Kate Bender, Bender Family -- Kansas


The Benders : Keepers of the Devils Inn $7.95 - The book describes 
a series of murders perpetrated in the early 1870s by the four members 
of the so-called Bender family. The murders were committed at a 
roadside inn, on the prairie, nine miles from Cherryvale, Kansas. 
As travelers would stop by for a bite to eat, they would be seated 
in front of a curtain behind which "Kate Bender" would smack them on 
the head with a hammer. They would be robbed and their bodies would 
be dropped through a trap door in the inn floor. Later the bodies 
would be buried in the back yard. The travelers would just "disappear" 
and their families were unable to find them. About 50 people were 
killed before people started getting suspicious. 


http://www.genealogysource.com/booksamericanhist.htm

http://asylumeclectica.com/morbid/archives/morb0299.htm

http://www.ku.edu/carrie/kancoll/articles/kstrivia/answers3.htm