But the topic was always the same: problems in prison. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall is 42 years old. She, of course, was referring to Margaret. Steven Bensons children - Elizabeth Benson, 5; Christopher Logan Benson, 5; and Natalie Nichole Benson, 4 - are entitled to inherit from their grandmothers estate, the judge said. Bensons aunt, for one, is glad her nephew is behind bars for likely the rest of his life. Police later learned that Scott. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, Appellant/Petitioner, v. Marjorie Starnes, As Guardian of the Property for the Minor Children of Steven W. Benson, and Steven W. Benson, Appellees/Respondents. I couldnt get through to him spiritually., Im no psychologist, Sands adds, but he lives in denial. "), Near the end of his testimony, he said he had finally told Margaret Benson, "You have to stop being a bank for your children." document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall came in to see her brother's jury be excused for the night. He had been driving it all that time, he said. He is a good brother. Steven said he was sorry but that he already had a business meeting. (Admitted to practice: 2002) Further, Kendall shall pay restitution of $1,075 to one client. A jury convicted Steven Benson of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and arson of a dwelling. ), I think the attention it got was because it was a rich family, and there was money and greed and love of money, said Harold Young, a retired Collier County Sheriffs Office lieutenant who was the lead investigator on the case. Bensons grandfather, the family patriarch and the Lancaster Leaf Tobacco magnate, the late Harry Hitchcock, was a congenial-looking, white-haired Christian businessman known for his tulip gardens in School Lane Hills. To Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, this question is, in a sense, peripheral. She had hoped he would get the death penalty. But the Florida Department of Corrections has been tight lipped about the cause and circumstances. . 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. he asked. I knew she was scared of Scott, but that was a different situation. . ", When they got back to Naples, Margaret told Steven she wanted to meet with him and Kerr that evening and "talk business." The problems, Sands says, were all Benson wanted to talk about during the visits. He was born in 1951 in Baltimore. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. Its like the story that keeps on giving. Trending. He parked it and positioned his family in it. It was her sister, Margaret, 63, and her nephew, Scott, 21, who had died in a horrific car explosion in Florida. 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. People are interested in that, and the way it was done every day, people dont blow up their mother and brother and sister in a prominent part of Naples., Young described Benson as calm, calculated, coldblooded., He thought he could get away with it, Young said. 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. Theres no record of him having a single visitor during his 28 years in prison, a Department of Corrections spokesman said. If Steven Benson caused problems, then Scott caused traumas. The Prosecution. The feud went back to at least 2012 after a series of assaults by Washington. 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. You can add or change photos at IMDb Pro. He said that "initially" he thought it was just sloppy bookkeeping. It was very weird. It all came back to him.. People had suspicions as to why, after having two children of her own, all of a sudden Mrs. Benson adopts a third.. Theyre all dead.. Scott ran with a rough crowd, and was known to get rough with both Margaret and Carol Lynn. In the second week of the trial, Judge Hayes, 38, tried to hurry things along. Lets go with disastrous hate. Copyright 2023 The Washington Times, LLC. It is said that she has taken their three children and returned to her small Wisconsin home town. I dont know if it will ever go away or not., Information from: LNP, https://lancasteronline.com. After nearly three decades behind bars, Benson died July 3 at 63, the same age his mother, Margaret Hitchcock Benson, was when she was killed by a pipe bomb he planted in her Chevrolet Suburban in the familys North Naples driveway in 1985. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. On the morning of the blast, prosecutors said, Benson drove the vehicle shortly before the explosion, allegedly to get doughnuts at a nearby convenience store. Attorney (s) appearing for the Case If they had objections they were to say, quietly, "May we approach the bench?" District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, a former Naples City Council candidate, is now a lawyer in Broward County focusing on family law and real estate. Florida law allows cameras in the courtroom, and much of this trial was televised live. Hitchcocks daughter, Margaret, it turned out, was not really the mother of Scott Benson. On Aug. 22, 1985, the State of Florida charged him with murder in the first degree of his 63-year-old mother, Margaret, and his adopted brother Scott. He had retained Naples attorney Michael McDonnell. The Fallout, At the funeral of Margaret and Scott Benson, Steven sat between his wife Debra and his grandfather, Harry Hitchcock. No mental problems, he was just evil., The case garnered national attention, and four authors later wrote books about it. Simpson trial, a gripping tale of a wealthy family torn apart by murder and avarice. One pulled Kendall, who was screaming, Im hot! We were trying to get some emotion out of him, he said. 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.. Fragments of the pipe-bomb Steven Benson built to blow up his family's Chevy Suburban, killing his mother and nephew and injuring his sister 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. Eyebrows were raised in the affluent Benson neighborhood, but Margaret prevailed and she raised the boy as her son. Beyond that, Young had little to say. I hope he does, she said. BOSTON -- Tobacco heiress Carol Lynn Benson Kendall said Wednesday she has no intention of cutting her brother's children out of the family fortune despite his conviction of murdering her mother. He stared at her and walked away, said Kendall, who is now 70 and living somewhere in Florida. He was talking to one of his associates - the phrase How much did we take in yesterday? sticks in my head. 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. Her father, she says, was broken up by the entire affair. He is also charged with the attempted murder of his sister, Carol Lynn. Your email address will not be published. Steven Benson blew up his mother and brother, and tried to kill his sister, to get a $10 million fortune. Collier Judge Hugh Hayes presided over the trial. Our prayers and thoughts are with the family and loved ones of Carol. 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. 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 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. He didnt say anything after prison. Mrs. Kendalls attorney, E. Richard Cirace of Boston, confirmed the report. 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. ", 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. 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. and never miss an insightful take by the TFIGlobal team, This website uses cookies. 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. The police were called and he was held for five days. "Malevolent" is what the prosecutors for the state call 35-year-old Steven Benson. Is Carol Lynn Benson Kendall still alive? 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. An email has been sent with a link to confirm list signup. He said he had a judicial conference he wanted very much to attend, so he had determined to finish the trial in three weeks. It seemed like a dumb thing." It came to an average monthly payment of more than $10,000, or a grand total of "around a quarter of a million dollars.". Margaret Benson and her son, Scott (who was actually Kendalls son, later adopted by her mother) already were dead. Also Read:Mustang used by Steve Mcqueen in Bullitt auctioned, Your email address will not be published. Real estate. He walked behind him and put his hand on his shoulder and he said, Steven Benson is a nice person. Carol Lynn testified that she thought Scott's being there was a "silly request. Carl Westman, a Naples attorney named to represent Margaret Benson's estate, usually sat with Cirace. And Steven usually drove when we were together. A jury convicted him of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and arson of a dwelling in 1986, and he spent the rest of his life in jail. I guess he didnt want him to go to hell.. ), After a brief rebuttal by the prosecution, Judge Hayes let the jury go. 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. Steven Wayne Benson was an American double murderer of his mother, tobacco heiress Margaret Benson, and his brother, tennis player Scott Benson. And there was lots of squabbling over who got what. McDonnell argued that palm print identification is not reliable. The Defense. emains listed on the DOC website as an open investigation led by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) - Heres what has stuck with them for 30 years, since the day that Steven Benson blew up his family in a Chevy Suburban in the driveway of their Florida home, in a greedy attempt to inherit a $10 million Lancaster tobacco company fortune: . Steven Benson is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 2, and prosecutors have asked for a life sentence. 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