Not to be confused with Cattle Kate - Ellen Liddy Watson - from the first season of "Stories of the Century".
I find these episodes to be quite interesting when they point me toward learning a bit more about the subject matter in question. The 'Bloody Benders' were a family of serial killers who owned an inn and small general store in Labette County, Kansas in the early 1870's. The story presented here only concentrates on Kate Bender (Veda Ann Borg) and her half-wit brother John (Kay Kuter). As demonstrated, an unwitting traveler, preferably someone with money, would be offered a place to stay and at some point during an evening meal, the victim would be taken out by brother John with a hammer, robbed and buried in the family garden.
Attempting to work undercover, Railroad Detective Matt Clark (Jim Davis) is constantly frustrated by the local sheriff (Hal K. Dawson) who finds it impossible to keep his mouth shut about Clark's investigation into the disappearance of a railroad executive's son. A shop owner with ties to the Bender's tips them off, thereby prolonging the case and putting Matt's assistant Jonesy Jones (Kristine Miller) in danger at the Bender residence. Matt Clark's annoyance was never more evident than it was here working this investigation.
However the resolution to the story seemed rather lame, perhaps owing to the fact that the historical Benders fled Kansas and their fate remained uncertain, with a lot of folklore and legend surrounding their grisly reputation. In this episode, Kate Bender tries to make a getaway by wagon when Matt Clark arrives to save his assistant, and during the chase, she falls from the wagon and is dragged to her death, leaving a badly disfigured body. Eventually, more victims are discovered in the vegetable garden and the case is closed, brother John having been dispatched by Matt earlier.
I find these episodes to be quite interesting when they point me toward learning a bit more about the subject matter in question. The 'Bloody Benders' were a family of serial killers who owned an inn and small general store in Labette County, Kansas in the early 1870's. The story presented here only concentrates on Kate Bender (Veda Ann Borg) and her half-wit brother John (Kay Kuter). As demonstrated, an unwitting traveler, preferably someone with money, would be offered a place to stay and at some point during an evening meal, the victim would be taken out by brother John with a hammer, robbed and buried in the family garden.
Attempting to work undercover, Railroad Detective Matt Clark (Jim Davis) is constantly frustrated by the local sheriff (Hal K. Dawson) who finds it impossible to keep his mouth shut about Clark's investigation into the disappearance of a railroad executive's son. A shop owner with ties to the Bender's tips them off, thereby prolonging the case and putting Matt's assistant Jonesy Jones (Kristine Miller) in danger at the Bender residence. Matt Clark's annoyance was never more evident than it was here working this investigation.
However the resolution to the story seemed rather lame, perhaps owing to the fact that the historical Benders fled Kansas and their fate remained uncertain, with a lot of folklore and legend surrounding their grisly reputation. In this episode, Kate Bender tries to make a getaway by wagon when Matt Clark arrives to save his assistant, and during the chase, she falls from the wagon and is dragged to her death, leaving a badly disfigured body. Eventually, more victims are discovered in the vegetable garden and the case is closed, brother John having been dispatched by Matt earlier.
