Originally scheduled for February 1890, the trial was held over to May. In the spring of 1894, the victims bodies were discovered, sending the town into hysteria. John Bender, Sr. chose a 160-acre section on the western slopes of the mounds that continue to bear their name today. Allegedly, the pair then fled to a tough outlaw colony along the border of Texas and New Mexico. The Benders then stripped him of his clothes and went to bury him when the man suddenly awoke. The episode opens with Omie Sparkman (Corey Hendrix) pulling into a filling station on a desolate road in Kansas. Bender Mounds, Kansas by Kathy Alexander. McCrotty, and John Geary, as well as an unidentified male and female. The vacated land was then made available to homesteaders, who, for the most part, were a group of hard-working pioneers farming the areas softly rolling hills and windswept prairies. They purchased tickets on the northbound Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston Train to Humboldt. A place to discuss Lawrence Kansas happenings and news. Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History, Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., December 18, 2011, The Bloody Benders. In retaliation, the vigilantes killed all of the members of the Bender family, buried them where they died, and took the wagon to town, where they left it. 1315) December 1872: Various body parts. It isnt a kill shot, though, and Calamita whips around to put Omie down. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Benders. Finally, unsolved murders in Shawnee County, Kansas, can be found among these lists. In her lectures she publicly declared that murder might be a dictation for good; that in what the world might deem villainy, her soul might read bravery, nobility, and humanity. Speaking English fluently with a German accent, he was said to have been social, but he was prone to laughing aimlessly, which led many people to think of him as a half-wit. The family soon built a small one-room framed cabin, a barn, and a corral and dug a well. A roadside sign now marks their murderous exploits. They disappeared in the spring of 1873, shortly before inquisitive neighbors discovered the victims' bodies. As more and more travelers vanished, suspicion began to circle the Mellons. The property was located directly on the Osage Mission-Independence Trail that operated from Independence to Fort Scott. East/West is a cunningly timed bottle episode. Kate soon gained notoriety as a self proclaimed healer and . She learns something new about herself every time she watches an episode of Wonder Woman. The owner of the Drum Creek claim was suspected, but no action was taken. He does not deliver his usual parting words to Satchel. These first few missing travelers did not raise an overall alarm in the area as it was not uncommon for men to continue their journey westward during those days. In February 1872, the bodies of two men were found with the same injuries as Jones. All four had crushed skulls and throats cut. Graves of the many who the Benders killed. [1], One detective later claimed that he had traced the pair to the border, where he had found that JohnJr. had died of apoplexy. Secretly, the four made a living through murder and robbery., Located on a main road, the Benders sold meals and supplies to travelers. Despite the lack of identification, the man's skull was displayed as that of "Pa Bender" in a Salmon saloon until Prohibition forced its closure in 1920 and the skull disappeared. Legend has it that the family of four gruesomely murdered at least 11 patrons, scattering the bodies throughout their property and county. Another group claimed they had caught the Benders while escaping to the south and lynched them before throwing their bodies into the Verdigris River. Though he allegedly committed suicide in 1884 in Lake Michigan, others believed that Ma and Kate murdered him because he had fled Cherryvale with all the cash and valuables they had taken from their victims. Secretly, the four made a living through murder and robbery. One weird oversight. About 75 people attended the gathering, including both Bender men. A crude sign was hung above the front door that advertised Groceries to the many travelers along the Osage Trail. The old Bender property was haunted, and the rumors of the locals began to fly. It also brings to mind Lester Nygards murder weapon in season one. The museum remained a popular tourist destination until it closed in 1978 when a fire station was built. It was reported at the time that Kate was into free love, telling fortunes, and being a little too close to her brother. Buried in the apple orchard. Then Kate would begin to charm the men with her social skills, flirting, or revealing her psychic gifts. As the men gave their