Laurie Bembenek, Author at Los Angeles Post-Examiner

Lawrencia “Bambi” Bembenek (August 15, 1958 – November 20, 2010), just wanted to be called Laurie. The former Milwaukee Police Department officer was convicted of murdering her husband’s ex-wife, Christine Schultz, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on May 28, 1981. Her story generated national attention after she escaped from Taycheedah Correctional Institution and was recaptured in Canada. Her story inspired books, movies and the slogan “Run, Bambi, Run”. Evidence uncovered by private investigator Ira Robins and reporter Timothy W. Maier helped grant her a new trial. She pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and was sentenced to time served and 10 years probation. But for years after that plea, she sought to have the sentence overturned. Bembenek was a former Milwaukee police officer who had been fired and had gone on to sue the department, claiming that it engaged in sexual discrimination and other illegal activities. That evidence including graphic pictures of nude police officers – including photos of her husband – engaging in lewd acts had disappeared until Robbins and Maier found those incriminating photos of the MPD that she had turned over to authorities. She worked briefly as a waitress at a Lake Geneva, Wisconsin., Playboy Club. On November 20, 2010, Bembenek’s liver and kidney failed. She died at a hospice facility in Portland, Ore. She was 52. For more on the case see http://lauriebembenek.blogspot.com. The contact the author email goes to Bembenek’s private investigator Ira Robins.