MILWAUKEE – The prison escape of former Playboy Club bunny and Milwaukee police officer Laurie "Bambi" Bembenek popularized the phrase "Run Bambi Run" and seemed tailor-made for the TV movie it inspired.
But despite the fame garnered by her flight, Bembenek died having spent more than two decades insisting on her innocence but never fully clearing her name. Her attorney said Sunday that effort will continue.
The 52-year-old died Saturday of liver failure at a hospice care center in Portland, Ore., said her longtime attorney, Mary Woehrer.
Bembenek worked briefly as a Playboy Club waitress in Lake Geneva before becoming a police officer in Milwaukee, where she married detective Fred Schultz. Bembenek was convicted in 1982 of fatally shooting his ex-wife, Christine Schultz, after allegedly complaining about the alimony he had to pay.