full attention to the alluring Kate, Pa and John Bender, hiding behind the canvas, would strike the unsuspecting traveler in the skull with a hammer. She alleged that her father, "Pa Ingalls," joined in a vigilante hunt for the killers, and when he spoke of later searches for them she recalled, "At such times Pa always said in a strange tone of finality, 'They will never be found.' The Carr brothers were convicted of capital murder in a crime spree in Wichita in 2000 that included robbery, rape, forced sex and four fatal shootings in a snow-covered soccer field. From the first grayscale frame, its clear that were arent in Kansas City anymore. He leaves Satchel in the car with Rabbit while hes doing this, and the boy is approached by a nervous policeman who prepares to draw his weapon as he asks Satchel to leave the car. Located on a main road, the Benders sold meals and supplies to travelers. From there, they traveled to an outlaw colony thought to be in the border region between Texas and New Mexico. The Version table provides details related to the release that this issue/RFE will be addressed. Quickly, the scavengers were frightened away by the dead souls to spread their ghostly tales. The Bender artifacts were eventually given to the Cherryvale Museum, where they remain in a wall-mounted display case. Though her beauty and social skills gained popularity with the locals, her actions began to cause them to say she was satanic. It was to be this diminutive Bender family member that would take most of the blame for what was soon to be found out about this infamous family. I believe I read this year that the land where the house once stood got sold to someone. While not actually on the old Bender property, the marker sits on the high prairie about a mile northwest of Bender Mounds at the US-400 and US-169 interchange at the Montgomery County Rest area, north of Cherryvale. This is a list of notable male murderers who committed their murders in Kansas, USA. Keeping mostly to themselves, the Benders appeared to simply be struggling homesteaders who worked hard to earn their living like the other area pioneers. If not accosted by road agents, travelers also had to be concerned about Indian attacks. While the two women were certainly criminals and liars, as their own defense attorney admitted, the charges were weak and many people doubted their identification as the Benders. Her tag says her name is Rabbit. The township trustee called for volunteers, and several hundred turned out to form a search party that included Colonel York. John was prone to laughing aimlessly, which led many to consider him a "half-wit." The Lawrence Kansas Subreddit. [7] Brockman would be arrested again 23 years later for the rape and murder of his own 18-year-old daughter.[8]. He steps out of his car, gun drawn, and discovers the filling station attendants body in a doorway. Another group claimed they had caught the Benders and lynched them before throwing their bodies into the Verdigris River. Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated November 2022. Instead, we downshift hard into the side story ofSatchel (Rodney L Jones III) andRabbi (Ben Whishaw) on the lam, withConstant Calamita (Gaetano Bruno) on their tail. Colonel York agreed that this was possible and remained for dinner. The captive makes a run for it, and Omie shoots him dead and drags his body out of sight. The Bender cabin was ripped apart by gruesome souvenir hunters right down to the bloody bricks that lined the cellar. Also a great song by Macabre about the Benders: https://youtu.be/NJpbxpbI8FA. . While popular retelling of the story holds that John Jr. and Kate were siblings, contemporary newspapers reported . They were never caugnt. [18], According to a news report from contemporary media, an unnamed man from Kansas City, who had investigated the Bender Family's house and the rumors of their deaths numerous times, claimed that The Kelly Family were in fact the Benders. $38 (2023: $860) and a wagon with a team of horses missing. The Bender family, more well known as the Bloody Benders, were a family of serial killers who lived and operated in Labette County, Kansas, United States, from May 1871 to December 1872. After the Benders escape, one detective, who had closely followed all the leads, said that he had traced Gebhardt to the outlaw country along the Texas/New Mexico border, where he had found that the criminal had died of apoplexy. One of those places was the Bender Inn. Eyewitness testimony was given that Mrs. Monroe was Elvira Bender. The Bender family, more well known as the Bloody Benders, were a family of serial killers who lived and operated in Labette County, Kansas, United States, from May 1871 to December 1872. Next to their room is a hospital man, an obese white man with bandages all over him and some kind of skin condition that makes him look monstrous to the passing child. One vigilante group claimed to have shot down the men and Ma Bender and burned Kate alive as the witch they believed her to be. A self-proclaimed healer and psychic, she distributed flyers advertising her supernatural powers and her ability to cure illnesses. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Outside the door is a plaque that reads: KANSAS York reached Fort Scott, and on March 9 began the return journey to Independence, but never arrived. Also one of the victims was the neighbor of the person who wrote Little House on the Prarie. A number of researchers question the ready acceptance of the affidavit's authenticity and suggest that the county was unwilling to accept the expense of boarding the two women for an extended period. When the vigilantegroup approached, the Benders fired on them, at which time, the judge lost part of his ear to a flying bullet. I used to have their Dahmer album way back. Their murders were carried out by use of a canvas curtain that divided the house into two rooms. One arm was broken. Look for these with their cute sunflowers. It is conjectured[by whom?] With the full realization that there was a major problem in their township, the group decided to search every farmstead between Big Hill Creek and Drum Creek. Franks father, Jesse P. Smalley, and several men were joking with a local judge, teasing him about his missing ear. For all these deaths, the Benders gained only about $4,600, two teams of horses and wagons, a pony, and a saddle. While popular retelling of the story holds that JohnJr. and Kate were siblings, contemporary newspapers reported that several of the Benders' neighbors had stated that they claimed to be married, possibly in a common law marriage. [1][11][12][13][14][15][16], By including the recovered body parts not matched to the bodies found, the finds are speculated to represent the remains of more than 20 victims. [9], More than a dozen bullet holes were found in the roof and sides of the cabin. She maintained carnal relations with her brother, and boldly proclaimed her right to do so in the following words found in her lecture manuscript: "Shall we confine ourselves to a single love, and deny our natures their proper sway?Even though it be a brother's passion for his own sister, I say it should not be smothered. Several weeks after the discovery of the bodies, Addison Roach and his son-in-law, William Buxton, were arrested as accessories. The plaque in the show refers to fictional murderers--the Mellons--while the reference implicit in that is to their real-life inspiration, the Benders. 620-336-3576. Colonel A.M. York, leading a contingency of some 50 men, began questioning every traveler along the trail and stopping at the area homesteads. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Benders. The Bloody Benders - Serial Killers of Kansas Bender Mounds, Kansas by Kathy Alexander. According to a breathless Daily Mail report, nursery-school teacher Inessa Tarverdiyeva and her husband, dentist Roman Podkopayev, were behind "a six-year reign of terror including at least 30. That is a Kansas historical society sign. Props to Noah Hawley for referencing a lot of forgotten crimes, from Jane Toppan, the Kansas City Massacre, and now the Bloody Benders. Home TV & Streaming Recaps & Reviews FARGO Recap: (S04E09) East/West, Posted by Leona Laurie | Nov 16, 2020 | Recaps & Reviews, TV & Streaming | 0. This unnamed man was one of the many who made the mistake of stopping at the Bender Inn. It said the plaque was erected by the Kansas City historical society. The victim was then dispatched from behind with a hammer, and the body was dropped into a basement pit, later to be buried in an orchard., As more and more travelers disappeared, suspicion began to center on the Benders. After last weeks sincere entry into all-out war, as well as the deaths of several key players, one might have hoped to watch the action in Kansas City escalate. The diggers were astounded to find what would become known as one of Americas first mass murder burial grounds as body after body was uncovered. When friends and family began to look for them, they could trace them as far as the Big Hill Country of southeast Kansas before finding no trace of the lost traveler. By the way, said clerk is a Colored. The parts did not belong to any of the other victims found and are believed to belong to at least three additional victims. I wouldn't have imagined a crazier hotel story other than H H Holmes and The Murder Castle. The texts read "Johannah Bender. Hell the first album from the Smiths included a song about the Moors Murderers. Rabbi makes his way to the filling station in search of a cupcake