What time will People Magazine Investigates' next episode air? Release date, murder case and more details explored

People Magazine Investigates' upcoming episode will revisit the gruesome hammer killer murder case through the eyes of Vanessa Bennett, one of the serial killer's victims, who lost her entire family to the incident.

The episode titled The Colorado Hammer Killer is scheduled to air on Monday, July 11, at 9.00 PM ET, diving deep into the the hammer killer aka Alex Ewing's 1984 attacks. The People Magazine Investigates episode will also explore how it took authorities 38 years to convict Ewing of the murders, ultimately bringing justice to his victims.

It wasn't until 2018 that the authorities and those victimized realized they had a serial killer at their disposal in the one place where he belonged - prison. Ewing, now 61 years old, is currently behind bars, facing four consecutive life terms after being found guilty of murdering three members of the Bennett family and Patricia Smith in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Learn more about the harrowing case of the Colorado hammer killer ahead of Monday's People Magazine Investigates episode.

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People Magazine Investigates: The Colorado Hammer Killer brutally bludgeoned the Bennetts in 1984

Alex Ewing snuck into the Aurora, Colorado home of the Bennett family via the house garage during the early morning hours of January 16, 1984. He covertly crept through the house where the family of four lived. The 27-year-old father Bruce, reportedly fought the fanatical culprit and died resisting when the latter hammered his head right before slitting his throat.

Soon after, Ewing made his way to the 26-year-old mother Debra and the couple's two daughters, seven-year-old Melissa and three-year-old Vanessa. He bludgeoned the three using his hammer after sexually assaulting them. Only the youngest Bennett was fortunate enough to survive the attack after the killer shattered her jaw, skull, arms and legs.

Vanessa was discovered that morning stuck between her bed and a wall, drenched in blood, knocked out cold by hammer blows, yet breathing. The once-cheerful young girl was left without a family after becoming the lone survivor of the terrifying attack.

In a recent interview with People Magazine, Bennett spoke about her harrowing experience and the after effects of the incident:

"There's no fixing what he took from me."

The victim also claimed to have been "suicidal a lot," especially during her teen years and to have struggled with homelessness and addiction in an attempt to escape her traumatic past.

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Alex Ewing went on a murderous spree across three states in 1984

In January 1984, Ewing made four brutal attacks in Denver in a 12-day long violent spree, out of which three were in Aurora, including the attacks on survivors Jim and Kim Haubenschild and Donna Holm. The Bennetts were the only family who couldn't survive the hammer killer. A few days prior to that, Ewing had attacked and brutally murdered 50-year-old Patricia Smith in Lakewood.

Eleven days after the Colorado attacks, Ewing resumed his violent rampage in Arizona by attacking Roy Williams with a rock as the latter slept at his house in Kingman. During the next attack on August 9 of the same year in Nevada, he was arrested for attempted murder after using an ax handle to assault Nancy and Chris Barry in Henderson.

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As previously mentioned, People Magazine Investigates will cover the brutal hammer killer murders in its upcoming episode on July 11, 2022. The episode will air on ID and will be available to stream on Discovery+ at 9.00 PM ET.