Original subtitles

(cheryl) this was the o.J. Trial before the o.J. Trial.

It was something that had never happened in naples before.

(john) it was just a horror story from beginning to end.

(george) a bomb had gone off, two people were dead.

(narrator) a beautiful tobacco heiress and an aspiring tennis pro.

(brent) you got a family with a lot of money.

(reporter) margaret benson and her 21-year-old adopted son,

scott, were killed instantly.

(todd) the most violent thing

that you were going to find in naples was a bar fight,

not a bomb to go off in somebody's driveway.

(narrator) why would anyone want to blow up

this loving mother and her adoring son?

This is some sort of a dysfunctional family

-at work here. -It's like putting

a jigsaw puzzle together.

(michael) I did a composite of what the guy looked like.

-He made stupid mistakes. -I couldn't believe it.

An intelligent person would've driven

a couple hours away to buy the pipes.

(cheryl) he was a florida man.

naples is lovely.

(man) location, location, location.

It's a beautiful setting.

It's on the gulf of mexico.

There's inland waterways, access to boating.

It's always been a very classy place to live.

♪

a lot of wealth here,

maybe the wealthiest city in the state

and one of the wealthiest cities per capita in the country.

A lot of retired what-used-to-be-millionaires

are now multimillionaires.

♪

(cheryl) I probably have never felt like I live in a safer place.

The benson case was one in a million.

(exploding, shattering)

(narrator) on July 9th, 1985,

police respond to multiple 911 calls.

Rattled residents report a series of explosions

in quail creek, a gated community in naples.

(narrator) neighbors on the golf course race towards

the earth-shattering blast, trying to help.

The explosion can be heard five miles away.

(eric) around 9:00, 9:15, we heard a call on the police scanner

that there had been an explosion in quail creek

and that there was possible fatalities.

(michael) and sure as hell, there was a car bombing.

(todd) when the news came in somebody had blown up a car

in naples, it was a big deal.

The miami herald decided right away

that it was gonna be a big story.

(harold) we had to preserve the scene

because it was quite a large explosion

and there was particles of bodies and material,

and the suburban looked like a bomb had been dropped on it.

I knew it was an atf job.

They were the bomb experts,

so I immediately had to call atf for assistance.

(george) when we received the call,

we were pretty stunned that there'd been

a bombing in naples.

This is the first time I've worked a live scene like this

where the debris was still there,

the bodies were still there.

(dramatic music)

(narrator) sixty-three-year-old tobacco heiress margaret benson

and her adopted son, 21-year-old scott benson,

were killed instantly, but margaret's daughter,

41-year-old carol lynn kendall benson,

survived the blast.

Margaret's father, harry hitchcock,

a tobacco magnate from lancaster, pennsylvania,

affectionately known as boppa,

makes the devastating phone call

that every family member dreads,

particularly one of this magnitude.

(female relative) the phone call from my grandfather, boppa.

I picked it up and I said, "hey, boppa,"

and he said, in his little, frail voice,

he said, "there's been an explosion in florida,

and they're dead!"

I said, "who's dead?"

he said, "our family is dead."

I was hyperventilating.

Carol lynn is severely burned,

and scottie and aunt margaret are dead.

I was devastated when I heard

that my little scottie was dead.

(narrator) after carol lynn is transported to a local hospital,

her family launches a plan to move her

to a burn specialty unit in boston, massachusetts.

(female relative) my grandfather, he's like, "we can't focus on the dead

because we can't help scottie and aunt margaret.

We have to focus on saving carol lynn

because she is suffering."

he hired a private plane

and got her transported immediately

from the burn site,

and had her airlifted and flew her

from florida to boston.

(reporter) two explosions destroyed the benson family vehicle

in the driveway of their luxurious home

in naples, florida, a millionaires' enclave

on florida's southwest coast.

(somber music)

(narrator) the victims are heirs

to one of the most powerful families in the country,

and the news ignites a media storm.

(michael) it was big news, very big news.

(george) these people were very prominent people

in naples, florida,

and they came from lancaster, pennsylvania.

(narrator) margaret's father, harry hitchcock,

has a net worth close to $100 million.

His company, universal leaf,

reigns as the world's leading supplier of tobacco.

(john) harry hitchcock was a big deal.

He was a pillar of the community.

(narrator) in 1947, harry's oldest daughter, margaret,

married businessman benny benson.

The couple had three children.

(female relative) the benson family was uncle benny

and my aunt margaret, and their three kids.

