A FAMILY OF SERIAL KILLERS: THE BLOODY BENDERS

In the years 1872-1873, there lived what was thought to be a German immigrant family named the Benders. The Benders lived in Kansas and consisted of: sixty-year old John Bender, his son, his forty-two year old wife, referred to as ‘Ma’ and Kate, their twenty-something year old daughter.

The Benders owned an inn and a general store. Their personal housing was in back. The inn was set so a traveler could lodge there or even get a hot meal. When a traveler showed up they would be ushered into the dinning area and seated at a table with their back to a canvas divider.

Kate, the Benders’ daughter would chat with the male traveler. She was known throughout the frontier in regards to the inn as a Psychic medium; this helped to bring in more guests. Kate was also considered pretty for the time period and flirtation was often a distraction used with the travelers.

The traveler would lean back against the curtain and a hammer would come from the other side, crushing their skull. The Benders then would drag the body into their bedroom where it would be stripped of anything valuable and thrown down a trapped door into the cellar. In the cellar the traveler’s throat would be slit to make sure they were dead. The traveler’s body was put into the pasture and into the orchard, where it was buried. The Benders had hoped these bodies would not be found.

However, there was one traveler that was known more than the Benders had thought. His name was Dr. William York. He had come to the inn to take a break from things on a return visit. The suspicion is that he wanted to see the Benders’ daughter Kate again. After a certain amount of time had passed, Dr. York didn’t make his travel destination. His brother and others got suspicious of this and followed his travel tracks back to the inn.

In 1873, Colonel York went to the Benders’ home. He inquired about his brother William. The Benders of course had said to him that they hadn’t seen William at all. However, as Colonel walked outside he saw Mr. Bender and his son digging a huge hole. The bag next to him looked suspiciously like a body stuck inside.

The next day he came with a few deputies and a local person. The Benders were gone. The grounds were searched through the house, pastures and Orchards. Graves were found everywhere they dug. The first grave was the body of Dr. York’s. After the digging process was done it was thought that they found anywhere from 11 to two dozen bodies; including a young baby buried with her father. It was thought that she was raped and brutally murdered before they put her in the grave. No one is certain on where the Benders went or what happened to them. Some think they were killed by renegades, some by the sheriff and deputies.

In one particular case in 1888, a woman, Sarah Eliza Davis was thought to be Kate Bender. She was held in custody. Judge Webb who had dined at the Benders’ inn in 1873 and survived not being killed, denied that was Kate Bender. Later, after some evidence brought up by the defense attorney in regards to some documents, she was release. Another instance of what was thought to be Bender sightings was in 1909 and 1910 of two deathbed confessions. Both were thought to be of John Bender. However, both were thought to not be circumstantial.

No one really knows what happened to the Benders. There have been speculations of what could have been or might have been. The only thing known is that all the family participated in the killings of the people who visited their inn. And any passions left from the family has been turned in to a museum in Kansas.