He walked behind him and put his hand on his shoulder and he said, Steven Benson is a nice person. Kendall's mother and son, Scott, were killed in the blast and Kendall, a resident of suburban Chestnut Hill, was seriously injured. 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. Benson, now 53, is serving two life sentences in a Florida prison for killing his mother and brother, and trying to kill his sister. Attorneys representing Steven Benson, 36, and Margaret Benson's daughter, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, 43, said they both probably will appeal Monday's ruling. Money was the downfall of the whole thing, says Sands, who visited Benson in prison up until about 10 years ago. 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. Under Florida law, Steven Benson is precluded from receiving proceeds of the estate of the person he murdered, Hayes said. Your email address will not be published. I hope he does, she said. Theyre all dead.. "Malevolent" is what the prosecutors for the state call 35-year-old Steven Benson. A juror in the Steven Benson case compares an artist's sketch of the suspect who purchased materials to create the bomb with a mug shot of Benson. 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. And then, at the last minute, he went back into the house, supposedly because he had forgotten a tape measure. He knew how to make tube bombs and fiddled with explosives. The case still resonates three decades later. 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 Death, Obituary pending- Carol Lynn Benson Kendall has reportedly passed away unexpectedly and suddenly. He was very congenial, very eager to talk, Sands recalls. The judge made the sentences consecutive, in accordance with Bensons sisters wishes. 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. 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. How it wasnt run correctly. 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. 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. . I remember when my sister had him here was this baby and then he ends up killing her. [4] Within this circle, there was lots of money. 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.". Carol Kendall currently lives in Hollywood, FL; in the past Carol has also lived in Norfolk VA. Other names that Carol uses includes Carol Lyn Falkiner, Carol Lynn Benson, Carol Lynn Benson-kendall, Carol Lynn Falkiner and Carol Lynn Kendall. I just cant imagine. McDonnell did succeed in keeping the jury from hearing the testimony of the groundskeeper who had said he had seen Steven playing with a remote-control bomb device in Pennsylvania, but he was not able to stop a former employe from telling the jury that at the wake, Steven mentioned to a small group that he had "made bombs as a kid.". He was always doing things but never getting anything accomplished, Sands recalls. Eric Strachan/Naples Daily News, 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. Margaret and Scott died instantly, and Caroline was rushed to the hospital with severe burns. . It was her sister, Margaret, 63, and her nephew, Scott, 21, who had died in a horrific car explosion in Florida. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall came in to see her brother's jury be excused for the night. It all came back to him.. She is shown here in a 1975 photo, a decade before the murder. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Benson was sentenced to life in prison. 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. Margaret, Scott, and Stevens sister, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, were waiting for Benson to join them in the family car on July 9, 1985, when the Chevrolet Suburban exploded. Final arguments took place yesterday and the jury began its deliberations, 13 months after the killings of Margaret and Scott Benson. However, according to a veteran Florida criminal attorney, "any time in a murder case when a defendant without a prior record fails to take the stand, it looks bad. A jury convicted Steven Benson of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and arson of a dwelling. Murphys father, Harry Hitchcock, was fine. Benson, he recalled, had a reputation as a wimp., He didnt fit in, Schelling said. The Wait. As beautiful as she looked, her most noticeable feature was her facial scarring. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. They were obliterated when a pipe bomb the size of a football planted between the two front seats exploded. 'Money is the last thing that's even on my mind.'. Indeed, Margaret Benson did change her will, but in a terribly ironic touch, the only change was to cut out Wayne Kerr as executor. 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. I did most of the talking.. 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 . It r Left-Wing Meloni: Italys Attempt to Replicate Giorgia Meloni, Europe is dumping its migrants in Africa in exchange of money, Mariannette Miller-Meeks : Role during Iowa elections, Mustang used by Steve Mcqueen in Bullitt auctioned, Mexicos constitutional crisis has its roots in Washington, The EU-Mercosur Deal: Macrons Duplicity Unveiled, Paraguay declares Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation. 'My brother has been convicted of murdering my family,' Kendall said. And finally, there was the issue of Steven's apparent history of playing with explosives. That's a negative as far as the jury is concerned. 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. He seldom looked at Steven.The defendant watched his grandfather enter the courtroom, but after that he never looked at him. 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. 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. After her testimony, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall was nowhere to be seen. In the Know: Is that Benson guy still in prison? Then the jurors filed out and the door closed behind them once again. 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. Hes had no contact at all.. He just ignored it.. Thats how Margaret died. I never saw him cry as much as he did with the Challenger. Hed always been sort of strange, she says. Please enable JavaScript to properly view our site. Moments later there was a loud explosion. Murphy does not know whether the couple, who had three children, later divorced. He parked it and positioned his family in it. The prosecution's evidence is entirely circumstantial. You could see a hateful heart in Steven then. 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 motive was money. Collier Circuit Judge Hugh D. Hayes issued the ruling Monday. Before the day was over, according to newspaper accounts, Steven had asked for and received a loan of $20,000 from his grandfather. In the second half of 2015, there were close to 200 inmate deaths in Florida's prisons. Florida law allows cameras in the courtroom, and much of this trial was televised live. 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. There had been general rumors (about the boys parentage) going around Lancaster, where the family was brought up, Cirace said. 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. His second wife Debra was not in the courtroom, or even in Florida. 