Originally published in 1970. America's first serial killer family. This is a novel based on a true story of a Dutch-German family of four: John & Elvira Bender, their son, John Jr., and their beautiful daughter, Kate Bender, who claimed to be 16 years old, but now believed to have been around 25 years old, and was the ring-leader of the murders committed. The story is narrated by fictitious character 19-year-old Bradley Fisher, just one of the many young men in the area who fell in love with Kate Bender.

The Bender's arrived in Southeast Kansas in 1870 to claim free land issued out by the government. They strategically built a home turned into the Bender Inn, six miles north and two miles east of Cherryvale and about twelve miles west of Parsons, along the old Osage trail, now a highway that runs from Osage to Independence, Kansas, selling groceries to travelers, and murdering a number of them. Their “inn” was a one room cabin that they divided in half by a wall of fabric. A table and bench were placed right up against that fabric where the travelling guest would be invited to sit and eat. As Kate distracted the guest with her charms, her father would be behind the curtain with some kind of hammer and waylay them behind the head, sometimes killing them on the spot. If not, then they would be dropped into a cellar door underneath the table where Mr. Bender would slice open their necks.

After a 3-year killing spree, the Benders disappeared the morning before the posse showed up to investigate this family, who they now believed had something to do with all the disappearances in the area. They noticed unsettled earth where it appeared to be graves. At least 11 victims were found buried on the property, two females and nine males. One was an 11-year-old little girl who had been thrown in the grave along with her dead father and buried alive. She was found with her hand still grasping her father’s wrist.

It seemed every local was there that day the Benders disappeared, and everyone wanted a piece of souvenir. A woman watching bent over and cut some of the little girl's curls from her hair and wove into a memorial wreath (photo, p. 25). By evening that first day, not even the house was standing. The only thing left was the hole in the ground where they threw the body after hitting them in the back of the head with some sort of hammer.

The last chapter explains specifically which parts of the story is true and which are fictitious, and which parts of the story have never been positively proven. I believe the author ended it pretty good, considering there is no way to positively prove the fate of the Benders. He used newspaper articles, interviews of the times, and other unpublished records to write up as true a story of the events that took place as possible. Personally, I believe the town posse found and killed them and split the $7,000 among them to keep quiet. There are a lot of myths and legends surrounding the Bender story. It would be impossible to ever discover the full truth of it all.

The Bender Museum is located in Cherryvale, Kansas, where the wreath is still hanging, along with the numerous axes and hammers and knives that were used to kill their victims, and a few of their household items left behind. Google "The Bender Museum" and loads of pictures of this event will pop up.
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FAMILY CONNECTION:
My husband's great-grandfather Stephen's passed through the Bender Inn back in the day, headed to Independence, Kansas, with a wagon load of something. He even sat at that table and ate a meal. And although he had money in his pocket, they didn't see fit to kill him.
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MOVIE:
Bender Drama Thriller History Movie (2016)...watch free here on YouTube (1 hr 20 min)... not quite Hollywood material. The little boy who plays Kate's brother is way too young in the movie. He would actually rape her right after her father finished with her.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo6kIix7eXA ( )