09/09/2026
We came to Labette County, Kansas, in the autumn of 1870, homesteading along the Great Osage Trail. To travelers, we seemed like a typical German immigrant family: John Sr., Elvira, John Jr., and Kate. In truth, we likely weren't related, and "Bender" was a stolen name.
We split our oblong cabin with a canvas curtain, living in the back, while running a store and inn in the front. Our beautiful Kate was the star of our show, advertising as "Professor Miss Katie Bender" to offer psychic healings, hold seances, and advocate free love. She drew guests to our dining table, which we positioned directly over a hidden trapdoor.
The "seat of honor" was a trap. We sat travelers with their backs to the curtain. Pa or John Jr. would watch the outline of their skulls against the cloth and strike them down with a hammer. We dropped their bodies through the trapdoor into our six-foot cellar pit, slit their throats to ensure death, and stripped their pockets. Under the cover of night, we buried them face down in our young apple orchard. Ma even used the fruit, nourished by their remains, to bake her pies.
We killed at least eleven people this way, including young Mary Ann Longcor. But our run ended in 1873 with Dr. William York. His brother, Colonel Alexander York, was a state senator who tracked him to our inn. Kate tried to trap him, promising a seance to find his brother "even if he is in hell," but his suspicions grew.
Before the posse returned with warrants, we slipped into the April night. We left our starving livestock, abandoned our wagon outside Thayer, KS, and boarded the trains. Pa and Ma fled toward St. Louis, while John Jr. and Kate vanished into Texas. The prairie swallowed us, leaving only a bloody legend.
