What happened to Eric Somuah? Harrowing details of Maryland resident's murder on Dateline, explored

Dateline Season 10 Episode 2 dealt with the cold-blooded killing of Eric Somuah by his girlfriend, Katrina Ben, who was a traveling nurse from Mississippi. Soumah was shot at point-blank range and his body was found on the 6th floor of his Silver Spring, Maryland apartment.

At first, it was extremely difficult for the police to get any clue about the killer and they even considered a possibility of Somuah committing suicide. However, Eric’s brother, Cynthia Somuah, was certain that his brother was not someone who would take their own life, as Cynthia mentioned,

“There’s no way he took his life. Eric loved life.”

Therefore, when it became clear that something was wrong with Eric’s death, Montgomery County Police Det. Dimitry Ruvin was put on the case and eventually, the investigation led to Katrina Ben, the girlfriend who shot Eric out of jealousy.

Let us now explore the killing of Eric Somuah in detail as presented by Dateline.

What happened to Eric Somuah?

Eric Somuah was only 34 years old when he was murdered. The fast car salesman had a flamboyant lifestyle and was a ladies’ man too. This was the primary reason that enraged Katrina Ben, who got furious when she realized that Eric had been seeing other women as well.

On Dateline, Ruvin mentioned how he kept Eric’s picture on his desk to keep himself going and reach the end of the case. He mentioned,

“We called him ‘the most interesting man in the world’ — that was the name of the case. I’ve always had a picture of Eric to keep me going, keep working the case.”

Following the usual procedure, Ruvin started the investigation with Eric’s family members but realized soon that none of them were potential suspects. However, conversations with Eric’s brother and sisters gave the detective an idea about Eric’s way of life, and that led him to one of his girlfriends, Denise.

However, Denise was in the clear since her call records showed that she was at her home on the night of the killing. Since Eric had been killed in his bed, Ruvin realized, as shown in Dateline,

“It was someone that Eric trusted so much that he went to sleep and had that person there.”

This significantly narrowed the suspect list because the authorities knew what pool of people they would need to investigate to find the killer.

Also Read: What happened to Paula Slavewski? Shocking details of the aspiring model's murder on Dateline explored

How did the Police find Eric Somuah’s killer?

As the investigation was going on, Ben approached the police by herself and informed them about their dating status. She also appeared extremely sad by Eric’s death and wanted to know who was behind all this so that her heart could feel better.

She also cooked up a story about a marijuana dealer from whom the couple had allegedly taken weed on the night of Eric’s death, which was later denied by the said dealer.

With everything happening, it was still not possible for Ruvin and his team to find the killer who was actually with them, pretending to help them. A whole year passed and it was only after Ruvin shifted his method of investigation while focusing on the firearm that was used to shoot Eric, that he eventually realized that Ben was the killer.

By that time, Ben had gone back to her hometown Mississippi and it was from there that she was arrested and questioned. Eventually, as she was proven guilty, Ben was sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years.

After her punishment, Michael, one of Eric’s brothers, said that though the sentence would not bring his brother back, it definitely helped them find closure.

Dateline can be streamed on Peacock.