Also in the car were her two children, 21-year-old Scott, who died, and 41-year-old Carol Lynn, who was badly injured but survived. Under Florida law, Steven Benson is precluded from receiving proceeds of the estate of the person he murdered, Hayes said. Benson died earlier this month in a Florida prison, where he was serving two life sentences for the crimes. "Sharp force head trauma. 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. 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.. Margaret and Scott died instantly, and Caroline was rushed to the hospital with severe burns. 'It's hard for me to even put into words the devastation emotionally that this has caused me and my children,' Kendall told reporters at Logan International Airport after flying home from Florida. 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. 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. (Admitted to practice: 2002) Further, Kendall shall pay restitution of $1,075 to one client. I had never known anyone like this before. Bensons wife never attended the trial. Steven Benson and his wife, Debra, leave funeral services for his mother and brother, Margaret and Scott Benson, at St. James Episcopal Church in Lancaster in 1985. 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. 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. Some who knew him werent really surprised. Her daughter, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, was injured. . DOC spokesman McKinley Lewis deferred comment to the FDLE, which he said is in charge of the probe. Reached Friday about her brothers death, she said, I really have no comment.. On the morning of the explosion, the entire family agreed to inspect the land at Stevens suggestion. But showing little emotion after that. 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. and never miss an insightful take by the TFIGlobal team, This website uses cookies. Collier Circuit Judge Hugh D. Hayes issued the ruling Monday. It is said that she has taken their three children and returned to her small Wisconsin home town. 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. 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. 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. Murphys nephew, Steven Benson, was the only one to escape the fiery blast that day. It continued to prosper, and eventually both families had what some people call "real money," and what others disdain as "nouveau. "How long does it take to say a guy was stabbed in the temple?" Steven Benson was taken into police custody on August 22, 1985, after being accused of blowing up his family in a Chevy Suburban in the driveway of their Naples, Fla., home on July 9 of the same year. They had a heckuva fight out of it, he says. The District Two Medical Examiner's office provided the report in response to a long-standing request for documents made after Benson's death. 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. Tragically, Hitchcock turned out to be right about his grandson. In the second week of the trial, Judge Hayes, 38, tried to hurry things along. Kendall was retained by clients in two separate cases but failed to adequately represent them. My relationship with Tracy was always a very turbulent one. Benson wasnt much more popular in the penitentiary: At one point, he was stabbed by another prisoner and had to be transferred to a different facility for his own safety. 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. But in reality she had been alone with her thoughts -- the memory of that "malevolent orange thing," and her recollection of the day she took the stand and referred, for the first time in public, and in front of all those strangers, to the late Scott Benson as "my son.". Hed always been sort of strange, she says. 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. His deposition in that case reads like pulp fiction of old: "My mother (meaning Margaret Benson) who had 38 years of marriage to my father, a greatly respected man of the highest character both in business and his personal life, is herself a religious person of high integrity and moral values. Police officers also testified their investigation indicated Steven had acted out of character in several respects that morning, first by insisting that Scott be awakened and included in the group, and then by having Scott drive. To him, sadly, its not a shocker, the terrible things people do to each other, the terrible things they do for money. A month later, the Naples police arrested Steven Benson and charged him with two counts of homicide and one count of attempted murder. McDonnell closed with a string of witnesses, most of them prisoners, who testified as to Scott Benson's less than sterling character, arguing that this indicated Scott had been the target, and that Margaret and Carol Lynn were unlucky enough to be along for the ride. Steven Wayne Benson was an American double murderer of his mother, tobacco heiress Margaret Benson, and his brother, tennis player Scott Benson. By the time the closing statements were presented, the evidence was clear, Bennett said. 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. Photo Gallery. That she is now horribly scarred is obvious; large red subdermal slashes streak her face. Support local journalism. (Photo: File), Cameraman Al Durruthy records video footage of a Chevrolet Suburban outside the home of Mary Quinn, Wednesday afternoon (June 4), in the Quail Creek Estates in North Naples. Quinn, left-center, was watching the production with friend Kathleen Garvey, left, and daughter Debbie Quinn, right, as the crew worked on a production for Court TV about the 1985 murders of tobacco heiress Margaret Benson and her son Scott. It was very weird. 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. Many members of the family have disappeared from public view in the past 20 years. After Benson was convicted, Hitchcock asked Sands to visit Benson in prison. He returned and got everyone into the Suburban and then went back into the house to retrieve a tape measure. He had retained Naples attorney Michael McDonnell. '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.'. 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. File photo. https://insideeko.com/carol-lynn-benson-kendall-obituary-d/ insideeko.com For his work, the man who once stood to gain millions received no compensation, prison officials said. Attorney (s) appearing for the Case I heard a lot of cursing and swearing.. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. Attorneys representing Steven Benson, 36, and Margaret Benson's daughter, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, 43, said they both probably will appeal Monday's ruling. And there was lots of squabbling over who got what. ), After a brief rebuttal by the prosecution, Judge Hayes let the jury go. Benson was sentenced to life in prison. How people were crooked. 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. A jury convicted Steven Benson of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and arson of a dwelling. The attorney said, I want you to meet Steven Benson, she recalled. The case still resonates three decades later. Collier Judge Hugh Hayes presided over the trial. Most recently, he was assigned as a houseman, performing maintenance and cleaning duties. He was born in 1951 in Baltimore. He wanted his own way and he was going to get it one way or another, he says. . 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. I dont think he believed he belonged in there.. Investigators also found on Bensons pants a single particle of zinc, which they said fell off the pipe while he was making the bombs. Success! 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. Steven said he was sorry but that he already had a business meeting. 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. Under the law, jurors are not supposed to take this into consideration. The matricide was a huge point, she said. ", When they got back to Naples, Margaret told Steven she wanted to meet with him and Kerr that evening and "talk business." Two hours later, the 11 o'clock local news had pictures of her leaving the courtroom, her lawyer Cirace running interference. Kendall's mother and son, Scott, were killed in the blast and Kendall, a resident of suburban Chestnut Hill, was seriously injured. He said Mrs. Kendall, who was recovering from severe burns at her home in the Chestnut Hill section of Boston, recently told her teen-age sons about Scotts parentage, but never told Scott. Dwight Brock was an assistant state attorney in Florida, specializing in white collar crime, when Steven Benson was arrested. She is shown here in a . That she was once a beauty contest winner is easy to see. Reached Friday about her brother's death, she. She was afraid her brother would come after her and her children if he ever got free. Required fields are marked *. 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: . [12], Dominick Dunne's investigative crime show Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege, and Justice devoted an hour for the case of Steven Benson. Benson has had his share of problems behind bars. (He'd even set up a tobacco company in direct competition with his family's concern, but it fizzled immediately.). Im 91 now, Sands said when reached by phone Friday. He got stabbed, and a knife was found in his own cell. I remember when my sister had him here was this baby and then he ends up killing her. As for Carol Lynn, she too waited in Florida for the verdict. Is Carol Lynn Benson Kendall still alive? He didnt say anything after prison. The next day, Wayne Kerr, at whose wedding Steven Benson had been the best man, took the stand. Please enable JavaScript to properly view our site. Margaret Benson 10-Year Discipline History: . After his first marriage also failed, Benson married a farm worker from his familys tobacco empire. 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