Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, 42, of Brookline, Mass. Investigators also found on Bensons pants a single particle of zinc, which they said fell off the galvanized pipe while he was making the bombs that would later kill his mother and sister. The first thing he said was, Well, Steve done it, you know that. He thought that right away, Sands, now 81, remembered today. To Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, this question is, in a sense, peripheral. Please enable JavaScript to properly view our site. Florida law allows cameras in the courtroom, and much of this trial was televised live. But there were other debits. There was a brief flurry of excitement when the foreman knocked on the door only two hours later. Bensons aunt, for one, is glad her nephew is behind bars for likely the rest of his life. He will be eligible for parole when he is 85. Scott ran with a rough crowd, and was known to get rough with both Margaret and Carol Lynn. "How long does it take to say a guy was stabbed in the temple?" He cried so much, she says. An autopsy report obtained by the Naples Daily News indicates the cause of death was a stab to the right temple. And he is an arbitrator within the family when things go wrong., Steven started to cry. . The three children were to divide the estate equally. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall Death, Obituary pending- Carol Lynn Benson Kendall has reportedly passed away unexpectedly and suddenly. On July 9, 1985 Benson placed a car bomb on the family car, in which Margaret, Scott, and Steven's sister, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, (a former Miss Florida runner-up) were waiting for Steven to join them in the vehicle when the Suburban exploded. Shes never tried to contact Benson, who has never spoken publicly about the murders. 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. Another daily attendee was a lawyer representing the trust funds left by Harry Hitchcock's late wife. Its almost like its unbelievable, Murphy said today. She cannot believe that two decades have passed since the day that two family members were killed and her familys life was changed forever. 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: . He had very few visitors. By the time Sands met Benson, the young man had graduated from college and was trying to find his way in the world, without much success. 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. He worked in the laundry. She sat in the front row, not directly behind Steven, but on the other side -- in one of the seats reserved for the prosecution. My memorys getting pretty hazy. 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, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. There was an error processing your request. Im hot! from the burning car. One pulled Kendall, who was screaming, Im hot! Scrambling desperately, the injured Kendall pitched herself through the open door of the mangled van and onto the circular driveway in front of her mother's home. 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. Real estate. Bar Number: 555258. Carol Lynn testified that he arrived unusually early and insisted on taking the Chevy Suburban, rather than his own car, and first going by himself for coffee and doughnuts. Carol Lynn Kendall unsuccessfully ran for a Naples City Council seat while living in Port . Benson was arrested and ultimately convicted of planting two pipe bombs in the family's SUV, then coaxing everyone into the vehicle before blowing it up. It was obvious he was spending his mothers money on himself and his family, Brock said. Her daughter, Kendall, was. [3], On July 9, 1985, Benson placed a pipe bomb in the family car, in which Margaret, Scott, and Steven's sister, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall (a former Miss Florida runner-up), were waiting for Benson to join them when the Chevrolet Suburban exploded. In the Know: Is that Benson guy still in prison? Not just Steven, but the whole family was just ugly. Janet Murphy, Steven Bensons maternal aunt, said no one in the family ever patched things up with him, and he has never as much as admitted to the crime. Steven Benson denied all requests for media interviews. By the time the closing statements were presented, the evidence was clear, Bennett said. 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. Bensons 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. 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. Hes had no contact at all.. It also wanted to rehear some of what the government fingerprint expert had said about the palm prints. Reached Friday about her brothers death, she said, I really have no comment.. Tragically, Hitchcock turned out to be right about his grandson. But there is no doubt that he had a rough crowd of friends -- the defense called several occupants of the Naples jail to testify about Scott and his various habits, in the hope that this possible alternative theory would raise a reasonable doubt as to whether Steven is guilty. The Herald also reported that it was common knowledge among certain of Steven's childhood friends that he liked to make bombs. It was the O.J. She said she will never forget that moment. She had hoped he would get the death penalty. His grandson never acknowledged him again, not even when he came to Florida for the trial. It all came back to him.. 