Further reading for the Bloody Benders/ The Moorehouse Murders
The Benders: Keepers of the Devil’s Inn
Psycho Girl : The True Story of Catherine Birnie
Labatte Counry, Kansas. Way back in the 1870’s there lived a family called The bloody Benders, this family consisted of John Bender, his wife Elvira, their son John jr and their daughter Kate. History has it that Jr and Kate were brother and sister but more recently it is believed they were actually husband and wife.
The benders lived on one of the only trails that people would take to go west, they had a cabin, and barn with corral that they used as general store to sell dry goods and allow a spot for travelers to stop for meal on their way.
By 1872, this area was widely known for people disappearing, these were blamed on horse thieves and villains. Until George Newton and his infant daughter decided to take the trail to settle in Iowa. When they never showed at their destination, their neighbor Dr William Henry York set out to find them. When Dr York never made it home, well, his brother colonel Ed York decided to find out what was happening.
March 28, 1873 Col York made it to the Bender’s inn and explained the situation of his missing brother. The Bender’s acknowledged that Dr York had stayed with them and suggested that maybe he met some trouble with local Native Americans. The Col agreed this seemed the most logical explanation and left…. for the time being.
He returned days later, with armed men, after hearing that a woman had fled the inn after being threated with a knife by Elvira, this caused Elvira to freak out and order the men to leave the house. As this was happening, neighboring communities were looking at the town of Osage (which housed the Benders and their inn) as possibly holding some responsibility for the many disappearances that had been happening. The Townships decided they would create a search warrant for all households within this town for any evidence of the missing people.
Three days after the meeting, it was noticed that the Benders appeared to have left their home, the animals were unfed and there was a terrible odor coming from the house. When a party was able to form and go search the house, the odor was found to come from a trap door that when opened lead to an empty room that was coated and stained with clotted blood.
It was outside while probing the garden and ground around the house that bodies were found, Dr York being one of the nine. It is believed that guests were welcomed into the Inn and at dinner time were given the “Seat of Honor” which happened to be the seat over the trap door. Behind the seat was a curtain, and while Kate would chat and entertain the guest, one of the Johns would come from behind the curtain and smash the guest in the head with a hammer, then one of the women would slice their throat to ensure death. The body would be dropped through the trap door and later be robbed of any monetary items.
And then there was a good ole’ love story…with some murder.
David and Catherine Birnie were an Australian couple who over the period of five weeks, abducted, raped, and murdered four women, their fifth victim was able to escape and lead the police to the Birnie house ending their horrific crimes. The worst part of this story is that it took a lot for the police to believe and trust the victim, really just sad.
Episode 94
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