Last Known Contact Information. Steven Benson's palm print was one of the major points in the prosecution's case against him, a case that ultimately convinced a jury to convict 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. Hollywood's Carol Lynn Benson Kendall (University of Richmond School of Law, admitted to the Florida Bar 2002) got disbarred, the final step after her suspension in February and a. Young also remembers the day they arrested Benson: Aug. 22, 1985. By July 8, the day before the bombing, Margaret had learned of Steven's new house in Fort Myers, according to testimony. 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. 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. He was the last person to drive the SUV. When he went in, he was pudgy, even for 6 feet 2 inches tall, but by last month, the realities of prison fare had slimmed him down noticeably. Margaret and Scott died instantly, and Caroline was rushed to the hospital with severe burns. Bar Number: 555258. He seldom looked at Steven.The defendant watched his grandfather enter the courtroom, but after that he never looked at him. Benson told his family members where to sit in the Suburban. 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. They have never learned to live, really.. The first thing he said was, Well, Steve done it, you know that. He thought that right away, Sands, now 81, remembered today. Once these equal trusts were created, the children of the settlor would receive a net income over their lifetime and an amount equal to 2% of the capital, which would be determined at the time of the establishment of the individual trusts on a quarterly basis. 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. Murphys nephew, Steven Benson, was the only one to escape the fiery blast that day. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall Disbarred . It was full of surprises. He was always doing things but never getting anything accomplished, Sands recalls. and never miss an insightful take by the TFIGlobal team, This website uses cookies. 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. Mail Address: Law Offices of Carol Lynn B Kendall, Esq 2719 Hollywood Blvd Ste 164 Hollywood, FL 33020-4821. Steven Benson 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. [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 first, Murphy thought her niece, Carol Lynn Kendall, 40, also had died, but she found out that she was badly burned but had survived. The judge made the sentences consecutive, in accordance with Bensons sisters wishes. He was going to turn it into an apartment house. Police later learned that Scott. He had been driving it all that time, he said. Collier Judge Hugh Hayes presided over the trial. He was 63, the same age his mother was when he killed her. 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. You can add or change photos at IMDb Pro. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. His grandson never acknowledged him again, not even when he came to Florida for the trial. When the Challenger space shuttle exploded a year after the Florida murders, Hitchcock broke down, Murphy recalls. Reached Friday about her brother's death, she. When Benson refused to pay, Washington and another man, identified as Marvin Taylor, ambushed and shanked Benson. . Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, a former Naples City Council candidate, is now a lawyer in Broward County focusing on family law and real estate. The next day, Wayne Kerr, at whose wedding Steven Benson had been the best man, took the stand. On the morning of the explosion, the entire family agreed to inspect the land at Stevens suggestion. Movies. (Admitted to practice: 2002) Further, Kendall shall pay . Scott had canisters of nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, to which he was addicted, delivered to the house on a monthly basis, defense witnesses said. He just wouldnt respond to it, Sands says. He smiles with his attorneys on occasion when the jury is out, but the men he seems most comfortable with, the men he sometimes even kids with, are the huge-armed deputy sheriffs, his jailers. In July 1985, Margaret, 63, her 41-year-old daughter, Carolyn Benson Kendall, her 33-year-old son Steven Benson, and her 21-year-old adopted son, Scott Benson, all got into a vehicle to go check out a plot of land in the city, where Margaret was planning to build another home for the family. Prosecutors said it showed that while Carol Lynn owed her mother $118,560.33, Steven's IOU was $268,163.89. On Monday, the state produced a witness whose testimony left a strong impression on those spectators who had seen the trial from the beginning. 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. He knew how to make tube bombs and fiddled with explosives. The Herald also reported that it was common knowledge among certain of Steven's childhood friends that he liked to make bombs. Hitchcock died in 1990, five years after the Florida killings. One pulled Kendall, who was screaming, Im hot! 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. Murphys father, Harry Hitchcock, was fine. The bills were sent to and paid for by Margaret. Benson wanted to kill his mother and siblings so he could be sole heir to the familys $10 million estate, police believed. ", Once all was set, she testified, Steven handed Scott the keys, and then said he had forgotten something and headed back toward the house. And he is an arbitrator within the family when things go wrong., Steven started to cry. He just ignored it.. A golfer who had run to her aid lost a portion of his nose as parts of that second bomb and the Chevy Suburban were blasted through the air. Benson crying on the first day of his trial. Behind bars, Benson has worked in the laundry and on a painting detail. He said Steven was laughing. . Attorney (s) appearing for the Case 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. The 12 members of the jury listen to arguments in the Florida courtroom where they convicted Steven Benson in 1986 of blowing up his family in a Chevy Suburban in the driveway of their Naples, Fla., home on July 9, 1985. The jury was split on the death penalty, and so gave him life in prison. Its like the story that keeps on giving. 10-Year Discipline History: . 