Inside Reptile Breeder Ben Renick’s Shocking Murder

Ben Renick’s death sent shockwaves through the reptile-loving community in 2017.

He was a renowned reptile breeder and housed more than 3,000 snakes that he regularly sold for thousands of dollars out of his facility, Renick Reptiles, in New Florence, Mo. On June 8, 2017, Ben’s wife, Lynlee Renick, found her husband lying face-down in a pool of blood at the facility. She screamed and called Ben’s brother, Sam Renick, to come over and observe the scene before they called 911 together.

“It had to have been a snake,” Sam told emergency responders at the time.

However, the case took a major turn when detectives found shell casings and realized that Ben had actually been shot eight times, per CBS News. Police officers interviewed several potential suspects — including Sam — before zeroing in on Lynlee. Detectives soon heard claims that she had been having affairs and had allegedly enlisted the help of one of her ex-boyfriends, Michael Humphrey, to join her in killing her husband.

Here’s everything to know about Ben Renick’s shocking death.

How did Ben Renick die?

On June 8, 2017, Ben was found surrounded by his own blood in his snake-breeding facility. His wife, Lynlee, had called his brother, Sam, who rushed to the scene and assumed that a snake was responsible for his death.

“His skull was crushed, so my first thought was, it was the snakes,” Sam told Dateline in 2023.

Lynlee also insinuated that the snakes were to blame when she called 911, screaming and frantically telling operators, “My husband’s on the ground and there’s blood everywhere.”

However, upon further inspection, authorities determined that Ben had been shot eight times.

“I don’t think he saw it coming at all,” Sam claimed in a 2024 episode of 48 Hours. “Ben had such a future ahead of him. You know, he was 29 years old. He was almost — almost 30 … A lot was lost.”

What was Ben Renick’s cause of death?

After Coroner Dave Colbert arrived at the scene, he found shell casings and determined that Ben had not died from a snake attack.

“When I saw that shell casing on the shelf just above his head, I knew this was not from a snake,” he told 48 Hours. “This was something much more heinous.”

Colbert later determined that Ben had been shot a total of eight times. Most of the shots were directed towards Ben’s back, but there was at least one bullet fired at his head at close range.

“This was something that was not just a random act,” Colbert claimed.

Who killed Ben Renick?

Although detectives had suspicions, Ben’s case went cold for three years with no arrests. However, as the investigation played out, both Sam and Lynlee became suspects.

“Sam was a heavy suspect,” Missouri State Highway Patrol criminal investigator Devin Foust told PEOPLE in 2022. “The seed was definitely planted early that he had something to do with it.”

Foust recalled investigating Sam after learning that Ben was thinking about selling their New Florence property — where he was living at the time — and that Sam was upset about the potential sale. However, the theory fell through after Sam tested negative for gun residue and fully cooperated with officers.

“I provided them, you know, everything I had. My cell phone, the shirt off my back, my alibi as to where I was when the murder happened. I gave a polygraph,” Sam told 48 Hours.

From there, officers pivoted their direction to Lynlee after her co-worker, Ashley Shaw, alleged that she had been having affairs with at least two different men. Lynlee herself admitted to having one affair, per CBS News. Their suspicions heightened when Shaw claimed to them that one month before Ben died, Lynlee allegedly plotted to kill Ben by giving him a poisonous protein shake laced with 15 Percocet pills.

In the months after Ben’s death, detectives interviewed Lynlee a total of six times and gave her a polygraph test — which she failed. However, officers didn’t have enough evidence to arrest her.

The case remained cold for three years until officers received a tip from Brandon Blackwell, an incarcerated man who claimed he was dating Lynlee after Ben’s death. Blackwell alleged that Lynlee confessed to conspiring with her ex-boyfriend, Michael Humphrey, to murder Ben.

“They drove to the farm, he had gloves, he had a firearm, the plan was for him to do it,” Blackwell alleged to investigators in January 2020, according to CBS News. “They get there, he hands her the gun and says he doesn’t feel comfortable doing … it’s something she’s gotta take care of.  She walks in with a gun … and just shoots him a bunch of times.”

Who was charged in Ben Renick’s murder?

On Jan. 16, 2020, police arrested and charged Lynlee and Humphrey with murder.

“It took us years to find out that Lynlee was lying and that she was living a double life. Sociopath. If you look that up, Lynlee’s picture’ll be sitting right there with it,” Sam claimed on 48 Hours. “Lynlee is a manipulator. And I truly believe that he was manipulated into where he is right now.”

Both Humphrey and Lynlee blamed each other for shooting Ben. His trial took place first in October 2021, and he was convicted of first-degree murder.

When it came time for Lynlee’s trial later in 2021, Humphrey helped officers find the murder weapon and testified against her in hopes of getting his charge dropped from first to second-degree murder. During his testimony, Humphrey claimed that he gave Lynlee a gun, but she was the one who fired it.

“I heard a shot come out … so I kinda ducked a little bit, and I looked down through there. And she was at the end of the — corridor or whatever you want to call it, posted up like this with the gun,” he said, per CBS News.

Meanwhile, Lynlee also testified in her own trial and alleged that Humphrey shot Ben, and she had no involvement.

“I walked up right behind Michael, and then Michael turned around, and I saw a gun in his hands, and then I heard shots ring out,” she claimed. “And I screamed and I ran outside. And then I heard more shots go off, and everything just went numb. And I remember staring at the trees, and then Michael running out of the facility and pushing me towards the car and telling me, ‘We have to go, Lynlee, get in the car, we have to go now.’ ”

The jury ultimately found Lynlee guilty of second-degree murder and armed criminal action. She was sentenced to 13 years for the first charge and three years for the second, totalling 16 years behind bars, per the Columbia Daily Tribune. Meanwhile, Humphrey’s conviction was reduced to second-degree murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

“She really believed that she was gonna get away with all this. And she really believed that she was gonna get what she had planned after murdering my brother,” Sam claimed on 48 Hours.