INDEPENDENCE — A panel discussion is set for July 14 in Independence to look at the notorious 150-year-old Bender murder mystery in Labette County.
The panel discussion, “Unearthing the Bloody Bender Mystery,” is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday, July 14, at the Independence Civic Center, the Parsons Sun reported.
The event is free and open to the public.
The family owned two tracts of land in the remote grasslands of Labette County, along the Osage Mission trail, just a few miles north of Cherryvale.
Lonely travelers looking for a fresh meal or hoping to water their horses were known to seek relief at the Bender farm.
As the story goes, the interior of the Bender home was divided by a canvas partition. The family slept on one side of the curtain and took their meals on the other. Travelers in need of a hot meal were given the seat of honor, a log bench directly in front of the canvas.
Unfortunately for the brittle skulls of the unsuspecting diners, the Benders kept their stash of axes and sledgehammers behind the curtain and would, when the time was ripe, bludgeon their guest before he’d even finished his sides.
It is said that the Benders killed anywhere between 12 and 24 poor wanderers. Of those, eventually 11 bodies were found on the Benders’ property, each one buried in a shallow grave near the family’s orchard.
As word of the Bender murders got out, the family’s reputation for hospitality took an understandable dip. Perhaps sensing this, the Benders abandoned their home under the cloak of night and were never heard from again.
Speakers will include event host Bob Miller, the new owner of the Bender property; Blair Schneider, principal forensic investigator with the Kansas Geological Survey; and Max McCoy, author and executive director of Western Writers of America, the Parsons Sun reported.
“The story isn’t over,” said Miller. “I believe there is so much yet to learn, and when you dig in, it’s really fascinating.”
In early 2020, Miller purchased at auction the 160-acre tract of farm ground in Labette County where the Bender family cabin was located from 1871 to 1873.
“The tale has been spinning for a century and a half,” Miller said. “There have been so many theories, stories, books, movies, etcetera, about what the Benders did, who and how many victims there really were, and even what eventually happened to the Benders after they fled the area but were never apprehended. I want to see if we can add to the story.”