Carol lynn was the oldest, then steven, then scottie.

I remember aunt margaret being very reserved, formal,

and conservative.

Carol lynn was a beauty queen.

She was gorgeous.

She was very smart.

She had lots of boyfriends.

Very charismatic.

She had a sense of humor,

but she was known for her beauty.

Steven was always very aloof, quiet.

And then, scottie, he was adopted.

So we grew up together.

I was very close to scottie.

He was very outgoing and fun and a great guy.

(narrator) when margaret's husband tragically dies

from lung cancer in 1983,

margaret inherits over $10 million

and decides to make a fresh start.

(female relative) aunt margaret and scottie moved to florida

after my uncle died.

(narrator) the bensons are a close-knit family,

and margaret wants her children to follow her to naples.

(john) margaret was planning to build a family complex

somewhat like the kennedy compound

in massachusetts.

(narrator) margaret manages the family fortune,

and even though her children are grown,

she continues to financially support them.

Steve was a normal, average guy,

but it was always known

that he had family wealth behind him.

I was never sure exactly what steve benson did for a living.

(narrator) although steven did not want to work

for the family tobacco business,

he did rely on the benson name and money.

Steven started all sorts of businesses

and he would always use his mother's money to do it.

(female relative) steven was married twice.

His first wife, nancy, was darling.

We loved her.

Steven got remarried to a woman named debbie.

They had two children, victoria and christopher.

And the four of them eventually moved to florida.

(john) margaret wanted to build a 28,000-square-foot house,

which is enormous, and that's where

they were supposedly going on the morning of the murder.

(female relative) margaret, scottie, steven, and carol lynn would celebrate

carol lynn's birthday on the 8th,

and then aunt margaret was gonna build

a new house nearby,

so they were gonna all go to the lot together.

(narrator) on July 9th, 1985,

margaret arranges for her children

to scout her dream property with her,

but they never make it.

Within seconds of getting into the suburban,

it explodes, and steven watches helplessly

as his family perishes.

(female relative) we found out that steven wasn't hurt.

(george) steven benson was in close proximity to the vehicle

when it exploded, but he was not in it.

(michael) I was interviewing steven right after we got there,

having him walk me through where he was

when the bomb went off and all that.

I took him outside, took him back in,

and I said, "do you know who would do this?"

no, he had no knowledge of anything.

(narrator) although steven is the only eyewitness

besides carol lynn, who is in the hospital,

he is in shock and not very helpful to police,

and they do not press him.

He had just lost members of his family.

(michael) but at a time like that,

you have to give some leeway to a person.

(narrator) detectives begin looking for eyewitnesses

who might have seen something suspicious.

(michael) they did interview construction workers

'cause there was a lot of houses on that street

under construction.

They had no knowledge of anything.

(narrator) while detectives are speaking to neighbors,

atf agents are collecting debris and examining the vehicle.

(george) and the first thing we noticed looking at the vehicle

was that this was either a murder,

or these people had a heck of a lawsuit

against general motors

because this vehicle was just blown to bits.

The hood was blasted upward,

the windshield was blasted out,

the roof was peeled back.

There was extensive damage to the vehicle.

(narrator) atf bomb agents canvass the neighborhood for evidence,

and they find pieces of explosives,

proving that this was not an accident.

(michael) we found pieces of a motherboard or a circuit board.

(george) and there was parts of a circuit board

that we theorized probably came from a burglar alarm.

The debris field in the immediate area

was so intense, we started looking further out,

and we saw what appeared to be pieces of pipe.

So we theorized that this was probably gonna be a pipe bomb.

Usually, bombings take place in cities

where there is organized crime, the mafia,

not in quail creek, a gated subdivision.

(narrator) investigators are perplexed.

Who would want to hurt this family, and why?

(george) when we arrived at the scene,

we had no idea of a motive or a potential perpetrator.

We had no idea what had happened.

(intense music)

(michael) we started really digging in to the family.

Margaret had an $18 million checking account.

We had round-the-clock police guards

in front of her hospital room because we were afraid

that he was gonna come to kill her.

Is there a sociopath who is willing to kill for money?

(on July 9th, 1985,eporte)

two explosions shattered the calm

of the exclusive quail creek estates.

(reporter) ...Killing widowed millionairess margaret benson

and her 21-year-old son, scott.

Mrs. Benson's daughter, carol, was critically hurt.

Her eldest son, steven, narrowly escaped injury.