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. Murphy herself doesnt have those feelings toward her nephew. Eyebrows were raised in the affluent Benson neighborhood, but Margaret prevailed and she raised the boy as her son. But the jury only wanted to have portions of Carol Lynn Benson Kendall's testimony read back. Just follow the money, and you could see what he was doing.. You can add or change photos at IMDb Pro. FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) _ The estate of murdered tobacco heiress Margaret Benson should be shared equally by the children of the son who killed her and by her daughter, a judge has ruled. He returned and got everyone into the Suburban and then went back into the house to retrieve a tape measure. You could see a hateful heart in Steven then. Retired U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agent Frank Kendall -- no relation to Carol Lynn -- testified that the palm print Steven Benson voluntarily gave the police in the summer of 1985 and the palm print on the pipe invoice were "made by the same person." He had cautioned his new employes, according to testimony, not to let anyone in the offices of the Naples-based companies know the name of the company or what they did. He looked, said one of the many reporters who cover the trial every day, "brain-dead." A jury convicted Steven Benson of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and arson of a dwelling. I did most of the talking.. Brocks brother, Jerry, the lead prosecutor in the case, asked him to help with the financial issues in the case as it was going to trial. She said, I want to know where all the money went. She wanted to see the books. 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. . He was always doing things but never getting anything accomplished, Sands recalls. He complimented the jury for its "staying power," but that didn't stop him from holding court all day Saturday, too. It was very weird. [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? I had never known anyone like this before. In the spring and summer of 1985, she asked Wayne Kerr, a young lawyer from Philadelphia, to come down to Naples. McDonnell argued that palm print identification is not reliable. "), Near the end of his testimony, he said he had finally told Margaret Benson, "You have to stop being a bank for your children." 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. Last Known Contact Information. I mean, I was scared of Scott . Florida authorities have charged Steven Benson, Mrs. Kendalls 34-year-old natural brother, with setting the blast outside the familys Naples, Fla., home because he believed he was about to be cut out of his mothers will. emains listed on the DOC website as an open investigation led by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Carol Lynn Kendall testifies during the trial of her brother, Steven Benson, during his 1986 trial. Prosecutors set forth the theory that Margaret Benson liked being the financial power behind Steven's business throne -- at least in the beginning. Even though he had a fancy car" -- the Lotus -- "he didn't like to drive. A month later, the Naples police arrested Steven Benson and charged him with two counts of homicide and one count of attempted murder. Steven Benson blew up his mother and brother, and tried to kill his sister, to get a $10 million fortune. 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. She, not being blinded by the forces of sexuality, very quickly perceived the true character of Tracy Mullins and was very much opposed to my seeing her. He smiles with his attorneys on occasion when the jury is out, but the men he seems most comfortable with, the men he sometimes even kids with, are the huge-armed deputy sheriffs, his jailers. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. 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. How it wasnt run correctly. 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. 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. 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. Harold Young, the lead Collier County sheriff's detective who pegged Benson as his primary suspect the day of the killings, said he is more surprised by the length of the investigation than the way Benson died. She hardly looked at her brother, but when she testified about Scott Benson, she called him "my son. Kendall was retained by clients in two separate cases but failed to adequately represent them. Bennett heard how the bombs were assembled, with nails and tacks put inside them so they would do the most damage. 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. He said, Thats how Margaret died. Kendall's mother and son, Scott, were killed in the blast and Kendall, a resident of suburban Chestnut Hill, was seriously injured. Naples killer Steven Benson who sought $10 million family fortune dies in jail with $30 to his name, Naples pipe bomb killer Steven Benson dies in prison. It continued to prosper, and eventually both families had what some people call "real money," and what others disdain as "nouveau. 