or candy bar. Yep that's the one from a book I have. [18], A historical marker describing the Benders' crimes is located in the rest area at the junction of U.S. Route 400 and U.S. Route 169 north of Cherryvale. In the end, the artifacts, including the hammers, photos, and newspaper clippings, were placed in the Cherryvale Museum and can still be seen today at 215 East 4th Street. THE LAST SKYWALKER Pays Tribute to the Ben Solo Legacy, Lynne Ramsay Tapped to Direct THE GIRL WHO LOVED TOM GORDON, WANDAVISION Finale Recap: (S01E09) The Series Finale, WANDAVISION Recap: (S01E08) Previously On, WANDAVISION Recap: (S01E07) Breaking the Fourth Wall. Their murders were carried out by use of a canvas curtain that divided the house into two rooms. At a fork of the Fall and Verdigris Rivers, they found the Benders with their wagon backed up against a fallen tree with canvas over it for shelter. Cherryvale Museum Hey babe, nice melon mounds. Elvira was rumored to have murdered several husbands, but none of these rumors was ever proven. Once Kansas declared itself with the Union and the Civil War began, the bloody battles continued. Elvira Bender, who also allegedly spoke little English, was 55 years old and so unfriendly that her neighbors took to calling her a "she-devil.". Cherryvale, Kansas Museum The Benders used the smaller room at the rear for living quarters, while the front room was converted into a "general store" where a few dry goods were sold. Nice, in all my research on serial killers, I can't name many examples of a full family of murderers, and two of them were female, another rarity. Calamita notices him and shoots twice out the window. In 1937 she gave a speech at a book fair which was later transcribed and printed in the September 1978 Saturday Evening Post and in the 1988 book A Little House Sampler. Mrs. Monroe now admitted she had married a Mr. Shearer in 1872 and claimed she had previously denied it, as she did not want the court to know that her name was Shearer at that time and that she had a conviction for manslaughter. The for the guy who discovered Pluto? In its first three days of opening, it attracted more than 2,000 visitors. The violence at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999 was the watershed event which led to the creation of our current day active shooter response programs. Rewind one day, to Rabbi and Satchel driving past the same station. Somehow, he escaped, appearing naked in the middle of the night at Jesse Smalleys doorstep. Their room is assigned based on Rabbis political and New Testament leanings, which place them in the west wing. In total, 12 men "of bad repute in general" would be arrested, including Brockman. [1][2] A knife with a four-inch tapered blade was reportedly found hidden in a mantel clock in the Bender house by Colonel York. When the party arrived at the inn they found the cabin empty of food, clothing, and personal possessions. Nothing like this sickening series of crimes had ever been recorded in the whole history of the country.. If the terrible story of the Bender murders was not legend enough, another tale began to circulate regarding the property upon which the Benders had once lived. After following a fresh trail of wagon tracks, a search party found that the Benders had gone to the town of nearby Thayer, some twelve miles to the north. The desk clerk who shows them to their room warns them that the sisters dont care for colored people, a refrain echoed repeatedly through this episode. Thanks for putting this up I knew the story sounded familiar..the was on an episode of Lore. As more and more travelers disappeared, suspicion began to center on the Benders. They admitted Dr. York had stayed with them and suggested the possibility that he had run into trouble with Indians. Cherryvale, Kansas Museum by Kathy Alexander. If this really is Oz, then Satchel is Dorothy and Rabbit is Toto. Later, Satchel awakens to find that hes fallen asleep and doesnt know where his friend has gone. The story of the Benders' escape spread, and the search continued on and off for the next 50 years. Satchel decides to keep her, without asking anyone in the building whose she is, and Rabbis only objection to this when he meets her is that she makes noise. One may have been Jack Bogart, whose horse was purchased from a friend of the Benders after he went missing in 1872. Resolved: Release in which this issue/RFE has been resolved. Located on a main road, the Benders sold meals and supplies to travelers. [2], Testimony from people who had stayed at the Benders' inn and managed to escape before they could be killed appeared to support the presumed execution method of the Benders. In the spring of 1873, Dr. York took it upon himself to look for the Lonchers, stopping at the homesteads