Tale of Greed, Murder Unfolds in Bombing Trial

A real life drama of wealth, greed, deceit and murder is unfolding in the courtroom where Steven Wayne Benson is on trial for murder in the bombing deaths of his mother and nephew.

Benson, 34, is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of his mother, Margaret, the heiress to a tobacco fortune, and his nephew, Scott. His sister, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, was seriously injured.

Prosecutors say greed prompted Benson to plant two pipe bombs in the family’s van on July 9, 1985. Kendall, 42, testified Friday that she threw herself out of the vehicle after the first explosion, then saw Steven staring at her.

“I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t coming over to help me,” said Kendall, the prosecution’s star witness.

Born Out of Wedlock

It was disclosed after the bombing that Scott is Kendall’s son, born out of wedlock and adopted by her mother.

The defense contends the bombing may have been targeted at Scott Benson, a 21-year-old aspiring professional tennis player who was allegedly using some of his $7,000-a-month allowance to finance a drug smuggling and peddling ring.

Members of the media and curiosity-seekers crammed the Collier County courtroom last week during the first week of testimony. The trial is expected to last about a month.

Among those in the courtroom was Janet Murphy of Lancaster, Pa., Mrs. Benson’s sister, who said she was there to support Kendall.

The case was moved from the exclusive seaside resort town of Naples, where Mrs. Benson owned a $500,000 home, to this community 40 miles up the coast because of pretrial publicity.

Tobacco Company Heir

Mrs. Benson was heir to the Lancaster Leaf Tobacco Co., founded by her father, Harry Hitchcock.

When Steven was arrested in August, Hitchcock said he feared for the lives of other family members and asked that bond be denied. Bond was denied, and Benson has been held in the Lee County Jail.

Murphy said her father was too ill to attend the trial.

Mrs. Benson became furious after learning that Steven Benson had squandered a large portion of her estate, and he planted the bombs because he was afraid his mother would cut him out of her will, prosecutors say.

The prosecution team, Jerry and Dwight Brock, are brothers who grew up in Vernon, a small, conservative town in the northern part of the state.

There were no eyewitnesses, and much of the evidence is circumstantial. The prosecution says it has one of Steven Benson’s palm prints on a receipt for piping similar to that used in the blasts.

Defense lawyer Michael McDonnell is noted for his dramatic courtroom manner.

Defense Made Videotape

McDonnell and his partner, Jerry Berry, say they plan to introduce a videotape they had made showing two men sneaking into the posh Quail Creek neighborhood where the Benson estate is situated to show how easy it would have been for someone to plant the bombs.

On Friday, Kendall, still bearing scars from the bombing, described the moments after the first blast.

“I was suddenly surrounded by this orange thing,” she said. “I thought I was being electrocuted. I remember calling for someone to help me. This orange thing was all around me. There was something malevolent about it. It was just awful.

“I looked out and I could see the body of my son lying on the ground. His eyes were closed and there was blood on his face, and I suddenly thought: ‘He’s dead.’ ”