Woman Spiked Casino Drink with Fatal Fentanyl Dose: Police

A judge in Washington set a woman's bail. at $10 million. after an alleged robbery scheme at a. casino turned into a homicide. investigation. And the reason reportedly. given to police as to why the deed. turned deadly, it is absolutely. astonishing. We're going to be sitting. down with criminal defense attorney Skye. Lazarro to try to make sense [music] of. this bizarre tragedy and whether the. defendant has any chance of beating a. murder rap if she takes [music] this to. trial. Welcome to Sidebar presented by. Law & Crime. I'm Jesse Weber.

Now real quick, [music] before we jump. into this, can you believe the holidays. are here? I thought it was just like. summer a minute ago. Anyway, if you're. thinking of gifts, what to give. somebody, I got to tell you real quick. about our sponsor Cozy Earth, okay? I. wore these the other night, they are. amazing. Their bamboo pajama set, it is. made with a soft stretch knit that. sleeps cool but it is still cozy for. winter nights. And the bubble cuddle. blanket, the textured faux fur, it is. plush, it's luxurious, it's the ultimate. holiday gift for even the toughest. people to shop for, you know who those. are. Now Cozy Earth also has a 100-night. sleep trial and a 10-year warranty, so.

you can shop and gift risk-free. And. right now, Black Friday has come early. at Cozy Earth. You stack my code Law &. Crime on top of their site-wide sale for. up to 40% off. Wrap the ones you love in. luxury with Cozy Earth. The Ilani Casino. Hotel is a large entertainment complex. on the Cowlitz Indian Reservation in. Ridgefield, Washington. This isn't. really far from Vancouver and Portland. They give out huge jackpots, they host. big-name singers and comedians, but on. October 5th, this hotel and casino.

became a crime scene. Cowlitz Tribe. Police were called out when hotel staff. found a man dead in a 10th floor hotel. room. Now police have identified him. only by the name of Arslan. They told. local media outlets that the 38-year-old. just had one name on his Washington. driver's license. Now I'll tell you. what, we got our hands on a 20-page. probable cause affidavit that goes into. a lot more detail. It says that police. spoke to witnesses, reviewed. surveillance footage, obtained text. messages, which all led them to. 34-year-old Raylin Marie Benzie from.

nearby Battle Ground, Washington. And. according to investigators, Benzie was. seen on camera going into Arslan's hotel. room in the early morning of October. 4th. This is the day before his body was. found. Now apparently she's inside for. about an hour, then leaves by herself, but she allegedly comes back a little. while later with another man. They both. apparently go inside the room, are in. there for less than 10 minutes, and then. they both leave. Now the probable cause. statement says that when police first. interviewed Benzie, she denied having.

anything to do with Arslan dying, reportedly saying, quote, "No, no, no, he was bleeping snoring. He was. sleeping. That's bleeping weird. That. doesn't make any sense. He was bleeping. snoring." Now Benzie reportedly told the. police that she had first met Arslan in. September when they allegedly agreed. that Arslan would give Benzie his casino. winnings if she had sex with him, okay? So this arrangement, when they met up. though on October 4th, Arslan reportedly. gave Benzie a casino voucher for $1,280.

when they went up to his room, but. according to what Benzie apparently told. police, she and Arslan didn't actually. have sex. When the officers asked if she. felt bad, you know, for essentially. going back on her word but keeping the. money, she reportedly said, "No, because. he had disrespected her." This is. according to the affidavit. She also. told investigators that she saw green or. money in Arslan's wallet. So when police. searched the hotel room on October 5th, according to the affidavit, that wallet, his wallet, was empty. The affidavit.

reads, "I executed a search warrant on. Arslan's room 10:31 on October 5th, 2025. and collected evidence including liquid. from drinking glasses on the tables near. the bed. I also saw the safe was ajar. and saw a small valuables pouch with a. green lanyard inside the safe. The. valuables pouch was empty. I saw. Arslan's wallet was also empty. I also. confirmed Arslan had been issued two. keys, but I only found one in the room. I believe Benzie still possessed the. second room key. I also noticed there. was no evidence of any drug use at all.

