Latest / History Dark / (1870_ Kansas) Macabre History _ The Wild West_s Deadliest Serial Killers_ The Benders

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(1870_ Kansas) Macabre History _ The Wild West_s Deadliest Serial Killers_ The Benders · History Dark

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to this journey through one of the most disturbing
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  Speaker 1: cases recorded in American history. Before we begin, I invite
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  Speaker 1: you to leave in the comments where you're watching from
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  Speaker 1: and the exact time you're listening to this narration. We're
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  Speaker 1: interested in knowing which places and at what times of
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  Speaker 1: day or night these documented accounts reach. The year was 1870.
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  Speaker 1: The American frontier, a vast and unforgiving landscape where law
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  Speaker 1: was often just a distant concept, where settlers sought fortune
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  Speaker 1: and a new beginning. Labette County, Kansas, a place of opportunity,
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  Speaker 1: of open prairies and scattered homesteads, a place where travelers disappeared,
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  Speaker 1: where the earth itself seemed to swallow people whole. Kansas,
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  Speaker 1: in 1870, was still a raw and developing territory. The
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  Speaker 1: state had entered the Union just nine years earlier, in 1861,
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  Speaker 1: amidst the turmoil of the Civil War. The conflict had
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  Speaker 1: left deep scars across the region, with memories of bleeding
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  Speaker 1: Kansas still fresh in the minds of many residents. Homesteaders
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  Speaker 1: were flooding in, drawn by the promise of the Homestead
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  Speaker 1: Act of 1862, which offered 160 acres of public land
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  Speaker 1: to any adult citizen who had never taken up arms
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  Speaker 1: against the United States government. The southeastern corner of Kansas,
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  Speaker 1: where Labette County sits, was particularly attractive to settlers. The
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  Speaker 1: land was fertile. the Great Plains stretching out in seemingly
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  Speaker 1: endless possibility. The Osage Trail, once a Native American pathway,
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  Speaker 1: had become a crucial route for settlers, merchants, and fortune-seekers
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  Speaker 1: heading west. Daily wagons would creak along this dusty trail,
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  Speaker 1: carrying the hopes and possessions of those seeking a new life.
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  Speaker 1: It was in this landscape of opportunity and transience that
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  Speaker 1: a small cabin appeared in 1870, approximately 16 miles northeast,
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  Speaker 1: of where Parsons, Kansas, stands today. A modest structure, part
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  Speaker 1: grocery store, part inn, operated by a family of four
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  Speaker 1: who introduced themselves as the Benders. John Bender Sr., his
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  Speaker 1: wife Elmira, often called Ma, their son John Jr., and
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  Speaker 1: their daughter Kate. Simple folk, they claimed. Immigrants seeking the
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  Speaker 1: American dream. But dreams in Kansas sometimes twisted into nightmares.
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  Speaker 1: By the spring of 1873, at least eleven travelers would
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  Speaker 1: vanish along this stretch of trail. Eleven souls who stopped
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  Speaker 1: for a meal or a night's rest, never to continue
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  Speaker 1: their journey. The bender cabin, sitting innocuously on the prairie,
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  Speaker 1: concealed horrors that would not be discovered until it was
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  Speaker 1: too late. This is not a tale of ghosts or
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  Speaker 1: supernatural phenomena. This is the documented account of what many
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  Speaker 1: consider America's first serial killing family. the Bloody Benders of Kansas.
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  Speaker 1: The period following the Civil War saw significant movement across
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  Speaker 1: the American frontier. Veterans from both sides sought new beginnings
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  Speaker 1: away from the devastated landscapes of the East. Immigrant families
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  Speaker 1: arrived daily at eastern ports, many continuing westward in search
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  Speaker 1: of land and opportunity. The Transcontinental Railroad, completed in 1869,
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  Speaker 1: had opened new possibilities for travel, though many routes, including
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  Speaker 1: the Osage Trail, remained accessible only by wagon or horseback.
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  Speaker 1: Labette County itself was established in 1867 and named after
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  Speaker 1: Labette Creek that runs through the region. The county seat
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  Speaker 1: was initially located in Oswego, but would later move to
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  Speaker 1: Parsons after that town was established in 1871. According to
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  Speaker 1: census records, the county's population in 1870 was approximately 9,173
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  Speaker 1: residents scattered across the rolling prairie in small communities and
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  Speaker 1: isolated homesteads. The cabin still stands in memory, if not
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  Speaker 1: in physical form. A simple structure, roughly 16 by 24 feet,
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  Speaker 1: divided by a canvas curtain. The front half served as
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  Speaker 1: a grocery store and dining area for weary travelers. The
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  Speaker 1: back half, hidden behind that innocent curtain, was the family's
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  Speaker 1: private quarters, a place no outsider was meant to see.
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  Speaker 1: What makes this case particularly disturbing is not just the
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  Speaker 1: brutality of the crimes, but the calculated normalcy the family maintained.
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  Speaker 1: The way they inserted themselves into a community, presented themselves
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  Speaker 1: as hard-working immigrants, all while systematically eliminating those who crossed
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  Speaker 1: their threshold. According to county records from 1870, John Bender Sr.
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  Speaker 1: claimed 160 acres under the Homestead Act. A German immigrant,
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  Speaker 1: his English was poor, his manner described as grim and
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  Speaker 1: unfriendly by those who interacted with him. Local accounts describe
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  Speaker 1: him as a man of medium height with a perpetual scowl.
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  Speaker 1: His beard was unkempt, his clothing often soiled from working
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  Speaker 1: the land. Those few who engaged him in conversation noted
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  Speaker 1: how his eyes never seemed to meet theirs, always darting about,
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  Speaker 1: as if watching for something approaching from a distance. The
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  Speaker 1: Homestead Act required claimants to improve the land by building
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  Speaker 1: a dwelling and cultivating crops. The Benders did the minimum
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  Speaker 1: necessary to maintain their claim, constructing the cabin and planting
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  Speaker 1: a small orchard of apple trees behind it. They cleared
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  Speaker 1: perhaps 10 acres for crops, though neighbors noted that their
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  Speaker 1: agricultural efforts seemed half-hearted at best. Heinrich Schmidt, who owned
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  Speaker 1: land two miles east, later testified, The old man Bender...
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  Speaker 1: He did not farm like a man who cares for
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  Speaker 1: the land. He scratched at the soil like a chicken,
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  Speaker 1: just enough to say he had planted. When I tried
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  Speaker 1: to offer advice about crop rotation, he stared at me
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  Speaker 1: as if I spoke in tongues, though I addressed him
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  Speaker 1: in our native German. His wife, a large woman of
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  Speaker 1: imposing stature, was said to speak even less English than
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  Speaker 1: her husband. Many who encountered her described her as masculine
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  Speaker 1: and threatening. Some accounts suggest she could only speak in
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  Speaker 1: guttural sounds and unintelligible phrases. Township records describe her as
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  Speaker 1: being near six feet tall, with broad shoulders and hands
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  Speaker 1: that showed the calluses of hard labor. Her face was weathered,
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  Speaker 1: seemingly incapable of forming a smile. Local children would cross
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  Speaker 1: to the other side of the trail to avoid passing
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  Speaker 1: directly by her when she stood outside the cabin. Ma
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  Speaker 1: Bender's origins were as obscure as her husband's. Some accounts
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  Speaker 1: suggest she was not German at all, but perhaps of
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  Speaker 1: Dutch or Scandinavian descent. Her age was estimated to be
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  Speaker 1: between 45 and 55. Those who interacted with her noted
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  Speaker 1: that she wore the same faded blue dress almost daily,
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  Speaker 1: covered by a stained apron, that bore evidence of her
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  Speaker 1: work in the cabin's kitchen. Reverend William Wakefield, the circuit
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  Speaker 1: preacher who occasionally held services in the area, wrote in
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  Speaker 1: his journal in February 1872 that, called upon the Bender
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  Speaker 1: family today to invite them to Sunday service. The woman
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  Speaker 1: of the house greeted me with such a fearsome countenance
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  Speaker 1: that I nearly forgot my Christian purpose. When I mentioned
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  Speaker 1: the Lord's work, she made a sound like the growling
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  Speaker 1: of a dog and turned away. There are souls in
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  Speaker 1: need of salvation in that house, but I confess a
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  Speaker 1: reluctance to return. Their son, John Jr., was described as
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  Speaker 1: a man of limited intelligence, possibly suffering from some cognitive impairment.
