is carol lynn benson kendall still alive

An autopsy report obtained by the Naples Daily News indicates the cause of death was a stab to the right temple. Steven Bensons late father didnt think he was capable of doing anything, Cirace said, an assessment that apparently was correct as Benson, who grew up and lived in Lancaster most of his life, left behind a series of failed business ventures. Steven said he was sorry but that he already had a business meeting. Benson was arrested and ultimately convicted of planting two pipe bombs in the family's SUV, then coaxing everyone into the vehicle before blowing it up. I must think of a better word. When Benson refused to pay, Washington and another man, identified as Marvin Taylor, ambushed and shanked Benson. 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. At this time, I was not convinced he could really murder his mother and his adopted brother and sister, said the Fort Myers resident, now 68. Many members of the family have disappeared from public view in the past 20 years. 3600 New York Avenue NE, Washington, DC 20002, Biden migrant surge sets all-time record for most arrests at southern border, With its social media biz under siege, Facebook looks to build a new metaverse empire, Youngkin goes solo, McAuliffe leans on surrogates in home stretch of Va. governors race. Hitchcocks daughter, Margaret, it turned out, was not really the mother of Scott Benson. He had retained Naples attorney Michael McDonnell. Final arguments took place yesterday and the jury began its deliberations, 13 months after the killings of Margaret and Scott Benson. Murphys nephew, Steven Benson, was the only one to escape the fiery blast that day. His grandson never acknowledged him again, not even when he came to Florida for the trial. If he receives the recommended sentence, he would not be eligible for parole for 25 years, officials said. Benson, they learned, had been pressuring his mother for money. How people were crooked. Moments later, a second bomb, this one planted in the rear of the vehicle, exploded. She hardly looked at her brother, but when she testified about Scott Benson, she called him "my son. Electronics. Eyebrows were raised in the affluent Benson neighborhood, but Margaret prevailed and she raised the boy as her son. Prosecutors argued that Margaret Benson was apparently beginning to face the growing evidence that Steven was spending beyond the limits of her frequent loans and the $3,000 a month she paid him as a "consultant" to the Meridian businesses. Required fields are marked *. The jury deliberated just 12 hours before finding Benson guilty. He said that "initially" he thought it was just sloppy bookkeeping. He seldom looked at Steven.The defendant watched his grandfather enter the courtroom, but after that he never looked at him. 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. Support local journalism. He was talking to one of his associates - the phrase How much did we take in yesterday? sticks in my head. 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. Also on the public record is a 3-year-old paternity suit filed by Scott's former live-in girl. Im hot! from the burning car. Dad was very religious, she said. 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. Amos Sands of West Donegal Township remembers the day 20 years ago today as well. Benson's own sister, Carol Lynn Kendall, then 40, who survived the blast but was severely burned, wanting to make sure her brother was sentenced to life in prison for the killings. To that end, he held court one day from 8:30 in the morning, his usual opening time, to 10 that night. To him, sadly, its not a shocker, the terrible things people do to each other, the terrible things they do for money. There was none. By the time Sands met Benson, the young man had graduated from college and was trying to find his way in the world, without much success. 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. Her father, she says, was broken up by the entire affair. They had so much, and the family dynamic was about as whacked out as you could ask for.. The only survivor of the blast, Steven Benson's sister, Carol Lynn. Carl Westman, a Naples attorney named to represent Margaret Benson's estate, usually sat with Cirace. Under Florida law, Steven Benson is precluded from receiving proceeds of the estate of the person he murdered, Hayes said. He was the last person to drive the SUV. That she was once a beauty contest winner is easy to see. It r . Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. She suffered first-degree burns on her face and hands in the explosion and is still undergoing extensive reconstructive surgery. The Trustees set up a trust for Kendall, a trust for Stephen, and a share for Scott. I hope he does, she said. 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.. 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. I mean, I was scared of Scott . 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. We learned about the passing of Carol Lynn Benson Kendall on May 23, 2022. Benson died earlier this month in a Florida prison, where he was serving two life sentences for the crimes. (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 just kept a straight face.. Benson tried and failed at a succession of businesses. He was just not your usual teenager. It seemed like a dumb thing." Theyre all dead.. . He had very few visitors. Then you had Scott as an aspiring tennis player, but ordering nitrous oxide to be delivered to the house like some people get milk, he said, so he could carry on with his girlfriend, who was a stripper.. Then the jurors filed out and the door closed behind them once again. Investigators said Steven Benson had embezzled up to $2 million from his mother and had recently learned he may be cut out of her will. The District Two Medical Examiner's office provided the report in response to a long-standing request for documents made after Benson's death. That's a negative as far as the jury is concerned. 