the bloody benders
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The Bloody Benders. By: Alex Sicilia. Who are the Bloody Benders?. The Benders were a family of four that seemed like average pioneers during the 19 th Century They immigrated from Germany and moved to Labette County, Kansas The family was very spiritual and were very cult-like - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
THE BLOODY BENDERS
By: Alex Sicilia
Who are the Bloody Benders?
The Benders were a family of four that seemed like average pioneers during the 19th Century
They immigrated from Germany and moved to Labette County, Kansas
The family was very spiritual and were very cult-like
The family consisted of John Sr., Ma Bender, Kate and John Jr. Bender
The family purchased 160 acres of land
John Bender Sr. Was 60 years old
when he moved into Labette County, Kansas
Stood over six feet tall
Known for his big bushy beard
Many thought he was a giant who was widely feared.
John Bender Jr. John was a tall
slender man who had brown hair and a finely kept moustache
About 25 years old Laughed aimlessly
and during inappropriate times
Kate Bender Daughter Kate was the
"friendliest" of the family She spoke good English
with just a slight accent and had good social skills
About 23 years old Was the first to start
conversations with strangers
Attended Sunday School regularly and was accepted by the community
Ma Bender Mrs. Bender was a
very heavy woman who was very unfriendly
She was known as “she devil” by locals
She believed she could talk to the dead as preformed ritualistic acts
The Bender’s Operation They opened their store and
inn in 1871 Many travelers would stop by
and spend the night or stock on supplies
Travelers with larger sums of money started to go missing
Rumors began to spread that people were going missing and that the trail should be avoided
Dr. William H. York was the first missing man that raised great amounts of suspicion
A neighbor went over and found an empty cabin and unfed barn
Land purchased by John Sr. present day
Bender Findings The town put together a
search party and searched the Bender’s land
In the empty cabin nothing was left, clothes, food and personal possessions
The townspeople smelled something horrible throughout the house coming from a trap door
The door was pried open and clotted blood was found causing the odor
There were no bodies in the 6ft deep hole
The town began to dig up and uncover bodies buried throughout the land
Dr. York was the first body found with a large head injury and throat sliced from ear to ear
Bender Findings (cont.) The benders had more
than 20 victims The way the victims were
killed followed the same routine
They would hit the victim on the head with a hammer and slice the throat to assure death
The family would kill while the traveler was eating while their back was turned
Re-creation of murders
Why did the Family Murder?
The Benders killed for one reason, which was for pure enjoyment and the rush
They did not make a substantial amount of money or other valuable items from the travelers to be a reason
Body Disposal and Media They disposed the
bodies by either burying them around the homestead or near a local creek
All the bodies were buried in separate secluded graves
Mass graves did not occur here
There was little media attention, but a few cash reward no greater than $4,000 was put on their heads
The family’s actions were often changed or manipulated to make for an interesting spooky story.
How are They Evil The Bloody Benders were
each individually evil They would all show some
sort of hospitality to the victim, giving them shelter and food, but then would slit their throat
There is never confirmation if they believe that what they were doing was evil
To avoid being caught, they fled right after people started to take notice and raise suspicion about the family
Slice view of the house they lived in
Adolescence The Bender family
was not even a real family
The only two that were related was Ma and Kate
John Sr. was a remarry and John Jr. was believed to be Kate’s lover
Ma Bender had been believed to have married 2 other times, killing both husbands and murder some of the children to prevent them from testifying against her
The signs that the “family” would become serial killers was not likely, because many thought the family was kind hearted except for Ma Bender
They were a well respected family trying to make an honest living
Killer Profile They were all killers
who killed for the thrill and “joy” that it carried with each kill
There were no specific motives for each of the killings other than for the sheer “enjoyment” that they believed in
The Bender’s have been long dead
Since they disappeared from Kansas, Ma and Kate were never discovered
John Sr. was found dead up near Michigan which gave clues that Kate and Ma killed him
John Jr. was found dead along the Mexico border and showed signs of a stroke or apoplexy
Work Cited http://www.leatherockhotel.com/BloodyBenders.htm http://www.legendsofamerica.com/ks-benders.html http://www.prairieghosts.com/bender.html http://www.skyways.org/history/bender2.html http://
murderbygasslight.blogspot.com/2010/11/bloody-benders.html
http://www.truewestmagazine.com/jcontent/entertainment/entertainment/in-the-works/4419-the-bloody-benders
http://americanserialkillers.com/articles/the-bloody-benders/