[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. At the urging of Hitchcock, Sands tried to talk to Benson about religion, about accepting Jesus as his savior, but Benson did not want to talk about that. By the time the closing statements were presented, the evidence was clear, Bennett said. But that same day, local attorney Guion DeLoach showed up with a second and more recent will, one that Margaret Benson had him draw up and that she signed Jan. 29, 1985. That she is now horribly scarred is obvious; large red subdermal slashes streak her face. I did most of the talking.. Hed claimed he had no money to pay his attorneys, so he claimed indigency -- and Judge Hayes approved the claim. And Steven usually drove when we were together. Benson never bothering to wash his mothers blood spatters from the side of his white van, which he had parked near the blown-apart Suburban, and which he was still driving on the day police showed up to arrest him for the killings, a month and a half later. Simpson trial before the O.J. Scott tried to start the vehicle, she testified, "and immediately after that I was surrounded by this orange thing.". 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. It was full of surprises. 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. Benson, who was serving two consecutive life sentences, had last been housed at the Taylor Correctional Institution, a prison about an hour southeast of Tallahassee. Once, Benson wanted his mother to loan him the down payment for a factory building in Lancaster. After his first marriage also failed, Benson married a farm worker from his familys tobacco empire. Carol Lynn testified that she thought Scott's being there was a "silly request. It was obvious he was spending his mothers money on himself and his family, Brock said. As the lead investigator in the Collier County Sheriffs Department, Harold Young was one of the first people to answer the call about a bombing at Margaret Bensons home in a gated golf course community on the morning of July 9, 1985. Benson died earlier this month in a Florida prison, where he was serving two life sentences for the crimes. He became known for writing grievances against both inmates and correctional officers, complaining about anything from the amount of sales tax charged at commissary to the Spanish programs playing in the television room. Benson told his family members where to sit in the Suburban. Bennett heard about the money battles that were going in within the family, how Margaret Benson used money to control her children, how they fought among themselves and with her to gain access to the fortune, how Margaret Benson asked a secretary to inform and spy on Steven. He was tall and thin and looked intellectual. That trip, which should have taken about 10 minutes, took more than an hour, according to Carol Lynn's testimony, and 20 to 30 minutes according to Steven's statements to investigators. He was a strange fellow, says Sands, who worked as a landscaper for Bensons late grandfather, Hitchcock. Not long after, Harry Hitchcock wrote to the judge, opposing his nephew's release: "Anyone capable of murdering his mother for money is capable of murdering his grandfather for the same reason. Hes had no contact at all.. Support local journalism. . 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." Margaret's son, Steven Benson, was convicted of placing two pipe bombs inside the family's Suburban, which killed his mother and brother, and seriously injured his sister, Carol Benson Kendall. And he put a lot of planning in it but never covered his tracks at all., Tom Schelling, whom the Benson family had on the payroll to do maintenance and construction around their many estates, said he has known Steven Benson since high school. Shocked by the attack, she says that since then, her siblings have been completely uninterested in her physical and emotional well-being. When he returned, they said, he prepared to join his family to look at a piece of land his mother had bought. A maid testified that he was "the apple of his mother's eye." Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, 2719 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 164, Hollywood, disbarred effective immediately, following a September 22 court order. In July 1985, 63-year-old Margaret and her 41-year-old daughter Caroline Benson Kendall, 33-year-old son Steven Benson and 21-year-old adopted son Scott Benson together Get in the car and leave to see a piece of land in the city, where Margaret plans to build another home for her family. She wanted an accounting and, if it had to be, a confrontation with Steven. Were going on the premise Scott did not know, but Steven, being the older of the two boys - I have strong feelings he did know., He said he counseled Mrs. Kendall to tell the truth about Scotts birth and answer any and all questions they ask, no matter how private or embarrassing.. Also Read : . An email has been sent with a link to confirm list signup. It was like . Even though her grandfather and her aunt opposed Steven's release on bail, she apparently still fights the conclusion that Steven did it. I knew she was scared of Scott, but that was a different situation. Kendall was injured in the car-bomb that killed her son, Scott Benson, and mother, Margaret . "I couldn't understand why he wasn't coming over to help me," she testified to a packed but dead silent courtroom. . Steven was paid $244,974.39 so he could pay his legal fees. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, 2719 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 164, Hollywood, disbarred effective immediately, following a Sept. 22 court order. Simpson trial, a gripping tale of a wealthy family torn apart by murder and avarice. Benson has had his share of problems behind bars. He was my main suspicion before I got out of the house with him.. ", When they got back to Naples, Margaret told Steven she wanted to meet with him and Kerr that evening and "talk business." 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. Police later learned that Scott. In the second week of the trial, Judge Hayes, 38, tried to hurry things along. That she was once a beauty contest winner is easy to see. PHOTOS: Looking back at the Benson murder trial, The Bensons: Lancaster family ripped apart by greed and murder 30 years ago, Danger and loneliness: Steven Benson's life in prison after he killed his family members, Notorious Lancaster County killer Steven Benson allegedly murdered in prison inmate's revenge scheme. You can add or change photos at IMDb Pro. When Benson refused to pay, Washington and another man, identified as Marvin Taylor, ambushed and shanked Benson. Required fields are marked *. I guess people just exhibited good taste, he said. Scott ran with a rough crowd, and was known to get rough with both Margaret and Carol Lynn. