I have a strong feeling Steven Benson also knew, Cirace said. Im hot! from the burning car. Two hours later, the 11 o'clock local news had pictures of her leaving the courtroom, her lawyer Cirace running interference. Murphy herself doesnt have those feelings toward her nephew. The only survivor of the blast, Steven Benson's sister, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, testifies about the explosion and injuries she sustained. . There was a brief flurry of excitement when the foreman knocked on the door only two hours later. 3600 New York Avenue NE, Washington, DC 20002, Biden migrant surge sets all-time record for most arrests at southern border, With its social media biz under siege, Facebook looks to build a new metaverse empire, Youngkin goes solo, McAuliffe leans on surrogates in home stretch of Va. governors race. Carl Westman, a Naples attorney named to represent Margaret Benson's estate, usually sat with Cirace. Then the witness surprised the judge by asking if he could make a "statement." Error! 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. 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. 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. The siblings did not return phone messages Friday. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. Benson was sentenced to life in prison. Your email address will not be published. It seemed like a dumb thing." In July 1985, 63-year-old Margaret and her 41-year-old daughter Caroline Benson Kendall, 33-year-old son Steven Benson and 21-year-old adopted son Scott Benson together Get in the car and leave to see a piece of land in the city, where Margaret plans to build another home for her family. (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. 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. He cried so much, she says. While she was being helped by the golfer, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall's brother Steven stood and watched the carnage. Once Benson was in custody, investigators questioned him until he invoked his right to call an attorney. Some who knew him werent really surprised. 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. Bennett had heard of the financial battles that took place in the family, how Margaret Benson used money to control her children, how they fought each other and with her for access to wealth, as Margaret Benson asked the secretary to inform and spy on her. It was like . Murphys nephew, Steven Benson, was the only one to escape the fiery blast that day. He was supposed to provide them the next day, the day the bomb went off.. The Motive behind the murder was the property of her mother and her heiress. [11] Washington was charged with murder for killing Benson, but was acquitted. 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. 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. He stared at her and walked away, said Kendall, who is now 70 and living somewhere in Florida. Dwight Brock was an assistant state attorney in Florida, specializing in white collar crime, when Steven Benson was arrested. Photo Gallery. I walk into a restaurant and people say, Didnt you do the Benson case? Electronics. 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. [6][7] Over the course of his sentence, Benson was transferred to various prisons because of constant threats and abuse from other inmates. A jury convicted Steven Benson of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and arson of a dwelling. 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. That she was once a beauty contest winner is easy to see. [4] Kendall survived but was badly burned; Margaret and Scott died instantly from the bomb blast. The jury convicted Benson on the first vote, she said. 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. [13] He was stabbed in the neck in 1991 by a prisoner who was later sent to a mental hospital. In addition to the fatal wound to the head, Associate Medical Examiner Anthony Clark noted a puncture wound to the left scalp and multiple bruises on Benson's torso, upper and lower extremities. He said Steven was laughing. 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. The Money. Here, prosecuting attorney Jerry Brock addresses members of the media outside the Florida courtroom where the case took place. Support local journalism. US fails miserably against Russia at the crucial UN Vote. 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. Daddy. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall is 42 years old. Benson was sentenced to life in prison. I can see what money can do when people get so tied up in self, he says. 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. Murphy said her father sent Sands as a gesture of goodwill. Also in the car were her two children, 21-year-old Scott, who died, and 41-year-old Carol Lynn, who was badly injured but survived. 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. According to prosecution evidence, there was even talk that Steven might be cut out of his mother's will. A story in todays Naples Daily News reports that Benson files numerous grievances about prison life. Murphy s nephew, Steven Benson, was the only one to. malevolent." 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. There had been general rumors (about the boys parentage) going around Lancaster, where the family was brought up, Cirace said. Through taxes, disbursements and attorneys fees, the estate has dwindled from $10 million to about $1.2 million, said Carl Westman, the estates attorney. Lets go with disastrous hate. But showing little emotion after that. Benson has had his share of problems behind bars. Kendall's mother and son, Scott, were killed in the blast and Kendall, a resident of suburban Chestnut Hill, was seriously injured. Is Carol Lynn Benson Kendall still alive? Except for that last-minute surprise appearance, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall had spent the day out of sight, with her lawyer and the lawyer for her mother's estate. That seemed more important to him than his family lying all over the golf course.. doesn't have anything to do with my mother anymore.". Young had several reasons to suspect Benson. 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. View our. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, 2719 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 164, Hollywood, disbarred effective immediately, following a Sept. 22 court order. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. 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. Benson died earlier this month in a Florida prison, where he was serving two life sentences for the crimes. The chief prosecutor, Jerry Brock, argued she had made conflicting statements in earlier depositions. Represented by attorney Michael McDonnell, Steven Benson was ultimately convicted of first degree murder, attempted first degree murder, and arson of a dwelling. 