in the room." So the investigator who. responded to Arslan's room noted the. strange way that Arslan was positioned. on the bed. Quote, "I saw Arslan. deceased laying on his back on the bed. His legs were extended and crossed at. the ankles. His arms were crossed on his. chest and his hands clutching a cell. phone. Arslan wore jeans with a belt on. The tag inside the front left belt line. caught my attention because it was. sticking out. This was suspicious to me. because most people pull their pants on. from the side and not the front using.

force to pull the tag out then leave it. out. I also saw one of his pants legs. was around his heel without his leg. fully pushed through, which was also. suspicious." So according to the. affidavit, the medical examiner agreed. with the investigator's assessment that. this was a suspicious death. So how did. an apparent sex work situation turned. apparent or alleged robbery end up with. Arslan dead and Raylin Benzie locked up. on a massive $10 million bail? Okay, so.

talk about this, I want to bring on. criminal defense attorney Skye Lazarro. Skye, so good to see you. Thanks for. taking the time. One of the interesting. aspects of this, aside from how sad it is and disturbing. it is, it all takes place at this very. public. venue, right? A casino. There's one of. the most surveilled places I think in. the world. There are cameras absolutely. everywhere. And I think from an. investigative point of view, a. prosecutorial point of view, but also. I'm curious from a defense point of. view, is that the end-all be-all? I. mean, if they are watching this suspect. on camera, from a defense perspective,

how bad is that video? How do you fight. back against something like that? Anytime you have surveillance video, especially somewhere like a casino, because they're going to be able to. document every movement she made within. the casino, on and off the elevator. You. know, obviously not in the room, but. they're going to be able to time stamp. every single moment that she was with. him throughout the course of the evening. and when she went back. I think that. makes it pretty difficult to say either.

I wasn't there or it happened when I. wasn't there. You know, if they can get. a time of death nailed down, I think. that from a defense standpoint makes it. pretty difficult to fight back on. You're going to have to come up with a. different theory of it was an accident. I mean, you know, I don't know, but And. look, any good defense lawyer will say. to their client, "Don't speak to the. police without an attorney present." You. put that to the side though, what do you. make of some of Benzie's alleged early.

statements to police? Pretty damaging for her, I think. She. She makes some. pretty pretty damning admissions. And if. there isn't a way to get those. suppressed or there isn't a Miranda. issue or a coercion issue or anything. else, you know, some of those statements. I think are going to going to be pretty. hard to get past. You know, I think in a. lot of cases, we all wish our clients. wouldn't talk because some of the worst. evidence we ever have are our clients'. own words and they're they're really.

hard to keep out of court. Yeah, I mean, and I want to go through. more of this evidence. So police, they. were able to put together a more. complete timeline when they got their. hands, and we talk about things that the. defendant allegedly said, when they got. their hands on Benzie's text messages. and they were able to speak with people. who knew Benzie. So you have a woman who. reportedly had only recently met her, met Benzie, and according to the. affidavit, told detectives, quote, "The. way she was reacting, I think she did. something to cause this man to lose his. life." Now police also identified the.

man seen going in to Arslan's room with. Benzie seemingly after Arslan was. already dead, a critical witness. The. affidavit states the man told them, quote, "She made a statement she drugged. this bleep and that he probably OD'd and. he's probably going to die." And yet. another man apparently told. investigators that Benzie admitted she. put fentanyl in Arslan's drink and said. he was unconscious and she couldn't wake. him up. So according to this witness, Benzie allegedly told him that she.

usually uses GHB or other so-called date. rape drugs on men, but apparently she. forgotten it, so she decided to use. fentanyl instead. Now Skye, if that is. true, it kind of adds up with some of. the other evidence that we're seeing. here, particularly the surveillance. footage, but I will ask you, those are. potentially very damaging statements. that were made or allegedly made by the. defendant. From a defense perspective, how bad are they and is there ways to. make sure they don't get into a trial. and that a jury never hears them?