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. In 1983, a fight with Margaret over the behavior of his bouvier des Flanders guard dog -- she'd let it in the house and it had wet on the expensive white carpet -- turned violent. Sands said he was only allowed to speak with Steven Benson for a couple of minutes because he wasnt family. McDonnell argued that palm print identification is not reliable. They had a heckuva fight out of it, he says. Kerr, a large, disheveled man, testified that when he heard the blast from inside the Benson house (where he was staying overnight) he thought at first it was "one of the Lotuses blowing up again. And he complained. A lot. He just kept a straight face.. 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. I can see what money can do when people get so tied up in self, he says. 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. "I couldn't understand why he wasn't coming over to help me," she testified to a packed but dead silent courtroom. Required fields are marked *. The family and everybody just treated his grandmother as Scotts mother, the attorney said. In the Know: Is that Benson guy still in prison? For years, she had paid for the lessons and the coaches and the trips, not to mention his 16 tennis racquets. I mean, I was scared of Scott . He was stabbed in the neck in 1991 by a prisoner who was later sent to a mental hospital. Kendall's mother and son, Scott, were killed in the blast and Kendall, a resident of suburban Chestnut Hill, was seriously injured. Murphy s nephew, Steven Benson, was the only one to. 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. Steven Benson is led into the Collier County jail complex on the day of his arrest in 1985. Benson was sentenced to life in prison. Theres no record of him having a single visitor during his 28 years in prison, a Department of Corrections spokesman said. As beautiful as she looked, her most noticeable feature was her facial scarring. A jury convicted Steven Benson of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and arson of a dwelling. "I don't really know how to comment on it. [11] Washington was charged with murder for killing Benson, but was acquitted. 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. Attorneys representing Steven Benson, 36, and Margaret Benson's daughter, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, 43, said they both probably will appeal Monday's ruling. Even though he had a fancy car" -- the Lotus -- "he didn't like to drive. Benson said he first went to get coffee and doughnuts at a nearby store. The problems, Sands says, were all Benson wanted to talk about during the visits. The thing that stuck out in my mind was, wow, how easy this is to see what the money did. The attorney said, I want you to meet Steven Benson, she recalled. He was my main suspicion before I got out of the house with him.. The Lancaster Township woman was playing golf on a July day at the Lancaster Country Club when she was asked to come in off the course. Scrambling desperately, the injured Kendall pitched herself through the open door of the mangled van and onto the circular driveway in front of her mother's home. During a deposition taken by Bensons attorneys in Florida on Sept. 20, Mrs. Kendall, 40, said she was an unmarried teen-ager when she became pregnant, The Boston Herald reported today. 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. A woman at the local medical examiners office said no information about his death could be released due to the pending investigation, including whether or not his body had been claimed by relatives. 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. My relationship with Tracy was always a very turbulent one. As for Carol Lynn, she too waited in Florida for the verdict. 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. 'My brother has been convicted of murdering my family,' Kendall said. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, 42, of Brookline, Mass. The Steven Benson case drew national media coverage in 1986. I guess he didnt want him to go to hell.. Did Ukraine use innocent civilians as human shield against Russia in the name of evacuation? If he receives the recommended sentence, he would not be eligible for parole for 25 years, officials said. Naples killer Steven Benson who sought $10 million family fortune dies in jail with $30 to his name, Naples pipe bomb killer Steven Benson dies in prison. Photo Gallery. I have a strong feeling Steven Benson also knew, Cirace said. Murphy said her father sent Sands as a gesture of goodwill. As the trial date neared (there were several postponements before it finally began July 14) it became obvious that the large amounts of money involved meant that there would be a lot of lawyers on both sides of the courtroom trial. Steven Benson, convicted in 1986 of murdering his mother and adopted brother, died in July at Taylor Correctional Institution in northern Florida. The only survivor of the blast, Steven Benson's sister, Carol Lynn. Here, prosecuting attorney Jerry Brock addresses members of the media outside the Florida courtroom where the case took place. ", When they got back to Naples, Margaret told Steven she wanted to meet with him and Kerr that evening and "talk business." That seemed more important to him than his family lying all over the golf course.. Steven Wayne Benson was an American double murderer of his mother, tobacco heiress Margaret Benson, and his brother, tennis player Scott Benson. Debra divorced Steven shortly after his August 22, 1985, arrest. According to prosecution evidence, there was even talk that Steven might be cut out of his mother's will. 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. (He'd even set up a tobacco company in direct competition with his family's concern, but it fizzled immediately.). He doesnt know for sure why Benson has stuck with the public, and with him, all these years. If they had objections they were to say, quietly, "May we approach the bench?" "How long does it take to say a guy was stabbed in the temple?" At first, Murphy thought her niece, Carol Lynn Kendall, 40, also had died, but she found out that she was badly burned but had survived. One youth remembered finding dry-cell batteries, wire and alligator clips in a closet and saying to himself, "Oh, this is Steve Benson's stuff . Release Calendar Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. This orange thing was all around me. He is also charged with the attempted murder of his sister, Carol Lynn. . A jury convicted Steven Benson of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and arson of a dwelling. He was a strange fellow, says Sands, who worked as a landscaper for Bensons late grandfather, Hitchcock. I heard a lot of cursing and swearing.. Steven Benson turned gray behind bars and died, to little fanfare. Instead, he died in prison, leaving behind just $30.06 in his commissary fund. 