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. Scott ran with a rough crowd, and was known to get rough with both Margaret and Carol Lynn. Steven Benson and his wife, Debra, leave funeral services for his mother and brother, Margaret and Scott Benson, at St. James Episcopal Church in Lancaster in 1985. He was very congenial, very eager to talk, Sands recalls. The prosecution's evidence is entirely circumstantial. He went through money like crazy, Sands says. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, a former Naples City Council candidate, is now a lawyer in Broward County focusing on family law and real estate. An autopsy report obtained by the Naples Daily News indicates the cause of death was a stab to the right temple. I knew she was scared of Scott, but that was a different situation. His sister, Carol Lynn, was badly burned in the blast but survived. 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.". It continued to prosper, and eventually both families had what some people call "real money," and what others disdain as "nouveau. A month later, the Naples police arrested Steven Benson and charged him with two counts of homicide and one count of attempted murder. The Defense. When he returned, they said, he prepared to join his family to look at a piece of land his mother had bought. When the Challenger space shuttle exploded a year after the Florida murders, Hitchcock broke down, Murphy recalls. 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. Steven Benson is serving two life sentences at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, Fla. But that changed over the next three weeks, as witness after witness took the stand. . Lending her emotional support was her grandfather, Harry Hitchcock, who had made a dramatic appearance in the courtroom at 8:25 a.m. and stayed the entire day. If Steven Benson caused problems, then Scott caused traumas. 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. Hitchcocks daughter, Margaret, it turned out, was not really the mother of Scott Benson. In addition, the Benson Family murder case was the subject of The Serpent's Tooth, a 1987 book by Christopher Andersen. Amos Sands of West Donegal Township remembers the day 20 years ago today as well. Her daughter, Kendall, was. ", 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. emains listed on the DOC website as an open investigation led by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. 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. Carol 's cause of death is unknown to us at this time. The Lancaster tobacco heir was convicted after a monthlong trial that was carried on Florida television, drew national headlines and spurred books and intense media coverage both here and in Florida. Murphys daughter, Brenda, was there that day. I still get recognized, said Michael McDonnell, Bensons defense attorney, who at 74 still practices in Naples and Fort Myers. 20 years later, friends and family still try to make sense of Benson murders: 'It still seems unreal', By opting into newsletters you are agreeing to our. 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.. 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. 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. . Mrs. Kendalls attorney, E. Richard Cirace of Boston, confirmed the report. "), Near the end of his testimony, he said he had finally told Margaret Benson, "You have to stop being a bank for your children." Carol 's cause of death is unknown to us at this time. At the urging of Hitchcock, Sands tried to talk to Benson about religion, about accepting Jesus as his savior, but Benson did not want to talk about that. The family and everybody just treated his grandmother as Scotts mother, the attorney said. Money was the downfall of the whole thing, says Sands, who visited Benson in prison up until about 10 years ago. Kendall, who now is the principal heir to her mother Margaret's $10 million fortune, denied reports she wastrying to cut the children of her brother, Steven Benson, out of any inheritance they might receive. ", Edward Benson died in 1980 at the age of 60, and his widow moved to Naples, Fla., a Gulf Coast enclave whose Chamber of Commerce boasts more millionaires per capita than any other U.S. city. By the time the trial began, Steven Benson had been in jail for almost 11 months. It came to an average monthly payment of more than $10,000, or a grand total of "around a quarter of a million dollars.". [12], Dominick Dunne's investigative crime show Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege, and Justice devoted an hour for the case of Steven Benson. 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. You can also browse other available content for Carol Lynn Benson Kendall on IMDb such as filmography, trivia, personal details, etc. Florida authorities have charged Steven Benson, Mrs. Kendall's 34-year-old natural brother, with setting the blast outside . To my knowledge, Scott never confronted his mother with the question. You can add or change photos at IMDb Pro. He was going to turn it into an apartment house. He had been driving it all that time, he said. And trying to come to grips with the loss of her mother, with whom she had been close, at least from time to time, has been hard. How people were crooked. 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. Privacy Policy Agreement * I agree to the Terms of use and Privacy Policy. 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. Its almost like its unbelievable, Murphy said today. Attorney (s) appearing for the Case https://insideeko.com/carol-lynn-benson-kendall-obituary-d/ insideeko.com On Monday, the state produced a witness whose testimony left a strong impression on those spectators who had seen the trial from the beginning. Lancaster was the hometown of the wealthy Benson family and the case received coverage . In the second week of the trial, Judge Hayes, 38, tried to hurry things along. An aerial shot of the home is shown in the background. 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. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall was a former Miss Florida runner-up and was survived in a murder attempt by her brother Steven Wayne Benson in 1985. Indeed, Margaret Benson did change her will, but in a terribly ironic touch, the only change was to cut out Wayne Kerr as executor. That changed over the next three weeks, as witness after witness took the stand to is carol lynn benson kendall still alive. 11 ] Washington was charged with murder for killing Benson, was the subject of whole... 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