Terrible. I mean, the fact fentanyl. first of all is is. highly. uh. lethal in. in very small doses. And so she's using. fentanyl. Any admission that she's using. anything to drug someone, even if it's. just to rob them, is problematic. I. mean, she's already going there to. allegedly commit a felony and then she. gives him too much and he ends up dead. So you kind of have two layers of. criminal activity here, whereas at least.

felony murder, even if there wasn't any. intention to actually kill him over the. course of this, right? These statements. get hard to keep out because they are. the defendant's statements. The. defendant's statements almost always are. going to come into a trial, whether. they're spoken, uh text messages, you know, emails. We. fight these all the time. trying to keep them out under hearsay or. double hearsay rules, but at the end of.

the day, most of the time, the defendant's. statements can be used against them in. court. Does it seem to you that a prosecutor. would be able to then introduce into. evidence at a trial, if this is. statement's true, all other alleged. instances of her using date rape drugs. on men, that this becomes a case where. it's not just about Arslan, but other. pattern of activity or is that going to. be not relevant too prejudicial because. that statement is quite a statement to.

think about what else she might have. allegedly been up to. I would almost guarantee that the. prosecutor is going to seek to introduce. any any statements or any other. incidences of of what we call bad acts. that would normally be kept out. In. certain instances, those can come in to. a criminal trial, especially in a case. like this where if the prosecutor can. show that she's done this before, she. has a pattern of meeting men, drugging. them to rob them, whatever it is. Now,

the defense is going to argue exactly. what you said, that it's too. prejudicial, that it's not similar. enough, that bad acts shouldn't come in, it should be about just what happened. here. But when she makes the statement. that she's done this before, it was. supposed to be like all the other times, except this guy ended up dead. Yeah, I. think that's an uphill battle for the. defense to keep that out. I think. there's a good possibility that that. evidence could be brought into this. trial. And what's also shocking is if.

these allegations are true, essentially. she just can't keep the details of what. happened to herself. because let me add this as well. The. police, they get a search warrant for. Benji's cell phone. We know a cell. phone's like the most critical piece of. evidence out there. The text messages. laid out in the affidavit arguably. appear to indicate premeditation and. planning, at least when it comes to the. purported robbery, okay? So you have one. message that was apparently sent to a. man named Derek and it read, quote, "LMAO, I'm dead. I need to find a rich.

man to rob, LOL. I'm about to be evicted. out of my spot and I can't have that. because I don't have any family's house. I can go to or a bleeping car since I. just totaled my new one. I just thought, so I'm tripping. You got any ideas?" And. there was another message to someone. named Shay where she again apparently. talked about drugging someone and taking. their money, quote, "I'm bored and I've. been putting in work on this dude that. I'm going to bet he's got 100K in his. bank account right now.". And Shay reportedly responded, "And why.

he's supposed to just give it to you?". To which Benji allegedly said, "LOL, no. I'm going to get to know him, then drug. him to sleep and take it." So again, going back to the there's one thing to. say, okay, what do the witnesses say, right? What do they say? What do they. recall? Are they credible? Messages like that? Thoughts? Messages are even harder. I mean, you're right. When you when you're. talking about witnesses, you know, obviously her her defense team is going. to get into who are these people? Are.