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. Prosecutors set forth the theory that Margaret Benson liked being the financial power behind Steven's business throne -- at least in the beginning. Carol 's cause of death is unknown to us at this time. I can see what money can do when people get so tied up in self, he says. But that changed over the next three weeks, as witness after witness took the stand. Stating that he could not give money to one of the children and not the other, Judge Hayes then awarded $244,000 to Carol Lynn Kendall, who also had legal bills. Attorneys representing Steven Benson, 36, and Margaret Bensons daughter, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, 43, said they both probably will appeal Mondays ruling. Margarets blood was still all over the side of his van. Shocked by the attack, she says that since then, her siblings have been completely uninterested in her physical and emotional well-being. Those involved with the case say they are surprised at how it still resonates in peoples minds, and their own lives. Beyond that, Young had little to say. An email has been sent with a link to confirm list signup. Carol Lynn was in the back seat, and, as she testified 2 1/2 weeks ago to a packed courtroom here, "I was suddenly surrounded by this orange thing. BOSTON (AP) _ Tobacco heiress Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, who survived a car bombing that killed her mother and adopted brother, has said under oath that the dead young man was actually her son, her attorney said today. A lot. I must think of a better word. 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. "I don't really know how to comment on it. Cirace said the rumors were never confirmed until Steven Bensons lawyers questioned Mrs. Kendall about it, to test her credibility. ), After a brief rebuttal by the prosecution, Judge Hayes let the jury go. Benson told Young that he and his family were going to look at piece of property where his mother wanted to build a home that morning. ", 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. Copyright 2023 The Washington Times, LLC Its like the story that keeps on giving. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. Benson died earlier this month in a Florida prison, where he was serving two life sentences for the crimes. He is a good son. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall Death, Obituary pending- Carol Lynn Benson Kendall has reportedly passed away unexpectedly and suddenly. The next day, Wayne Kerr, at whose wedding Steven Benson had been the best man, took the stand. He was stabbed in the neck in 1991 by a prisoner who was later sent to a mental hospital. (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. [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. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall. But by late 1984 and early 1985, they argue, she was coming to the conclusion that bankrolling Steven was something less than sound. Lets go with disastrous hate. Represented by attorney Michael McDonnell, Steven Benson was ultimately convicted of first degree murder, attempted first degree murder, and arson of a dwelling. 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. Two hours later, the 11 o'clock local news had pictures of her leaving the courtroom, her lawyer Cirace running interference. I heard a lot of cursing and swearing.. [5] He avoided the death penalty, and was sentenced to two life terms in prison. Once in Florida, Steven founded a series of loosely related businesses (most of which had the word Meridian in the title), the most nearly successful being a burglar alarm security company. If Steven Benson caused problems, then Scott caused traumas. But Kendall, who was injured. (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. A Florida jury found Benson guilty Aug. 7 of exploding two car bombs in the family's station wagon on July 9, 1985, outside their Naples, Fla., home. I saw you on TV. Mrs. Benson was 63 when she died in the blast. I had never known anyone like this before. She cannot believe that two decades have passed since the day that two family members were killed and her familys life was changed forever. 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. 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, Naples pipe bomb killer Steven Benson dies in prison. Other testimony revealed another regular expenditure. Benson was 33, just five years younger than Bennett at the time. . Benson crying on the first day of his trial. 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. A juror examines a photo of the Chevy Suburban that Steven Benson exploded with a pipe-bomb in front of his family's Naples, Fla., home, killing his mother and nephew and injuring of his sister. Moments later, a second bomb, this one planted in the rear of the vehicle, exploded. https://insideeko.com/carol-lynn-benson-kendall-obituary-d/ insideeko.com It came to an average monthly payment of more than $10,000, or a grand total of "around a quarter of a million dollars.". Im 91 now, Sands said when reached by phone Friday. Dad was very religious, she said. Murphy s nephew, Steven Benson, was the only one to. Copyright 2023 The Washington Times, LLC. 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. At the age of 63, Margaret Benson, was killed by her son, Steven Benson, with a car bomb that also took the life of her her grandson, Scott Benson, and injured her daughter, Carol Lynn Kendall, on July 9, 1985, in fron t of their Naples, Fla., home. Eventually the second will was ruled valid, but before that happened, Steve Benson was arrested. 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. Also Read:Mariannette Miller-Meeks : Role during Iowa elections. That she is now horribly scarred is obvious; large red subdermal slashes streak her face. Electronics. His grandson never acknowledged him again, not even when he came to Florida for the trial. He looked, said one of the many reporters who cover the trial every day, "brain-dead." The murder of Margaret and Scott Benson in 1985 drew national crime coverage never seen before and rarely since to Naples. BOSTON (AP) _ Tobacco heiress Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, who survived a car bombing that killed her mother and adopted brother, has said under oath that the dead young man was actually her son, her attorney said today. It looks like we don't have any photos for Carol Lynn Benson Kendall yet. By the time the trial began, Steven Benson had been in jail for almost 11 months. Error! ", When they got back to Naples, Margaret told Steven she wanted to meet with him and Kerr that evening and "talk business." [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? 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. 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. Sands recalls up until about 10 years ago the night the killings of Margaret and Scott Benson 4 Within. About it, to test her credibility Benson was 63 when she died in the neck in by! And finally, there was lots of money, later divorced serving life... -- at least in the courtroom, and much of this trial was live... He just ignored it.. Thats how Margaret died obliterated when a bomb! Rarely since to Naples us at this time congenial, very eager to talk, Sands said when reached phone! 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