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. She had retained Boston attorney E. Richard Cirace to advise her and represent her interests. I walk into a restaurant and people say, Didnt you do the Benson case? McDonnell did not call Steven Benson in his own defense. McDonnell argued that palm print identification is not reliable. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall. I still get recognized, said Michael McDonnell, Bensons defense attorney, who at 74 still practices in Naples and Fort Myers. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. Steven Benson blew up his family in the driveway of their Florida home in July 1985. A jury convicted Steven Benson of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and arson of a dwelling. Janet Murphy, Steven Bensons maternal aunt, said no one in the family ever patched things up with him, and he has never as much as admitted to the crime. 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. That will had no mention of Wayne Kerr; it named the three children as coadministrators, and it left her money to the three of them equally. It just never stopped, Cirace said. It was just a tragic story. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. Im 91 now, Sands said when reached by phone Friday. I think it was the dumbest murder I ever solved that had been planned. Twelve and a half hours later, almost to the minute, Harry Hitchcock's granddaughter made an equally dramatic, if brief, appearance in the courtroom. The Wait. And she also contradicted the wake testimony regarding bombs. Florida authorities have charged Steven Benson, Mrs. Kendall's 34-year-old natural brother, with setting the blast outside . Steven Benson is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 2, and prosecutors have asked for a life sentence. '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.'. Shes never tried to contact Benson, who has never spoken publicly about the murders. And if Steven Benson walks out of the courtroom a free man, he will still be in line for a third or even a half of his mother's $10 million estate. A jury convicted him of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and arson of a dwelling in 1986, and he spent the rest of his life in jail. The first thing he said was, Well, Steve done it, you know that. He thought that right away, Sands, now 81, remembered today. They had a heckuva fight out of it, he says. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Bensons own sister, Carol Lynn Kendall, then 40, who survived the blast but was severely burned, wanting to make sure her brother was sentenced to life in prison for the killings. His face got really red. In the second half of 2015, there were close to 200 inmate deaths in Florida's prisons. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. You know, he wouldnt say yes or no or nothing. I remember when my sister had him here was this baby and then he ends up killing her. He knew how to make tube bombs and fiddled with explosives. 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. And finally, there was the issue of Steven's apparent history of playing with explosives. I guess people just exhibited good taste, he said. Through taxes, disbursements and attorneys fees, the estate has dwindled from $10 million to about $1.2 million, said Carl Westman, the estates attorney. Attorney (s) appearing for the Case I know it happened to me and my family, she says, but it seems so surreal.. It was very weird. "I couldn't understand why he wasn't coming over to help me," she testified to a packed but dead silent courtroom. Menu. But that changed over the next three weeks, as witness after witness took the stand. Those involved with the case say they are surprised at how it still resonates in peoples minds, and their own lives. The explosion was so loud that golfers ran off the course to see what had happened. The case still resonates three decades later. He was calm as a cucumber, he said. 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. Also Read:Mariannette Miller-Meeks : Role during Iowa elections. Benson, he recalled, had a reputation as a wimp., He didnt fit in, Schelling said. ), After a brief rebuttal by the prosecution, Judge Hayes let the jury go. How it wasnt run correctly. Margaret and Scott died instantly, and Caroline was rushed to the hospital with severe burns. He said, Thats how Margaret died. A lot. The bombing took place July 9, 1985 in the Quail Creek community. [8], Benson died at Taylor Correctional Institution in Perry, Florida of a stab wound to the right side of the head with a homemade knife on July 3, 2015. Margaret Benson Young, the investigator, said hes seen more horrendous cases than the Benson case, ones where people killed their children by drowning them in their mothers blood. , as witness after witness took the stand Steven Benson, who has never spoken publicly about murders., Steve done it, you know that report in response to a long-standing for... Sands said when reached by phone Friday much, and their own lives is concerned neighborhood! Had been planned said was, well, Steve done it, he recalled, had been pressuring his for... Its deliberations, 13 months after the killings of Margaret and Scott Benson, says! Hitchcocks daughter, Margaret, it turned out, was the dumbest murder i ever solved that been. Public record is a 3-year-old paternity suit filed by Scott 's former live-in girl Scott Benson on. 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