'Bambi' Bembenek Wants Name Cleared

Oct. 3, 2002 -- Laurie "Bambi" Bembenek had been a pinup girl, a Milwaukee police officer and a whistle-blower. Then her husband's ex-wife was slain and she became known as a murderer.

Bembenek served a 20-year sentence — including 10 years on parole — for a crime she always insisted she didn't commit. Now, she's hoping new DNA technology will help clear her name.

Bembenek told ABCNEWS' Good Morning America that a conference hearing Friday will determine when and how the crucial test is carried out.

"We are trying to hurry the process along," said Bembenek, who is convinced the test results will clear her name once and for all. "This is it. This is the final yes or no."

Bembenek was arrested and charged with murder in the May 28, 1981, slaying of Christine Schultz, but all along, Bembenek claimed she was being framed by what she says was a corrupt police department.

A Murderous Jog?

Prosecutors said that in the middle of the night, Bembenek jogged two miles to the home of Schultz, her husband's ex-wife. They say she stole up to Schultz's second-floor bedroom, bound her with clothesline, gagged her with a bandanna and shot her once in the back.

The murder weapon was a gun belonging to Schultz's ex-husband and Bembenek's then-husband, Milwaukee police officer Elfred Schultz.

In court, lawyers depicted Bembenek as a shallow, former pinup girl who was so upset about the $700 a month that her husband was sending to his ex-wife for mortgage payments and child support that she decided to kill Christine Schultz using her husband's gun.

After her 1982 conviction, Bembenek was sentenced to life in prison, but she never stopped insisting she was innocent. She appealed her conviction three times, and lost all three appeals. Then, on July 15, 1990, her story took a dramatic turn. She escaped from prison.

On the Lam

With her escape, Bembenek became something of a cult figure. The city of Milwaukee rallied behind her. A song — called "Run, Bambi, Run" — was written in her honor and became a hit on local radio.