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  Speaker 1: According to statements given to the Labette County Sheriff in 1873,
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  Speaker 1: neighbors noted that John Jr. would often be seen wandering
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  Speaker 1: the property at odd hours, muttering to himself. He was
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  Speaker 1: tall like his mother, but thin, almost gaunt. His clothing
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  Speaker 1: hung loosely on his frame. One neighbor, a Mr. Garrett,
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  Speaker 1: stated that John Jr. had once visited his farm to
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  Speaker 1: purchase eggs. and during the entire transaction, had giggled periodically
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  Speaker 1: for no apparent reason. John Jr. was believed to be
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  Speaker 1: in his mid-twenties. He occasionally worked as a day laborer
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  Speaker 1: for surrounding farms, though employers noted his work was often substandard.
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  Speaker 1: He seemed to have difficulty following basic instructions, and would
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  Speaker 1: sometimes abandon tasks midway through completion. Dr. Nathan Lawson, who
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  Speaker 1: practiced medicine in Parsons, encountered John Jr. in town in
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  Speaker 1: the summer of 1872. In a letter to a colleague,
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  Speaker 1: Lawson wrote, I was approached today by the young benderman,
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  Speaker 1: who complained of headaches. Upon examination, I noted several peculiarities
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  Speaker 1: in his manner and speech that suggest congenital deficiencies of
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  Speaker 1: the mind. His cranial formation exhibits certain abnormalities consistent with
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  Speaker 1: cases of mental retardation I studied during my time in Philadelphia.
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  Speaker 1: Despite his imposing physical stature, he exhibits the understanding of
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  Speaker 1: a child of perhaps eight or nine years. But it
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  Speaker 1: was their daughter Kate who stands out most prominently in
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  Speaker 1: historical records. Kate Bender, unlike her family, spoke fluent English.
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  Speaker 1: She was described as attractive, educated, and charming. Local newspapers
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  Speaker 1: occasionally mentioned her advertising herself as a spiritualist and healer
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  Speaker 1: who could cure illnesses through her magnetic powers. The Parsons
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  Speaker 1: Eagle carried an advertisement in its October 1871 issue in
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  Speaker 1: which Kate offered to communicate with spirits and heal the
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  Speaker 1: afflicted for a modest fee. Kate was approximately 23 years
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  Speaker 1: old when the family settled in Lubetka. She had auburn hair,
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  Speaker 1: according to multiple accounts, and carried herself with uncommon confidence
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  Speaker 1: for a frontier woman. Unlike her family members, she engaged
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  Speaker 1: freely with the community, attending local gatherings and church services.
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  Speaker 1: Her charm was noted by several male residents, including the
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  Speaker 1: editor of the local newspaper, who described her as a
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  Speaker 1: woman of uncommon intelligence and pleasing demeanor. Professor James Cunningham
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  Speaker 1: of the Oswego Seminary met Kate at a public lecture
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  Speaker 1: on spiritualism in January 1872. His diary entry from that
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  Speaker 1: evening reads, Among the attendees was a striking young woman
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  Speaker 1: who identified herself as Miss Kate Bender. She demonstrated a
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  Speaker 1: surprising familiarity with the spiritualist literature, citing Andrew Jackson Davis
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  Speaker 1: and Emanuel Swedenborg with the ease of a scholar. Her
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  Speaker 1: questions were incisive, and showed an intellect far superior to
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  Speaker 1: what one might expect from her station. I found myself
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  Speaker 1: wondering how such a refined young woman came to be
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  Speaker 1: the daughter of the crude German immigrant family about whom
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  Speaker 1: I have heard whispers. The question of whether Kate was
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  Speaker 1: actually a blood relation to the other benders remains unresolved.
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  Speaker 1: Some historical accounts suggest she may have been unrelated, perhaps
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  Speaker 1: a companion of John Jr., who assumed the role of
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  Speaker 1: daughter for the purpose of their criminal enterprise. Census records
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  Speaker 1: provide no clarity on this matter, as the family appears
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  Speaker 1: to have avoided official documentation whenever possible. County records show
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  Speaker 1: that the Benders established their small inn and grocery in 1871.
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  Speaker 1: The location was strategic, positioned along the Osage Trail, a
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  Speaker 1: well-traveled route used by settlers, merchants, and travelers heading west.
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  Speaker 1: The establishment seemed legitimate. They sold basic supplies, offered meals,
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  Speaker 1: and provided overnight accommodations for a modest fee. The grocery
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  Speaker 1: stock was minimal. flour, coffee, tobacco, canned goods, and basic
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  Speaker 1: dry goods. The meals served were simple but filling, typically
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  Speaker 1: consisting of bread, salt pork, or beef, and coffee. Travelers
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  Speaker 1: could sleep on crude pallets in the main room for
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  Speaker 1: 25 cents per night, or, if they preferred privacy, could
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  Speaker 1: pay 50 cents to sleep in the wagon shed behind
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  Speaker 1: the cabin. But something wasn't right about the Bender Place.
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: something that locals couldn't quite put their finger on. Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Thomas Ewers, who owned the adjacent property to the east,
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  Speaker 1: later told investigators that he had noticed odd behaviors. The
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  Speaker 1: benders would often work in their fields well after sunset,
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  Speaker 1: barely visible in the gathering darkness. On moonlit nights, he
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  Speaker 1: sometimes observed them digging in the orchard behind their cabin.
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  Speaker 1: When questioned about this activity, John Sr., had claimed they
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  Speaker 1: were planting fruit trees, but Ewers noted that the digging
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  Speaker 1: occurred in different locations and at irregular intervals. Ewers stated
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  Speaker 1: in his official testimony, I recall one night in the
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  Speaker 1: fall of 72, must have been October by the harvest moon,
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  Speaker 1: I was returning late from Cherryvale and passed by the
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  Speaker 1: Bender Place. The hour was well past midnight, yet I
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  Speaker 1: saw lantern light among the trees in their orchard. I
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  Speaker 1: thought it strange that anyone would be tending trees at
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  Speaker 1: such an hour. The next day I mentioned it to
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  Speaker 1: Old Man Bender, and he claimed they had been setting
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  Speaker 1: out new saplings that had just arrived. But there was
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  Speaker 1: frost that night, and no farmer would sense plants trees
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: in a frost. The cabin's layout would later prove significant.
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  Speaker 1: Diners would be seated with their backs to the canvas
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  Speaker 1: curtain that divided the cabin. Behind this curtain, out of sight,
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  Speaker 1: the family could prepare. or what exactly, would only become
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  Speaker 1: clear later. A ledger recovered from the property showed that
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  Speaker 1: between May 1871 and March 1873, the benders had recorded
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  Speaker 1: transactions with over 100 travelers, yet neighbors reported seeing far
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  Speaker 1: fewer people actually stopping at the inn. When questioned about
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  Speaker 1: this discrepancy after the discoveries, no one could provide a
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  Speaker 1: satisfactory explanation. The first documented disappearance connected to the area
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  Speaker 1: occurred in May 1871. A man named Jones, a cattle
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  Speaker 1: dealer from Georgia, was traveling through Kansas with $ 3, 000 in cash,
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  Speaker 1: a substantial sum at the time. He was last seen
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  Speaker 1: heading toward the Bender property. When he failed to reach
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  Speaker 1: his destination, his associates initiated a search. Nothing was found.