they credible? Do they have a history? Are they planning with her? Are they. doing the same things? All of that all. of those types of things that we can put. before a jury to try to say, hey, they're lying, they're making it up, whatever it is. When you have the. defendant's words in a text message. where it's written down that you can put. before a jury, that's pretty hard. evidence to get past. You know, you can. say she's joking, you can say she didn't. mean it, but the fact that she talked. about why she needed the money, that she. was trying to do this to another guy,

that this was a plan that she had and. then she goes and does it, that evidence. is most likely coming in, especially. where it's her text messages as long as. they can authenticate them. And I think a jury is going to look at. that pretty favorably for the state, not. the defendant. Well, I have more for. you. There was another of Benji's. apparent text messages or text. conversations with a man that were. included in this probable cause. statement and Benji allegedly discussing. drugs to make Arslan go, quote, "Night. night." She apparently said she was.

planning to give him 200 mg of Valium. But I will say around the time that. Arslan died, Benji's messages started to. get increasingly panicked and frenzied. with her reportedly sending texts like, "OMG, call me! {exclamation point}. {exclamation point} {exclamation point}. Babe, call me. I'm freaking TF out! {exclamation point} {exclamation point}. {exclamation point} Everything went. wrong! {exclamation point} {exclamation. point} {exclamation point} And then she. starts texting or apparently texting. another man named Alfonso with the.

messages switching to all caps, "I. panicked and did something dumb. I need. out of here, please." And there's also, "I could go away for a very long. bleeping time and I just need out of. here." Now, despite her apparent. agitation and fear, the surveillance. video confirms that at this point Benji. went up to the room, was in there for a. few minutes when Alfonso texted that he. was on his way to pick her up, Benji. reportedly responded that she was, quote, "In the room looking for cash.".

Now, Sky, even if she were to take the. stand at her trial, you know, if this. goes to trial, I'm struggling to find a. way for her to explain this other than. her. allegedly committing a series of crimes. I tend to agree with you. I think this. is probably a case where she can't. testify. because anything that you could keep out. if you put her on the stand is likely. going to come in. And I don't know that. there's a good explanation for this. Now, I will say this.

When we look at probable cause. statements issued by the state, it is. all, you know, always just going to. include their greatest hits. So, we. don't know what else is out there in. discovery that might be more favorable. to her or might put things in a. different context and things along that. But taking what we know with what's in. the probable cause statement, the way. it's been presented by the state, these. text messages are going to be very hard. for her to explain away and for a.

defense team to explain away. That being said, you know, as discovery. goes on, sometimes things get better, sometimes they get worse. Well, let's also talk about. another piece of evidence because. according to court documents, Arslan's. toxicology report showed that he did. have fentanyl in his system and it was. the only drug they found evidence of. There was a warrant that was put out for. Benji's arrest on charges of first. degree murder, controlled substance. homicide, placing poison in a drink, first degree robbery, second degree. theft. And according to a supplemental.

report that was included with the. probable cause statement, Benji was. arrested on Halloween in Vancouver. This. is when police connected her with a car. that had been stolen a couple weeks. earlier. That led to her also being. charged with possession of a stolen. vehicle. And on November 4th, according. to news outlet KATU, a judge raised. Benji's bail to $10 million. Now, Sky, were you surprised about that. number? Surprised she has bail at all, to be. honest. In a state like Utah, this would. be a no bail case. And I know, you know,

different states have different bail. statutes, but I'm not surprised by the. $10 million. I think that's probably akin to the. judge giving her a no bail warrant. because it's so high. Even if she could. post it through a bail bondsman, that. number is is probably far exceeds. anything she's going to be able to meet. But she doesn't help herself. I mean, this it goes from bad to worse for her, right? You know, not only has she. alleged to committed all these crimes, but then she's got a stolen car. She's.

arrested in the stolen car. Now she's. committing, you know, another felony in. another jurisdiction. So, I'm not. surprised by that bail amount. I'm I'm. actually somewhat surprised that she has. bail at all. The first degree robbery. and the second degree theft maybe on its. face maybe more straightforward. Is there a way though when it comes to. first degree murder or controlled. substance homicide, placing poison in a. drink, I don't know. Are there ways to reduce. that? Are there ways for her, let's say,

to negotiate Let's first from a legal. point of view, from a defense point of. view, if she were to take it to trial, is there a way to convince the jury that. those elements aren't met or is that. going to be very difficult for her? That's possible and I think that. actually, you know, the the first degree. murder, the the mens rea or the the the state's. going to have to prove on first degree. murder is going to be intentionally and. knowingly or that she planned it. I. think even her text messages and her. communications to people show, yes, she.

