Steven Benson Case Study By: Andrew Gagliano and Nicole Warnick

Who was Steven Wayne Benson? Steven Wayne Benson was born on July 26th, 1951 in Baltimore, Maryland At the time of the murders, Steve Benson was a 33-year old businessman He was married with three children His mother was the heiress of the Lancaster Leaf Tobacco Company She inherited a whopping sum of ten million dollars from her father, creating a motive and an opportunity for Steven Steven was known by many as being “odd” and a “dreamer” He had tried in the past and failed at work of business, landscaping, electronics and real estate. Steven had continually asked for money from his mother in the past which created many arguments and tension Before the time of the incident Steven and his mother Margaret had gotten into another argument about her loaning Steven some money

The Murders Steven Benson had gone out on the early morning of July 9th 1985 to pick up donuts at a local convenience store and later met up with his family to see their newly purchased land. On their way to leave Margaret Benson’s house (Steven’s mother) Steven had told all the family members where to sit in the car and soon ran back into the house claiming he had forgotten a tape measurer. Between 9:17-9:20am the family Chevrolet Suburban burst into flames Steven’s mother and brother were killed in the explosion and his sister Carol Lynn Benson Kendall was severely burned but survived

Arrest/Trial Investigators found evidence of suspect Steven Benson from a receipt for pieces of pipe and end caps with his palm print on them Along with that they also found particles of zinc on Steven Benson’s clothes that had fallen off of the pipe when he was making the bombs. Benson was arrested on Aug. 22, 1985, still driving his van that was splattered with his mother’s blood on the side Benson would soon go to trial, which lasted four weeks The trial was sensational at the time, as his family was well-known throughout the country

Result/Conviction On September 2nd, 1986, Steven Benson was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for the murders and an additional 37 years for attempted murder and arson Over the next three decades, Benson would bounce around from prison to prison, serving time in 10 different institutions On July 3rd, 2015, Steven Benson dies while imprisoned at Taylor Correctional Institution in Perry, Florida Autopsy results show that Benson was stabbed in the skull, although the Florida Department of Corrections has not been forthcoming with details about his death

Research Question #1 What was Benson’s life like in prison? Over the next three decades, Benson moved from prison to prison, serving time in 10 different institutions Similar to his life before the murders, Benson bounced from job to job while serving time Upon his death, his occupation was listed as an “advertiser” There are no records of his ex-wife or his three children visiting him over the course of his incarceration He spent a great deal of time filing prison grievances, complaining about the treatment he was receiving These complaints ranged from the “quality and variety of prison food, the heat in his cell, the television channels inmates watched and the list of available materials in the prison library”

Research Question #2 What was the true identity of Scott Benson? Scott Benson was the adopted brother of Steven Benson and one of his victims, but after the murders shocking details surfaced about his actual identity Scott Benson was actually Steven’s nephew! Steven’s sister Lynn, the only survivor of the car bomb, testified in 1985 that her adopted “brother” was actually her son, whom she had as a teenager News of her pregnancy would have been a scandal for the wealthy family and former Miss Florida contestant, thus his identity was kept a secret for over twenty years

Research Question #3 What is a pipe bomb? An explosive material that is tightly sealed within a pipe that has some sort of fuse attached. The explosion alone causes a lot of damage but on top of that the shrapnel made by the exploded pipe is extremely destructive as well. In Steven Benson’s case, he attached two pipe bombs to his mother’s car His sister escaped from the vehicle before the second one went off which ended up killing his mother and brother (who was really his nephew).

Sources LLTC - History. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2017. Batten, Brent. "Medical Examiner says Benson was stabbed to death in prison." Azcentral. N.p., 01 Apr. 2016. Web. 15 Apr. 2017. Blanco, Juan Ignacio. Steven Benson | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2017. Press, Associated. "Car Bomb Victim Was Son, Not Brother, Heiress Says." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 04 Oct. 1985. Web. 15 Apr. 2017. Stauffer, Cindy. "20 years later, friends and family still try to make sense of Benson murders: 'It still seems unreal'" LancasterOnline. N.p., 09 July 2005. Web. 15 Apr. 2017.