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall Death, Obituary pending- Carol Lynn Benson Kendall has reportedly passed away unexpectedly and suddenly. Carol Lynn Kendall testifies during the trial of her brother, Steven Benson, during his 1986 trial. Eyebrows were raised in the affluent Benson neighborhood, but Margaret prevailed and she raised the boy as her son. When the police questioned him about the trip, he said he was delayed when he ran into some people he knew; but Steven was unable to provide the police with their names. 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. I can see what money can do when people get so tied up in self, he says. . https://insideeko.com/carol-lynn-benson-kendall-obituary-d/ insideeko.com Success! Hitchcocks daughter, Margaret, it turned out, was not really the mother of Scott Benson. After the shaking incident, Margaret had her secretary compile a list of everything she'd bought for Scott in the last two years. ", As for the positioning of the vehicle's occupants, "I thought it was awfully strange that Scott was driving. [12], Dominick Dunne's investigative crime show Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege, and Justice devoted an hour for the case of Steven Benson. Here, prosecuting attorney Jerry Brock addresses members of the media outside the Florida courtroom where the case took place. Murphys nephew, Steven Benson, was the only one to escape the fiery blast that day. She also said that Steven was gone so long for coffee that she kidded he "could have gone all the way to Fort Myers. Benson was 33, just five years younger than Bennett at the time. Macron wont let go off Africa so easily, he is love sick, Canadas Debt Crisis: A Never-Ending Burden Passed On From Generation to Generation, Alcohol tax in Canada: Canadian government is taking a sip out of your beer. He wanted his own way and he was going to get it one way or another, he says. Steven Wayne Benson[1] (July 26, 1951 July 3, 2015) was an American convicted double murderer of his mother, tobacco heiress Margaret Benson; and his brother (actually his nephew but later adopted), tennis player Scott Benson. Thats how Margaret died. I never saw him cry as much as he did with the Challenger. Its still fresh in my memory, he said. Despite claims by the defense that Scott was heavily involved in drug use and possibly even drug dealing (and that the bombing was therefore drug-related) there was little testimony that Scott was anything more than a regular user of nitrous oxide and an occasional user of marijuana and cocaine. . In July 1985, 63-year-old Margaret, her 41-year-old daughter Caroline Benson Kendall, her 33-year-old son Stephen Benson, and her 21-year-old adopted son Scott Benson got into the car to drive away to check a piece of land in the city where Margaret planned to build another house for the family. People are interested in that, and the way it was done every day, people dont blow up their mother and brother and sister in a prominent part of Naples., Young described Benson as calm, calculated, coldblooded., He thought he could get away with it, Young said. Steven Benson is serving two life sentences at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, Fla. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. [13] Lets go with disastrous hate. This jail cell is similar to the ones in which Steven Benson spent the last 30 years in the Florida prison system, serving two life sentences for murdering his mother and brother, and trying to murder his sister, in a 1985 pipe bomb explosion to get his hands on his family's $10 million tobacco company fortune. There was a local uproar over the thought that the public would be paying his bills, and in mid-January the judge reversed himself. He was talking to one of his associates - the phrase How much did we take in yesterday? sticks in my head. 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. On Aug. 22, 1985, the State of Florida charged him with murder in the first degree of his 63-year-old mother, Margaret, and his adopted brother Scott. Collier County's most notorious killer himself met with a violent end. He had cautioned his new employes, according to testimony, not to let anyone in the offices of the Naples-based companies know the name of the company or what they did. Some who knew him werent really surprised. Kendall was injured in the car-bomb that killed her son, Scott Benson, and mother, Margaret Benson, on July 9, 1985, in front of their Naples, Fla., home. Maybe it was the money, the power and the greed, they say. The Chevrolet Suburban was blown all to bits and pieces, with a body lying out on each side.. (AP Photo) (Photo: Anonymous). . BOSTON -- Tobacco heiress Carol Lynn Benson Kendall said Wednesday she has no intention of cutting her brother's children out of the family fortune despite his conviction of murdering her mother and son. Tragically, Hitchcock turned out to be right about his grandson. Those involved with the case say they are surprised at how it still resonates in peoples minds, and their own lives. Cirace said Scott was born in 1965 in a Baltimore hospital and later adopted by Mrs. Kendalls mother, Margaret Benson of Pennsylvania, heiress to the Lancaster Leaf Tobacco Co. fortune. Carol Lynn testified that he arrived unusually early and insisted on taking the Chevy Suburban, rather than his own car, and first going by himself for coffee and doughnuts. After her testimony, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall was nowhere to be seen. 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.. Investigators also found on Bensons pants a single particle of zinc, which they said fell off the pipe while he was making the bombs. "Malevolent" is what the prosecutors for the state call 35-year-old Steven Benson. Apparently, the idea was to cut down on speeches to the jury, and to speed things along. David Ahntholz/Staff (Photo: David Ahntholz .da-), Ajuror compares a police artist's sketch of the man who bought pipe at Hughes Supply to a mug shot of Steven Benson. Reached Friday about her brother's death, she. And there was lots of squabbling over who got what. Moments later there was a loud explosion. He had very few visitors. Steven Benson turned gray behind bars and died, to little fanfare. I felt like I was being pressed back into the seat. On July 11, two days after Margaret and Scott Benson were killed, Wayne Kerr, the lawyer from Philadelphia, filed a 1983 will that named him executor of the estate. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall Obituary - Death, Cause Of Death, Funeral: Friends and others affected mourn the death of Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, has suddenly passed away.click to read and leave tributes. 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. '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.'. 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. She said she will never forget that moment. An aerial shot of the home is shown in the background. The jury deliberated just 12 hours before finding Benson guilty. 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