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Inset: Benjamin Visser (Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The Little Caesars in Arizona where Benjamin Visser allegedly killed his wife and her co-worker (KSAZ/YouTube).
In a tragic incident in Arizona, an unemployed man walked into a Little Caesars pizzeria where his wife worked and fatally shot her and a co-worker he suspected of being her lover. The shooting followed a heated argument about financial troubles and joblessness, as reported by the police.
Nearby business owner Kennedy Long described the scene to CBS affiliate KTVK, recalling the rapid succession of gunshots: “Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.” Long witnessed one woman collapse amid the chaos.
Authorities have charged 27-year-old Benjamin Visser with the murder of his 21-year-old wife, Mary Visser, and her 32-year-old colleague, Shaquille Simmons, at the Tempe pizza restaurant on a Monday morning.
The couple shared a 6-month-old child, and reports indicate that Mary Visser managed to dial 911 but was unable to speak before her husband took the phone and began talking to the dispatcher.
According to court records obtained by KTVK and NBC affiliate KPNX, Benjamin confessed on the call, stating, “I just pulled a gun and I shot two people.” He also pleaded, “Please help me. Please help me.”
“Please help me,” Benjamin Visser allegedly added. “Please help me.”
Police say surveillance video shows Benjamin Visser arriving at the Little Caesars with his wife, who let him walk her there from their residence, as Simmons is showing up for his shift. As Simmons approaches the front door, Benjamin Visser can allegedly be seen opening fire on him before shooting Mary Visser.
“It’s my wife, and it’s her co-worker,” Benjamin Visser told the 911 dispatcher about who he shot, according to court documents. He allegedly continued to shoot Mary Visser after she fell to the ground.
Officers arrived on the scene and took Benjamin Visser into custody without incident. He allegedly told investigators that he “blacked out” before the shooting and admitted to arguing with his wife earlier that morning over finances and getting a job.
Asked about Simmons, Benjamin Visser allegedly said he “thought” the co-worker was sleeping with his wife on account of how “she had been acting.” He admitted, though, that he “did not have any proof,” according to court documents.
“They had no romantic relationship whatsoever,” Lerron Simmons, Shaquille’s brother, told KTVK. “They’re co-workers.”
Benjamin Visser allegedly admitted to cops that he can be controlling when it comes to Mary Visser’s “actions and activities.” Police say he told them he has to approve of where she goes without him and whether she can drink alcohol, as well as whether she can talk to other men.
Benjamin Visser allegedly showed up to the Little Caesars on Sunday night and was “shooed” away by a manager after he caused a scene. Police say he was at a nearby business and saw Mary Visser talking with Simmons, which prompted him to exit “in a rage” and slam the front door “so hard they thought the glass was going to shatter,” according to witnesses.
Benjamin Visser allegedly confronted and spoke to Simmons outside. Witnesses who work in the area reported seeing Benjamin Visser sitting outside the Little Caesars on numerous occasions, watching his wife work her entire shift, according to KPNX.
“It’s just really sad,” Kalife Gentry, Simmons’ cousin, told KTVK. “Words can’t even explain all the emotions and the grief that we’re feeling as a family.”
Benjamin Visser has been charged with two counts of murder and is currently being held on a $2 million cash-only bond.