The last of three men convicted in the murder of a 20-year-old Highland Park man who was shot, robbed and had his body dumped has been sentenced to 32 years in prison.
Benjamin Schenk, 31, of Highwood, was charged in 2013 with first-degree murder, concealing a homicidal death, armed robbery and possession of a stolen vehicle.
Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti sentenced Schenk to 32 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections during a court hearing last Tuesday.
Schenk, who has been held in custody since his arrest over 10 years ago, previously pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.
Schenk also pleaded guilty to aggravated assault of a corrections officer for an incident while in custody that occurred in February 2016. He received a one-year prison sentence last Tuesday on that charge.
He will receive credit on his sentence for 4,428 days of time already served awaiting trial.
The charges against Schenk stemmed from the murder of Colin Nutter, 20, of Highland Park, that occurred on June 3, 2013, on the border of Highland Park and Highwood.
In addition to Schenk, two others were also charged in Nutter’s murder — Philip Vatamaniuc, now 29, of Highland Park, and Michael D. Coffee, now 29, of Highland Park.
Evidence at Vatamaniuc’s trial showed that Vatamaniuc, who was 17 at the time, along with Coffee and Schenk, ages 17 and 20 respectively, were together in Highland Park at the residence of a friend, Lauren Hahn.
Vatamaniuc, Coffee and Schenk passed a firearm back and forth between each other and Coffee talked about who they could rob to obtain drugs and money, according to evidence and testimony at trial.
Nutter’s name came up and Coffee called Nutter and arranged to meet him under the guise of meeting to purchase marijuana.
The three suspects left Hahn’s house to meet Nutter while one of them was still armed with the gun.
Nutter arrived at the meeting spot and the trio got into his vehicle.
Schenk testified that Coffee turned the volume up on the radio and yelled “Do it,” at which point Vatamaniuc shot Nutter in the back of the head and took the marijuana that the victim possessed.
Schenk and Vatamaniuc put Nutter’s body into the trunk of the victim’s car and Coffee drove them back to Hahn’s house where Schenk and Coffee cleaned the inside of the vehicle with bleach, according to trial testimony and evidence.
Vatamaniuc, Coffee and Schenk left the home and began driving around before finding a secluded spot where they dumped Nutter’s body in some brush and covered it up.
They returned to the location an hour later to steal Nutter’s wallet.
Coffee took cash from the wallet and Schenk threw the cards that were in Nutter’s wallet out of the car window as they drove on the expressway, according to trial testimony and evidence.
Vatamaniuc was convicted at trial in 2017 and sentenced to 54 years in prison. Coffee pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to 40 years in prison in March 2024.
Following Schenk’s sentencing last week, the victim’s sister, Sara Nutter, told Lake and McHenry County Scanner she was disappointed that he was not sentenced longer for taking her brother’s life.
Nutter said Schenk will be eligible for parole in eight years.
“It should never have taken almost 12 years to sentence him. This benefited him because of a new law in 2024 allowing parole eligibility for those sentenced after its enactment. I believe he’s a dangerous person and should be kept out of society,” Nutter said.
She added that Schenk’s co-defendants were sentenced to 40 years and 54 years and there is a big discrepancy in the sentences despite all being convicted of murder.
The victim’s father, Michael Nutter, told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that he is glad the court cases are finally over after nearly 12 years.
“I am glad this is finally over and that the three killers of my son Colin are now all sentenced. They are dangerous people and I hope they can be rehabilitated in prison,” Nutter said.
“I also hope this will provide some closure now for me and my family, for the legal process at least,” he added.