(narrator) while carol lynn is clinging to life

in a boston burn center,

the benson family is picking up the pieces.

(female relative) my grandfather was devastated.

He lost his daughter and scottie.

We were all devastated.

It was awful.

(narrator) on July 14th, 1985, steven benson,

his wife, debbie, and their two children

travel to lancaster, pennsylvania,

to attend the funerals of his mother, margaret,

and his younger brother, scottie.

(sam) it was front-page news here in lancaster, pennsylvania.

Everyone was pretty much as horrified as I was

to see that that had happened.

(narrator) margaret benson was a famous heiress and socialite.

Her family is well-known in naples.

The murders rocked this community to its core,

and there is pressure on law enforcement

to find the killers.

(michael) it shocked the whole community.

I mean, you know, it's not every day

that anybody blows anybody up.

(todd) the most violent thing

that you were going to find in naples in those days

was a bar fight.

You would not expect a bomb to go off...

(intense music)

...In somebody else's driveway.

That shook people up when it happened.

(female relative) I couldn't imagine anybody that would want to hurt them.

Why would anybody kill my family?

(narrator) although there is a lot of speculation

about what happened, police do not have

any solid leads or theories.

(reporter) family attorney wayne kerr

was inside the house at the time.

(narrator) and one week after the murders,

they conduct a formal interview

with the family accountant and attorney, wayne kerr.

(george) wayne kerr was giving us information

approximately what time it happened.

(narrator) wayne tells police that a week before the murders,

margaret asked him to come down from lancaster.

And the whole reason he was brought down here

was to look into the family finances.

(michael) margaret, she had an $18 million checking account.

(george) we felt that the motive was financial.

(narrator) although police theorized that the motive for the bombing

had something to do with the family's wealth,

they do not have enough evidence

to prove this theory, and the question remains,

who in the family was the intended target?

(dark music)

(george) from the damage to their bodies

and what the scene looked like,

we theorized margaret benson was sitting

in the right front passenger seat,

and the extensive damage to her body

was to the left side of her body.

Scott benson was sitting in the driver's seat

and the extensive damage to his body

was to the right side.

The first bomb that went off was in the center console.

The second bomb was in the left rear passenger seat

where carol lynn was sitting.

(narrator) the vehicle is registered to margaret and scott benson.

Was margaret the target?

Or was it scottie?

Or was it the entire family?

♪

after giving steven a few weeks to grieve

the loss of his loved ones,

police want to reinterview him.

We decided that we were gonna try to find steven now

and do a formal interview with him,

and we heard that he had gone to a motel.

He was afraid to go home.

He was afraid that somebody was gonna try to kill him also.

(narrator) is it possible that carol lynn and steven

are still in danger?

In late July, three weeks after the bombing,

detectives fly to boston to speak to carol lynn.

(george) I flew to massachusetts general hospital in boston

to interview carol lynn.

(female relative) we had round-the-clock police guards

in front of her hospital room because we were afraid

that if somebody purposely blew them up,

they were gonna come and hurt her.

(narrator) worried that the killers could strike again,

the family takes every precaution.

We were waiting to find out

if carol lynn would be able to even talk to us

because she was in critical condition.

(female relative) she got burned over most of her body.

Her ear was burned off.

Carol lynn was suffering.

(narrator) although carol lynn is conscious and recovering,

she chooses not to speak to investigators at this time.

(george) the doctor said, "there's good news and bad news.

The good news is she can talk to you.

The bad news is she doesn't want to."

(narrator) detectives return to naples empty-handed.

Neither steven or carol lynn are forthcoming

with information, and police speculate

that they both might be hiding something.

That's when we started really digging into the family.

(narrator) one week after attempting to speak to carol lynn,

investigators discover that this prestigious family

has a history of hiding secrets

not only from the world, but from each other.

Scottie was carol lynn's child.

Carol lynn had scottie, and nobody knew it.

(melancholy music)

she was young, and they swept her away

before anybody knew that she was pregnant,

and then when they all came back,

aunt margaret and uncle benny announced

that they had adopted a baby.

None of us knew that this was carol lynn's child.

In fact, we didn't know this for quite a long time.

(narrator) the news is leaked to the media

and sends shock waves around the country.

The media just went wild with that

and just told the world this family secret,

so we resented that.

(cheryl) that was also a big thing when that came out,

that scott was carol lynn's son.

Okay, what's the motive there?

And, yeah, everybody speculated about everything.

