In August 1986, Margaret Bensons son, Steven Wayne Benson, was convicted in the slaying of his mother and her adopted son, Scott R. Benson, 21. After Benson was convicted, Hitchcock asked Sands to visit Benson in prison. and never miss an insightful take by the TFIGlobal team, This website uses cookies. Under the law, jurors are not supposed to take this into consideration. Beyond that, Young had little to say. He worked in the laundry. The thing that stuck out in my mind was, wow, how easy this is to see what the money did. Not long after his mother moved to Naples, so did Steven Benson, a self-described "executive" who had been in and out of the family business with embarrassing quickness and a notable lack of success. He said he had a judicial conference he wanted very much to attend, so he had determined to finish the trial in three weeks. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. That seemed more important to him than his family lying all over the golf course.. 'And it's something that although I know I have to live with it, it's going to be the most difficult thing that I've ever had to do in my life.'. But there is no doubt that he had a rough crowd of friends -- the defense called several occupants of the Naples jail to testify about Scott and his various habits, in the hope that this possible alternative theory would raise a reasonable doubt as to whether Steven is guilty. The 63-year-old Pennsylvania tobacco heiress died when two pipe bombs ripped apart her car apart on July 9, 1985, in front of her North Naples home. Apparently, the idea was to cut down on speeches to the jury, and to speed things along. Debra divorced Steven shortly after his August 22, 1985, arrest. But she didn't know its size, and she didn't know that Steven had made the down payment with a blank check she had signed and left behind for household expenses while she was on a cruise. The killings, prosecutors said, were sparked by one motive. She sat in the front row, not directly behind Steven, but on the other side -- in one of the seats reserved for the prosecution. FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said the agency had no updated information as of Friday afternoon. Murphy does not know whether the couple, who had three children, later divorced. He wont admit any wrong hes ever done, including the murder., Benson seemed, he says, like a man who was in there, but didnt know why he was in there. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. BOSTON (AP) _ Tobacco heiress Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, who survived a car bombing that killed her mother and adopted brother, has said under oath that the dead young man was actually her son, her attorney said today. Attorneys representing Steven Benson, 36, and Margaret Benson's daughter, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, 43, said they both probably will appeal Monday's ruling. "Suddenly his eyes opened and his mouth dropped and he kind of ran towards the house.". The Motive behind the murder was the property of her mother and her heiress. Carol Lynn was in the back seat, and, as she testified 2 1/2 weeks ago to a packed courtroom here, "I was suddenly surrounded by this orange thing. Support local journalism. Our prayers and thoughts are with the family and loved ones of Carol. Carol Lynn Kendall, then 40, survived the explosion but was severely burned to make sure her brother was sentenced to life in prison for the murders. The bills were sent to and paid for by Margaret. It came to an average monthly payment of more than $10,000, or a grand total of "around a quarter of a million dollars.". [4] The three children were to divide the estate equally. A lot. Kendall was injured in the car-bomb that killed her son, Scott Benson, and mother, Margaret . Benson told Young that he and his family were going to look at piece of property where his mother wanted to build a home that morning. [3] On July 9, 1985, Benson placed a pipe bomb in the family car, in which Margaret, Scott, and Steven's sister, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall (a former Miss Florida runner-up), were waiting for Benson to join them when the Chevrolet Suburban exploded. The motive was money. But a witness for the defense, Steven's secretary, testifed Steven never left the office during the times when the pipe and end caps were purchased. The best defense witness was Brenda Turnbull, Steven's former secretary, who said flatly that he was in his office at the time both the pipes and the end caps were purchased. (A later witness, who worked for Meridian Marketing, said Steven never bothered to tell the employes when he had done this, "and we were always bouncing checks when we'd paid bills with money we thought we had in the bank. He parked it and positioned his family in it. I have a strong feeling Steven Benson also knew, Cirace said. The judge did another unusual thing. I know it happened to me and my family, she says, but it seems so surreal.. Debunking the Myth: Is Maduro a Dictator? (AP Photo) (Photo: Anonymous). Margaret Benson and her son, Scott (who was actually Kendalls son, later adopted by her mother) already were dead. After her testimony, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall was nowhere to be seen. The bombing took place July 9, 1985 in the Quail Creek community. Florida law allows cameras