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  Speaker 1: Further research has revealed that this man was likely Charles
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  Speaker 1: Jones of Atlanta, Georgia. who had traveled to Kansas to
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  Speaker 1: purchase cattle for his expanding butchery business. Bank records from
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  Speaker 1: Atlanta confirm that Jones withdrew $ 3, 000 in gold certificates before departing.
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  Speaker 1: His business partner, Frederick Walton, traveled to Kansas in June
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  Speaker 1: 1871 to search for Jones when no word came of
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  Speaker 1: his arrival or the cattle purchase. Walton's journal discovered among
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  Speaker 1: his effects after his own death in 1890 Contains this
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  Speaker 1: entry from June 12, 1871. No sign of Charles anywhere.
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  Speaker 1: Have spoken with the station master at Cherryvale, who recalls
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  Speaker 1: a man matching Charles' description, arriving approximately May 8. The
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  Speaker 1: man inquired about lodging along the Osage Trail and was
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  Speaker 1: directed to several establishments, including a new grocery operated by
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  Speaker 1: a German family. I visited this place today, a crude
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  Speaker 1: cabin occupied by unfriendly folk. The old man claimed no
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: memory of Charles, though his daughter, a surprisingly refined young woman,
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  Speaker 1: offered to consult spirits to help locate him. I declined
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  Speaker 1: this unusual offer. The disappearance was noted in local records,
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: but in frontier Kansas, men sometimes vanished. The wilderness was vast.
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: Native American conflicts still occurred, and outlaws roamed freely. One
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: missing man did not raise significant alarms. In August 1871,
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  Speaker 1: a man named Bird, a visitor from Illinois, disappeared after
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  Speaker 1: telling associates he planned to stay at the Bender Inn.
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  Speaker 1: His horse was later found wandering loose near Fort Scott,
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  Speaker 1: some 30 miles away. But Bird himself was never located.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: This was Henry Bird, a hardware merchant from Springfield, Illinois.
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: According to business correspondence recovered by his family, Bird had
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: traveled to Kansas to assess the possibility of opening a
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: branch store in the growing town of Independence. He had
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: written to his wife on August 10, 1871, I shall
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: stay tonight at a wayside inn some miles northeast of Independence.
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  Speaker 1: The journey has been wearying, and I look forward to
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: a hot meal and rest before continuing to Independence tomorrow.
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  Speaker 1: I should arrive there by midday. When Bird failed to
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: arrive in Independence, inquiries were made along his expected route.
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: The stablemaster in Cherryvale recalled directing Bird to the Bender Inn.
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: When questioned, Kate Bender claimed that Bird had indeed stopped
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: for a meal, but had continued on his journey before nightfall.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: In October of the same year, two German immigrants, names
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: recorded only as Fichte and Hoffman in township documents, vanished
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: while traveling westward along the Osage Trail. Their wagon was
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: discovered abandoned approximately five miles west of the Bender property.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: Local authorities suspected robbery by the numerous outlaw gangs that
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: operated in the territory. Further investigation has identified these men
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: as Johann Fichte and Karl Hoffmann, recent arrivals from Bremen, Germany.
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: They had purchased land near Fort Scott and were traveling
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: to inspect their new property when they disappeared. Their wagon,
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: when discovered, contained only their personal belongings. A sum of $ 800,
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: which bank records show they had withdrawn in Cherryvale, was missing.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: Over the following months, others would go missing along the
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: same stretch of trail. A father and daughter, George Launcher
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: and his eight-year-old Mary Ann, disappeared in November 1872 while
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: traveling to Iowa after the death of Mrs. Launcher. George
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: had sold their property in Independence, Kansas, and was carrying
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: over $ 2, 500 in cash, according to bank records from the time.
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: The Launcher case would later prove particularly heart-rending. George Launcher
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: was a widower whose wife Sarah had died of tuberculosis
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: in October 1872. Unable to manage both his blacksmith business
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: and care for his daughter alone, Launcher had decided to
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: relocate to Iowa, where his wife's sister had offered to
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: help raise Mary Ann. He had sold his business and
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: property for a substantial sum, intending to establish a new
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: smithy in Iowa. A letter from Sarah Launcher's sister, Emily Patterson,
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: to the sheriff's office, dated December 18, 1872, reads, We
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: expected George and Mary Ann to arrive before Thanksgiving. When
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: no word came, we sent telegrams to Independence, but received
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: no satisfactory answer. My husband traveled there himself last week
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: and learned that George and my sweet niece left Independence
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: on November 10th. No trace of them has been found since.
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: I fear the worst and pray daily for news, though
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: my heart tells me they are gone from this world.
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: In December 1872, a man named Benjamin Brown failed to
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: arrive at his brother's homestead in western Kansas. Brown had
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: written to his brother stating his intention to travel the
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: Osage Trail and mentioning he would likely stop at a
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: roadside inn along the way. Benjamin Brown was a Union
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: Army veteran who had served with the 10th Kansas Infantry
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: during the Civil War. Military pension records show he had
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: been wounded at the Battle of Prairie Grove and walked
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: with a pronounced limp as a result. He had been
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: traveling to join his brother Samuel who had established a
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: successful wheat farm near Hays, Kansas. Samuel Brown's affidavit to
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: investigators stated, Ben wrote that he would leave Independence on
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: December 7th and expected to reach my farm by Christmas.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: He mentioned that his war injury made travel difficult and
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: that he would likely stop at inns along the way,
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: rather than camping rough as he once might have done.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: When he failed to arrive, I feared, he had succumbed
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: to the winter weather, or that his old wound had
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: troubled him. Never did I imagine he had fallen victim
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: to murderers. These disappearances created a pattern that few noticed
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: at the time. The isolation of frontier communities meant that
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: news traveled slowly. Each disappearance was treated as an isolated
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: incident rather than part of a larger, more sinister trend.
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: The case that would ultimately lead to the discovery of
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: the Bender's crimes involved Dr. William York from Independence, Kansas. Dr.
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: York disappeared in March 1873 while searching for Launcher and
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: his daughter, who were friends of the York family. Dr.
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: York came from a prominent family. His brothers included Colonel
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: Ed York and Alexander York, a Kansas state senator. When
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: he failed to return home, his family launched a substantial investigation. Dr. York,
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: aged 38, was a respected physician who had established his
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: practice in independence after serving as a medical officer during
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: the Civil War. His medical journal, recovered from his office,
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: indicated that he had promised Mrs. Launcher before her death
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: that he would look after her husband and daughter. This
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: promise led him to begin searching when news reached him
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: of their disappearance. York's last known communication was a letter
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: to his wife dated March 9, 1873. I have inquired
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: throughout Cherryvale and learned that George and Mary Ann passed
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: through here last November. Tomorrow I shall travel northeast along
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: the Osage Trail. As several informants suggested, they may have
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: taken that route. I expect to return within three days.
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: Kiss the children for me. This search would eventually lead
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: to the Bender Cabin and the discovery that would shock
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: the nation. The investigation began quietly. Colonel York visited the
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: Bender home in April 1873, inquiring about his brother. Kate Bender,
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: ever charming, expressed sympathy and suggested that Indians or outlaws
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: along the trail might be responsible. She offered to communicate
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: with spirits to help locate the missing doctor. According to
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: Colonel York's later testimony, something about the encounter left him
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: deeply unsettled. In a letter to his wife dated April 9, 1873,
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: Colonel York wrote, I spoke with the bender girl today
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: regarding William. She professed to have no knowledge of his whereabouts,
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: but offered to consult the spirits for a fee of
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: one dollar. I declined her offer. There is something not
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: right about that family. The old woman stared at me
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: throughout our conversation in a manner I found most disturbing.
