Katie Wilkins, 25, was found dead of an apparent heroin overdose April 28, with toxicology results still pending.
By Knowles Adkisson / Associate Editor
Authorities are still awaiting toxicology results from a woman who was found dead last month of an apparent heroin overdose, with several questions about the case unresolved. Katie Wilkins, a 25-year-old graphic designer, was found dead by her brother in the garage of her parents’ home in east Malibu April 28, and her car was missing.
The last known person to see Wilkins alive was Christopher Benton, 27, the son of Pepperdine University president Andrew K. Benton, according to Lt. Tim O’Quinn of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department homicide bureau. Benton is not currently considered a suspect for a crime because the case has been ruled as non-suspicious pending toxicology results from the county coroner’s office.
Benton has retained an attorney and has not spoken to authorities, O’Quinn said. Rob Wilkins, the father of Katie Wilkins, has told media outlets he spoke to Christopher Benton’s mother and was told he was in a rehab facility, but Wilkins was unable to contact Benton himself.
Andrew K. Benton issued a statement to the media Wednesday last week. “In this case I am just Andy, father of someone who knew Katie and her family. Pepperdine has absolutely nothing to do with this. To suggest otherwise is merely sensationalism.
“My wife and I hold the Wilkins family in very high regard and are deeply pained by their loss. Illegal substances are a scourge on society and they have hurt many wonderful families in Malibu. If anything, I hope this devastating situation will underscore the damage that drugs have had on some of our best and brightest.”
Benton continued, “I don’t really know anything. Period. I would like to be helpful, but I don’t know—really know—anything beyond what I am reading in the press.”
Wilkins was found unresponsive by her brother, Steve Wilkins, in her parents’ garage on the evening of Sat., April 28. Security cameras showed Wilkins picking up Benton at the McDonald’s restaurant on Pacific Coast Highway at 8:33 p.m. on the night of Fri., April 27, O’Quinn said. The pair had exchanged text messages earlier that evening and Benton left a voicemail on Wilkins’ phone explaining that he did not have a car and needed a ride. The two had apparently been friends in the past but had lost touch before reconnecting about a week prior to the incident.
O’Quinn said “there may have been some narcotics activity between them in the past, from what I’m being told.” O’Quinn said he had been told in the course of his investigation that Wilkins had had substance abuse issues in the past, but that she “had been doing pretty well for the last year.”
In a series of comments posted on the website websleuths.com, Steve Wilkins said his sister had had substance abuse issues in the past with cocaine and heroin. He wrote that an initial Sheriff’s investigation revealed his sister probably died of a heroin overdose, and that the injection of the heroin was not self-administered.
Wilkins told the website the Daily Beast that after changing the password on his sister’s phone he was able to view her text messages, and said Benton initiated the meeting. “Chris contacted Katie and suggested he was off dope,” Wilkins told the Daily Beast. “Chris kept asking Katie, ‘Are you sober?’ Katie texted back and told him she hadn’t done hard drugs in a long time. After they met up, she wound up dead the next day of an apparent overdose. We want to know why; we want to know what happened that night. But we can’t get any answers from this family who we’ve known almost all our lives.”
Wilkins also wrote on the website that his sister’s keys were missing from the home as well as her vehicle, a silver 1998 BMW Z3, and that the sheriff’s investigation found no evidence of drug paraphernalia at the home.
While he did not have confirmation of the time of his sister’s death, Wilkins wrote that it was “certainly” between Friday night and noon on Saturday. After looking in his sister’s phone, Wilkins wrote that the last text message he saw from Benton was at 1:13 p.m. on Sat., April 28. According to Steve Wilkins, the message read, “Wut happened? was that ur brother? Lemme kno that ur alrite. have a good day”
Wilkins’ car, missing since April 28, was found Thursday last week parked in a residential cul-de-sac in Woodland Hills. It was tested for fingerprints, but the results may not come back for several days. Even if Benton’s fingerprints were found and it was determined he took Wilkins car, O’Quinn said it would be difficult to prove Benton did so without Wilkins’ permission.
The only connection Benton currently has with the case, O’Quinn said, is the text messages he exchanged with Wilkins and the security camera at McDonald’s.
“About the only thing that’s really going to change the dynamics of this case is if a date rape-type drug or something was found in her bloodstream,” O’Quinn said. “Obviously there’s a factor that makes a totally different case. If that’s not found, it remains the same. The coroner has ruled no foul play, apparent overdose, and final ruling awaiting the toxicology report. “