The American frontier could be a perilous place, but most stout-hearted travellers were expecting nothing worse than tumbleweed, rattlesnakes and boredom on their long ride. When people started to go missing in the Osage area, suspicion fell on a family who were not all that they seemed. A local legend says red corn grows on the prairie to this day as the very land is saturated with the blood of their innocent victims, so join me as we investigate one of the greatest puzzles of the Old West.



Thanks for listening! Here’s how you can get in touch with comments and suggestions:

Twitter: @PrashsMurderMap

Email: prashsmurdermap@gmail.com



Credits:

Research, writing, original Benders Song, narration and audio arrangement by Prash

Character Voices: Natasha and Ben

Sources:

Cappello, Nile; “The Bloody Benders: America’s First Family of Serial Killers”, August 2019

https://crimereads.com/the-bloody-benders-americas-first-family-of-serial-killers/



Geary, Rick; “A Treasury of Victorian Murder Compendium II”, 2015, NBM Publishing Inc, New York



Kansas Historical Society; “The Bender Knife”, December 2006, Kansapedia



https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/bender-knife/10106



Martin, Michelle M; “Dinner with Death: Kate Bender, Murder and Mayhem on the Kansas Prairie”, August 2019

https://nursingclio.org/2019/08/15/dinner-with-death-kate-bender-murder-and-mayhem-on-the-kansas-prairie/



Rivenes, Erik; “The Bloody Benders”, June 2016, Most Notorious Podcast



“The Bloody Benders, America’s First Serial Killer Family”, January 2018

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/53672/bloody-benders-americas-first-serial-killers