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: I shall return to-morrow with the sheriff. When Colonel York
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: returned to the bender property the following day, accompanied by
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: the township constable, He found the place deserted. This sudden
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: departure raised immediate suspicions, leading to a more thorough search
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: of the property. Meanwhile, travelers who had visited the Bender
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: Inn and survived later reported unusual behaviors. The family insisted
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: that guests sit in specific positions at the table, always
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: with their backs to the curtain. John Sr. or Jr.
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: would often position themselves near the curtain during meals. Kate
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: would engage guests in conversation, drawing their attention. And then,
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: for some, the meal would be their last moment on earth.
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: The method, as reconstructed by investigators, was horrifyingly efficient. While
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: Kate distracted the traveler, one of the male benders would
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: step behind the canvas curtain. From this position, they would
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: strike the back of the victim's head with a hammer,
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: a blow delivered through the curtain itself. The victim would
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: then be dragged behind the curtain, their throat cut to
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: ensure death, and their body dropped through a trap door
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: into a cellar below. Later, under cover of darkness, the
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: bodies would be buried in the orchard behind the cabin.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: A traveler named William Pickering would later provide crucial testimony.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: Having stopped at the Bender Inn in February 1873, he
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: noted several peculiarities. In a sworn statement to the Labette
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: County Sheriff, Pickering stated, I was seated at the table
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: for supper with my back to a canvas partition. The
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: meal was simple, bread, cold meat, and coffee. Throughout the meal,
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: the old man and the son kept moving behind me,
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: which caused me great unease. The daughter engaged me in
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: conversation about my journey and my business. When I mentioned
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: I was a schoolteacher heading to take a position in
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: Fort Scott and had left my valuables with relatives in Parsons,
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: The family's demeanor changed markedly. They became less attentive, almost dismissive.
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: I left the next morning unharmed, but with a distinct
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: feeling that I had narrowly avoided something unpleasant. Another survivor,
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: Edward Leach, a cattle buyer from St. Louis, stayed at
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: the Bender Inn in January 1873. His account provides additional
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: insight into how the family selected their victims. During supper,
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: Kate Bender asked pointed questions about my business. When I
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: mentioned I was returning home, having already sold my herd,
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: and deposited the proceeds in the bank at Independence, the
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: old woman made a grunting sound and left the table.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: The atmosphere became noticeably cooler. I had intended to stay
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: the night, but decided instead to continue on to Cherryvale,
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: despite the late hour. Something in their manner suggested I
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: was no longer welcome once they learned I carried no cash.
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: Pickering's and Leach's accounts suggest that the Benders selected their
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: victims based on perceived wealth and isolation, targeting those carrying valuables,
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: and unlikely to be immediately missed. As winter gave way
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: to spring in 1873, the community's concern about missing travelers
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: reached a breaking point. A township meeting was held in
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: the Harmony Grove Schoolhouse in late April to discuss the disappearances. Notably,
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: both John Bender Sr., Ann Jr. attended this meeting. According
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: to township records, they sat quietly as neighbors discussed forming
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: search parties to investigate the missing persons' cases. The minutes
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: of this meeting, preserved in the Labette County Historical Society archives,
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: note that several residents expressed fear about traveling the Osage
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: Trail alone. A proposal was made to establish regular patrols.
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: When asked his opinion, John Bender Sr. reportedly shrugged and
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: said only, Batman out there. before falling silent again. Moses Beachy,
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: a Mennonite farmer who attended the meeting, later recalled, The
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: old bender sat against the wall, his hat pulled low
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: over his eyes. When talk turned to forming search parties,
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: I noticed him exchange a glance with his son. There
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: was something in that look that struck me as peculiar,
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: though I couldn't say why at the time. Looking back now,
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: I believe they were already planning their escape. Shortly after
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: this meeting, a neighbor noticed that the Bender's livestock was
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: unattended and their cabin appeared abandoned. This observation was reported
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: to township officials on April 27, 1873. When locals entered
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: the property, they found the cabin empty of inhabitants, though
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: personal belongings remained. It appeared the family had fled in haste.
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: What happened next would cement the Benders in American criminal history.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: The search of the property began in the cabin itself.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: The smell was the first indicator that something was terribly wrong.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: A putrid odor emanated from a trapdoor discovered in the
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: floor behind the canvas curtain. In the cellar below, investigators
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: found blood-soaked earth. The cellar itself was shallow, no more
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: than three feet deep, and measured approximately six feet by
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: eight feet. The walls were stained dark with what appeared
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: to be dried blood. Leroy Dick, the township trustee who
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: led the initial investigation, would later write in his official report,
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: The stench arising from this hole was overwhelming, suggesting that
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: bodies had been kept there for some time before burial.
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: The earthen floor was saturated with blood to such a
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: degree that it had the consistency of mud. The sight
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: was enough to turn the strongest stomach. Outside, in the orchard,
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: the ground showed signs of disturbance. The earth had been turned.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: over in several locations, then tamped down and covered with
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: deadfall to disguise the disturbance. An apple tree at the
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: edge of the orchard showed unusual discoloration on its trunk,
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: later determined to be blood splatter. James Johnson, a local
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: farmer who assisted in the initial search, gave this account
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: to the Parsons Eclipse newspaper. We noticed the ground in
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: the orchard had been disturbed in multiple locations. Using spades,
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: we began to dig in the most recently disturbed area.
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: At a depth of approximately two feet, we uncovered a
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: human foot. Continuing our excavation with great care, we revealed
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: the body of a man, face down, his head crushed
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: and his throat cut from ear to ear. The horror
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: of this discovery cannot be adequately expressed in words. Township
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: records document that on May 1, 1873, the first body
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: was exhumed from the Bender property. It was Dr. William York,
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: identified by his brother, Colonel York. The doctor's skull had
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: been crushed, and his throat had been cut. The body
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: was found buried face down, approximately two feet below the surface.
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: His watch, money, and medical bag were missing. Colonel York's
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: journal entry from that day reads simply, We found William today.
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: God help me, but I wish we hadn't. No man
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: should have to see his brother in such a state.
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: I have telegraphed Alexander. We will have justice. By the
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: end of the day, seven more bodies would be discovered
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: in shallow graves throughout the property. All showed similar patterns
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: of injury. Hammer blows to the head, followed by throat slashing.
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: The body of George Launcher was found near that of
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: his daughter, Mary Ann. The child's remains showed no sign
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: of head trauma, leading investigators to conclude she had been
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: buried alive or strangled. This detail was too horrific for
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: many newspapers to report directly. The Independence Kansan alluded to
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: it only by stating that the child's fate was perhaps
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: the most terrible of all, having been denied even the
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: mercy of a swift end. Dr. Rhee? Calvin Ashland, who
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: examined the bodies, wrote in his medical report, The female child,
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: approximately eight years of age, shows no evidence of cranial
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: trauma as seen in the adult victims. The cause of
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: death appears to be asphyxiation, either by strangulation or burial
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: while still alive. The condition of the remains makes a
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: more precise determination impossible. That any human being could commit
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: such an act against an innocent child defies comprehension. Three
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: more bodies would eventually be found, bringing the confirmed victim
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: count to 11. However, some historical accounts suggest the actual
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: number may have been higher, with estimates ranging up to
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: 21 victims. Not all remains could be identified, as decomposition
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: had advanced significantly in some cases. The investigation revealed other
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: disturbing details. The benders had apparently been stripping victims of
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: valuables before burial. Watches, jewelry, and money were absent from
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: the bodies. Several of the victims were known to have
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: been carrying substantial sums of cash at the time of
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: their disappearances. None of this money was recovered on the property.
