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NBC's Dateline: A Villainous Plan follows the events that led to Matt Yussman's abduction and its aftermath.
In 2015, Yussman was held hostage along with his mother in his own home. The case, which was compelling for most after Yussman described his tragic ordeal during a sentencing hearing, brings out the gruesome aspect of crime. The facts of the case, uncovered in court hearings, have raised scorching debates.
Since he was kidnapped, Yussman's sentencing hearing testimony was an effort to comprehend the entire extent of the crime. What transpired in this Dateline-worthy situation paints a clear picture of the criminal plot that resulted in his kidnapping and its psychological impact on him.
Here are 5 harrowing details about the case.
Dateline: A Villainous Plan — 5 Shocking details about Matt Yussman's abduction case
1. The sudden and violent character of the abduction
Matt Yussman was ambushed on February 23, 2015, inside the garage at his Bristol, Connecticut, residence after he had returned from a hockey game. The CFO of the Achieve Financial Credit Union was violently and suddenly attacked by two intruders who were armed, after which they broke into the residence and took both Yussman and his mother hostage for the night.
The kidnappers bound them up, put guns to their heads, and strapped a phony bomb to Yussman's chest. They planned to extort him into stealing his credit union the next day. The brutality and planning that went into the kidnapping deprived Yussman's otherwise peaceful suburban community of any feeling of security.
2. The organized criminal network behind the plot
As depicted in Dateline, the robbery was not spontaneous but just a part of a larger, highly planned criminal operation by Brian Witham and Michael Benanti. The suspects were connected with a string of the same type of abductions and robberies in numerous states, whereby they kidnapped staff members of banks and threatened the families to compel them into submission.
In the case of Yussman, they had devised a scheme that he should draw out money from the Achieve Financial Credit Union vault using intimidation. The timeline in these offenses contained an eerie level of strategy and planning that reflected the extent of criminal behavior employed in the kidnapping.
3. The deep psychological impact on Matt Yussman
Dateline showed the emotional and psychological effects of the ordeal that left a scarring impact on Matt Yussman. His capture for almost 12 hours, threatened, killing, and saddled with the trauma of his mother's life created unimaginable degrees of psychological torture.
In his victim impact statement, Yussman described the horror of experiencing it, and that although the physical ordeal took 12 hours to end, the emotional damage lasted months. Worse still, he was treated as a suspect first, worsening feelings of betrayal and isolation at a time when he was having to recover from trauma.
4. Investigation of the crime and sentencing
During the subsequent months following the kidnapping, police officials connected the case of Yussman to a string of kidnappings and robberies, which Benanti and Witham were conducting. Police were able to collect evidence connecting the two to dozens of crimes across multiple states and arrested them accordingly.
Michael Benanti received multiple life terms and 155 years, and Brian Witham received 42 years in prison.
5. Yussman's public testimony of courage
Matt Yussman was a witness in his sentencing hearing, describing the emotional impact of the violent act on his family and himself. His testimony gave a glimpse behind the act of violence — the fear, the confusion, and the lingering trauma.
By narrating his experience, Yussman helped the court to comprehend how grave the injury had been that had been inflicted upon him, since he also expressed a symbol of strength and endurance.
As per NBC, Yussman said,
"The 12 hours were just awful, being held at gun point, seeing my mom held at gun point going through all the trauma was just intense, but it was over in 12 hours. For the next nine months I was considered a suspect,"
His experience was the epitome of all the victims, the thousands whose lives go in silence with constant fear after their experience.
Dateline: A Villainous Plan presents a graphic, chilling description of Matt Yussman's abduction.
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Like so many of the Dateline cases, this one is a reminder of how quickly innocent lives can be upended by violence and how crucial it is to seek justice for victims who are left behind.
Also read: Dateline: Poison Twist - Everything we know about the latest true crime episode of NBC
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