Just follow the money, and you could see what he was doing.. There was a local uproar over the thought that the public would be paying his bills, and in mid-January the judge reversed himself. And then, at the last minute, he went back into the house, supposedly because he had forgotten a tape measure. An email has been sent with a link to confirm list signup. Naples killer Steven Benson who sought $10 million family fortune dies in jail with $30 to his name, Naples pipe bomb killer Steven Benson dies in prison. At first, Murphy thought her niece, Carol Lynn Kendall, 40, also had died, but she found out that she was badly burned but had survived. As trial testimony brought out, Steven had started yet another company, Meridian Marketing, which was located about 30 miles away in Fort Myers, where Steven had just bought a new (and very large) house. That day, she and Wayne Kerr drove to Fort Myers, and when she saw Steven's new house, and the new Datsun sports car parked in front, she was, as Kerr testified, "angry. Prosecutors linked Benson to the bomb explosion by producing a receipt, with Bensons palm print, for the purchase of pieces of pipe and end caps. Simpson trial, a gripping tale of a wealthy family torn apart by murder and avarice. A maid testified that he was "the apple of his mother's eye." He just ignored it.. My mother and I were very, very close and we didn't have anybody else except each other because Scott went his own way, and Steven . Moments later there was a loud explosion. ", Edward Benson died in 1980 at the age of 60, and his widow moved to Naples, Fla., a Gulf Coast enclave whose Chamber of Commerce boasts more millionaires per capita than any other U.S. city. Required fields are marked *. I suppose I have a strong sex desire, and Tracy's voluptuous figure, plus her vast sexual knowledge, I think from the beginning just overwhelmed me. Attorney (s) appearing for the Case Puncture wound of right temple made by a sharpened instrument ('shank')," the report states. ", She said that Steven had called her the night before the bombing to make sure that both she and Scott would be coming along in the morning when he planned to stake the dimensions of his mother's new lot. The murder of Margaret and Scott Benson in 1985 drew national crime coverage never seen before and rarely since to Naples. It wasnt discussed. Also Read : . Scrambling desperately, the injured Kendall pitched herself through the open door of the mangled van and onto the circular driveway in front of her mother's home. The Lancaster Township woman was playing golf on a July day at the Lancaster Country Club when she was asked to come in off the course. Represented by attorney Michael McDonnell, Steven Benson was ultimately convicted of first degree murder, attempted first degree murder, and arson of a dwelling. and never miss an insightful take by the TFIGlobal team, This website uses cookies. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall Death, Obituary pending- Carol Lynn Benson Kendall has reportedly passed away unexpectedly and suddenly. Not at her mother's house in Naples, for that has been sold, but behind several closed doors in the state's attorney's offices. The case still resonates three decades later. Harry Hitchcock, second from right, patriarch of the Benson family and founder of the Lancaster Leaf Tobacco Co., with his daughter Janet Murphy in a hallway of the Florida courthouse during the trial their family member, Steven Benson. McDonnell argued that palm print identification is not reliable. He was born in 1951 in Baltimore. Though police initially called the blast, caused by two pipe bombs, a big mystery, it didnt take them long to zero on one suspect: Steven Benson. He was calm as a cucumber, he said. The Trustees have not presented reasonable grounds for attributing the settlors scheme to their section of the trustee exercised on November 27, 1985, following the death of Ms. Benson. Albert Gleason, a federal explosives expert, testifies about the pipe-bomb Steven Benson used to kill his family members on July 9, 1985, in front of their Naples, Fla., home. Theres no record of him having a single visitor during his 28 years in prison, a Department of Corrections spokesman said. Benson was sentenced to life in prison. Her niece, Kendall, also has stayed out of the limelight. As for Carol Lynn, she too waited in Florida for the verdict. The first thing he said was, Well, Steve done it, you know that. He thought that right away, Sands, now 81, remembered today. And there was lots of squabbling over who got what. It all came back to him.. I knew it was no accident, said Young, now 75, of Naples. Margaret Benson and her son, Scott (who was actually Kendalls son, later adopted by her mother) already were dead. The 12 members of the jury listen to arguments in the Florida courtroom where they convicted Steven Benson in 1986 of blowing up his family in a Chevy Suburban in the driveway of their Naples, Fla., home on July 9, 1985. Beyond that, Young had little to say. Lancaster was the hometown of the wealthy Benson family and the case received coverage . Scott ran with a rough crowd, and was known to get rough with both Margaret and Carol Lynn. But what is apparently harder is that she has to face the death of Scott Benson, who died at the age of 21 without ever knowing that the woman he thought was his much older sister, by adoption, was in fact his own natural mother. After his first marriage also failed, Benson married a farm worker from his familys tobacco empire. Police later learned that Scott. In prison records, Benson listed the oldest of his three children, twins Victoria and Christopher, as his next of kin. Carol Lynn Kendall, sister of Steven Benson, survived the car bomb that killed her son, Scott Benson, and mother, Margaret Benson, on July 9, 1985. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall was a former Miss Florida runner-up and was survived in a murder attempt by her brother Steven Wayne Benson in 1985. The killings, prosecutors said, were sparked by one motive. Hitchcocks daughter, Margaret, it turned out, was not really the mother of Scott Benson. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, Appellant/Petitioner, v. Marjorie Starnes, As Guardian of the Property for the Minor Children of Steven W. Benson, and Steven W. Benson, Appellees/Respondents. She thought he had been embezzling family funds and had called her attorney to check into it. ", After almost four hours of final argument, and another hour of his carefully read instructions, Judge Hayes gave the case to the jury at 2:06 yesterday afternoon. In July 1985, Margaret, 63, her 41-year-old daughter, Carolyn Benson Kendall, her 33-year-old son Steven Benson, and her 21-year-old adopted son, Scott Benson, all got into a vehicle to go check out a plot of land in the city, where Margaret was planning to build another home for the family. Not just Steven, but the whole family was just ugly. She, not being blinded by the forces of sexuality, very quickly perceived the true character of Tracy Mullins and was very much opposed to my seeing her. He never looked at anybody, says Murphy, who sat right behind Benson during the trial. It was like . Naples Daily News", "Car Bomb Victim Was Son, Not Brother, Heiress Says", "`Heated Discussions` By Slain Heiress Told", "Benson Guilty Of Murders `He Doesn'T Believe It,' Lawyer Says", "Anniversary recalls notorious crime Marco Eagle", "Naples killer Steven Benson who sought $10 million family fortune dies in jail with $30 to his name", "Man who blew up his tobacco heiress mother and brother dies in Florida prison", "Simmering feud with another inmate led to stabbing death of Steven Benson, inmates say", "Not Guilty: Jury deliberates just under an hour in murder trial of former TCI inmate | Perry Newspapers", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Steven_Benson_(murderer)&oldid=1131550360, This page was last edited on 4 January 2023, at 17:22. Joyce Quinn, Margaret Benson's quiet and polite young secretary who'd lasted but three months in the job before realizing there had to be saner employment, testified that Margaret "paid for everything for Scott" -- his cars (among them two Lotuses, a sports car that costs $45,000 to $50,000) his van, his Cigarette speedboat, his apartment and furniture, repairs, his tennis lessons, his clothes and his gas credit cards. (AP Photo). Theyre all dead.. The star of the show by far was Carol Lynn Benson Kendall. It wasnt very long at all. Movies. Florida authorities have charged Steven Benson, Mrs. Kendalls 34-year-old natural brother, with setting the blast outside the familys Naples, Fla., home because he believed he was about to be cut out of his mothers will. I couldnt get through to him spiritually., Im no psychologist, Sands adds, but he lives in denial. ", Should the court decide that the 3-year-old in question is indeed the daughter of the late Scott Benson, the child could inherit either (depending on what happens to the man who might be her Uncle Steven) one-third or one-half of Margaret Benson's $10 million estate, and establish her as a legitimate claimant to the estate of the 89-year-old Harry Hitchcock, who is said to be worth as much as $400 million. Amos Sands of West Donegal Township remembers the day 20 years ago today as well. He told the attorneys he did not want them standing up and shouting, "I object." At the trial, the man with whom he'd spent that evening testified that Steven had not set up the meeting until 6:30 that same night. Another daily attendee was a lawyer representing the trust funds left by Harry Hitchcock's late wife. * The prosecution's key evidence, along with the testimony of Steven's sister, were palm prints on sales receipts for pipe identical to that used in the bombs, as well as end caps. Margaret Benson adopted her grandson as her son, to cover up the fact that her daughter, a former beauty queen, became pregnant with a water skier from Cypress Gardens, said Cirace, now 64. The motive was money. The blast blew apart the Benson familys Chevrolet Suburban sometime between 9:17 and 9:20 a.m. on July 9, 1985, in the driveway of Margaret Bensons home, just off a golf course in an exclusive Naples, Fla., community. Young had several reasons to suspect Benson. He spent a lot of money and never did anything with it. An autopsy report obtained by the Naples Daily News indicates the cause of death was a stab to the right temple. Apparently, the idea was to cut down on speeches to the jury, and to speed things along. Justice is justice," he said. The police were called and he was held for five days. (AP Photo) (Photo: Anonymous). [citation needed], Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege, and Justice, "Killer Succession" (Season 1, Episode 3), "Inmate Population Information Detail - Steven Benson", "In the Know: Is that Benson guy still in prison? Dwight Brock was an assistant state attorney in Florida, specializing in white collar crime, when Steven Benson was arrested. To Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, this question is, in a sense, peripheral. The Chevrolet Suburban was blown all to bits and pieces, with a body lying out on each side.. And trying to come to grips with the loss of her mother, with whom she had been close, at least from time to time, has been hard. She said, I want to know where all the money went. She wanted to see the books. Indeed, Margaret Benson did change her will, but in a terribly ironic touch, the only change was to cut out Wayne Kerr as executor. Within this circle, there was lots of money. To my knowledge, Scott never confronted his mother with the question. 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