in the courtroom, and much of this trial was televised live. And he is an arbitrator within the family when things go wrong., Steven started to cry. Prosecutors argued that Steven had engineered the whole idea of the early-morning trip to view the huge -- 17,000-square-foot -- residence his mother was building nearby in the same exclusive subdivision. doesn't have anything to do with my mother anymore.". BOSTON (AP) _ Tobacco heiress Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, who survived a car bombing that killed her mother and adopted brother, has said under oath that the dead young man was actually her son, her attorney said today. By July 8, the day before the bombing, Margaret had learned of Steven's new house in Fort Myers, according to testimony. Click here to learn more about the role the Lancaster County Local Journalism Fund plays in Lancaster County and to make a tax-deductible donation. I still get recognized, said Michael McDonnell, Bensons defense attorney, who at 74 still practices in Naples and Fort Myers. I remember when my sister had him here was this baby and then he ends up killing her. In the second week of the trial, Judge Hayes, 38, tried to hurry things along. Something is wrong with Daddy. He just kept a straight face.. I had never known anyone like this before. Benson calmly talking on the phone about his burglar alarm companys profits when investigators arrived at the home where the shattered bodies of his mother, Margaret, 63, and his brother, Scott, 21, still lay outside on the driveway. But Murphy will never forget how the deaths affected her father. Your email address will not be published. ", 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. Benson crying on the first day of his trial. Steven Benson turned gray behind bars and died, to little fanfare. TV show Monday features Benson family murders, one of Naples' notorious crimes, Lighthouse Project - History: Murderers, moonshiners, swindlers lead rogues gallery of SW Florida crooks, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Behind bars, Benson has worked in the laundry and on a painting detail. BOSTON (AP) _ Tobacco heiress Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, who survived a car bombing that killed her mother and adopted brother, has said under oath that the dead young man was actually her son, her attorney said today. Dwight Brock was an assistant state attorney in Florida, specializing in white collar crime, when Steven Benson was arrested. A month later, the Naples police arrested Steven Benson and charged him with two counts of homicide and one count of attempted murder. It was obvious he was spending his mothers money on himself and his family, Brock said. Kendall, who now is the principal heir to her mother Margaret's $10 million fortune, denied reports she wastrying to cut the children of her brother, Steven Benson, out of any inheritance they might receive. That she was once a beauty contest winner is easy to see. * 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. Tracking money - that was my forte, said Dwight Brock, who is now 61 and works as the Collier County Clerk of Courts in Florida. LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) - Heres what has stuck with them for 30 years, since the day that Steven Benson blew up his family in a Chevy Suburban in the driveway of their Florida home, in a greedy attempt to inherit a $10 million Lancaster tobacco company fortune: . Scott Benson, who was originally thought to be Steven Benson's brother but was revealed during the trial to be his nephew, was killed at the age of 21 on July 9, 1985, in front of his Naples, Fla., home by the car bomb that also took the life of his grandmother, Margaret Benson, who was 63 at the time, and injured his mother, Carol Lynn Kendall. And so he appears very much alone. There were local TV stations every night that had local reporters critiquing what I was doing, McDonnell said. Other testimony revealed another regular expenditure. And what Benson was doing was spending the money, lots of it, for all kinds of things, including a house in Fort Myers and a car. He grabbed her and shook her, and told her that it might be her house but it was his dog, and if he but gave the command Buck would "rip you to pieces." ", When they got back to Naples, Margaret told Steven she wanted to meet with him and Kerr that evening and "talk business." Steven Benson denied all requests for media interviews. He spent a lot of money and never did anything with it. Its been decades since his trial attracted attention, though TV specials still pop up on cable channels from time to time. He just wouldnt respond to it, Sands says. Carol 's cause of death is unknown to us at this time. But that changed over the next three weeks, as witness after witness took the stand. It was a journey, and every day we learned something new and awful., E. Richard Cirace, a Boston attorney who advised Kendall during the trial, said the case was compelling due to its colorful cast of characters.. And to make a tax-deductible donation Benson and her heiress to hurry along!, 38, tried to hurry things along him here was this and. To little fanfare this baby and then he ends up killing her by.. `` Suddenly his eyes opened and his mouth dropped and he is an arbitrator within the and. 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