Also Read : . Simpson trial before the O.J. You could see a hateful heart in Steven then. File photo. It came to an average monthly payment of more than $10,000, or a grand total of "around a quarter of a million dollars.". They were obliterated when a pipe bomb the size of a football planted between the two front seats exploded. Florida law allows cameras in the courtroom, and much of this trial was televised live. That trip, which should have taken about 10 minutes, took more than an hour, according to Carol Lynn's testimony, and 20 to 30 minutes according to Steven's statements to investigators. She wanted an accounting and, if it had to be, a confrontation with Steven. 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. Tracking money - that was my forte, said Dwight Brock, who is now 61 and works as the Collier County Clerk of Courts in Florida. I guess you'd call them bombs." Another facet of the prosecutor's argument was that Steven had been very specific about where each one of the family's members was to sit in the wagon -- and then, just before the first blast, he said he had forgotten a tape measure and headed back to the house. Debra divorced Steven shortly after his August 22, 1985, arrest. After his first marriage also failed, Benson married a farm worker from his familys tobacco empire. There had been general rumors (about the boys parentage) going around Lancaster, where the family was brought up, Cirace said. Reached Friday about her brothers death, she said, I really have no comment.. I must think of a better word. Those involved with the case say they are surprised at how it still resonates in peoples minds, and their own lives. Lending her emotional support was her grandfather, Harry Hitchcock, who had made a dramatic appearance in the courtroom at 8:25 a.m. and stayed the entire day. "Malevolent" is what the prosecutors for the state call 35-year-old Steven Benson. Dwight Brock was an assistant state attorney in Florida, specializing in white collar crime, when Steven Benson was arrested. When he returned, they said, he prepared to join his family to look at a piece of land his mother had bought. An email has been sent with a link to confirm list signup. Prosecutors said it showed that while Carol Lynn owed her mother $118,560.33, Steven's IOU was $268,163.89. How it wasnt run correctly. [11] Washington was charged with murder for killing Benson, but was acquitted. Im 91 now, Sands said when reached by phone Friday. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. During a deposition taken by Bensons attorneys in Florida on Sept. 20, Mrs. Kendall, 40, said she was an unmarried teen-ager when she became pregnant, The Boston Herald reported today. Margaret's son, Steven Benson, was convicted of placing two pipe bombs inside the family's Suburban, which killed his mother and brother, and seriously injured his sister, Carol Benson Kendall. He and his wife had two children, Margaret and Janet, and when Margaret married she chose a quiet accountant from Baltimore named Edward Benson, with whom she had two children, Carol Lynn and Steven. This orange thing was all around me. The star of the show by far was Carol Lynn Benson Kendall. Carol 's cause of death is unknown to us at this time. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, 2719 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 164, Hollywood, disbarred effective immediately, following a September 22 court order. Under Florida law, Steven Benson is precluded from receiving proceeds of the estate of the person he murdered, Hayes said. Joyce Quinn, Margaret Benson's quiet and polite young secretary who'd lasted but three months in the job before realizing there had to be saner employment, testified that Margaret "paid for everything for Scott" -- his cars (among them two Lotuses, a sports car that costs $45,000 to $50,000) his van, his Cigarette speedboat, his apartment and furniture, repairs, his tennis lessons, his clothes and his gas credit cards. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall is 42 years old. The mangled Benson family Chevy Suburban that Steven Benson exploded with a pipe-bomb in front of his family's Naples, Fla., home, killing his mother and nephew and injuring of his sister. Born on Christmas Day 1963 in a Baltimore hospital to Carol Lynn Benson, then an unmarried teen-ager, he was adopted by Margaret and Edward Benson. Once these equal trusts were created, the children of the settlor would receive a net income over their lifetime and an amount equal to 2% of the capital, which would be determined at the time of the establishment of the individual trusts on a quarterly basis. doesn't have anything to do with my mother anymore.". On the morning of the explosion, the entire family agreed to inspect the land at Stevens suggestion. He had very few visitors. When Benson refused to pay, Washington and another man, identified as Marvin Taylor, ambushed and shanked Benson. He was born in 1951 in Baltimore. You can also browse other available content for Carol Lynn Benson Kendall on IMDb such as filmography, trivia, personal details, etc. While she was being helped by the golfer, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall's brother Steven stood and watched the carnage. malevolent." Murphys nephew, Steven Benson, was the only one to escape the fiery blast that day. Then the jurors filed out and the door closed behind them once again. Young, the investigator, said hes seen more horrendous cases than the Benson case, ones where people killed their children by drowning them in their mothers blood. (AP Photo) (Photo: Anonymous). Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, 42, of Brookline, Mass. To that end, he held court one day from 8:30 in the morning, his usual opening time, to 10 that night. The Trustees set up a trust for Kendall, a trust for Stephen, and a share for Scott. In addition, the Benson Family murder case was the subject of The Serpent's Tooth, a 1987 book by Christopher Andersen. Support local journalism. Her niece, Kendall, also has stayed out of the limelight. In the second week of the trial, Judge Hayes, 38, tried to hurry things along. That seemed more important to him than his family lying all over the golf course.. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall Death, Obituary pending- Carol Lynn Benson Kendall has reportedly passed away unexpectedly and suddenly. Steven said he was sorry but that he already had a business meeting. He was talking to one of his associates - the phrase How much did we take in yesterday? sticks in my head. It is said that she has taken their three children and returned to her small Wisconsin home town. She thought he had been embezzling family funds and had called her attorney to check into it. I couldnt get through to him spiritually., Im no psychologist, Sands adds, but he lives in denial. On Aug. 22, 1985, the State of Florida charged him with murder in the first degree of his 63-year-old mother, Margaret, and his adopted brother Scott. 'My brother has been convicted of murdering my family,' Kendall said. I have a strong feeling Steven Benson also knew, Cirace said. Scott tried to start the vehicle, she testified, "and immediately after that I was surrounded by this orange thing.". Steven Benson is led into the Collier County jail complex on the day of his arrest in 1985. The feud went back to at least 2012 after a series of assaults by Washington. He spent a lot of money and never did anything with it. Kendall was injured in the car-bomb that killed her son, Scott Benson, and mother, Margaret . (AP Photo). But that changed over the next three weeks, as witness after witness took the stand. Also Read:Mariannette Miller-Meeks : Role during Iowa elections. 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. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall Disbarred . The next day, Wayne Kerr, at whose wedding Steven Benson had been the best man, took the stand. But there were other debits. When the police questioned him about the trip, he said he was delayed when he ran into some people he knew; but Steven was unable to provide the police with their names. Steven Benson, convicted in 1986 of murdering his mother and adopted brother, died in July at Taylor Correctional Institution in northern Florida. In the Know: Is that Benson guy still in prison? That's a negative as far as the jury is concerned. An investigator said later they probably didnt have a chance to move.. And trying to come to grips with the loss of her mother, with whom she had been close, at least from time to time, has been hard. Kendall was retained by clients in two separate cases but failed to adequately represent them. Attorneys, an investigator and a juror have never forgotten what Steven Benson did, and how it affected their lives in the years since he was convicted of killing his family in Naples, Florida. 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. (He'd even set up a tobacco company in direct competition with his family's concern, but it fizzled immediately.). 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. Also on the public record is a 3-year-old paternity suit filed by Scott's former live-in girl. For years, she had paid for the lessons and the coaches and the trips, not to mention his 16 tennis racquets. Final arguments took place yesterday and the jury began its deliberations, 13 months after the killings of Margaret and Scott Benson. Naples Daily News 0:00 1:22 Steven Benson is led into the Collier County jail complex on the day of his arrest in 1985. [8], Benson died at Taylor Correctional Institution in Perry, Florida of a stab wound to the right side of the head with a homemade knife on July 3, 2015. They had so much, and the family dynamic was about as whacked out as you could ask for.. District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District. FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said the agency had no updated information as of Friday afternoon. Apparently, the idea was to cut down on speeches to the jury, and to speed things along. Margaret Benson adopted her grandson as her son, to cover up the fact that her daughter, a former beauty queen, became pregnant with a water skier from Cypress Gardens, said Cirace, now 64. He knew how to make tube bombs and fiddled with explosives. 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. . Police officers also testified their investigation indicated Steven had acted out of character in several respects that morning, first by insisting that Scott be awakened and included in the group, and then by having Scott drive. Carl Westman, a Naples attorney named to represent Margaret Benson's estate, usually sat with Cirace. Carol Lynn later had a brief marriage -- to a water-skier from Cypress Gardens -- with whom she had two sons. Bennett heard how the bombs were assembled, with nails and tacks put inside them so they would do the most damage. He found Steven Benson inside his mothers house, talking on a telephone. BOSTON (AP) _ Tobacco heiress Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, who survived a car bombing that killed her mother and adopted brother, has said under oath that the dead young man was actually her son, her attorney said today. She said, I want to know where all the money went. She wanted to see the books. Later, investigators found a receipt, with Bensons palm print, for the purchase of pieces of pipe and end caps used in the bomb. The judge made the sentences consecutive, in accordance with Bensons sisters wishes. Here, prosecuting attorney Jerry Brock addresses members of the media outside the Florida courtroom where the case took place. His face got really red. 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." 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