New TV series will explore the horrifying true story of America’s first family known as serial killers, the ‘Bloody Benders. 

Hell’s Half-Acre by British historian Susan Jonusas explores the crimes of the  Benders, an 1870s Kansas family who achieved notoriety for murdering what is estimated to be up to a dozen travellers. 

Film rights to the non-fiction book, which is due out in March 2022, have already been snapped up by London-based production house New Regency, according to Variety.

The story follows the family of four – husband and wife John Sr. and Elvira, and their two adult children John Jr. and Kate – who would lure in weary travelers to their property, the ‘Bender Inn’, with the promise of a hot meal and rest before slashing their throats or crushing their skulls with hammers. 

The bodies of victims were then placed in the cellar and buried in a garden at night. 

People became suspicious when people kept disappearing from the Bloody Benders’ house, and this led to the discovery of the crimes. 

The family fled before justice could catch up to them and were never found.  

John Bender Sr.

Elvira Bender

The ‘Bloody Benders,’ America’s first family known for serial killers, are well-known. They murdered at least 11 people, buried their bodies in 1870s, and then fled when their crimes were revealed. John Bender Sr., and Elvira Bender, his wife. 

John Bender Jr.

Kate Bender

The family of four, John Sr. and Elvira, along with their two adult children John Jr. and Kate, would lure weary travelers to their property Bender Inn’ by promising a hot meal and rest before they slit their throats and crushed their skulls with hammers.

John ‘Pa’ Bender, 60, and his wife Mrs. Ma’ Bender (later referred as Kate Sr. because no one knew her givenname), 55, were the members of the family. John Jr. was also a member.

John Sr, originally from Europe, reportedly had such a gruff accent and a gruff voice, that he was unable to understand his wife.She was so hostile that her neighbors began to call her She-Devil.

While their parents preferred to be quiet, their children John Jr. (age 20) and Kate (age 20) were well-known around the town and attended Sunday church. Kate claimed to be a psychic healer.

The family, which is believed to have been either of German or Dutch heritage, was found in the Netherlands. A bed and breakfast was established for travelers crossing the frontier. They lived in the cabin at the back. They opened a small inn and a store in the front in 1871.

House of Horrors: The murderous rampage is thought to have started in 1871 when the body of a man with his skull crushed and throat slashed was found close to the Bender property

House of Horrors: The murderous rampage is thought to have started in 1871 when the body of a man with his skull crushed and throat slashed was found close to the Bender property

All bodies recovered had been hit on the head with a hammer and had their throats slit, except for the body of a young girl who was believed to be strangled or buried alive. The Bender hammers are pictured above

All bodies that were recovered had been struck on their heads with a hammer, and their throats had been slit except for one young girl, which was believed to have either been strangled or buried alive. Above, you can see the Bender Hammers.

They murdered and robbed at least 12 travellers who stayed at their lodging. Between 1871 and 1873

It is difficult to know how many victims there were because so many disappearances were reported in that period.   

Legend has it that the Bender family would give the guest an honor seat at the table. It was placed over the cellar trapdoor and had its back to a wall. 

Their method consisted of smashing their guests with a hammer during dinner, then tipping them through a trap door into an exact-measure cellar.

Kate Bender's knife (above): The legend goes that the Bender family would give the guest a seat of honor at the table which was positioned over the trap door leading to the cellar and had its back to a room divider. One of the men of the family would then hit the victim over the head with a hammer and one of the women would then slash their throat

A photograph of Kate Bender

Legend has it that the Bender family would give the guest honor seating at the table. It was located over the cellar trapdoor and had its back against a room divider. One of the Bender family members would then strike the victim in the head with a hammer, and one of their women would then slash their throat. Kate Bender’s knife, (left), is believed be one of the murder weapons used by the woman.

The woman would then jump on the victim and cut their throat, sealing their death.

Once inside the cellar, they removed the body and took anything of value. They later buried the body somewhere else on the property.

It was noticed that the garden of Benders was always freshly plowed but never planted.

The murderous rampage began in 1871, when a body of a man found with his skull broken and throat slashed near the Bender property is believed to have been discovered. 

The crime scene above: The murderous rampage came to light when suspicions grew after people kept disappearing when they passed the Bloody Benders' home

The crime scene as it appears: The murderous rampage was brought to light by suspicions after people began disappearing whenever they passed the Bloody Benders home.

The land was dug up in 1873 (above) and 11 bodies were found. Some believe there could have been as many as 21 victims

The land was excavated in 1873 (above), and 11 bodies were discovered. Some believe there could be as many as 21 victims

In February 1872, two additional male victims died of the same injuries. 

