My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark Rewind with Karen & Georgia - 94: Go Get Your Thing
Apr 29, 2026
They revisit a grisly 19th-century murder mystery at a rural inn and recent archaeological updates. They retell a chilling Australian couple’s abductions, a victim’s daring escape, and the legal aftermath. Lighter moments include tour stories, TV obsessions, fan interactions, and quirky corrections from past shows.
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How The Bender Inn Lured Travelers
- Karen recounts the Benders arriving in Kansas in 1870 and turning their large cabin into the Bender Inn that served travelers on the Osage Trail.
- The Inn doubled as a general store and divided living space with a canvas—where guests sat with their backs to the canvas before being attacked.
How Investigators Found The Benders' Graves
- The posse found congealed blood in a trapdoor cellar and used land depressions in the orchard to locate graves.
- Colonel York and searchers probed soft soil with metal rods and uncovered at least eight buried bodies near the apple trees.
The Benders' Killing Pattern And Motive Clues
- Forensic details suggested a staged modus operandi: one Bender would blunt-force the victim, another slit throats, then drop bodies through a trapdoor to the cellar.
- Some victims showed minimal theft, implying murders were sometimes committed for compulsion rather than profit.
