The wife of a Montgomery County snake breeder was found guilty last week of her role in a 2017 murder that left her husband dead inside his business outside of New Florence.

A Clay County jury returned the guilty verdict Thursday, Dec. 9, after deliberating for nearly 12 hours over two days. The trial was held in Columbia on a change of venue from Montgomery County. Lynlee Renick was found guilty of second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of her husband, Benjamin Renick. The 29-year-old was found dead June 8, 2017, after being shot eight times, including a contact wound to the head. 

Lynlee Renick admitted to being involved, but denied she was the person who pulled the trigger. She blamed Michael Humphrey, an ex-boyfriend, for shooting her husband. 

Humphrey was found guilty of murder and armed criminal action in October and awaits sentencing next month. He made a deal with prosecutors for a lesser sentencing by providing the location of the murder weapon. 

The jury recommended Lynlee Renick be sentenced 13 years on the murder charge and three years for armed criminal action. Boone County Judge Kevin Crane will decide at the sentencing hearing scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Jan. 24 if the sentences will run concurrently or consecutively. 

The sentencing cannot exceed the jury’s recommendation.

The murder went unsolved  for more than two years until Lynlee Renick and Humphrey were arrested Jan. 16, 2020. Two days earlier, a man who Lynlee Renick was having an affair with  told police about the murder. He had previously denied having any information in the case following the murder. 

Lynlee Renick testified she never planned to kill her husband, but had asked Humphrey to go with her for moral support because she was going to ask for a divorce. She claimed her husband had been physically and sexually abusive to her.

She did not realize Humphrey had a gun until she saw him pull it out and shoot her husband, she testified. She ran out of the business and continued to hear more shots. 

After returning to Columbia, she later returned to her husband’s business where she located Benjamin’s body. She called his brother and they called authorities. 

Prosecutors disputed Lynlee Renick’s version of the events leading up to the murder. They claimed that due to financial struggles at her now-closed spa, she plotted ways to murder her husband with two of her employees. The first attempt was unsuccessful when a protein drink was spiked with “an enormous amount of narcotics” by Lynlee Renick, causing Benjamin Renick to become very ill, police said

On the day of the homicide, Humphrey came to the spa where he and Lynlee Renick met and then drove to Benjamin Renick’s business. Both of their cellphones were kept at the spa to help cover their movement, investigators said.

Lynlee Renick’s co-workers received immunity from prosecutors and testified against their former boss. 

Early on, investigators determined foul play was involved and believed Benjamin Renick knew his killers due to the location of his body inside the business.

Investigators also reported Lynlee Renick and Humphrey had frequent contact by phone leading up to Benjamin Renick’s murder, but they quit communicating after the homicide.