The Indianapolis sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1880-1904, 1885-03-22
PAGES 8 TO IL

the body of Jones. He had his skull smashed
in with q hammer and his throat cut from
ear W ear The body had no clothing upon
IL save a shirt Some ten or q dozen farmeu
met quietly on the banks of Drum Creek.
and after viewing the body OF Jones held q
council. At this meeting the Benders were
spoken OF suspiciously, and 1t was deter.
mined TO keep the discovery Of the body
quiet until future developments. The next
day q man who was evidently q tramp and
had footed ii from Independence on his way
TO Fort Scott, stopped at Datroits house
and asked for something to eat. In conversa-
ton with this man, Dntroit learned that the
previous evening the tramp had, while look
ing around for place to pass the night,
come acre IS q small hsystsck back OF the
Bender's house, into which he quietly nee
tied himself it must have been midnight
when he was awakened by voices. and quietly
looking out from his nest he saw the dim
outline of three persons, evidently ut work
digging at q snort distance from him. IL
was so dark that he could not distinguish
them, but ne could heaf them speak In Ger
man, q language ne did not understand.
His fret impulse was to go out TO them. But
something seemed 10 Withhold him, and after
q time they finished Whatever work they
were at ana withdrew into the house. The
tramp depsr 4 early In the morning and
had trsmped on until he had stopped ct Du-
troits for breakfast. He concluded his tale
by remark Dig that il LOOKED mighty like @
IL they were buryipg some one" Mr.. Du-
troit taid nothing at the time, but when the
party OF twelve met by appointment on
Drum Creek, he related the circumstanoe to
them, end il was determined TO give the
Bender mansion quiet investigation. A
wagon track was discovered leading To the
Bender place from where Jones body bad
been thrown into the creek. The party
struck out on the wagon trail, aud at about
sunset it brought them within view Of the
tavern. IL was then determined to forego
proceedings until the morrow, when in the
morning the entire party would meet on
Drum Creek well armed, and ride over to the
Bender place.
On the morrow, at about o'clock, the
party assembled on the creek and immedi-
ately proceeded over the prairies to the sus-
pected house. But when they arrived there
they found the Bender ranch deserted. The
Blenders ha 4 noticed the squad of horeemen
riding upon the wagon trail the previous
evening, aud during the night had bundled
up their effects and departed. The Blenders
ct this time had four horses Q COW, and Q
wagon load of household truck.
While the scouting party were canvassing
the new state Of affairs, Mr.. Datroit and 9TH
ers went in search of the spot indicated By
the tramp The searched around for some
time In vain, as the ground had been re-
C6utly plOWtu over, Out ~ lest btruCk y 0pOl
that appeared moister than the rest, -
though the ground beneath Ii had recently
been turned up No shovel being found,
three of the party set to work with shingles
torn from the roof OF the houte, and after
digg na a hole four feet deep one of them,
win a shout. reached down bis hand and
pulled up the skirt Of q mans undergar-
ment, aud beneath could be seen an exposed
portion OF a human body. This was the
corpse o. Mr.. York, though at the time the
explorers did not know it.
The track of the Bender wagon could bs
seen leading 10 the southwest. The horse
men followed il at full speed. Just before
sunset the pursuers came in sight Of the
fugitives. They had evidently urged
they were good forty five miles from their
tavern, aud their animals appeared we'll
used up There was no cow with the outfit,
nor had the Blenders COW been seen or heard
OF from that day to this. As the pursuit
came in sight OF their game they gave yell,
and charged down upon them. The moment
the Benders caught sight OF their pursuers,
the gr q est CONSERVATION appeared to seizs
upon them. John Bender. who was walking
by the side of the wagon, ran forward 70 the
lead team, as though to unhitch them but
was recalled by the old man, who handed
him out an o fashioned smooth bore Yea
ger rife. With this weapon he fred harm
then drew o navy revolver and reached his
hand into the wagon for another. Before he
had time to draw il forth, however, q shot
from one OF the farmers laid MIN out lifsless
on the prairie, the ball entering his left
breast and piercing the heart.
Old man Bender stood up in the wagon,
and, striking down the cover. yelled at his
horse in German and 1ourshed q revolver
over his head. The pursrers wished to cap
ture them alive. if possible, but did not like
70 approach too close to the old mans re-
volyer. AS they were going down roll In
the prairie one of their lead horses
FELL and Kate. spriDging out of the
wagon, went 10 the fallen animal
rs If to get 1t up. But instead of raising the
fallen beast, she cut loose its mate, and,
it, was endeavoring 70 make her
e scspe on it's back. At this the old man
seemed crazed with anger and fired his re-
volver at her. He did not hit her, however,
bat the horse springing forward caught leg
in the breeding of Its fallen mate, and went
down with Kate under him. The Old man
having emptied his revolver, the pursueB
closed on him and beat him down with their
gun barrels though he and his wife fought
like tigers to the last. After they had tied
Bender and his wife they got the girl out
from under the horse and found that abe
had o broken leg in the fall. Datroit said
Kate acted like very devil. She cursed
seemed a red hot vial of wrath.
The party moved on 20 Q run" and
camped for the night. Old Bender refused
to say q word in English, but both he and
his wife cursed their captors in German.
Kate Bender seemed to think their captors
knew every thing, and while she wonld not
answer questions, she made 90 concsalment
of the hellish work that had been carried on
at the tavern, and asserted that they had
killed over 100 persons. She said that she
had done most OF the throat cutting herself;
that John was afraid; that he or the old
woman did well enough to knock their VIC
Tins on the head. but they appeared TO be
afraid of them after they were down.
When asked why they had killed % many
referring 10 her assertion of having killed
100 personsl, she replied that the old people
(meaniBg her parents) liked the money, bat
she liked to zee the blood. She was lying on
the ground, her broken limb preventing
her escape. One of the men happened to sic
down near her, when quick IS thought, she
jerked his revolver from his belt and fred
at him The ball missed him and entered
Al % fho fob ~