A Convicted Murderer Who Momentarily Died Says His Life Sentence Has Been Served

• In 1996, Benjamin Schreiber was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after he clubbed a man to death
• In 2015, he briefly “died” in the hospital while being treated for septic shock
• Schreiber claims he is being imprisoned illegally and should be immediately released

An American man convicted of murder is claiming he is being imprisoned illegally after he momentarily “died” at the hospital.

Benjamin Schreiber was convicted of first-degree murder in 1997 after he clubbed a man to death. It was found that he plotted the murder together with the man’s girlfriend.

Benjamin Schreiber was sentenced with lifetime incarceration without parole in an Iowa facility.

In March 2015, he developed kidney stones that led to septic shock. He was found unconscious in his cell and was rushed to the hospital where he was resuscitated five times. He was successfully revived and his sepsis subsequently treated. After he recovered, he was sent back to jail.

According to Schreiber’s attorneys. his brief death in the hospital meant that he has served his life sentence and was therefore imprisoned illegally after he recovered. Schreiber also claims that he was resuscitated against his will.

A district court has previously junked Schreiber’s motion, citing that the argument presented by Schreiber’s camp was “unpersuasive and without merit”. Schreiber appealed the decision to the Iowa Court of Appeals but ultimately the district court’s decision was upheld. In its opinion, the Iowa Court of Appeals stated that a “plain reading” of Iowa law indicates that any defendant of a class A felony “must spend the rest of their natural life in prison, regardless of how long that period of time ends up being or any events occurring before the defendant’s life ends“. The opinion further states that “Schreiber is either alive, in which case he must remain in prison, or he is actually dead, in which case this appeal is moot“.

Schreiber, now 66, is still imprisoned in Iowa. It is unclear whether he plans to elevate the case to a higher court.