Husband of Wis. cop Jennifer Sebena arrested in her Christmas Eve shooting death

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: Daily Blotter

Ben and Jennifer Sebena; Ben has been arrested in the shooting death of his wife, Jennifer, a Wauwatosa, Wis. police officer

/ WDJT

(AP) MILWAUKEE - The husband of police officer Jennifer Sebena, who was fatally shot on Christmas Eve while patrolling in suburban Milwaukee, has been arrested in connection with her death, authorities said Thursday.

Benjamin Sebena, of Menomonee Falls, was booked into Milwaukee County Jail on Wednesday night on a tentative charge of first-degree intentional homicide, the Wauwatosa police department said in a statement.

He has not been formally charged in the death of his 30-year-old wife.

Ben Sebena, 30, is a decorated U.S. Marine who served two tours in Iraq before suffering severe arm and leg injuries in a mortar attack, according to Pastor Scott Arbeiter at Elmbrook Church in nearby Brookfield.

Police officers found Jennifer Sebena's body in the early hours of Monday morning after she failed to respond to radio calls. She had been shot several times. Police have released few details about the shooting.

She had worked for the Wauwatosa police department for two years and her death was the first on active duty in the department's 96-year history. Wauwatosa is a city of about 46,000 people just west of Milwaukee.

Sebena's funeral is scheduled for Saturday.

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December 26, 2012 - Wis. police investigate slaying of officer found shot to death on Christmas Eve

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by andie52 December 28, 2012 8:44 AM EST: Too many servicemen come back and kill their wives and families.I'm sure his lawyer will plead PTSD . There were so many red flags as there always is in a seemingly senseless murder that no one paid attention to.; Reply to this comment

by mollyjb98 December 27, 2012 9:45 PM EST

A trained and armed police officer could not defend herself against a gun attack. What makes the NRA think that armed teachers would prevent another slaughter of innocent children? We need fewer guns not more. Ban automatic and semi-automatic guns and large magazine clips of ammo. Also there needs to be more mental health help available to those who need them.

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by 4theNRA December 28, 2012 10:06 AM EST: You clearly prove the point of most gun owners and many non-owners. In my small town, we have 1 cop per 400 residents. They simply cannot protect us all even if they put a cop on every street, so like the rest of America, we have to take it upon ourselves to defend ourselves, our loved-ones, our neighbors and our property. Or like Australia, we can pretend that by giving up all rights to gun ownership will somehow magically reduce crime. While it did reduce some gun killings, other weapons such as clubs, knives, screwdrivers, gasoline and matches quickly filled the gaps in murders and violent assaults. Other violent crimes such as home invasions, robberies and sexual assaults, especially on lone females, the young and the elderly, skyrocketed overnight. The criminals now knew that the public was defenseless, criminals were the only ones with guns and other weapons and the police were 20 to 30 minutes away after they had been notified. Australians refuse to admit that this has been a failure for them, because over the last 15 years, they have been held accountable for injuring attackers while defending themselves. They have been coached to turn their backs on all violence, even against family, friends and neighbors and "not get involved". Now we have an entire nation of officially sanctioned bullies and cowards, and the bullies always win. Australians now also believe that when someone dies at the hands of the police, it was somehow justifiable. My wife and I are grateful that we left before we also lost our backbones.


by VA_Jill December 27, 2012 4:08 PM EST: What a jerk. What makes these idiots think they'll get away with it? Drew Peterson is an anomaly, not the norm.; Reply to this comment