006
Ben Fawley, a 38-year-old Richmond amateur
photographer, was charged Tuesday, Jan. 17, in
Mathews County with first degree murder in the
death of 17-year-old Taylor Marie Behl of Vienna
whose body was recovered Oct. 5 in the rural
Virginia county, according to the Richmond
Times-Dispatch.
Behl had gone missing from her dormitory room
on the Virginia Commonwealth University campus
in Richmond on Sept. 5.
Her partially decomposed body was found
exactly one month later in a shallow grave in
Mathews County, some 80 miles east of
Richmond.
Results of forensic tests to determine a cause of
death have not been released by authorities.
Fawley, who is being held by Richmond Police
on unrelated child pornography charges, reportedly
told investigators that Behl died accidentally as
he restricted her breathing during a consensual
sexual encounter with him in her car the night of
her disappearance. A multi-jurisdictional grand jury
in Richmond has been hearing witnesses in the
case. A gag order was issued by a Richmond
judge to prevent public discussion of the case by
witnesses or law enforcement.
It had been expected, however, that the case
would be moved to Mathews County because it
was presumed it was there that Behl died.
A law enforcement task force consisting of Richmond
and VCU police, Virginia State Police and the
Virginia Attorney General's Office has conducted
the investigation.
Behl's mother, Janet Pelasara, of Vienna, has
been outspoken about Fawley's involvement in her
daughter's death, telling news media on several
occasions that she believes Fawley murdered
Taylor and lied about the sexual encounter to cover
his crime.Taylor Marie Behl was a 2005 graduate
of James Madison High School in Vienna and a
first-year student at Virginia Commonwealth
University.