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: A search of the cabin revealed a hidden compartment beneath
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: a floorboard in the family's living quarters. Inside were various
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: personal items presumed to belong to victims, a pocket watch
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: with the initials W.F.M., matching victim W.F. McCrotty, a woman's
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: silver locket containing a braided lock of blonde hair, a
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: man's wedding ring engraved with the date June 11, 1869,
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: and approximately $ 100 in cash and coins of various denominations.
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: The hammer believed to be the murder weapon was found
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: in a well on the property. The handle showed dark stains,
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: and the head bore trace evidence of hair and tissue. Dr.
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: Calvin Ashland, a physician from Parsons who examined the evidence,
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: noted in his report that the instrument appears well-suited to
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: its grim purpose, being heavy enough to cause fatal trauma
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: when wielded with force, yet not so unwieldy as to
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: prevent accuracy. Among the documents found in the cabin was
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: a small notebook, apparently belonging to Kate Bender. Most pages
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: contained unintelligible symbols possibly related to her spiritualist practices. However,
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: several pages contained what appeared to be a ledger of
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: sorts with dates and amounts that roughly corresponded to known disappearances.
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: This document, though circumstantial, suggested a level of record-keeping that
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: pointed to premeditation rather than opportunistic violence. The victims represented
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: a cross-section of frontier society. Among the identified were Dr.
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: William York, the physician whose disappearance led to the discovery.
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: York's body was found still wearing the suit in which
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: he had left independence, though his gold watch and the
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: $ 500 he was known to be carrying were missing. George
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: Launcher and his eight-year-old daughter Marianne, travelers heading west. Launcher's
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: pockets had been turned inside out, and the $ 1, 500 from
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: the sale of his business was gone. The child's small
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: gold locket, a gift from her mother, had been torn
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: from her neck. Benjamin Brown, a neighbor who had visited
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: the Bender Inn. Brown's Civil War pension papers were found
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: on his body, though the silver identification disc he wore
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: as a veteran had been taken. W.F. McCrotty, identified by
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: papers found on his person. McCrotty was a land surveyor
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: from Clarinda, Iowa, who had been mapping potential railroad routes
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: through the region. His expensive surveying equipment was missing. John Boyle,
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: an Irish laborer. Boyle had been employed by the Missouri-Kansas-Texas
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: Railroad and was carrying his final wages of $ 60 when
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: he disappeared. The money was not found on his body.
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: Henry McKenzie, a resident of Parsons, Kansas. McKenzie was a
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: successful merchant who had been traveling to independence on business.
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: His ledger books were found among his possessions, but the
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: $ 700 in cash was noted in his final entry, was missing.
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: Several unidentified men presumed to be travelers passing through. These
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: victims had no identifying documents, and their decomposed state made
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: identification impossible. They were buried in a common grave in
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: the Parson Cemetery, with a marker reading simply, Unknown Victims
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: of the Benders, 1873. Particularly disturbing was the case of
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: the Launcher Child. According to forensic examination conducted at the time,
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: the young girl appeared to have been strangled rather than bludgeoned,
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: and her body showed signs of having been buried alive.
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: This detail was reported in the Parson's Son newspaper on
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: May 8, 1873, though the paper was careful to couch
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: the information in euphemisms appropriate to Victorian sensibilities. The paper
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: stated only that the child's remains indicated a different fate
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: than the adult victim's, suggesting perhaps that, even among such depravity,
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: the wielding of the hammer against one so young was
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: considered a step too far. The alternative method of dispatch, however,
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: speaks to an even more disturbing callousness. As news of
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: the discovery spread, thousands of curiosity-seekers descended on the Bender property.
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: According to newspaper accounts from May 1873, people traveled from
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: as far as fifty miles away to view the scene
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: of the crimes. Some took souvenirs, pieces of the cabin,
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: blood-stained earth, even splinters from the hammer believed to be
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: the murder weapon. The Independence Reporter noted on May 15, 1873,
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: The scene at the Bender Farm has taken on the
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: atmosphere of a macabre carnival. Families arrived by wagon with
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: picnic baskets, viewing the open graves and the blood-stained cabin
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: with expressions of horror and fascination. Enterprising individuals have begun
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: selling refreshments and authentic relics of the murders, though the
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: provenance of such items is highly questionable. James Wilson, a
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: local farmer who visited the site, later recalled, People came
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: from all around, bringing their children to see where the
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: killings took place. Some would pose for photographs beside the
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: open graves, as if they were at a county fair,
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: rather than a place of such terrible suffering. One man
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: was selling small vials of soil he claimed was soaked
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: with the victim's blood for 50 cents each. Another offered splinters,
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: supposedly from the blood-stained trap door, at a dollar apiece.
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: The behavior of the crowd seemed nearly as monstrous as
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: the crimes themselves. The cabin itself was eventually dismantled by
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: souvenir hunters. By June 1873, nothing remained of the structure
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: except the stone foundations. The land would remain untilled for decades,
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: considered cursed by locals. But what of the Benders themselves?
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: When the family fled, they took a wagon and team
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: of horses, abandoning another wagon at the property. Railroad records
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: indicate that tickets were purchased in nearby Thayer for two
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: women traveling to Humboldt, Kansas. A station agent later identified
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: the women as Kate and Ma Bender from photographs shown
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: to him by investigators From Humboldt, the trail grew cold.
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: It's believed the family split up to avoid detection. Some
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: accounts suggest that John Sr. and Jr. traveled south toward Texas,
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: while Kate and her mother headed north, possibly into Nebraska
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: or the Dakotas. What followed was one of the largest
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: manhunts in frontier history. Rewards totaling $ 3, 000 were offered by
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: the governor of Kansas and the relatives of victims. Detectives
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: from the Pinkerton agency were hired. POSU formed and scattered
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: across the frontier. Alexander York, state senator and brother of
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: the murdered doctor, used his political influence to ensure the
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: search received maximum resources. In a speech before the Kansas
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: legislature in May 1873, he declared, These fiends have made
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: a mockery of frontier hospitality and stained the good name
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: of our state with innocent blood. I pledge my fortune
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: and my honor to seeing them brought to justice. The
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: Pinkerton Detective Agency assigned five agents to the case, an
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: unprecedented allocation of resources at the time. Their investigation included
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: following up on reported sightings, interviewing witnesses, and distributing wanted
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: posters throughout the western territories. The posters, which survive in
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: various historical archives, offer detailed descriptions of the Benders and
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: the substantial reward for their capture. One such poster reads,
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: Wanted for murder, $ 3, 000 reward. John Bender, Sr., age approximately 60, 5'9, tall,
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: heavy set, gray beard, speaks broken English with German accent.
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: Almira Bender, age approximately 55, 5'11, tall, stout build, Masculine appearance,
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: speaks little or no English. John Bender Jr., age approximately 25, 6'0. Tall, slender-billed,
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: light hair, speaks broken English, exhibits signs of mental deficiency.
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: Kate Bender, age approximately 23, 5'6. Tall, auburn hair, well-spoken
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: in English, claims to be a spiritualist and healer. Reports
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: of Bender's sightings came from across the country. Michigan, New Mexico, California.
