On July 13, 2003, a pink Monte Carlo pulled into the driveway of the Bryant household, located near Rochester, New York. In the driver's seat sat a young woman, Cassidy Green, while Cyril Winebrenner—armed with Cassidy’s monogrammed rifle—headed inside.
They killed 26-year-old Tabatha Bryant that night, but while Cyril did the deed and Cassidy drove the getaway car, there was a third party with blood on their hands. Tabatha’s husband, a lawyer named Kevin, had given the pair their mission—promising thousands of dollars in return. While his children slept and his wife was shot and stabbed in the living room, Kevin was allegedly upstairs...reading.
Tabatha Bryant had two sons with her husband-turned-killer.
- Photo Credit: Find a Grave
At the time, Kevin Bryant was practically the age of his wife’s mother. A city boy at heart, he first noticed a teenage Tabatha—a small-town girl with blonde hair—at the church they both attended. Their paths crossed again when Tabatha, then newly married, moved to Rochester with her husband, Arnold Martin. Kevin pounced—offering Tabatha not just his friendship, but a job at his law firm.
Being in such close proximity, and with Tabatha's worsening marital problems, their professional relationship evolved into something more. After one year, Tabatha filed for divorce, and the proceedings were overseen by Kevin himself. Soon, she was no longer just his client or his employee—she was his wife, to have and to hold.
But though Kevin was a small, sickly man—he’d suffered a heart condition all his life—his health never stopped him from wanting to have and to hold as much as he could. He loved cocaine and women, though his own extramarital affairs didn't soften the blow of Tabatha's eventual infidelity. When he discovered his wife had strayed, Kevin wanted more than just simple revenge—he wanted blood. Enter Cassidy and Cyril, whose connections to their target only heightened the heinousness of the crime they agreed to commit.
In Betrayal in Blood, author Michael Benson recounts the murder of Tabatha Bryant, and how her husband almost escaped, scot-free. The following excerpt takes us to the night of the crime, just after Kevin’s unsettlingly calm 9-1-1 call. Though he claims innocence, police turn to the blood, which hints at a much different story...
CLICK HERE to read an excerpt of Betrayal in Blood, and then download the book.
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Featured photo: Cassi Josh / Unsplash