(brent) this is some sort of dysfunctional family

-at work here. -There was speculation

that scott may have learned this family secret

and retaliated by killing himself

and his entire family.

(jerry) the question is whether there was any suicidal ideations

connected with living as if his grandmother

was actually his mother and his mother was his aunt,

but nothing was ever really confirmed on that.

I don't think scottie knew.

I don't think he ever knew.

(narrator) investigators take a deeper dive

into scott's background

and they unravel more disturbing information.

(female relative) he didn't go to college.

Scottie was very good at tennis.

He was starting to excel when he was murdered.

I mean, he was only 21.

I thought that the reason it happened

was because scottie got into some drugs

down in florida.

(narrator) margaret doted on her children,

especially her grandson, scottie,

but she ignored a lot of red flags.

(brent) scott liked to party a little more

than an aspiring tennis player should party.

(john) well, scott was a pampered youth.

He was into recreational drugs.

(narrator) scott benson had been arrested a few times

for drug-related crimes.

(todd) it was suspicious.

He certainly was using drugs.

He may have been doing some things that were illegal.

His girlfriend was a stripper.

This was all very unlike naples,

and so it made people suspicious.

(dark music)

(narrator) although law enforcement did not consider scott

a suspect in the murder,

they did theorize that his lifestyle

may have led to the bombings.

We considered that scott's drug use

might have been a motive for the crime.

The collier county sheriff's deputies

looked into that extensively.

(brent) there was speculation that scott had

somehow been involved in a drug deal,

and a dealer had taken revenge on him

by killing him and his family.

(george) they were looking for someone who would've had

a reason to kill scott.

(narrator) was scottie's spiraling drug habit to blame?

Could the bombing have been a targeted hit

on the benson family

as some sort of revenge against scottie?

(ominous music)

(explosion)

the serenity of naples,

a millionaires' enclave,

is shattered after the benson family bombing,

and everyone is talking about what kind of twisted person

could commit such a crime.

(woman) this is the worst thing

that I've ever heard of happening in naples.

(man) anybody that associated with the bensons is a suspect

until we can determine what the motive for the bombing was.

(dramatic music)

(narrator) detectives are heavily pursuing the lead

that scottie's questionable lifestyle

may have led to the bombing.

(jerry) scott was involved in drug dealing,

and there was speculation that he owed people money

and that the bombs had been placed there

by people who were out to get scott

for either money he owed

or because he was competition for them.

♪

(narrator) while detectives are doing a deep dive

into scott's background looking for potential suspects,

atf agents are combing the bensons' neighborhood

for fragments of the bomb,

and some are found up to two miles away.

(george) you actually can find

most of your valuable bombing information

quite a distance from the actual site of the explosion.

You canvass the entire area.

You do not touch the suspected evidence.

You go out there, you photograph it,

and then, one person picks it up and labels it,

where it was found and what it was.

We had agents using what looks like a big sandbox,

and they're sifting the dirt through this screen

to separate things that might be of value,

almost like putting a jigsaw puzzle together.

What we were finding were many sections of pipe.

(narrator) they are able to find enough pieces of pipe

to reconstruct the bomb.

(george) we put the pipe together,

and our explosive expert looked at it and he said,

"this pipe is four inches in diameter,

it's twelve inches long."

(narrator) the atf confirms

that two pipe bombs were used to blow up the suburban.

Either someone wanted to make sure that the job got done

or they were targeting more than one person.

(reporter) experts determined that two pipe bombs like this

were responsible for blowing the car apart.

(narrator) armed with this new information,

investigators hunt for the supplier

of this specific pipe.

We're looking for two pieces of pipe with those dimensions.

Then the search began for how do you find

pipe of that dimension.

So we started going by all the hardware stores

and places that would sell that.

(narrator) detectives are perplexed.

In 1985, pipe bombs are not widely used,

and it takes a certain amount of expertise to make them.

(todd) people don't use pipe bombs

in naples, florida.

You wouldn't think that would ever happen in your community.

(narrator) besides drug cartels

who often used bombs to send a message,

what kind of person would have the knowledge

to know how to make a pipe bomb?

Detectives turned their attention

to scott benson's diverse social network.

(jerry) there was no doubt he was hanging around

with some unsavory characters,

someone who might be in a position to build a bomb.

(narrator) three weeks after the bombing,

a character with a unique skill set

shows up on police radar:

28-year-old guido dal molin.

(jerry) guido was friends with

or somehow associated with scott.