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: Every lead was investigated. None proved conclusive. In June 1873,
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: a report came from Fort Smith, Arkansas, that two men
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: matching the descriptions of the male Benders had been seen
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: working as laborers on a riverboat. By the time Pinkerton
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: agents arrived, the men had disappeared. In August of the
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: same year, a schoolteacher in Red Cloud, Nebraska, claimed that
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: Kate Bender had applied for a teaching position under the
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: name Catherine Griffith. When authorities investigated, the woman had already
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: moved on. There are numerous accounts of posses capturing and
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: killing the benders, but these stories conflict with one another
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: and lack official documentation. Some frontier justice may have occurred,
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: but if so, those responsible kept their actions secret. One
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: persistent story involves a posse led by Colonel York. According
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: to this account, York and several companions tracked the benders
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: to a remote area near the Texas-New Mexico border. There,
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: they allegedly captured the family and executed them without trial,
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: burying the bodies in unmarked graves. When questioned about these
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: rumors later in life, York reportedly neither confirmed nor denied them,
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: saying only, the benders got what they deserved, wherever they
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: got it. James McPherson, who claimed to have been part
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: of York's posse, gave an interview to the Kansas City
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: Star in 1910, shortly before his death. In it he stated,
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: We found them camped in a canyon about 20 miles
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: north of the Texas border. It was just before dawn
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: when we surrounded their camp. The old man reached for
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: a rifle and was shot immediately. The others we took alive.
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: I will not describe what happened next, as it is
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: not fit for public consumption. Suffice it to say that
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: justice was served in full measure. We buried them where
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: they fell and swore an oath never to reveal the
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: exact location. Some sins are too great for earthly courts
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: to judge. Another account claims that a vigilante group captured
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: the mailbenders near Fort Smith, Arkansas. According to this version,
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: the men were lynched and their bodies were weighted with
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: stones and thrown into the Arkansas River. No contemporaneous newspaper
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: accounts or official records support this claim. The case generated
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: national attention. The New York Times ran an article on
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: May 9, 1873 with the headline, The Kansas Murders, Shocking
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: Discoveries of Human Remains in Labette County. The article described
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: the benders as fiends in human shape and the crimes
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: as without parallel in the annals of crime in this country.
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: The Times correspondent wrote, The details of these murders, as
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: they have come to light, are so revolting that as
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: to seem almost incredible in a civilized country. That an
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: entire family should engage in such wholesale slaughter for the
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: purpose of gain, dispatching their victims with the cold precision
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: of slaughterhouse workers, challenges comprehension. It is as if some
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: medieval horror has been transplanted into the American heartland. Harper's
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: Weekly featured an illustrated cover depicting the bender cabin and
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: the exhumation of victims. The accompanying article speculated on the
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: psychology that could produce such killers. What darkness must reside
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: in souls that can commit such acts without apparent remorse?
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: The woman Kate, by all accounts intelligent and well-spoken, presents
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: a particular enigma. That feminine refinement and murderous intent could
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: exist within the same breast confounds our understanding of human nature.
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: The Philadelphia Inquirer's editorial on May 12, 1873, reflected the
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: national shock. The Bender case forces us to confront an
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: uncomfortable truth that beneath the veneer of civilization lurks the
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: potential for savagery that we prefer to believe exists only
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: in far-off, uncivilized lands. That such calculated evil could thrive
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: in the heartland of our nation, perpetrated in not by
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: wild Indians or foreign brigands, but by a family operating
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: under the guise of frontier hospitality, should give us all pause.
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: Kate Bender became a particular focus of public fascination. Described
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: in newspapers as the Female Fiend and Hell's Bell, her
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: combination of beauty, charm, and apparent bloodthirstiness captured the Victorian imagination.
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: Dime novels and sensationalist accounts soon appeared, mixing fact with fiction.
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: The Chicago Tribune wrote, Of all the members of this
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: murderous clan, the daughter Kate presents the most psychological interest. Young,
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: not unhandsome, and possessed of some education, she might have
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: chosen any number of respectable paths. Instead, she appears to
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: have been the primary lure that drew victims to their doom,
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: engaging them in pleasant conversation. Even as death literally waited
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: behind a curtain, one wonders what perversion of character or
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: early influence could produce such calculated malevolence in feminine form.
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: A dime novel published in 1874 titled Kate Bender, the
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: Kansas Hell Queen, portrayed her as a seductress who lured
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: men to their deaths through her feminine wiles. While highly fictionalized,
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: such portrayals contributed to the enduring public image of Kate.
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: as the driving force behind the family's crimes. In the
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: decades that followed, numerous women were arrested on suspicion of
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: being Kate Bender. None were conclusively identified as the fugitive killer.
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: In 1889, two women were arrested in Michigan and brought
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: back to Kansas for trial, suspected of being Ma and
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: Kate Bender. However, witnesses who had known the Benders could
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: not positively identify them, and they were released. This incident,
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: documented in court records from Labette County, represents the closest
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: authorities ever came to resolving the case. Mrs. Frances McCann,
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: who had been a neighbor of the Benders, testified at
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: the hearing, I cannot say with certainty that these women
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: are the Benders. The older woman bears some resemblance to
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: Ma Bender in build and manner, but her features seem
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: different to my recollection. As for the younger woman, she
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: has neither the height nor the striking appearance of Kate Bender,
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: as I remember her. The Michigan women, who gave their
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: names as Sarah Eliza Davis and Mary Gardner, maintained throughout
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: the proceedings that they had never been to Kansas and
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: knew nothing of the Bender murders. After their release, they
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: filed a lawsuit against the state of Kansas for false imprisonment,
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: though court records indicate the suit was eventually dismissed. In 1911,
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: a man named Leroy Dick, who had been the township
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: trustee in 1873 and led the initial investigation of the
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: Bender property, gave a newspaper interview in which he claimed
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: that a vigilante posse had captured the Benders near the
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: Texas border. According to Dick, the posse executed the family
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: and buried them in unmarked graves. However, Dick provided no
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: evidence to support this claim, and many historians consider it dubious.
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: In his interview with the Cherryvale Globe, Dick stated I
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: will not name names, for some of those involved still live,
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: but I can say that the benders received frontier justice.
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: They will never stand before an earthly court, because they
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: have already answered to a higher tribunal. Those who dispatched
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: them did so with the grim satisfaction of knowing that
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: that no more travelers would fall victim to their hammer.
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: When pressed for details, Dick reportedly said, Some things are
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: best left unsaid. Let history record only that the Benders vanished,
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: and with them, their evil. The truth of the Benders'
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: fate remains unknown. They simply vanished into the vastness of
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: frontier America, their ultimate destiny one of history's unsolved mysteries.
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: What makes the Bender case particularly significant is its timing
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: and context. The American frontier was still being settled. Law
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: enforcement was scattered and often ineffective across vast territories. Communication
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: between jurisdictions was slow and unreliable. These conditions created perfect
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: opportunities for those with murderous intent. The benders exploited the
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: transient nature of frontier society. Their victims were often people
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: in transition, Travelers with no local connections, individuals whose disappearances
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: might not immediately raise alarms. The family operated in a
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: geographical and social environment that allowed their killing spree to
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: continue for nearly two years before discovery. Professor James Harding
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: of the University of Kansas, writing in the American Historical
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: Review in 1958, noted, The Bender case represents a dark
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: counterpoint to the traditional frontier narrative. While we celebrate the
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: pioneer spirit and the rugged individualism of Western expansion, the
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: isolation and lawlessness that characterized this period also enabled predators
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: like the Benders to operate with relative impunity. Their crimes
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: exposed the vulnerability that accompanied freedom on the frontier. In 1961,
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: historian Robert Girard published The Bloody Benders, a documentary analysis
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: in the Kansas Historical Quarterly. Girard's research included the discovery
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: of previously unpublished township records and personal letters from Colonel
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: York describing his investigation. These documents provided new insights into
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: the case, particularly regarding the community's reaction to the crimes.
