House of Benders

I’m Competing With A Serial Killer Family

Justin J. Genao

Five pencil‑style portrait sketches arranged together, showing four historical members of the Bender family and a fifth portrait of a modern man labeled “House of Benders” at the bottom.

When you search up “House of Benders” on Google, our homepage has the privilege of being the top hit. Being the top hit is phenomenal. And I would sincerely hope everyone out there is the top hit when their literal name, word-for-word, is typed in. My issue is that the top hit for us is the only hit.

Nothing else comes up. Not our Ruminations page, not our About Us page, not The Benderverse, not even a single article we’ve written.

Even The Balloon Benders, who reference us in their website footer and their About Us don’t populate. Despite us having strong backlinks across sites.

More results show for this website when you search “Justin J. Genao“.

Heck, me as a person, I dominate the algorithm when you search “Justin Genao” in search of any Justin Genao. There are at least three others out there (I’ve done my research). One of them is a successful YouTuber with 100k+ subscribers, I somehow got more aura than him.

Surprisingly I’ve been able to accomplish this without killing anyone, keep that in mind.

I will continue to show the other Justin Genaos who’s the big dawg, I’m proud of that.

But back to my point: at least the algorithm shows you a “Justin Genao” when you search for it. Whether it is showing you one of us, multiple of us, or all of us, it is showing you us.

What I don’t understand is why when a literal search for “House of Benders” is typed in, one result shows on the algorithm.

You know who the rest is for?

THE BLOODY BENDERS, A Serial Killer Family

Four pencil sketch portraits of the historical Bender family members arranged side by side.

I must admit, that is very impressive. Not the fact that they stole the whole algorithm from me. Just the fact that they were able to get the whole family on board with the mission.

I can barely get my little brother to open the apartment door when I forget my keys.

The Bloody Benders were based out of Labette County, Kansas. They homesteaded 160 acres and operated a small inn out of their two room cabin. It was common for travelers who took the Osage Mission Trail (near present-day Cherryvale) to make a pit stop and stay the night in the midst of a long route ahead. What they didn’t know is that this was not an ordinary inn. It was a human slaughterhouse. Because many travelers would stay the night and never leave.

The Bender Methodology

In case you’re wondering how they did it. That’s what you’re here for, right?

To learn how to create a serial killer family?

Illustrated overhead view of the Bender Inn and Grocery cabin from a vintage murder illustration.
This illustration doesn’t align precisely with the floorplan below, but it has the main scene correct — the canvas cloth behind the table where the guests ate.
Labeled floor plan diagram of the Benders’ cabin showing rooms and features marked from A to L.
Diagram of the Benders’ Inn.
Black‑and‑white historical portrait of a woman believed to be Kate Bender.
Kate Bender was considered arrestingly beautiful. She was the one who provided hospitality and kept the guests at ease. She was the only one of the bunch who had brains, could speak great English, lectured at universities, and had notoriety around town as a spiritualist. At some point she would give a cue to John Bender Sr. (father) standing behind the cloth, to whack the guest in the head.
Cartoon‑style illustration of a man striking another person with a sledgehammer through a curtain.
Like this.

After the victim was incapacitated, they were dropped into a trap door which led to the cellar. The trapdoor was labeled “L” above, press here to reference the diagram again.

This hidden space allowed the family to move victims out of sight quickly, so they could continue their business without immediate detection.

Then, under the cover of night, the bodies were moved from the cellar and buried on the property, primarily in the family’s apple orchard and vegetable garden. 

You May Be Wondering What Was The Motive

Not all serial killers have motives. Some of them do it for the thrill of the sport.

But these weren’t ordinary lone sickos. This was a group. And groups have to be tied together by a mission, right? … Right ?!?!?

*Quick profuse seizure*

What could possibly unite a family to do such horrific crime?

There’s only one motive that could make this achievable — theft.

Yeah, that was it. Theft.

The thing that unites us all, doesn’t it?

And ’til this day they’re still robbing — robbing the entire algorithm from me.

Okay, I’ll Stop Being Salty

Illustrated sketch of a sledgehammer with blood stains.

The motive is understandable, I guess, if you look at the timeframe. They were doing this in the 1800s. People traveled by horse, dorsed by the source, no remorse, carrying money in their pockets, of course.

This might be hard for your brain to fathom, but they couldn’t tap digital credit cards on their phone for every purchase.

Affluent men traveled with their valuables to purchase land and livestock. Especially, on the Osage Mission Trail.

Why This Doesn’t Make Sense Tho

Illustrated sketch of the Bender Inn with horses and people gathered outside the building.

The Benders had a legit business that served a need in the community. If they focused their efforts on building this small inn and grocery, they would’ve been successful business owners making an honest living.

This is why it is also believed that while theft might’ve been one motive, the murders were a form of sadistic enjoyment, as some victims were reportedly quite poor, carrying little of value.

In Conclustitution, Patootie Petution,

Old newspaper headline stating that a family named Bender is suspected of being murderers.

Here’s a righteous cause for you:

Don’t continue to uphold the names of serial killers for centuries.

Uphold me.

Unless you prefer I take matters into my own hands.

And continue The Bender legacy.

KIDDING.

Maybe not.

There’s only one way to find out.

And there are some things you’re better off not attempting to find out.

Here’s Extra Juice, Jip, AND Dip On Your Chip

Vintage promotional flyer describing Kate Bender, listing her credentials and claimed healing services.

Kate Bender supported incest.

It is widely believed that her and her brother, John Bender Jr., were romantically involved.

She advocated ‘free love’, and denounced all social regulations for the promotion of marriage and purity — in other words the prevention of carnality, which she called ‘miserable requirements of self-constituted society’. She maintained carnal relations with her brother, and boldly proclaimed her right to do so.

The following words were found in her lecture manuscript:

“Shall we confine ourselves to a single love, and deny our natures their proper sway? …Even though it be a brother’s passion for his own sister, I say it should not be smothered.”

Wow, what a brilliant mind.

Author’s Note

This article sits alongside other writings I’ve done on legacy and identity.

Structurally, situations like this are often handled through disambiguation; the process of separating distinct identities that share the same name.

Justin J. Genao

Justin is a native New Yorker with Dominican descent, born and raised in the Section 8 housing of Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Writing has long been his instrument for expressing himself and making sense of complex thoughts and feelings. With a professional background in Corporate Hospitality and Event Planning, his ruminations often examine human behavior, social phenomena, moral ambiguity, and patterns that shape how we think and act. His breadth in delivery exists somewhere between the ridiculous and the sincere.

You can learn more about Justin on the About Us page.

I appreciate you making it this far!

You might as well subscribe while you are here. It’s not like you have anything better to do. Receive some unsolicited literature every time I post.

We don’t spam! Trust me. Check The Benderverse. There’s many alter-egos that take up my time.

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