We'd known about guido dal molin for some time

because he was a bit of a character.

(jerry) guido was a young man,

off-the-charts brilliant.

Perhaps one of the smartest people I've ever met.

Guido figured out how to take a car

and make it where he could drive it

with a remote control.

At that time, that just was unheard of.

(brent) and that was sort of a story

that made a splash in the newspaper.

I mean, teenager rigs up remote-control car

was not something that happened a lot in the '80s.

So he was sort of known in the newsroom.

(george) there were some mysterious things in the vehicle

that we never could possibly say why they were in the vehicle.

(michael) we found pieces of a motherboard or a circuit board.

It was found in alarm systems,

and it was probably a garage door opener,

a clicker, that he used to set the bombs off.

(jerry) and because of his knowledge of the electronics

that were used in the detonation of the car bombs,

he was a suspect.

(narrator) detectives theorized that guido

may have offered his services to a potential drug dealer

who wanted to eliminate scott.

(harold) our swat team had him under surveillance.

(alarm wailing)

(jerry) he had an alibi. He could not have been the one

that put the bombs in the suburban.

(soft music)

(michael) guido ended up going to jail for second-degree murder himself.

(narrator) after fully investigating guido and his alibi,

detectives eliminate him as a suspect.

With no other solid leads, police abandon the theory

that scott's drug use was responsible for the murders.

Just nothing that could lead us to anything concrete.

(narrator) as the weeks pass,

detectives focus all their attention

on tracing the materials

that were used to make the pipe bombs,

hoping it will lead them to the killer.

We ran down a lot of blind alleys

in the investigation.

I drove back and forth

from miami to naples five days a week

looking for two pieces of pipe.

(narrator) on August 10th, 1985,

detectives get a hit on one of the caps

that was placed on the end of the pipe bombs.

And one of the end caps was labeled itt grinnell,

and it turned out that there was a plant

for itt grinnell in very close proximity

to lancaster, pennsylvania,

where the benson family was from.

♪

(narrator) is it possible that someone in the benson inner circle

bought the end caps and transported them

back to naples?

Wayne kerr, the family attorney and accountant,

made an unexpected trip to naples

a week before the murders,

and detectives circle back to him.

(michael) he was cooperative answering questions and everything.

(narrator) satisfied with wayne kerr's interview,

police do not consider him a potential suspect.

Detectives turn their attention back to the benson family.

Although carol lynn is still recovering in the hospital,

she did not want to talk to police.

(michael) we couldn't interview her,

and so we were just digging into family background

and everything, waiting for her to get well enough

to tell us what she could remember.

(narrator) investigators request a formal sit-down interview

with steven benson,

and they are shocked by his response.

He refused to talk to us.

He lawyered up.

He hired the best attorneys

that were in naples at the time:

Mike mcdonnell and jerry berry.

(narrator) why would steven benson hire defense attorneys?

(todd) I made a real effort

to talk to steve benson,

but he was never gonna talk.

I never did get a statement from steven.

(narrator) police are confused

as to why neither carol lynn or steven

are forthcoming with information.

Is it possible one of them knows something about the bombing?

(dramatic music)

suspicions start to swirl around margaret's son, steven.

Why would he hire a lawyer,

and why doesn't he want to help police find his mother's killer?

I became suspicious of mr. Benson.

If my mother was splattered all over a golf course

and my brother was killed

and my sister was off to the hospital blown away,

I think I'd have been a little bit more concerned about them.

(narrator) although detectives go to lancaster

to investigate the end caps, it is a dead end,

but they use the opportunity to interview

steven's friends from high school,

and what they discover changes the course of the investigation.

(michael) one of steven's friends, he signed a yearbook,

"we'll go bombing around again next year."

we knew he was familiar with pipe bombs

from talking to his friends up in pennsylvania.

Everything kept leading right back to steven.

♪

(soft music)

♪ (narrator) the benson murder investigation

heats up after detectives learn that someone at the crime scene

knew more about pipe bombs than he was admitting

and he's been making them since high school.

(john) the police had a lock on steven.

(michael) he knew how to build bombs.

His friends up in pennsylvania

told me, well, they were all little small bombs,

they'd blow up mailboxes.

And so that was just more stuff to go on.

He was very quiet

and just off by himself and kind of aloof.

He was always kind of tinkering with electronics or cars,

but I wouldn't say that there was a scary

or strange vibe.

He was odd, just different.

(narrator) the end caps were purchased in lancaster, pennsylvania.

