Wicked Wednesday - The Bloody Benders

I'd like to kick off Serial Wednesdays (Why Wednesday? Why not?), by taking a look at a historical group of serial killers all in one family- The Bloody Benders.

Back in the 1800s, there was a family who ran an inn in Kansas.  Except their guests didn't all have a good night's sleep - they got the big sleep instead.

Like any good nuclear family, they had a dad, a mom, a son and a daughter.  Although whether any of them are actually related is a matter for debate.  The dad might've been married to the mom.  The daughter might've belonged to the mom.  The brother and the sister might've been related or they might've been married - or both.  Who knows.  But what they might've lacked in familial ties, they made up for in the propensity for killing.

So there they were taking full advantage of the government's push for settlement of the lands west of the Mississippi, and advantage of the best path west at that time - The Osage Trail.  When lone travelers would stop on their way through, the Benders (if that even was their real name) would make them disappear. 

No one quite knows why.  Perhaps the single men who stopped were fresh with the daughter, Kate, and her HubbyBro didn't take kindly to it.  Maybe they snored. Maybe the Benders wanted to steal their belongings and the only way to not get caught was to kill the men. Maybe there was no real reason except the family saw an easy kill and took advantage of the opportunity to have their own brand of fun.

The only mistake they made was when they killed a man they thought had no ties - until his brother came looking for him.  They tried to lure the brother into their killing home, but he wasn't so stupid.  He beat feet, but not before recognizing his brother's saddle out front.  Since the Benders claimed to have never seen the dude, they were caught in the lie.  And the brother, being a smart man, went for a posse.  When the posse arrived at the inn, the Benders were gone.

Afterwards, while they were looking for signs of this poor man's brother, they discovered a bunch of graves.  If I remember correctly, they never did find the body they were looking for, though.  Who knows, maybe the Benders ate him.  As sick as they were I wouldn't put it past them.

As for the Benders?  They were never heard from again.  Justice for the victims was never found.

For a while after, there were sightings and reports, and some people probably got unjustly lynched for the crimes of the Benders, but there was never any proof the Benders were among those hanged.  They just disappeared into the Kansas grasslands.

:cue spooky music:

Most of this information was taken from my memory of a crime show I watched months ago, so any mistakes are strictly mine.  And anything fanciful came out of my imagination.  I hope you had fun reading it.  If you want any actual information on the Bloody Benders, Google is pretty helpful.  I used it to refresh my memory on a couple key points, but stay long enough to quote anything.