Through taxes, disbursements and attorneys fees, the estate has dwindled from $10 million to about $1.2 million, said Carl Westman, the estates attorney. and never miss an insightful take by the TFIGlobal team, This website uses cookies. 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. The first thing he said was, Well, Steve done it, you know that. He thought that right away, Sands, now 81, remembered today. If Steven Benson caused problems, then Scott caused traumas. Justice is justice," he said. I think it was just pure greed for money, Murphy said. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Oh no, she thought. After her testimony, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall was nowhere to be seen. Im 91 now, Sands said when reached by phone Friday. He thought he was better than everybody else.. Harold Young, the lead Collier County sheriff's detective who pegged Benson as his primary suspect the day of the killings, said he is more surprised by the length of the investigation than the way Benson died. He got down from his ladder, and walked toward the tennis courts, where he found Steven holding what appeared to be a remote control device. Under the law, jurors are not supposed to take this into consideration. 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. 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: . 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. Bensons aunt, Murphy, recalls him as being different as well. 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. Margaret Benson Benson wanted to kill his mother and siblings so he could be sole heir to the familys $10 million estate, police believed. His face got really red. The judge made the sentences consecutive, in accordance with Bensons sisters wishes. Release Calendar Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. In a rare moment of emotion during his trial, Steven Benson cries in the Florida courtroom where a jury convicted him in 1986 of blowing up his family in a Chevy Suburban in the driveway of their Naples, Fla., home on July 9, 1985. Before the day was over, according to newspaper accounts, Steven had asked for and received a loan of $20,000 from his grandfather. Benson told his family members where to sit in the Suburban. Its like the story that keeps on giving. The jury was left with one noticeable absence from the list of witnesses. ", As for the positioning of the vehicle's occupants, "I thought it was awfully strange that Scott was driving. That she is now horribly scarred is obvious; large red subdermal slashes streak her face. . [citation needed] The case was featured in Great Crimes and Trials and Infamous Murders. Steven Benson blew up his family in the driveway of their Florida home in July 1985. But there were other debits. Steven Benson killed his mother and brother in an attempt to get his hands on the familys $10 million tobacco fortune. Bensons wife never attended the trial. ", Carol Lynn told investigators, in a statement taken after she was released from the hospital where she had been treated for severe burns and had begun the long process of reconstructive surgery, that while her mother was scared of Scott, Margaret Benson felt that Steven was the only one who would actually harm her for her money: "She wouldn't put it past Steven to do away with her. 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. Carol Lynn Kendall testifies during the trial of her brother, Steven Benson, during his 1986 trial. Here, prosecuting attorney Jerry Brock addresses members of the media outside the Florida courtroom where the case took place. The Wait. Naples Daily News 0:00 1:22 Steven Benson is led into the Collier County jail complex on the day of his arrest in 1985. In prison records, Benson listed the oldest of his three children, twins Victoria and Christopher, as his next of kin. 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. 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. FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) _ The estate of murdered tobacco heiress Margaret Benson should be shared equally by the children of the son who killed her and by her daughter, a judge has ruled. Copyright 2023 The Washington Times, LLC He was always doing things but never getting anything accomplished, Sands recalls. Related story: Naples pipe bomb killer Steven Benson dies in prison. Thats the whole thing: self, self, self and me, me, me and me. He and his wife had two children, Margaret and Janet, and when Margaret married she chose a quiet accountant from Baltimore named Edward Benson, with whom she had two children, Carol Lynn and Steven. 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. Reached Friday about her brothers death, she said, I really have no comment.. [6][7] Over the course of his sentence, Benson was transferred to various prisons because of constant threats and abuse from other inmates. (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. Inmates told investigators that Washington planned to extort $1,000 from Benson within days after arriving at Taylor Correctional Institution. Steven was paid $244,974.39 so he could pay his legal fees. If they had objections they were to say, quietly, "May we approach the bench?" Collier Judge Hugh Hayes presided over the trial. ", Once all was set, she testified, Steven handed Scott the keys, and then said he had forgotten something and headed back toward the house. I have a strong feeling Steven Benson also knew, Cirace said. Carol Lynn Kendall unsuccessfully ran for a Naples City Council seat while living in Port . They were obliterated when a pipe bomb the size of a football planted between the two front seats exploded. 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 . 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. There was a local uproar over the thought that the public would be paying his bills, and in mid-January the judge reversed himself. Benson died earlier this month in a Florida prison, where he was serving two life sentences for the crimes. 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. He is also charged with the attempted murder of his sister, Carol Lynn. You could see a hateful heart in Steven then. Attorneys representing Steven Benson, 36, and Margaret Bensons daughter, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, 43, said they both probably will appeal Mondays ruling. Bennett heard Kendall, who was disfigured in the bombing, testify that after the first blast blew her out of the car, she was still conscious, and she yelled to her brother to help her. '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.'. Only Carol Lynn Benson survived in this tragic blast. He was 63, the same age his mother was when he killed her. Benson said he first went to get coffee and doughnuts at a nearby store. I saw you on TV. 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. 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. Privacy Policy Agreement * I agree to the Terms of use and Privacy Policy. 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. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall came in to see her brother's jury be excused for the night. Debunking the Myth: Is Maduro a Dictator? The jury convicted him of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and arson of a dwelling in the killing of his mother and nephew and injuring of his sister with car-bomb in front of their Naples, Fla., home. And Steven usually drove when we were together. 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. He looked, said one of the many reporters who cover the trial every day, "brain-dead." Maybe it was the money, the power and the greed, they say. He said that "initially" he thought it was just sloppy bookkeeping. 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. The three children were to divide the estate equally. 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. [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? 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 just stood there. Attorneys, an investigator and a juror have never forgotten what Steven Benson did, and how it affected their lives in the years since he was convicted of killing his family in Naples, Florida. Office: 954-789-0834. He was born in 1951 in Baltimore. Prosecutors said it showed that while Carol Lynn owed her mother $118,560.33, Steven's IOU was $268,163.89. To Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, this question is, in a sense, peripheral. . There had been general rumors (about the boys parentage) going around Lancaster, where the family was brought up, Cirace said. 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. (One witness, Scott's psychiatrist, testified that the young man had a serious nitrous oxide habit, which had started when he'd go to the supermarket and sniff Reddi-Whip cans. Just follow the money, and you could see what he was doing.. 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. Eventually the second will was ruled valid, but before that happened, Steve Benson was arrested. 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