Is it possible that steven bought them

before the family moved to florida?

But why would steven want to kill his family?

(michael) the bombs didn't go off at the same time.

The first bomb went off, and then, 30 seconds later,

the second bomb went off.

(narrator) steven ran back into the house

before the second bomb went off.

Is it possible that is when he detonated it?

(eric) they spoke to somebody up in lancaster that said

that steven had told them that he had experimented

with building his own explosives

and that he could detonate them remotely.

♪

(narrator) even though steven hired lawyers

and there is speculation that he's involved in the bombing,

detectives need solid evidence to prove this theory.

I was not treating him as a suspect

because he had just lost members of his family,

but I thought steven was a very cold, aloof person,

and he just seemed to be

not really affected by the whole thing.

Just his behavior caused suspicion

among the detectives.

(narrator) five weeks after the bombing,

the rest of the benson family is still reeling

from the loss of margaret and scottie.

I was devastated that scottie was murdered.

He didn't even get to get married and have kids

and have a life.

It was awful.

I just feel bad for carol lynn.

I can't imagine the loss that she went through that day.

(narrator) carol lynn lost her mother and her son in the bombing.

Detectives are sensitive to this fact,

but when carol lynn is released from the hospital

on August 14th, 1985,

they request an interview with her and she agrees.

(reporter) the bomb that blew up in the bensons' driveway

also blew the family's life and problems into the open.

(narrator) on the morning of July 9th, 1985,

the benson family was going to see the land

that margaret wanted to purchase,

but according to carol lynn, this was not her mother's idea.

Steven arranged for the family

to take a trip to see the new property.

(female relative) steven, that morning,

got them all together and said,

"I'm gonna go get some doughnuts."

(eric) steven didn't live there,

but he showed up in his work van.

He took the suburban instead of his own vehicle

to do it, and the place that he went to

was about a five-minute drive, ten at the most,

but he was gone an hour.

That's the time we feel he placed the bombs

inside the suburban.

(dramatic music)

(george) carol lynn told us steven was the one

that got everybody together,

he was the one who determined

who was gonna sit where in the suburban.

(female relative) then he threw the keys to scottie

and said, "hey, go ahead,

get in the driver's seat and start the car."

and carol lynn said when she came out of the house,

she was surprised that scott was behind the wheel,

margaret was in front, and carol lynn said

she usually liked to ride in the front

because she gets carsick, but steven took her

and placed her right behind scott,

which would've been right over the bomb.

(female relative) steven said, "I forgot the tape measure."

so steven runs back to the house,

and as soon as he got back to the house,

the first bomb went off.

♪

and instantly killed scottie and aunt margaret,

then the second bomb, which went off

maybe like a minute later, and carol lynn survived.

(george) the only reason carol lynn did not die

is because this huge fireball came at her

and she realized she was on fire

and she had to get out of the vehicle.

Carol lynn told us, after the first bomb went off

and she was rolling around on the grass

trying to put the fire out, she saw steven

right there on the walkway, now in front of the vehicle,

and she said she screamed for him to come help her,

and he looked at her and ran back in the house.

(john) he looked in shock to see that carol lynn was still alive.

Instead of going to help her, he went back to the house,

and the police thought that was extremely meaningful.

(narrator) there was a 30-second delay

between the first and the second bomb.

Detectives theorized that this was enough time

for steven to run inside

and remotely detonate the second bomb.

♪

(george) carol lynn's statements

about steven's behavior that morning

before the bomb went off

was the key piece of evidence from her.

Steven benson was our main suspect.

(narrator) what would drive someone to commit such a horrific murder,

especially against their own mother?

Every business that he tried failed,

went bankrupt.

You know, when we started digging

into his financial stuff,

you found out that his mom was constantly giving him money.

$50,000 here.

You could see all the checks that were coming out

and they were going to him.

(george) margaret suspected that steven

was embezzling money from her, and she was very upset about it.

It was only like a week before the bombing

that margaret laid down the law with steven.

(narrator) a week before the murders,

margaret benson demands an emergency meeting

with wayne kerr, the family attorney and cpa.

She wants to discuss the future of the family fortune.

(eric) wayne kerr was margaret's personal cpa.

He was actually at the house at the time of the blast.

He had met with her at breakfast time over there.

(narrator) wayne kerr had spoken to police multiple times,

but he has not been considered a suspect.

(eric) we did hear that wayne and steven were friends.

(john) wayne was a close friend.