along the trail to ask questions. Across the hall from them, on the east side of the building, is an Old Testament preacher and his mother (whom the resident gabby salesman- west- mistakes for the preachers wife). John Jr. was found to have been a man named John Gebhardt. The Benders remained silent when most of the attendees volunteered to have their premises searched. The sensational tales and rumors of the Benders continued well into the 20th century, but what happened to them remains one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of the Old West. Yet another claimed to have killed the Benders during a gunfight and buried their bodies on the prairie. Though the tales of what happened to the Benders can only be speculated as to their accuracy, the fact that ten bodies were found on the property is not disputed. His habit of laughing aimlessly led to him being described as a half-wit, though many afterward believed this was simply a ruse to disguise his clever nature. Some believe justice came to them in the end. They werent even a true family the only ones related were Ma and Kate Bender. A cult-like group, the families, chose from several available claims and began to make their homes. Dismembered parts of several other victims were also discovered but could never be identified. Unresolved: Release in which this issue/RFE will be addressed. Their downfall was the murder of a father and daughter named Loncher, and Dr. William York, who had come looking for the missing pair. Their story is unresolved and remains one of the great unsolved mysteries of the old west. This went on for years until they killed someone related to a Civil War hero and a senator. The digging continued the next day; nine other bodies and numerous dismembered body parts were found, including a woman and a little girl. sdsu basketball recruiting 2021vice president internal student council. Tole reported the fact to the township trustee, but due to inclement weather, several days lapsed before the abandonment could be investigated. Markers of the Kansas state historical markers program administered by the Kansas Historical Society and Kansas Department of Transportation. . From Howard County, Kansas. I'd need to check but my gut feeling is that its real. This one would make a great show/movie, but we keep seeing remakes and reboots. Rabbi retreats to take cover behind his vehicle, and Calamita catches him with a bullet in the arm before hes in the clear, making it difficult to return fire. 1619) December 1872: During the search, the bodies of four unidentified males were found in Drum Creek and the surrounds. Ten bodies were found in the Benders apple orchard, including Dr. York and the people he had been searching for Mr. Loncher and his daughter, just seven or eight years old. Calamita is swept up into the funnel, along with the filling station and the bodies littering its floors. Marker is on the grounds of the rest area located northeast of the intersection of US Highways 189 and 400, about three miles south of Morehead. flower arranging classes northern virginia. Menu read the excerpt from part 1 of the odyssey Although the elder Benders kept to themselves, Kate and her brother regularly attended Sunday school in nearby Harmony Grove. [1][2][3] Despite York's strong suspicions regarding the Benders since his visit several weeks earlier, no one had watched them, and it was not noticed for several days that they had fled. After bearing him a dozen children, including Kate, Mr. Griffith suddenly died; some said of a bad place on his head, resembling a dent that might be made with a hammer. ", "Old Mrs. Bender was a dirty old Dutch crone. Both knew of his travel plans, and when he failed to return home, an all-out search began for the missing doctor. The house sits alone in a barren landscape composed of post-harvest fields coated halfheartedly with snow. In October 1870, five families of spiritualists homesteaded in and around the township of Osage in northwestern Labette County, approximately 7mi (11km) northeast of where Cherryvale was established seven months later. As they make their way up to the top floor, they peer in the open rooms of the other tenants. Bit by bit, the story of the Benders was pieced together. Buried in the apple orchard. In the winter of 1872, George Newton Longcor left Independence, Kansas with his infant daughter Mary Ann to resettle in Iowa; they were never seen again. The next day, Rabbi goes back to the appliance store and recovers his remaining cash from the brothers at gunpoint. Does that mean that Satchel has just landed in Oz now? why i quit civil engineering; goo goo gaga family net worth; how to make homemade biscuits without baking powder; A beautiful girl of about 23, she was quick to laugh and talk to strangers.