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FBI arrest Briton on suspicion of murdering wife reported missing on Cuba voyage

Lewis Bennett was accused of the second degree murder of Isabella Hellmann, who he reported missing as their catamaran sank in May.

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The couple’s sinking catamaran (US Coast Guard/PA)

A Briton who reported his wife missing as the newlyweds’ catamaran sank off the Cuban coast has been arrested on suspicion of her murder after an FBI investigation.

Lewis Bennett, 41, was arrested on Tuesday, accused of the second degree murder of Isabella Hellmann, who he said had disappeared during the voyage in May.

Bennett, of Poole, Dorset, was taken into custody as he appeared in a Miami court where he was to be sentenced for smuggling stolen coins during the doomed trip.

Lewis Bennett was rescued alone
Lewis Bennett was rescued alone (Broward Sheriff’s Office/PA)

Bennett reported the 41-year-old missing in the early hours of May 15 in an SOS call as their 37ft catamaran was sinking as they sailed home to Delray Beach, Florida, from Havana.

He was rescued alone from a life raft and the search for Ms Hellmann was called off three days later.

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