The prosecution's evidence is entirely circumstantial. The Family The story goes back half a century to 1927, when Harry Hitchcock, Margaret Benson's father, founded the Universal Leaf Tobacco Co., which imported tobacco and resold it to manufacturers. Murphy herself doesnt have those feelings toward her nephew. He was stabbed in the neck in 1991 by a prisoner who was later sent to a mental hospital. Patty Bennett was a nervous mother of two boys sitting in a jury box when the defense gave its opening statement about Steven Benson. 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. 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. It wasnt discussed. 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. 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. Other testimony revealed another regular expenditure. Steven's defense case, which lasted from Saturday, July 26, to last Monday, was marred by fights over the late introduction of witnesses (at one point Judge Hayes told the defense that such a practice was "just damn bush") and frequent bench conferences that resulted in the jury's being excused for the day. He was born in 1951 in Baltimore. Even though her grandfather and her aunt opposed Steven's release on bail, she apparently still fights the conclusion that Steven did it. On Monday, the state produced a witness whose testimony left a strong impression on those spectators who had seen the trial from the beginning. It all came back to him.. Carol 's cause of death is unknown to us at this time. The siblings did not return phone messages Friday. He seldom looked at Steven.The defendant watched his grandfather enter the courtroom, but after that he never looked at him. Steven Wayne Benson was an American double murderer of his mother, tobacco heiress Margaret Benson, and his brother, tennis player Scott Benson. Carol Lynn Kendall testifies during the trial of her brother, Steven Benson, during his 1986 trial. . A lot. 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. Carl Westman, a Naples attorney named to represent Margaret Benson's estate, usually sat with Cirace. 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. ", After almost four hours of final argument, and another hour of his carefully read instructions, Judge Hayes gave the case to the jury at 2:06 yesterday afternoon. 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. 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. It just never stopped, Cirace said. 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 was the O.J. 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. Even though he had a fancy car" -- the Lotus -- "he didn't like to drive. The jury was split on the death penalty, and so gave him life in prison. The murder of Margaret and Scott Benson in 1985 drew national crime coverage never seen before and rarely since to Naples. Tragically, Hitchcock turned out to be right about his grandson. But Kendall, who was injured. 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. That she was once a beauty contest winner is easy to see. Last Known Contact Information. September 1, 1989. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. Steven said he was sorry but that he already had a business meeting. Scott ran with a rough crowd, and was known to get rough with both Margaret and Carol Lynn. That seemed more important to him than his family lying all over the golf course.. Under the law, jurors are not supposed to take this into consideration. In prison records, Benson listed the oldest of his three children, twins Victoria and Christopher, as his next of kin. 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. Benson never bothering to wash his mothers blood spatters from the side of his white van, which he had parked near the blown-apart Suburban, and which he was still driving on the day police showed up to arrest him for the killings, a month and a half later. Dwight Brock was an assistant state attorney in Florida, specializing in white collar crime, when Steven Benson was arrested. If they had objections they were to say, quietly, "May we approach the bench?" Our prayers and thoughts are with the family and loved ones of Carol. Is Carol Lynn Benson Kendall still alive? Its been decades since his trial attracted attention, though TV specials still pop up on cable channels from time to time. When the Challenger space shuttle exploded a year after the Florida murders, Hitchcock broke down, Murphy recalls. Thats the way Steve was.. Also Read:Mustang used by Steve Mcqueen in Bullitt auctioned, Your email address will not be published. That she is now horribly scarred is obvious; large red subdermal slashes streak her face. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, a former Naples City Council candidate, is now a lawyer in Broward County focusing on family law and real estate. By July 8, the day before the bombing, Margaret had learned of Steven's new house in Fort Myers, according to testimony. Scott was an aspiring tennis professional, but apparently the aspirations were Margaret's rather than his. He thought he was better than everybody else.. He stared at her and walked away, said Kendall, who is now 70 and living somewhere in Florida. McDonnell did not call Steven Benson in his own defense. He just wouldnt respond to it, Sands says. ", The jowly and bespectacled witness testified that Steven's company books were a mess, with checkbook entries missing and no balance carried forward. Murphys father, Harry Hitchcock, was fine. 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.". The Prosecution. ", She said that Steven had called her the night before the bombing to make sure that both she and Scott would be coming along in the morning when he planned to stake the dimensions of his mother's new lot. Later, investigators found a receipt, with Bensons palm print, for the purchase of pieces of pipe and end caps used in the bomb. It wasn't the prison pallor that surprised people who had known him; it was the grim and almost affectless bearing. Under Florida law, Steven Benson is precluded from receiving proceeds of the estate of the person he murdered, Hayes said. As for Carol Lynn, she too waited in Florida for the verdict. I guess you'd call them bombs." Hed always been sort of strange, she says. 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. Her father, she says, was broken up by the entire affair. Benson said he first went to get coffee and doughnuts at a nearby store. 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. The feud went back to at least 2012 after a series of assaults by Washington. Please enable JavaScript to properly view our site. He just stood there. Collier Circuit Judge Hugh D. Hayes issued the ruling Monday. Then the jurors filed out and the door closed behind them once again. 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. 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. 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. In the spring and summer of 1985, she asked Wayne Kerr, a young lawyer from Philadelphia, to come down to Naples. A jury convicted Steven Benson of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and arson of a dwelling. Benson has had his share of problems behind bars. 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. But that same day, local attorney Guion DeLoach showed up with a second and more recent will, one that Margaret Benson had him draw up and that she signed Jan. 29, 1985. Toxicology tests showed no drugs in Benson's system, the report states. Benson was sentenced to life in prison. This orange thing was all around me. When he returned, they said, he prepared to join his family to look at a piece of land his mother had bought. Cirace said the rumors were never confirmed until Steven Bensons lawyers questioned Mrs. Kendall about it, to test her credibility. Carol Lynn Kendall unsuccessfully ran for a Naples City Council seat while living in Port . Support local journalism. The Trustees set up a trust for Kendall, a trust for Stephen, and a share for Scott. Carol 's cause of death is unknown to us at this time. She is shown here in a photo shoot at Lancaster Country Club in 1974, more than a decade before the incident. 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. She also said that Steven was gone so long for coffee that she kidded he "could have gone all the way to Fort Myers. I dont think he believed he belonged in there.. Benson is also featured in an episode of the New Detectives entitled "Short Fuse" (Season 2, Episode 3) and an episode of Florida Man Murders entitled "Killer Succession" (Season 1, Episode 3). (AP Photo) (Photo: Anonymous). 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