'Money is the last thing that's even on my mind.'. Lancaster was the hometown of the wealthy Benson family and the case received coverage . Represented by attorney Michael McDonnell, Steven Benson was ultimately convicted of first degree murder, attempted first degree murder, and arson of a dwelling. Related story: Naples pipe bomb killer Steven Benson dies in prison. ", The jowly and bespectacled witness testified that Steven's company books were a mess, with checkbook entries missing and no balance carried forward. Electronics. Office: 954-789-0834. The Chevrolet Suburban was blown all to bits and pieces, with a body lying out on each side.. Behind bars, Benson has worked in the laundry and on a painting detail. File photo. 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.". 10-Year Discipline History: . They were obliterated when a pipe bomb the size of a football planted between the two front seats exploded. The Trustees set up a trust for Kendall, a trust for Stephen, and a share for Scott. 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. Just sort of odd, very different.. Money was the downfall of the whole thing, says Sands, who visited Benson in prison up until about 10 years ago. A maid testified that he was "the apple of his mother's eye." I saw you on TV. Collier Circuit Judge Hugh D. Hayes issued the ruling Monday. Her daughter, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, was injured. Scott was an aspiring tennis professional, but apparently the aspirations were Margaret's rather than his. Though police initially called the blast, caused by two pipe bombs, a big mystery, it didnt take them long to zero on one suspect: Steven Benson. Scott had canisters of nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, to which he was addicted, delivered to the house on a monthly basis, defense witnesses said. Mail Address: Law Offices of Carol Lynn B Kendall, Esq 2719 Hollywood Blvd Ste 164 Hollywood, FL 33020-4821. Florida authorities have charged Steven Benson, Mrs. Kendall's 34-year-old natural brother, with setting the blast outside . It seemed like a dumb thing." Tracking money - that was my forte, said Dwight Brock, who is now 61 and works as the Collier County Clerk of Courts in Florida. [5] He avoided the death penalty, and was sentenced to two life terms in prison. But she didn't know its size, and she didn't know that Steven had made the down payment with a blank check she had signed and left behind for household expenses while she was on a cruise. He was sobbing.. Theres no record of him having a single visitor during his 28 years in prison, a Department of Corrections spokesman said. Then, as they got into the car, Caroline noticed Stephen asking them to get in. Steven was paid $244,974.39 so he could pay his legal fees. For years, she had paid for the lessons and the coaches and the trips, not to mention his 16 tennis racquets. Trending. Murphys daughter, Brenda, was there that day. Had she not left the rear door of the unairconditioned Chevy Suburban wagon open on that miserably hot July morning 13 months ago in Naples, Fla., she, like her mother and her 21-year-old adopted "brother" Scott, would also be dead. He had been driving it all that time, he said. And he put a lot of planning in it but never covered his tracks at all., Tom Schelling, whom the Benson family had on the payroll to do maintenance and construction around their many estates, said he has known Steven Benson since high school. Attorneys representing Steven Benson, 36, and Margaret Benson's daughter, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, 43, said they both probably will appeal Monday's ruling. Margaret Benson Many members of the family have disappeared from public view in the past 20 years. Movies. Under Florida law, Steven Benson is precluded from receiving proceeds of the estate of the person he murdered, Hayes said. Prosecutors linked Benson to the bomb explosion by producing a receipt, with Bensons palm print, for the purchase of pieces of pipe and end caps. 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. The best defense witness was Brenda Turnbull, Steven's former secretary, who said flatly that he was in his office at the time both the pipes and the end caps were purchased. Also Read : . The case still resonates three decades later. Margaret Benson eventually loaned her son the money but he never did anything with the building, Sands says. 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. Lets go with disastrous hate. After her testimony, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall was nowhere to be seen. 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. "I don't really know how to comment on it. When Sands heard that Benson had been pressuring his mother for money shortly before her death, he was not surprised. View our. Young said they talked about Mothers Day, and how sad it would be to not have his mother around on that day. Cirace said the rumors were never confirmed until Steven Bensons lawyers questioned Mrs. Kendall about it, to test her credibility. 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