He'd been steven's best man at his wedding.

(narrator) is it possible that wayne knew more about the bombing

than he admitted to police?

(george) wayne may have tipped steven off

as to why he was coming down.

Wayne was brought down from lancaster

to look into the family finances

to see what steven was doing with the money.

(john) she was gonna say to him, "look, this is enough.

What did you do with all my money?"

he was stealing from his mother.

(female relative) steven just started taking advantage.

Aunt margaret planned on cutting him out of the will,

and he wanted to murder her

before she was able to sign the papers.

(michael) he had the motive but now had to prove that he did it.

(george) he's comparing the prints, and I couldn't believe it.

(female relative) the sketch looked just like him.

My whole life, I never saw steven wear a baseball cap.

(george) he said this guy's either totally innocent

or a cold-blooded killer.

Margaret benson had been planning to change her will)

because she believed steven was stealing from her,

and she was afraid he might kill her

for the family fortune.

(narrator) after a very revealing interview

with carol lynn, police name steven benson

as the main suspect in the benson family bombing,

and the news sends shock waves

through this millionaires' enclave.

(family relative) when we found out that steven was the suspect,

we were so shocked because steven and aunt margaret

had a good relationship, but I don't remember ever seeing

any kind of violence in his personality ever.

♪

(narrator) if wayne kerr, the family accountant,

called steven in advance to let him know

why he was coming to naples,

was this the catalyst that set the plan in motion?

(john) steven knew well enough to know

that he wouldn't lie to cover for him

for all the things that steven had been doing,

so it was all gonna come out,

and obviously, steven didn't want that to happen

because it'd be the end of his free ride.

(narrator) with the entire family gone,

steven would've been the sole heir

to his grandfather's legacy, the tobacco company,

which was worth close to $100 million.

He was gonna get rid of everybody,

because the grandfather was the real money in the family.

(narrator) although investigators establish

that steven had a financial motive for the murders,

they still need to find solid evidence

to prove he is guilty.

(eric) law enforcement needed to build a case.

Could they get fingerprints, could they find out

where this bomb originated,

could they find out that he, in fact, purchased the parts?

And that was what they were trying to do.

(harold) we started an all-out search.

I had the swat team, atf,

I don't know how many people we had working,

but going from place to place that sold these pipes,

these galvanized pipes and end caps.

(george) we started calling plumbing companies

around the immediate vicinities

to find out who carried 4-by-12-inch pipe.

So I went to a place called hughes supply here in naples,

and, sure enough, they sold the 12-inch pipe to a guy.

(george) they found, on Friday, July 5th,

that somebody wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses

came in there and bought two end caps

right around the corner

from where steven benson's office was.

(eric) the purchase happened

about four days before the actual explosion.

They were trying to figure out who might've purchased the parts

and assembled the bomb.

When they talked to the folks at hughes supply,

they asked for a description.

(michael) and we did a composite

of what the guy looked like,

and it looked like steve benson with a baseball hat on.

(george) the employees

at meridian security,

who worked for steven, they couldn't remember,

it was either Thursday or Friday before the bombing,

steven was looking to borrow a ball cap from somebody,

and they'd never known him to wear a hat,

and they couldn't understand, but no one loaned him one,

but he was looking for a ball cap,

and they thought that was very odd.

(female relative) my whole life, I never saw steven wear a baseball cap.

The sketch looked just like him.

(narrator) investigators are able to lift a palm print

off of the receipt, and it gives them the evidence

they were hoping for.

They had a receipt signed by the guy.

So I impounded the receipt,

but they found a partial palm print.

(brent) they were able to lift a palm print,

not a fingerprint, off that sales receipt.

That's an identifying factor.

(george) left-handed person

will always put their palm on a page

and then, like, write down.

They'll curl their hand around where they're writing.

He said there's two perfect prints on there,

and I recall that steven was left-handed.

They asked mike mcdonnell, steven's lawyer,

if they could have his fingerprints,

and mike said, "no, you'll have to get a warrant."

they successfully got a warrant

to get his fingerprints and palm prints.

Then we were able to compare the palm prints

on the invoice with steven.

I wanted to make sure this was done by an expert

because we would have one shot only.

After I obtained the rolled palm prints and fingerprints

from steven, I flew to atlanta.

We drive to the atf lab.

We open it up, we're the only ones there.

I give him the rolled prints,

and then I start walking back and forth.

As he starts looking under a magnifying glass,

he says to me, "it is him," and I couldn't believe it.

