Sandy Bentley in renewed investigation of stolen jewels and murder case
Published: February 21, 2021
Playboy model Sandy Bentley is at the centre of renewed LAPD interest after her involvement with Mark Yagalla and his collection of expensive jewels that went missing. Subsequently Michael Tardio, a doorman at The Garden of Eden and former lover of Bentley was murdered along with his friend Christopher Monson.
Before this mysterious sequence of events took place Sandy Bentley and her twin sister Mandy were favourites at Hugh Hefner’s side.
After she fell out of favour at the Playboy Mansion, Bentley started dating Mark Yagalla, who was reported at the time to be a hedge fund trader. However new evidence suggests that he had set up a Ponzi scheme (according to Peter Van Sant) and both he and his Playboy lover were living in the most luxurious circumstances.
For reasons unknown the FBI moved in on the pair’s home and tried to seize Yagalla’s possessions, although it would appear they had been tracking him for sometime.
Amongst the items they tried to take from the Las Vega home was a collection of jewellery reported to be worth around $1m. By the time the FBI arrived the jewellery was gone and with it Sandy Bentley who is accused of stealing it. It is thought she took the stash to Michael Tardio, whom she met and began dating while visiting The Garden of Eden, so he could sell it on the black market in Los Angeles.
Tardio made some inquiries and eventually found a suitable buyer who was willing to pay the $1m. With his friend Chris Monson he went to meet the buyer but the pair were murdered; their bodies were found in a Mercedes SUV in Van Nuys, both with gunshot wounds to the head. The murderer had unsuccessfully tried to burn the vehicle.
It’s been eight years since the strange sequence of events took place, and although Bentley is not a suspect in the case, police are hoping she has some evidence that might open new doors to them.
Please share your thoughts on the mysterious case of Sandy Bentley, the missing jewels and her lover’s murder by leaving a comment.
Read about other Playboy stars like Laurie Bembenek, Sara Jean Underwood, Kayla Collins, Jennifer Lyn Jackson and take a look at Playboy rival Penthouse creator, Bob Guccione’s death.
images: lavishlashes.co.uk, pointblanklucu.com
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Jeff Leech
21. Feb, 2011
Sorry sana but he was a quality individual, yes he made a bad decision but doesn’t make him a bad person.
sana
21. Feb, 2011
Ok Jeff, get real, most likely your friend Michael is a sociopath, he sure has you fooled!
sana
21. Feb, 2011
Sad, maybe she could have done something beside being a high priced hooker….
Jeff Leech
21. Feb, 2011
New Michael well growing up, was an outstanding Guy and unbelievable loyal friend, the best
Rex Smith
21. Feb, 2011
She is trash, nothing but a selfish, narcissistice, entitled piece of trash. She used EVERYBODY and helped get two, very nice and respectable people killed. She knows what happened that night and probably knows the killer. She probably got the jewels back, somehow. She always got her way. Mike Jacobs was the middle man and he knows who the killer is. It’s just really, really sad. I was friend’s with one of the victim’s—he was a great kid. Maybe in over his head, but he was not a criminal, far from. A super nice kid. Really, really sad.
The CAT
21. Feb, 2011
This is sadly a case of dumb and dumber. First of all, rule number one as a man is that you never ruin your career and bankrupt yourself just to have sex with some chick and Yagalla is primarily to blame here for starting this chain of stupidity. Secondly, stupidity ran amuck when Tardio and his boys tried to sell 1M in jewels on the street corner. Note to self, when someone agrees to this sort of transaction, it’s logical to believe they may try to steal it instead. Finally, Sandy Benson shows what kind of person she is and judging by her actions, from prostituting herself to Yagalla to getting her other man to sell her stolen jewels, you can see she is a “wanna-be” player who managed to get a few suckers to play along but in the end, she’s obviously crawled back under the rock that she came out from and lives a less than glorious life today. It’s obvious that she knows way more than she ever admitted to and hopefully justice will find her and she too can enjoy the wonderful prison life she so deserves.