Coast man enters plea in first-degree murder case in Franklin Creek community

Franklin Creek resident Dirk Hilton Lambert Jr. pleaded not guilty Friday to a charge of first-degree murder in the shooting death of a man at Lambert’s home in April.

Lambert, dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, conferred with is court-appointed attorney, MIchael Cunningham, before entering the plea Friday before Circuit Judge Robert Krebs.

Lambert is accused in the April 9, 2019, shooting death of 50-year-old Christopher Benson.

Benson’s body was found inside of his truck several hours after he had been shot, authorities have said.

Lambert is tentatively set to go to trial in February.

It’s unclear what the prompted the killing.

Lambert is being held at the Jackson County jail without bond.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.

This story was originally published January 17, 2020 at 1:17 PM.

Margaret Baker

Sun Herald

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Margaret is an investigative reporter whose search for truth exposed corrupt sheriffs, a police chief and various jailers and led to the first prosecution of a federal hate crime for the murder of a transgendered person. She worked on the Sun Herald’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Hurricane Katrina team. When she pursues a big story, she is relentless.