Authorities Eager to Interview Attack Survivor

A Loudoun County woman who was assaulted while out for an early-morning walk with her husband in the Lansdowne area remained in critical condition yesterday, unable to tell investigators about the attack in which her husband was killed, authorities said.

"She's basically the witness to a homicide," Loudoun Sheriff Stephen O. Simpson said. "She's the one person maybe who can point us in the right direction and tell us who and why."

Cynthia Bennett, 55, was found critically injured Sunday about 50 yards from the body of her husband, William, a retired Army officer. A resident reported hearing a commotion about 5:30 a.m. and seeing a suspicious white panel van near the intersection of Riverside Parkway and Rocky Creek Drive.

A sheriff's deputy responding to the call found William Bennett, 57, dead on the side of the parkway near a gravel path. About 30 minutes later, his wife was found unconscious and severely injured across the road, beyond a bloodied fence and in a ditch, Simpson said. Both had suffered blunt force trauma, but no weapon was recovered.

Simpson said that his office has fielded many calls since issuing a request to the public for information but that no suspects have been identified. He said that the crime appears random, making it all the more disturbing to residents, but that investigators are not discounting the possibility that the Bennetts were targeted.

Sheriff's deputies continued to canvass the anxious community yesterday, passing out fliers in the early-morning hours, when the Bennetts typically took their walks together. Authorities want to find out whether any other regular exercisers saw anything Sunday morning.

Flowers and notes of condolence decorated the stoop of the Bennett home and the spots where the Bennetts were found after the attack.

According to military and court records, William Bennett was born in Rochester, Minn., and had retired as a lieutenant colonel from Army Special Forces. He joined the Army in October 1977, and his postings included Vicenza, Italy; Fort Lewis, Wash.; and the District. He had received numerous commendations.

Cynthia Bennett also served in the Army, as a captain. She had joined in 1978.

The couple lived in the Potomac Station subdivision, and there are two adult children in the family, authorities said. Members of the family could not be reached for comment.

With one or more killers on the loose and a slow trickle of information about the attack on the Bennetts, many residents remain on edge.

Lansdowne resident Stefania Peterson said her 13-year-old daughter has been sleeping in Peterson's bed with the light on since the incident. Peterson described herself as not scared but deeply saddened.

"Every time I drive by [the crime scene] . . . just to imagine him laying over there and maybe dying slowly, it just breaks my heart," Peterson said. "Nobody deserves to die like that."

Staff writers Josh White and Jennifer Buske and staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.