John Bender Jr.

Serial Killer

John Bender Jr. – The Bloody Benders of Kansas

John Bender Jr. and the Bender Family

John Bender Jr. was a member of the group remembered as the Bloody Benders, a family or family-like group of killers who operated a small roadside store and lodging place in Labette County, Kansas, during the early 1870s. Historical records from the period identify the group as John Bender Sr., his wife, usually called Ma Bender, John Bender Jr., and a younger woman known as Kate Bender. Although they presented themselves as a conventional family, historians have questioned whether all four were actually related. John Bender Jr. may have actually been named John Gebhardt or Gebardt. The official description issued by Kansas Governor Thomas A. Osborn in 1873 identified him as "John Bender Jr., alias John Gebardt." He was described as approximately 27 years old, about five feet eight or nine inches tall, slightly built, with brown hair, grayish-brown eyes and a light mustache. He spoke English with a German accent. Other contemporary descriptions portrayed him as considerably more sociable than the older Bender man. The Benders settled near the Great Osage Trail, an important route used by settlers, merchants and other travelers moving through southeastern Kansas. John Bender Sr. and John Jr. were in the area by 1870 and constructed a small cabin near the road. The building later became both their residence and a primitive general store and inn. Its location provided the Benders with a steady supply of strangers who could disappear without immediately attracting attention.

The Bender Inn and the Murder Method

The Bender cabin was divided by a heavy canvas curtain. The front portion was used to sell supplies and serve meals, while the family lived behind the curtain. Travelers were sometimes encouraged to eat at a table positioned so that the guest sat with his back toward the canvas partition. Accounts reconstructed after the crimes were discovered indicated that one of the Bender men would conceal himself behind the curtain. When the victim was in position, the attacker could deliver a powerful blow to the back or side of the head with a hammer. The victim's throat was then cut. A trapdoor in the cabin floor opened into a cellar, allowing bodies to be temporarily concealed before they were taken outside and buried. Three hammers were eventually recovered from the Bender property, and investigators believed the shape of the weapons corresponded with injuries found on some of the victims. A knife associated with the Bender home was also recovered. Because the family escaped before they could be arrested and tried, however, investigators never established exactly which family member performed each part of every murder. John Bender Jr. has frequently been described as one of the men who delivered the hammer blows. Surviving accounts generally state that either John Sr. or John Jr. attacked victims from behind the curtain while other members of the household assisted with the killing, robbery and disposal of the body. It is important to distinguish this reconstruction from a proven individual murder record: there was never a trial establishing that John Jr. personally killed a particular named victim. ...

Confirmed Victims: (13)

Mr. Jones , Date of Death: 1871

Who Were the 1870s Serial Killing 'Family' Known as the 'Bloody ...