Page 16 The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch May 3, 2013 Cinco de Mayo Family: Church Liable For Woman’s Death By SHAWN J. SOPER NEWS EDITOR FIESTA ALL WEEK LONG Sunday, May 5thFriday, May 10th AT THE SHANTY! $5.00 MARGARITAS LOBSTER QUESADILLA FISH TACOS PULLED PORK TACOS LOBSTER GUAC WITH PICO LOBSTER TACOS CHICKEN QUESADILLA CHICKEN TACOS BERLIN – The family of a woman found murdered along a rural road in northern Worcester County last August has filed a wrongful death civil suit against the church where she worked and its pastor. Last August, a Worcester County grand jury indicted Matthew N. Burton, 29, of Dagsboro, on eight counts including first-degree murder and first-degree rape in the death of Nicole Bennett, 35, of Millsboro, whose body was found on a roadside embankment in Whaleyville in Worcester County on the morning of June 15 last year. On April 17, the victim’s husband, Kevin Bennett, and his family filed a wrongful death suit in Delaware Superior Court against the Bay Shore Community Church in Millsboro and Pastor Danny Tice, alleging the defendants were aware of Burton’s rape convictions and violent past and allowed him to work alone at the church with Nicole Bennett on the night she was murdered. According to the suit, Tice learned that Burton was a registered sex offender and was on probation for multiple sex crimes. Burton was a registered Tier I sex offender, having been charged with 22 felony counts of rape against a child. Burton had reached a plea deal in those cases that required him to register as a sex offender in Delaware prior to his employment as a custodian at the Bay Shore Church in Millsboro. After Tice and the Bay Shore Church learned of Burton’s sexual predator past, they gave Burton two weeks to find another job. On the last day of his employment with the church, Nicole Bennett disap- peared and her body was found the next day in northern Worcester County. In the wrongful death suit, the victim’s husband asserts Tice should be held partly responsible because he failed to warn his wife and presumably others in the church that a violent sexual predator was in their midst. “The death of Nicole Bennett was a direct and proximate cause of the negligent actions of Tice, who was acting in the scope of his employment when he failed to adequately warn Nicole Bennett of the risk presented by fellow employee Burton, and this failure led to Nicole Bennett’s death,” the suit reads. On or about June 14, 2012, Nicole Bennett was working late in order to complete a mailing for Bay Shore Child Care, of which SEE NEXT PAGE GREG OPEN HOUSE SATURDAY AND SUNDAY 11 A.M.-3 P.M. ✰❜✠✎✡ A House ✼old Name in Worcester County GREG ERDIE, Associate Broker 410-641-5700 | 410-641-7636 | 800-362-8509 |11001 Manklin Creek Road, Suite 4 • Ocean Pines, MD, 21811 VISIT ME AT WWW.GREGERDIE.COM For More Great Listings And Virtual Tours! OPEN HOUSE SATURDAY 1-4 P.M. ✟✲✰5 ☛✬5✵✶✤ ✍✱¤✘✫5 ✑✤✵✫q JUST LISTED! 17 North Pintail Drive, Ocean Pines WATERFRONT! Dramatic "green" energy passive solar home with approx. 2,360 sq. ft. living space! Updates and upgrades galore including a newer roof and a custom kitchen with granite counters, Subzero refrigerator/freezer, TWO masonry fireplaces, & a sunroom overlooking the wide expanse of the lagoon and Pintail Park! Bayside location with no bridges to go under to get out to the main water! $575,000! Directions: Ocean Pines South Gate. L Ocean Parkway. R Pintail Drive. 1st L. North Pintail Drive. 120 Pine Forest Drive, The Point, OCEAN PINES! Dramatic bay views from this 3,000 sq ft. + custom home! Located in one of the Pines' newest and nicest neighborhoods, this 5 bedroom, 3 bath contemporary offers lots of upgrades like hardwood floors, gas fireplace, corian counters, stainless steel appliances, custom built-ins, and a sunroom overlooking two decks and the water! $567,500! Directions: South Gate Ocean Pines. R at 4-way stop onto Ocean Parkway. Go to very end of Parkway and enter 'The Point'. 1st R. onto Pine Forest Dr. House on R. Your Open House Host: Bert Roseberry Open Daily At 11:30 A.M. 54 FENWICK ISLAND 302-436-2305 www.Twiningsshanty.com Contemporary design with lots of cathedral and vaulted ceilings! 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, large eat-in kitchen PLUS dining room PLUS huge 3-seasons room! Fireplace, newer floor coverings, interior paint, appliances and roof shingles! Custom shed, garage, and separate laundry room make this $247,900 listing a BEST BUY!!! 108 WATERTOWN ROAD, OCEAN PINES