Oxyen's Snapped: What did Laurie Bembenek do and where is she now?

The infamous Milwaukee scandal involving a first-degree murder, tabloids, and mishandling of evidence tied up Laurie Bembenek in legal battles that lasted years at a stretch. Bembenek was convicted of killing the ex-wife of her husband on March 9, 1982, but she maintained her non-involvement in the crime until her death on November 20, 2010.

Laurie, better known as Bambi, had initially worked in the modeling industry and went on to work as a Playboy Bunny after she was fired from the Milwaukee Police Department owing to a filing error in her friend's arrest. However, during her trial and conviction, the press dug their nails into Laurie Bembenek and her apparent physical beauty, naming her a loose woman and a femme fatale.

Episode 11 of Snapped season 28 explores the high-profile murder case and Bembenek's fight against the verdict. The synopsis of the episode reads,

"Former police officer Laurie Bembenek is found guilty of murdering her new husband's ex-wife; years later, new evidence comes to light that changes everything."

The Snapped episode, titled Laurie Bembenek, re-airs on November 20, 2023, at 7 pm EST.

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Who is Laurie Bembenek? Details explored

A still of Bembenek (Image via X/CrimeWritersOn)

Lawrencia Ann Bembenek, better known as Bambi Bembenek, was the centre of attention of a high-profile murder case in the 1980s in the country. Tagged as a femme fatale, the case was sensationalized by the press therefore turning the focus from the errors the judicial system made during her conviction.

Who was Laurie Bembenek?

Lawrencia Bembenek was born to parents Joseph, a Milwaukee Police Department official turned carpenter, and Virginia Bembenek in Milwaukee on August 15, 1958. She was the youngest of three sisters. She studied fashion merchandising management at Bryant & Stratton College, which led her to work briefly in the modeling and retail industries.

She joined the Milwaukee Police Academy in March 1980 and was in charge of the South Side Second District upon graduation in the summer of 1980. Bembenek later mentioned the gross injustice and inequality towards women within the department in her autobiography, Woman on the Run.

What did Laurie Bembenek do?

Bembenek was found guilty of murdering her husband, Elfred O. Schultz's ex-wife Christine, in her Milwaukee home. The murder took place on May 28, 1981, at 2:15 a.m. when Schultz was out drinking with his partner from the police department, Michael Durfee, at a local bar.

Christine was shot in the back with a .38 caliber pistol, and the bullet had run through her heart. She was gagged and blindfolded, with her hands tied in front. Christine's sons found her bleeding to death on the bed when her eldest son, Sean, spotted the assailant. He had later described the perpetrator to be a big, masked man wearing an army green jacket, black shoes, and a long red ponytail.

Laurie Bembenek in court (Image via Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Archives)

Elfred O. Schultz had initially testified to be on duty, which shifted the suspicion to Laurie as she was home alone with access to Schultz's off-duty revolver and a copy of Christine's apartment—one that was made by Schultz. Witnesses mentioned that Laurie had mentioned killing Christine in the passing earlier, but it is to be noted that Schultz was also a man who had also fatally shot a Wisconsin police officer in 1975.

Schultz's eldest son maintained that Bembenek was not the person who had killed his mother.

Where is Laurie Bembenek now?

Lawrencia Bembenek was convicted of first-degree murder on March 9, 1982, and subsequently held at the Taycheedah Correctional Institution in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Laurie and Elfred divorced each other on June 19, 1984, and she later got engaged to factory worker Dominic Gugliatto, who helped her escape from prison on July 15, 1990. The two fled to Ontario, Canada, where she further pleaded her case and sought refugee status.

She won the right to a new trial as she voluntarily returned to the United States of America and pleaded no contest to a hearing dated December 9, 1992, where her sentence was commuted to the 10 years already served. She later changed her name to Laurie from Lawrence.

Laurie Bembenek passed away from liver and kidney failure on November 20, 2010, in Portland, Oregon.