The Benders?

[SIR WILLIAM]

Kansas serial murderers.  John and Kate.  The sledgehammer murder of Dr. York was their last.  Anybody know anymore?  I believe their body count was 11.  They buried one young girl victim alive.

[St. George]

As far as I remember - the Benders were written about pretty extensively in the old "Frontier Times" and True West" magazines.

They went in to what detail there seemed to be for the times - and there was quite a lot of it.

Who knows what a good Internet search could turn up with so many avenues to explore?

All I really remember is that the daughter Mary disappeared and the father John was caught, but cut off a part of his foot to free himself from the shackles and got away as well.

"True West" had quite the graphic drawing of that particular endeavor...

Scouts Out!

[Brazos Bucky Smith]

At Prairieghost.com they have quite a story of the "Benders"!

Actually, there are quite a few sites discussing the murders, the above site seemed to have the most.  Good luck!

BB

[SIR WILLIAM]

Thanks!!

[Capt. Hamp Cox]

You wouldn't by any chance be thinking of any of the following, would you?

"William John Bender.  Hulking, beetle-browed, German immigrant who was the "Old Man" of the notorious Bender family."

"Ma Bender.  No Christian name has ever been mentioned, found, or imagined; maybe just as well, for any flowery feminine nomenclature would have sat badly on Ma."

"John Bender.  Moronic son of William and Ma Bender who, in spite of his low IQ and lunatic laughter, played no small part in the family enterprise: murder, presumably with a robbery motive."

"Kate Bender.  Daughter of William and Ma Bender, and sister of the moronic John."

Above descriptions are from:     Wild and Woolly                 by Denis McLoughlin
                                        An Encyclopedia of the
                                               OLD WEST

His book has more about each of the Benders, and several paragraphs on their crimes.

[Uncle Eph]

wait a minute Capt, that sounds a heck of a lot like my ex-inlaws!!