After a number of locals disappeared, suspicions were raised and rumours circulated within the village. However, no official inquiries were made. 

The fall (and disappearance!) of The Bloody Benders  

1871 –  The Benders began operating a small inn and store from the back of their cabin and began welcoming travellers to stay.

Close to the Bender property, a body of a man found with his skull broken and his throat slashed was discovered. 

1872 – Two more male victims with the same injuries were found. Suspicions begin to rise

Late 1872 – Reports indicate that travelers were becoming missing or dying as they traveled through the region in late 1872.

1873 –  George Newton Longcor and his 18-month-old daughter Mary Ann travel through the area and disappear 

William Henry York, Longcor’s neighbor, began to search for them but was defeated by the Benders. 

His family sent 75 men to search for him and found that he had stayed at Bender Inn. 

April 3, 2003 – Dr York’s brother Colonel York returned with armed men to the inn after a woman fled from the lodging alleging that Ma Bender had threatened her.

Mid-April: A town meeting decided that the perpetrators had to be located and that a search of every house in the area had been authorized. Both Pa Bender and his son attended the meeting. 

End of April: A passer-by noticed that the Benders’ livestock was not being fed. It was clear that the family had slipped in the night.

The house was searched, and the bodies were discovered. 

October 31, 1889 – TMa and Kate Bender were the women arrested in Niles for larceny, Michigan.

 They were brought back to Kansas. But after being held for two months they were released on grounds of insufficient evidence against them. 

 

By late 1872, reports were circling that travelers were winding up missing or dead when they traveled through the area, and people began taking different routes to avoid passing through the area.  

The family’s killing spree started to unravel the following year when George Newton Longcor and his 18-month-old daughter Mary Ann set off for Iowa from Kansas and never finished the journey.  

Longcor’s neighbor William Henry York set off looking for them in 1873 and he too fell victim to the Benders.  

When York failed to return home, his family sent a search party of 75 men and discovered he had stayed at the Bender Inn.  

On April 3, William’s brother Colonel York returned to the inn with armed men after a woman fled the lodging claiming Ma Bender had threatened her with knives. 

Ma allegedly could not understand English while the younger Benders denied the claim. When York repeated the allegation, Ma flew into a rage and branded the woman a witch who had cursed her coffee and ordered the men to leave her house.

It was this outburst that revealed for the first time that ‘her sense of the English language’ was much better than had been thought.

Before York left, Kate bid him to pay a second visit the next Friday night when she promised to use her clairvoyant skills and contact the spirit world to help him find his missing brother.

The men with York were convinced the Benders were guilty and wanted to hang them all but York insisted that evidence must be found.

However, as suspicions strengthened and the finger of blame pointed stoutly towards the family.

As more people vanished, a town meeting decided the perpetrators of the crimes had to be found and a search of every home in the area was authorised. Pa Bender and his son both attended the meeting.

Then, within two weeks of the meeting a passer by noticed the Benders’ livestock had not been fed and it became clear the family had slipped into the night, never to be seen again.

When the house was finally searched, their possessions were gone. What remained was a grim collection of more than a dozen bodies and various body parts buried in the property’s grounds. One was even discovered in the well.

The first to be found was that of Dr York. He was buried face down with his feet barely below the surface among trees in the orchard.

As more corpses were unearthed, the true tally of their murderous spree gradually became clear. All victims but one had been hit over the head and their throats cut.

Just the body of a young girl was found with no injuries sufficient to cause death. It was speculated that she had been strangled or buried alive alongside her mother.

In total, 11 bodies were found. Some believe there could have been as many as 21 victims. 

Despite several reported sightings of the Bender family over the years following their disappearance and rewards being offered in return for their whereabouts (a reward poster above), what happened to the serial killers remains a mystery

Despite several reported sightings of the Bender family over the years following their disappearance and rewards being offered in return for their whereabouts (a reward poster above), what happened to the serial killers remains a mystery

A state-wide manhunt was launched but the family was never found. Their true identities have been the source of speculation ever since.

In the weeks following the discovery, 12 men ‘of bad repute in general’ were arrested, accused of disposing of the victims’ stolen goods.

In Thayer, 12 miles north of the Bender inn, inquiries revealed that four people fitting the Benders’ description had boarded a train for Humboldt, Kansas.

The Humboldt station manager said that there the family split with John Jr. and Kate taking a train south, and Ma and Pa Bender, carrying a doghide trunk (possibly loaded with money), had taken a second train to St. Louis.