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: According to Girard's findings, locals had long harbored suspicions about
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: the Bender family, their broken English, possibly feigned in the
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: case of Kate, their reclusiveness, and strange behaviors had marked
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: them as outsiders in a close-knit frontier community. Yet the
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: veneer of normalcy they maintained, operating a legitimate business, attending
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: community meetings, was enough to prevent these suspicions from developing
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: into formal investigation. Girard uncovered a letter from Thomas Brockman,
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: a local farmer, to his brother in Illinois, dated September 1872.
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: There is a strange family of Germans settled on the
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: trail about four miles from our place. They keep to themselves, mostly,
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: except for the daughter who puts on airs above her station.
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: Something ain't right about them. Ensign's dog won't go near
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: their property, and animals got better sense about people than
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: most folks do. A particularly disturbing detail emerged from Gerard's research.
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: Township tax records indicated that the Benders had attempted to
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: sell their property in March 1873, just weeks before their
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: crimes were discovered. This suggests they may have been planning
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: their escape, perhaps aware that suspicions were growing too strong
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: to ignore. A document in the county clerk's office showed
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: that on March 19, 1873, John Bender Sr. had inquired
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: about procedures for selling his land claim. The clerk, Samuel Porter,
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: later recalled that Bender seemed anxious to complete the transaction
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: quickly and offered to sell at below market value for
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: immediate payment. In 1967, during construction work near the former
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: Bender property, workers discovered human remains approximately half a mile
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: from the original cabin site. Forensic examination at the time
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: suggested the remains dated to the 1870s. The skeleton was
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: that of a man of approximately 50 years of age
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: with a crushed skull and cut throat, injuries consistent with
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: the bender's known method of killing. While it could not
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: be conclusively determined if these were additional bender victims, the
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: location and time period are suggestive. The case file, stored
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: at the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, was reportedly lost during
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: an office relocation in 1968. Dr. Marcus Phillips, who examined
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: the remains, wrote in his report, The cranial damage is
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: consistent with a forceful blow from a blunt instrument, likely
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: a hammer or similar tool. The cervical vertebrae show clear
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: evidence of sharp force trauma indicative of throat cutting. The
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: location of these remains, their estimated age, and the nature
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: of the injuries strongly suggest this individual may have been
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: an undiscovered victim of the Bender family. The psychological aspects
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: of the Bender case remain perhaps undetectable. the most disturbing elements.
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: This was not a single killer operating in secret, but
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: an entire family unit functioning as a murder machine. Each
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: member had a role, Kate as the lure, the men
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: as the killers, Ma possibly handling the bodies and belongings.
• 55:09
  Speaker 1: The coordination required suggests a shared pathology unlike almost anything
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: seen before in American crime. Dr. Lawrence Peterson, a criminal
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: psychologist who studied the case in the 1950s, wrote, The
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: Bender family represents a rare instance of what might be
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: termed shared psychopathy. While family criminal enterprises are not uncommon
• 55:32
  Speaker 1: in history, the level of violence and the apparent ease
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: with which all members participated in murder sets the Benders apart.
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: One must wonder what familial dynamics produce such unified depravity.
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: Peterson theorized that John Sr. was likely a domineering figure
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: whose own violent tendencies shaped the family's behavior. Ma Bender,
• 55:54
  Speaker 1: he suggested, may have been completely subservient to her husband's will,
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: perhaps having experienced abuse herself. John Jr. 's apparent cognitive
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: limitations may have made him particularly susceptible to his father's influence.
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: As for Kate, Peterson speculated that her intelligence may have
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: made her not a follower but a driving force behind
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: the family's criminal enterprise, using her charm and social skills
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: to identify and lure potential victims. Kate Bender particularly embodies
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: this psychological complexity. Historical accounts describe her as intelligent and charismatic.
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: She advertised herself as a spiritualist and healer in local newspapers,
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: positions that gave her a kind of authority and trust
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: within the community. Yet behind this facade, was a woman
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: who could calmly engage travelers in conversation while knowing they
• 56:50
  Speaker 1: were moments from death. A handbill recovered from the Bender property,
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: presumably distributed by Kate, read, The juxtaposition of this benevolent
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: public persona with her participation in serial murder, presents a
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: chilling study in duplicity. The Bender case represents an important
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: transition in American crime and its coverage. While serial killings
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: had certainly occurred before, the Bender murders marked one of
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: the first cases to receive national media attention. The coverage
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: established patterns that would be repeated in later decades. The
• 57:36
  Speaker 1: fascination with female killers, the tendency to sensationalize and mythologize
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: particularly gruesome crimes, the creation of souvenir economies around murder sites.
• 57:48
  Speaker 1: Media historian Dr. Eleanor Winters noted in her 1992 study,
• 57:52
  Speaker 1: Frontier Crime and National Identity, the Bender case arrived at
• 57:56
  Speaker 1: a crucial moment in American media development. The expansion of
• 58:00
  Speaker 1: telegraph networks allowed for rapid dissemination of news across the country.
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: Urban newspapers, competing for readers, seized on the lurid details
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: of the case. The public's fascination with the Bender's helped
• 58:14
  Speaker 1: establish true crime as a viable commercial genre in American publishing.
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: The land where the Bender cabin once stood remains private
• 58:23
  Speaker 1: property today. Over the decades, it has changed hands multiple times,
• 58:28
  Speaker 1: with owners often reporting unusual difficulties with the property, crops
• 58:33
  Speaker 1: that won't grow in certain areas, livestock that refuses to
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: graze on specific patches of ground. While these reports likely
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: reflect the psychological impact of knowing the land's history rather
• 58:44
  Speaker 1: than any supernatural influence, they demonstrate how deeply the Bender
• 58:48
  Speaker 1: crimes penetrated the community consciousness. Farmer William Stokes, who owned
• 58:53
  Speaker 1: the property in the 1930s, told the Parson's Son in 1937,
• 58:58
  Speaker 1: There's a piece of ground behind where the cabin stood
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: where nothing will grow right. Corn comes up stunted, wheat
• 59:05
  Speaker 1: gets a blight. I'm not a superstitious man. but there's
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: something wrong with that soil. Too much blood soaked into it,
• 59:12
  Speaker 1: I reckon. In the spring of 1873, when the last
• 59:16
  Speaker 1: body was pulled from the Kansas soil, locals burned what
• 59:20
  Speaker 1: remained of the Bender Orchard. The fruit trees under which
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: so many victims lay were considered tainted. This symbolic act,
• 59:28
  Speaker 1: the purification by fire, speaks to how profoundly disturbing the
• 59:32
  Speaker 1: community found the murders. The earth itself seemed contaminated. The
• 59:37
  Speaker 1: Reverend Josiah Harper, who presided over a memorial service for
• 59:41
  Speaker 1: the identified victims, wrote in his journal, Today we committed
• 59:45
  Speaker 1: to consecrated ground those poor souls who met their end
• 59:49
  Speaker 1: in that charnel house on the prairie. The community seems
• 59:52
  Speaker 1: wounded as if a corruption has been revealed in our midst.
• 59:56
  Speaker 1: Many speak of leaving this place though the evil was
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: not of our making but visited upon us by those
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 1: strangers who called themselves the Benders. The Bender case exists
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 1: in an uncomfortable space between verified history and frontier legend.
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: The core facts are well documented in contemporary newspaper accounts,
• 1:00:17
  Speaker 1: official records, and correspondence. Yet around these facts has grown
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: a body of folklore, tales of Kate's supernatural powers, claims
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 1: of additional victims, Stories of vigilante justice. Separating fact from
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 1: fiction becomes increasingly difficult as the decades pass. Local folklore
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 1: includes accounts of Kate practicing not just spiritualism, but actual witchcraft.
• 1:00:43
  Speaker 1: Some stories claim she could cast spells on travelers, rendering
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 1: them compliant before they were killed. Other tales suggest that
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 1: Mobbender possessed superhuman strength, allowing her to move bodies with ease.
