309. Crossing the Thin Blue Line: Lawrencia "Bambi" Bembenek

Our True Crime Podcast

Flanderson Media, LLC

True Crime, Society & Culture, Personal Journals

4.7 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 14 May 2025

⏱️ 63 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Lawrencia Bembenek’s beauty was both a blessing and a curse. To some, it was a key that unlocked doors. But to others, it was the perfect tool for shaping a narrative—a narrative that framed her as a modern-day femme fatale. The press depicted her as “a former Playboy bunny,” yet Laurie had worked only three weeks as a waitress at the Lake Geneva Playboy Club and never posed for the magazine in her birthday suit. The closest she came to being a centerfold was fully clothed in a Schlitz beer calendar. This story was eaten up by the public and often distorted by the media. There were public rallies cheering her on with cries of “Run, Bambi, Run,” the name the press gave her and the name she hated. People could not get enough of this case, which brings me to the whole reason I decided to cover it today, as it may sound a bit familiar to another case in the headlines today. Take a listen and see what you think. Was Laurie set up?

Join Jen and Cam on this episode of Our True Crime Podcast’s ‘Crossing the Thin Blue Line: Lawrencia "Bambi" Bembenek.’

Listener discretion is by @octoberpodVHS

Music is by our EP @theinkypawprintSources:https://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/06/us/murderer-s-fiance-is-guilty-of-aiding-her-prison-escape.html

https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrNPSRhBCVoQAIAlJRXNyoA;_ylu=Y29sbwNiZjEEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Ny/RV=2/RE=1748466018/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fLaurie_Bembenek/RK=2/RS=AkhxsqB51BnrkNSjGnQcq94GW4Y-

https://www.oxygen.com/snapped/crime-news/laurie-bambi-bembenek-did-she-kill-or-was-she-framed-by-cops

https://www.milwaukeemag.com/archive-obsession-ira-robins-quest-justice-laurie-bembenek/

https://www.fox6now.com/news/attorney-seeks-pardon-for-laurie-bembenek-murder-conviction

https://shepherdexpress.com/culture/milwaukee-history/shes-beautiful-shes-dangerous-and-shes-on-the-run-the-law_1/

https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrFDyJPBiVonJgL5AcPxQt.;_ylu=Y29sbwNiZjEEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Ny/RV=2/RE=1747285712/RO=10/RU=

https%3a%2f%2fwww.upi.com%2fArchives%2f1993%2f05%2f13%2fBembenek-argues-with-juror-during-interview%2f5138737265600%2f/RK=2/RS=Ze19vMx_lPU62e0go3aMzzSnaC0-

https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrFYG93BiVour8KgzoPxQt.;_ylu=Y29sbwNiZjEEcG9zAzMEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Ny/RV=2/RE=1747285752/RO=10/RU=

https%3a%2f%2fcrimelibrary.org%2fnotorious_murders%2fwomen%2fbambenek%2f8.html/RK=2/RS=flDMvoE.qGH2UUjOqCwK4J2noYU-

https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrNPc0iBiVoPFQLFhgPxQt.;_ylu=Y29sbwNiZjEEcG9zAzMEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Ny/RV=2/RE=1747285667/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fthecinemaholic.com%2flaurie-bembenek%2f/RK=2/RS=PKZLDh5bTW0wQg2UMuJD.hNFtW0-

https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrNPc0iBiVoPFQLIBgPxQt.;_ylu=Y29sbwNiZjEEcG9zAzUEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Ny/RV=2/RE=1747285667/RO=10/RU=

https%3a%2f%2fwww.jsonline.com%2fstory%2flife%2f2023%2f09%2f12%2flawrencia-laurie-bembenek-run-bambi-run-facts-murder-escape-from-prison-cause-of-death%2f70794066007%2f/RK=2/RS=1GdjKM0vWnG.dKmdAS5BcBrp2Sk-

https://www.jsonline.com/picture-gallery/life/2023/09/07/laurie-bembenek-tried-for-murder-in-1982/70791199007/

https://www.amazon.com/Woman-Trial-Lawrencia-Bembenek/dp/0061006009

https://web.archive.org/web/20141019065121/

http://www.milwaukeemag.com/article/6212011-laurieslastdays

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19900815&id=C75RAAAAIBAJ&pg=5364,3674311

http://www.jsonline.com/news/obituaries/109696054.html

Transcript

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0:00.0	Wake up! The Jones is a redo in their garden! Love that porcelain paven and all that fencing.
0:05.4	I knew it. They've been with their landscaper to Jusen.
0:07.9	A mini-digger! No wonder she was so smug at Zumba! Right, I want a sunken seating area. She won't have that.
0:14.2	For materials, tool hire, timber and paving. Don't waste time. Duason's got the lot.
0:19.0	Like Teralis porcelain paving from only 22 pounds per square meter.
0:22.4	Love it.
0:23.1	All trade prices exclude VAT at 20%.
0:25.9	So now you can keep up with the Joneses.
0:28.0	And the Evanses.
0:29.2	And the Bertels.
0:30.2	Hello, I'm Edward October.
0:32.7	Over the years, I've narrated more ghost stories, horror shows, and creepypastas than I can count. And yet,
0:39.1	the crimes discussed on our true crime podcast managed to scare the shit out of me. This program
0:45.3	is not suitable for children or the faint of heart. If you are such a person, go ahead and
0:50.2	switch off this podcast. Listen to something else. Are you still with us? Well,
0:57.8	we've warned you. Hey, Jen.
1:18.7	Cam, how you doing?
1:19.9	I'm doing pretty good.
1:21.2	Vinyl countdown until the end of school.
1:24.0	I know.
1:25.1	My kids get out the 16th.
1:26.4	I know you guys get out a week early. I'm so happy.
	...

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