Kansas cropland that turned into a crime scene of the serial slayings in the 1870s went up for auction in January 2020

Kansas cropland that turned into a crime scene of the serial slayings in the 1870s went up for auction in January 2020 

A team of lawmen managed to pick up the family’s trail as far as Texas and tailed them to El Paso and into the Chihuahua Desert. But they lost track in the end and were forced to give up and return home.

The murderous family who terrified America’s sweetheart author Laura Ingalls Wilder  

The Ingalls family, made famous in the books and television series Little House on the Prairie, lived close-by to The Benders.

Author Laura mentioned the Bender family in her writing and speeches. 

In 1937 she gave a speech at a book fair, which was later transcribed and printed in the September 1978 Saturday Evening Post and in the 1988 book A Little House Sampler.

She spoke of stopping at the inn, as well as recounting the rumors of the murders spreading through their community. 

She said her father joined in a vigilante hunt for the killers, saying: ‘The night of the day the bodies were found a neighbor rode up to our house and talked earnestly with Pa.

‘Pa took his rifle down from its place over the door and said to Ma, ‘The vigilantes are called out.’

‘Then he saddled a horse and rode away with the neighbor. It was late the next day when he came back and he never told us where he had been.

‘For several years there was more or less a hunt for the Benders and reports that they had been seen here or there. At such times Pa always said in a strange tone of finality, ‘They will never be found.”     

 Some have cast doubt on the story, saying that Laura would have been only 4 when her family moved away from the area, and that the Benders were exposed in 1873, two years after the Ingalls left

In October 31, 1889, two women arrested for larceny in Niles, Michigan, were identified as Ma and Kate Bender.They were returned to Kansas. After being held for two years, they were released due to insufficient evidence.

There were various alleged sightings since but none led to any arrests. There have been suggestions that they joined a troupe of outlaws in New Mexico, others that they fled to the East Coast, even to Europe.

In a speech at a book fair in a Detroit department store in 1937, Laura Ingalls Wilder spoke of how the murders affected the community in which she lived.

‘The night of the day the bodies were found a neighbor rode up to our house and talked earnestly with Pa,’ she said. ‘Pa took the rifle from its spot over the door, and said to Ma: ‘The vigilantes were called out.’

“Then, he got on a horse and rode away along with the neighbor. He returned the next day at night and never told us where he had gone.

‘For several decades there was more than a hunt to find the Benders. There were reports that they had been seen in some places. Pa always said, in a strange tone that sounded like he was saying, “They will never be found.”     

Although there have been several sightings of the Bender family in the years since their disappearance, and rewards offered for their location, it is still not clear what happened to the serial killers.   

Their story has been adapted into many television series and movies over the years.

TV series Supernatural featured a family of serial killers named the Benders and a movie named Bender chronicled the story of the infamous family in 2017. 

An exhibit at Cherryvale Museum features a set three hammers belonging t the Bender family and a Kate knife. The museum is eight miles from where the murders took place. 

The land where the serial killers slayed at least 11 people and buried their bodies in the 1870s went up  for auction in January 2020. 

It covers 162 acres, and is currently cropland. 

A historical marker erected near the site now explains that the ultimate fate of the murderous Bender family is 'uncertain'

A marker is placed near the site to explain that the fate of the murderous Bender family remains ‘uncertain’.

The site does have a historical marker that says: ‘Although stories are plentiful, the ultimate fate for the murderous Bender clan is unknown. Some say they escaped, and others that they were executed in a vengeful posse.

“Their story remains unsolved and remains one among the great unsolved mysteries the old West.”

Historian Susan Jonusas studied modern history and English literature at St Andrews before taking a a masters in the history of science, technology and medicine at Kings College London.

She is now a specialist in crime and culture of the 19th and early 20th century. She has also written for History Today as well as CNN. 

Speaking of the new TV series, Emma Broughton, head of scripted at New Regency Television International, said: ‘Susan’s compelling and richly textured book reads like the best page-turning thriller as it introduces us to a fascinating cast of characters previously missing from history — the victims’ families, the hapless detectives who lost the trail, and the fugitives who helped the murdering Benders escape. 

“We are so excited about the possibilities of a visceral drama that interweaves horror, western, and thriller, and we can’t wait for it to begin developing.” 

The 162-acre tract where the family killed at least 11 is among 1,061 acres of mostly cropland on the auction block in southeast Kansas (pictured), located on the northwest corner of the highway's intersection with Chase Road

The 162-acre tract on which the family lost at least 11 people is one of 1,061 acres of mostly cropsland on the southeast Kansas auction block (pictured), located at the northwest corner of Chase Road and Highway intersection.