Yes, it was steven benson.

(electronic music)

(reporter) steven benson was charged with murder

a month after the bombing.

(narrator) on August 22nd, 1985,

steven benson is arrested

for the murder of his mother margaret,

his nephew scott,

and the attempted murder of his sister carol lynn.

(sam) I was shocked to see that steven was arrested

for the murders.

I thought that is hard to believe

that somebody that I knew would've done that

to his own family.

(female relative) there was so much evidence,

it was obvious that it was steven.

(narrator) however, steven benson does not confess to the murders,

and he maintains his innocence.

It was just a horror story from beginning to end.

(narrator) on July 14th, 1985,

one year after the bombing,

the trial of steven benson rocks this upscale hamlet

on florida's west coast to its core.

(cheryl) this was the o.J. Trial before the o.J. Trial.

I mean, it was big, it was something

that had never happened in naples before.

(reporter) spectators included several authors

and soap opera script writers.

(cheryl) the media made such a huge deal out of it.

It was a media circus.

(narrator) worried that the jury is going to be influenced

by the explosive media coverage,

the judge decides to move it from naples to fort myers.

(jerry) there certainly was drama.

(narrator) steven's defense attorneys steal the show.

(george) mike mcdonnell was very flamboyant.

He was very emphatic

in his courtroom gestures.

We thought, "we're in big trouble here."

mike mcdonnell said in his opening arguments

that he looked high and low and looked everywhere,

and he couldn't find out who did it.

(mike) they said he killed his mother because he stole

two and a half million dollars from her...

But you won't hear that in this courtroom,

because it wasn't true.

(george) and jerry brock walked over to the defense table

and he said, "I'll tell you why mike mcdonnell

couldn't find out who did it."

and he slammed his fist down right on top of the table.

He said, "'cause he's sitting right next

to the guy that did it, steven benson."

(female relative) and it was just so creepy

to see steven sitting there

as the defendant who murdered my family.

♪

when steven was in the courtroom,

he didn't show any emotion whatsoever.

(harold) he had no remorse at all.

(female relative) so the trial lasted two weeks and it was just excruciating,

and at one point, steven's attorney stood up

and was telling everybody how he was such a loving family man.

I just couldn't stand it.

(narrator) when carol lynn takes the stand

to testify against her brother,

steven's defense falls apart.

I thought I was being electrocuted,

and I remember calling

for someone to help me.

(female relative) and I can't imagine

how carol lynn felt looking at her brother,

who was watching her, who had just blown her up,

killed her mother and her son,

and was watching her lay there dying

and just didn't come to help her.

(jerry) the most damaging evidence against us

was his sister carol lynn's testimony.

We were at the point where we really couldn't dispute

scientific evidence available at the time.

We really couldn't dispute the palm print.

(foreperson) the defendant is guilty as charged

of first-degree premeditated murder.

(narrator) although steven is found guilty on all counts,

he is sentenced to life in prison

instead of the death penalty.

(female relative) when we heard the verdict,

we were thrilled that he was found guilty.

I believe he only escaped the death penalty

by one juror.

(light piano music)

I could never forgive steven for what he did, no.

He took away my little scottie.

He took away my mom's sister.

Aunt margaret was a good mom.

They were very loving and sweet, and just such a shame.

(john) this is a family that looked like it had everything,

and then suddenly it had nothing.

It's a lesson on what money can do to people.

To do it at the expense of your mother and your sister

and your brother, it was just heinous.

(female relative) steven was killed in jail.

I hope that he was tormented.

You don't kill your mom.

What our family has gone through

is unspeakable and horrific,

and steven is just...Evil.

(dark music)

(george) I think steven figured

that he was gonna get away with it.

(brent) steven did not expect carol lynn to survive.

(female relative) he must've been horrified that carol lynn survived

because now he wasn't gonna get all that money.

(todd) steven benson was inept,

and he was convicted of a crime

that was just not very well done.

(jerry) steven wasn't worried about buying pipe

in a hardware store

in the same area where the bomb goes off.

An intelligent person would've at least driven

a couple hours away to buy the pipes.

He was a spoiled rich kid.

(cheryl) steven thought he was smarter than everybody else,

and in reality, he wasn't.

He made the same mistakes that you see

of stupid criminals on the news.

You hear on the news, "the florida man,"

you know, "the florida man did this."

the not-very-bright thing that the florida man did.

Well...

Steven was a florida man.

♪