went there with the intention to rob. him, but not the intention to kill him. And so I think there's a way to argue to. a jury or or to the state. I think this. is a case really you try to resolve. without going to trial. I don't know. that this is one you want to try to a. jury just because of the messages that. are out there and how damaging they are. But I think you do try to to resolve. this case with something lesser, something, you know, like a a reckless. type mindset where it was accidental. Yes, she intended to drug him so that.

she could rob him, but didn't intend to. kill him. Maybe you get down to a. manslaughter or something along those. lines where you take the intent down and. you can you can drop it down a few. degrees which probably lessens lessens. the amount of time that she would do in. custody on this case. So, one thing I'll. mention, Sky, and you you mentioned it. before is and I can't 100% confirm which. one of these would count for first. degree, but it says under Washington law. of murder in the first degree it can be. a few different things. It can be a.

person's guilty of murder in the first. degree when with a premeditated intent. to cause the death of another person, he. or she causes the death of such person. or of a third person. So, you might be. right, there might not be an intent to. kill. Or under circumstances manifesting. an extreme indifference to human life, he or she engages in conduct which. creates a grave risk of death to any. person and thereby causes the death of a. person. That could be problematic if. like you intend to give a drug, which is. very very dangerous, fentanyl, right? And someone dies. Or this is another.

one. He or she commits or attempts to. commit the crime of either robbery and. then there's other ones that don't. really apply. And then during in the. furtherance of such crime or an. immediate flight therefrom, he or she. causes the death of a person other than. one of the participants. So, that's the. felony murder rule, right? Those are the. different ways they might be getting. her. Now, I'm looking at this and saying. her options might be limited. You're right on on those instances. You. know, with the first one I think maybe. we may you can make the argument that. there was no intent to kill, but under. those other two prongs, we're talking.

about acting in a manner that could. cause or or you know would cause a death. where she gave him fentanyl instead of. the GHB and we have that in a text. message and then committing a robbery. I. think the state has multiple ways that. they can get to potentially a. first-degree murder charge on her and so. this really probably is a case where if. you're the defense, you just try to do. as much mitigation work as you can to. try to get a deal where you don't end up. in trial.

Yeah, so she's scheduled now to be in. court in January. What can we expect. next? Do you think that there's. prosecutors would be open to some sort. of plea deal here or are they like, we. have you dead to rights, you know, if. you want to plead guilty, you're. pleading guilty to everything. It's. going to be somewhat dependent on a. number of factors and one of those is. also going to be the victim's family. You know, how. how much do they want to go through in. terms of pre-trial litigation or a trial. in this case? Not that they have the. last say in what happens, but I do think.

prosecutors work closely with families. in in cases like this to get their take. on it and see really what they want and. get their input. And if they're like, hey, just resolve this, we don't want to. get dragged through this, they may be. more inclined to offer a deal. They're. going to have a plethora of charges to. charge her with that's going to end up. with some significant prison time. I. don't think she's going to escape that. in this case, but I do think there are. ways that this case could be resolved if.

the state is so inclined and and you're. right, they may just say, this is really. egregious. She's done this before. This. is a pattern of behavior. She's lucky no. one else has ever died and and we're not. going to back down on it. What a case. What a case. Um all right, let's see. where it goes. Uh Skye Lozaro, thank you. so much for taking the time. Really. appreciate it. Thanks for having me. And that's all we. have for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining. us and as always, please subscribe on. YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts. You can.

follow me on X or Instagram. [music] I'm. Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next. time.