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The Bloody Benders were a German family of serial killers who settled in America and owned an inn and small general store in Labette County southeastern Kansas (not far from Joplin, Missouri) from 1871 to 1873. The family consisted of John Bender, his wife Ma Bender, son John, Jr., and daughter Kate. Ma and Pa Bender may or may not have been brother and sister.

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Following the American Civil War, the United States government moved the Osage Indians from Labette County, Kansas to a new Indian Territory located in what would eventually be Oklahoma. The newly-vacant land was then made available to homesteaders.

In October 1870, five families of spiritualists (clairvoyants) settled in and around Osage township of western Labette County, approximately 7 miles northeast of where Cherryvale would be established seven months later. One of the families was John Bender Sr. and John Bender Jr. who registered 160 acres of land located adjacent the Great Osage Trail, which was then the only open road for traveling further west.

After building a cabin, a barn/corral, and a well in the fall of 1871, Ma Bender and her daughter Kate arrived and the cabin was divided into two rooms by a canvas wagon-cover. The Benders used the smaller room at the rear for living quarters, while the front room was converted into a "general store" where a few dry goods were sold. The front section also contained their kitchen and dining table, where travelers could stop for a meal or even spend the night. Ma and Kate Bender also planted a 2 acre vegetable garden and apple tree orchard north of the cabin

In 1871, the Great Osage Trail was one of the most popular routes for settlers moving west. Hundreds of settlers passed the Bender cabin on this route west and stopped in for dry goods, a quick meal, or even a night's stay.

From 1871 - 1873, travelers began to disappear when traveling the Osage Trail. Many people suspected indians or villanous horse thieves, until a few bodies were discovered in nearby creeks with crushed skulls and slit throats. Vigilante committees from nearby communities were organized and land claim owners were arrested and interrogated. A few were forced to leave the area without a trial or evidence to link them to any crime.

In 1872, a settler and his infant daughter went missing on the trail during a move to Iowa. Not long after their disappearance, a wealthy doctor who knew the missing settler ventured out on the trail to search for the man and daughter. The doctor went missing as well.

The doctor had two influential brothers, one a Kansan Senator and the other a Colonel in the military. The Colonel immediately organized a large search party and hit the trail find his missing brother.

Eventually, they narrowed their focus to the Bender general store after hearing a report from a young woman who claimed that she had fled the cabin after Ma Bender threatened her with knives. Unfortunately, bad weather stalled the search party's progress a few days. When they arrived to the Bender general store, they found the cabin empty of most possessions, the livestock unfed, and the family nowhere to be found. They had fled the area upon hearing news that a search party was coming.

The vigilantes searched the cabin and discovered a trap door beneath the kitchen table that had been nailed shut. A strong stench of decomposition permeated the air. The men physically lifted the cabin and moved it to the side. They discovered a cellar below the cabin which would've been directly beneath the trap door. The cellar had a rock slab floor that was soaked in blood. They broke up the floor and dug lower, discovering no bodies.

The search party moved their search to Ma Bender's 2 acre garden and began to prod the ground with metal stakes. Over the course of the next 24 - 48 hours, the search party discovered the Colonel's brother along with many other victims buried in the garden, a body and a lot of body parts in the well, and a young girl. All of the victims except for the small girl had their skulls crushed, necks cut, and were severely mutilated. The small girl had no identifiable injuries, which indicates that either she was buried alive or suffocated.

KILLING METHOD -

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It is conjectured that when a guest would stay at the Benders' bed and breakfast inn, the hosts would give the guest a seat of honor at the table which was positioned over a trap door that led into the cellar. With the victim's back to the curtain Kate would distract the guest, while John Bender or his son would come from behind the curtain and strike the guest on the right side of the skull with a hammer. The victim's throat was then cut by one of the women to ensure his death.

The body was then dropped through the trap door. Once in the cellar, the body would be stripped and later buried somewhere on the property, often in the orchard. Although some of their victims had been quite wealthy, others had been carrying very little of value on them and it was surmised that the Benders had killed them simply for the sheer thrill.

Testimony from people who had stayed at the Benders' inn and had managed to escape before they could be killed appeared to support the presumed execution method of the Benders. William Pickering said that when he had refused to sit behind the wagon cloth because of the stains on it, he was threatened with a knife by Kate whereby he fled the premises. A Catholic priest claimed to have seen one of the Bender men concealing a large hammer, at which point he became uncomfortable and quickly departed. Two men who had traveled to the inn to experience Kate's psychic powers stayed on for dinner but had refused to sit at the table next to the cloth, instead preferring to eat their meal on the main shop counter. Kate then became abusive towards them and a short while later the two Bender men emerged from behind the cloth. At this point, the customers began to feel uneasy and decided to leave, a move that probably saved their lives.

More than a dozen bullet holes were found in the roof and sides of the cabin and the media speculated that some of the victims had attempted to fight back after being hit with the hammer

Most people believe that the Benders escaped to a lawless outlaw colony in the Texas/New Mexico territory. Very few sheriffs ventured into this area because several law enforcement officers had disappeared tracking indiviuals in this territory.

However, rumors spread in Kansas between neighboring communities that the Bender family had been apprehended by a vigilante group and all were shot, save young Kate, who they had burned alive at the stake for being a witch. Several vigilante groups claimed the same story, but none could produce the Benders' bodies for identification.

YOUNG KATE'S IMAGE -

PICTURE FROM THE GARDEN -

This post was edited on 2/19/14 at 9:09 am