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. He was sobbing.. Success! Moments later, a second bomb, this one planted in the rear of the vehicle, exploded. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall Death, Obituary pending- Carol Lynn Benson Kendall has reportedly passed away unexpectedly and suddenly. McDonnell did not call Steven Benson in his own defense. "Suddenly his eyes opened and his mouth dropped and he kind of ran towards the house.". She, of course, was referring to Margaret. Defense lawyer Mike McDonnell, who represented Benson along with attorney Jerry Berry, said it was one of the first trials to have televised gavel-to-gavel coverage.. 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. She had hoped he would get the death penalty. I guess people just exhibited good taste, he said. An investigator said later they probably didnt have a chance to move.. Puncture wound of right temple made by a sharpened instrument ('shank')," the report states. He just stood there. Margaret Benson eventually loaned her son the money but he never did anything with the building, Sands says. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall Death, Obituary pending- Carol Lynn Benson Kendall has reportedly passed away unexpectedly and suddenly. Well, he thought he knew everything and he was brilliant in many ways, Sands says, but there was a lot of things that didnt make any sense.. 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. ", The jowly and bespectacled witness testified that Steven's company books were a mess, with checkbook entries missing and no balance carried forward. 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. Shortly before his death in 1990, Harry Hitchcock the owner of Lancaster Leaf Tobacco Co. asked a longtime family employee, gardener Amos Sands, to visit his grandson in prison on his behalf. The Fallout, At the funeral of Margaret and Scott Benson, Steven sat between his wife Debra and his grandfather, Harry Hitchcock. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. But everyone agreed that she had done so well, it might be unwise to risk a second appearance. He wanted his own way and he was going to get it one way or another, he says. 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. But showing little emotion after that. Nobody else had time to put a bomb in there, Young said. Shocked by the attack, she says that since then, her siblings have been completely uninterested in her physical and emotional well-being. While she was being helped by the golfer, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall's brother Steven stood and watched the carnage. 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. Only Carol Lynn Benson survived in this tragic blast. 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. The Miami Herald gave the following account of a groundskeeper who worked on Margaret Benson's Pennsylvania estate: He recalled that one day in 1982 he looked down from his ladder to see Steven carrying three copper tubes with wires protruding from them. She also said that Steven was gone so long for coffee that she kidded he "could have gone all the way to Fort Myers. Dysfunction, said Patty Bennett, a juror on the case, trying to describe the Benson family. She wanted an accounting and, if it had to be, a confrontation with Steven. ", 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. Carol Lynn Kendall testifies during the trial of her brother, Steven Benson, during his 1986 trial. Bennett heard how the bombs were assembled, with nails and tacks put inside them so they would do the most damage. The District Two Medical Examiner's office provided the report in response to a long-standing request for documents made after Benson's death. The jury convicted Benson on the first vote, she said. He had retained Naples attorney Michael McDonnell. Mrs. Benson was 63 when she died in the blast. Benson was sentenced to life in prison. The feud went back to at least 2012 after a series of assaults by Washington. FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said the agency had no updated information as of Friday afternoon. It was obvious he was spending his mothers money on himself and his family, Brock said. 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. Steven Benson, right, enters Lee County Court with his defense attorney Mike McDonnell as the jury selection portion of his murder trial Monday, July 14, 1986. Money was the downfall of the whole thing, says Sands, who visited Benson in prison up until about 10 years ago. Prosecutors linked Benson to the bomb explosion by producing a receipt, with Bensons palm print, for the purchase of pieces of pipe and end caps. Yesterday, a jury began deliberations on those charges after weeks of riveting testimony involving enormous amounts of money and a tangled family web. He was calm as a cucumber, he said. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. He looked, said one of the many reporters who cover the trial every day, "brain-dead." Some who knew him werent really surprised. Within this circle, there was lots of money. [13] How it wasnt run correctly. We learned about the passing of Carol Lynn Benson Kendall on May 23, 2022. Also Read:Mustang used by Steve Mcqueen in Bullitt auctioned, Your email address will not be published. Please enable JavaScript to properly view our site. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. Distraught over the bombing and what she says is her brother's complete lack of interest in her physical and emotional condition since then (she testified he has never contacted her in all that time, not even to inquire about her health), she is occupied with trying to hold herself together emotionally. To him, sadly, its not a shocker, the terrible things people do to each other, the terrible things they do for money. Then, as they got into the car, Caroline noticed Stephen asking them to get in. Benson has had his share of problems behind bars. He was just not your usual teenager. Simpson trial before the O.J. [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. [4] Kendall survived but was badly burned; Margaret and Scott died instantly from the bomb blast. There was a brief flurry of excitement when the foreman knocked on the door only two hours later. He is a good brother. Best of 2022 Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Top 250 TV Shows Most Popular TV Shows Most Popular Video Games Most Popular Music Videos Most Popular Podcasts.
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