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: These supernatural embellishments, while unsupported by historical evidence, speak to
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 1: the community's need to make sense of seemingly senseless violence.
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 1: What remains undisputed is that for approximately two years, travelers
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 1: disappeared along the Osage Trail, near the Bender property. When investigated,
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 1: these disappearances led to the discovery of at least 11
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 1: bodies buried on the property, all bearing similar fatal injuries.
• 1:01:26
  Speaker 1: The Bender family fled before they could be apprehended and
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: were never conclusively found. The rest, the precise number of victims,
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 1: the ultimate fate of the killers, the deeper motivations behind
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 1: the murders, remains in the realm of speculation and historical
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 1: detective work. The Bender family's murderous efficiency suggests they may
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 1: have had practice before arriving in Kansas. Some historians have
• 1:01:52
  Speaker 1: attempted to trace their movements prior to 1870, looking for
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 1: similar patterns of disappearances along migration routes. However, the limited
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: record-keeping of the era and the common nature of the
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 1: Bender name make such connections difficult to establish with certainty.
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: Historian Patricia Coleman, in her 1985 book, Before the Hammer,
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 1: Tracing the Bender Family, proposed that the Benders may have
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: operated in Ohio and Indiana before moving to Kansas. Coleman
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 1: identified several unsolved disappearances along travel routes in those states
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 1: during the late 1860s that shared characteristics with the Kansas murders. However,
• 1:02:34
  Speaker 1: without conclusive evidence linking the Benders to these earlier crimes,
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: such theories remain speculative. What's particularly chilling about the Bender
• 1:02:44
  Speaker 1: case is how it reveals the dark potential of the
• 1:02:47
  Speaker 1: American frontier experience, the same isolations, and self-reliance that drew
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 1: many settlers west, also created perfect conditions for predators. The
• 1:02:58
  Speaker 1: dream of reinvention that propelled westward expansion also allowed individuals
• 1:03:04
  Speaker 1: to shed their pasts and create new identities, sometimes with
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 1: malevolent intent. The Bender family existed in a liminal space
• 1:03:14
  Speaker 1: between civilization and wilderness, between law and lawlessness, between the
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 1: known and unknown. Their roadside inn stood as a perverse
• 1:03:23
  Speaker 1: parody of frontier hospitality, transforming what should have been a
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 1: haven for travelers into a slaughterhouse. In this sense, the
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 1: Bender story serves as a dark counterpoint to the romanticized
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: narrative of Western expansion. For every pioneer seeking honest opportunity,
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 1: there were those who saw in the frontier a chance
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 1: to prey upon others with minimal risk of consequences. As
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: we conclude this documented account of the bloody benders, we're
• 1:03:53
  Speaker 1: left with more questions than answers. The incompleteness of the case,
• 1:03:58
  Speaker 1: the unidentified victims, the unclear motivations, the unknown fate of
• 1:04:02
  Speaker 1: the perpetrators, creates a narrative void that has been filled
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 1: with speculation for nearly 150 years. Perhaps this is why
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 1: the case continues to fascinate. It remains unresolved, a bloody
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 1: chapter in American history. that never received proper closure. The
• 1:04:20
  Speaker 1: benders emerged from obscurity, committed their atrocities, and then vanished
• 1:04:25
  Speaker 1: back into the shadows of history, leaving behind only shallow
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 1: graves and lingering questions. The prairie has long since reclaimed
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: the land where the bender cabins stood. Seasons have turned,
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 1: generations have passed, and the physical evidence of their crimes
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 1: has been erased by time. Yet the story persists in
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 1: historical records, in local lore, and in the darker corners
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 1: of American criminal history. In 1954, the Labette County Historical
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 1: Society erected a small marker near the site of the
• 1:04:59
  Speaker 1: Bender property. The inscription reads simply, The Bender Tragedy, 1873.
• 1:05:05
  Speaker 1: This understated memorial stands as perhaps the most fitting epitaph
• 1:05:09
  Speaker 1: for a case characterized by what remains unknown and unresolved. Mrs.
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 1: Eleanor Tate, who was present at the marker's dedication, was
• 1:05:18
  Speaker 1: quoted in the parson's son, My grandmother lived not five
• 1:05:22
  Speaker 1: miles from here when it all happened. She used to
• 1:05:24
  Speaker 1: tell us children about it on winter nights, and we'd
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 1: huddle closer to the fire, scared half to death. It's
• 1:05:31
  Speaker 1: strange to think that something so terrible happened in this
• 1:05:34
  Speaker 1: peaceful place. Just goes to show you never really know
• 1:05:38
  Speaker 1: what's happening behind closed doors. In the Silence of the
• 1:05:41
  Speaker 1: Kansas Prairie where wind once carried the sounds of travelers
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 1: on the Osage Trail, the echoes of the Bender murders
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 1: can still be felt, not as supernatural presence, but as
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 1: historical shadow, a reminder that sometimes the most terrifying monsters
• 1:05:58
  Speaker 1: are not the imagined beasts of folklore, but ordinary humans
• 1:06:02
  Speaker 1: driven by greed, opportunity, and a profound absence of empathy.
• 1:06:08
  Speaker 1: The Bender family may have escaped human justice, but they
• 1:06:11
  Speaker 1: could not escape history's judgment. They remained fixed in American
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 1: memory as pioneers of a different sort, harbingers of a
• 1:06:19
  Speaker 1: uniquely American form of evil that would reappear throughout the
• 1:06:23
  Speaker 1: nation's history, from H. H. Holmes to the Manson family.
• 1:06:28
  Speaker 1: And somewhere, perhaps, in unmarked graves or under-assumed names, the
• 1:06:33
  Speaker 1: benders themselves returned to dust, taking their secrets with them
• 1:06:37
  Speaker 1: into eternity. To this day, Travelers driving through Labette County
• 1:06:42
  Speaker 1: sometimes pull over near where the Bender property once stood.
• 1:06:46
  Speaker 1: They stand in the Kansas wind, looking out over peaceful farmland,
• 1:06:51
  Speaker 1: trying to reconcile the bucolic scene before them with the
• 1:06:54
  Speaker 1: horrors it once witnessed. This pilgrimage, part historical curiosity, part
• 1:07:00
  Speaker 1: morbid fascination, ensures that the bloody Benders of Kansas will
• 1:07:04
  Speaker 1: never be completely forgotten. In 1959, during an oral history
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 1: project conducted by the University of Kansas, elderly resident Martha
• 1:07:13
  Speaker 1: Wilson recalled, My father was one of the men who
• 1:07:16
  Speaker 1: helped dig up those poor souls from the Bender Place.
• 1:07:19
  Speaker 1: He never spoke of what he saw there, not once
• 1:07:22
  Speaker 1: in all the years after, but sometimes at night I'd
• 1:07:25
  Speaker 1: hear him get up and pace the floor till dawn.
• 1:07:28
  Speaker 1: Some things, once seen, can't be unseen. As long as
• 1:07:32
  Speaker 1: people are drawn to the darker chapters of human experience—
• 1:07:36
  Speaker 1: As long as we seek to understand the capacity for
• 1:07:39
  Speaker 1: evil that lies within ordinary appearances, the Bender family will
• 1:07:43
  Speaker 1: maintain their grim place in American memory. Listen closely enough,
• 1:07:47
  Speaker 1: and you might hear the echo of a hammer striking
• 1:07:50
  Speaker 1: through canvas, the last sound many travelers heard before darkness
• 1:07:53
  Speaker 1: claimed them on that remote Kansas prairie where hospitality became
• 1:07:57
  Speaker 1: a mask for horror, and where the American dream twisted
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 1: into an American nightmare.