The Murder of Both Parents

MY PARENTS, GLADYS AND ELMER BENSON, WERE STABBED TO DEATH IN THEIR SOUTH GATE HOME IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1996.  THE MURDERER WAS QUICKLY APPREHENED AND HAS BEEN LIVING ON SAN QUENTIN’S DEATH ROW FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS.

 

THE MURDERER HAD RECENTLY RECONCILED WITH HIS WIFE AND TWO DAUGHTERS WHO HAD MOVED IN WITH THE WIFE’S BROTHER NEXT DOOR TO MY PARENTS.  MAYBE THE RECONCILATION WAS NOT GOING SO WELL, BECAUSE HE SPENT SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10, AT A BAR NURSING A BUCKET OF BEERS AND BUYING DRINKS FOR A WOMAN WHO SPENT HER ENTIRE WORK SHIFT TALKING AND DANCING WITH HIM.  WHEN HE DROVE HER HOME AT 2 A.M. SHE WOULD NOT LET HIM IN THE HOUSE BECAUSE, ACCORDING TO HER TESTIMONY IN COURT, HE HAD NO MONEY.  HE DEVISED A PLAN TO GET MONEY FROM THE ELDERLY COUPLE THAT LIVED NEXT DOOR TO HIS WIFE.  FOR SOME REASON MY MOM OPENED THE DOOR TO HIM AT 3 A.M. OR SO IN THE MORNING.  WHEN THEY EITHER REFUSED TO GIVE HIM MONEY OR TOLD HIM THEY HAD NO MONEY…. HE STABBED MY 74 YEAR OLD MOM 39 TIMES LEAVING HER DEAD ON THE KITCHEN FLOOR; THEN HE WALKED TO MY 79 YEAR OLD WHEELCHAIR BOUND DAD AND STABBED HIM 19 TIMES TO HIS DEATH.   HE THEN STARTED LOOKIN FOR MONEY; TAKING MY MOM’S WALLET, COIN COLLECTION ITEMS AND OTHER MISCELANEOUS MONIES.  HE WAS CHARGED AND FOUND QUILTY OF TWO COUNTS OF FIRST DEGREE MURDER WITH SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES OF ROBBERY AND SENTENCED TO DEATH.

I BECAME ACTIVE IN VICTIM RIGHTS BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE HELPED ME DURING THE MOST HORRIBLE TIME OF MY LIFE.  AS MUCH AS I PRAY THAT NOT ANOTHER PERSON HAS TO ENDURE THE PAIN OF LOSING A LOVED ONE TO HOMICIDE, I KNOW ANOTHER MURDER WILL OCCUR TODAY.  I WANT TO HELP THEM AND I WANT TO BE A VOICE FOR MY PARENTS.  IF WE CAN’T STOP THE KILLING, LET’S MAKE SURE THAT VICTIM’S GET ALL THE RIGHTS DUE THEM AND THAT THEY ARE TREATED FAIRLY BY THE SYSTEM.

Senseless Drive by Shooting

On Thursday November 10, 1994, my daughter Jennifer LeAnne Balber, a SCGC Meter Reader was fatally shot in the line of service in Rialto CA. Jennifer was an innocent victim of a senseless drive-by shooting in the city of Rialto. She was 20yrs. Old and excited and looking forward to celebrating her 21st. birthday in Las Vegas in just 3 weeks.
 
This horrible tragedy has been the high point in my own personal journey from victim to survivor.
 
Jennifer’s murder 10 years ago changed my life and has directed many of my professional and personal choices. I have a personal commitment beyond my responsibilities to this position.
 
I met Patricia at Crime Survivors  2nd Annual 5k Walk/Run in Irvine. I’ve attended different events and meeting with Patricia, and volunteered at her Christmas Elf event in 2007. This is a great cause for the entire family.

Daughters Murder / Mothers Survival

Our 20 year old, a college student and only child, Teresa Del Rio, was shot through her car door on June 6, 1999 in the Rampart area of Los Angeles, Ca.  Two boys, she had met through friends some months earlier, had called Teresa and asked her for a ride home. Teresa and her girlfriend went to pick them up.    

When leaving the area a man with a gun walked out of the night and started shooting at Teresa’s car.  Teresa was hit and collapsed onto her steering wheel.  As the car rolled down the street, the shooter continued shooting at her car missing the occupants in the car with bullets hitting homes near by.   The next morning, June 7, 1999, Teresa bled to death on the operating table. The bullet had ricochet internally and destroyed Teresa’s organs beyond repair. 

The shooter was caught in Las Vegas, Nevada and extradited to Los Angeles and during the preliminary trial was ordered by a judge to stand trial for two murders in 1998 and for Teresa’s murder in 1999.  To date, 2008, no trial date has been scheduled.  The shooter has no bail.

Being proactive with victim’s groups whether it is directly working with victims of homicide or lobbying for legislation dealing with guns in the hands of criminals, writting parole hearing letters for other victims or attending murder trials at the request of families. This helps me on a daily basis to distract what has happen to my daughter.  Regular visits to my psychiatrist helps me with bad dreams, anxiety attacks and depression.

Crime Survivors has given me the strength to keep moving on with my life in a world that I don’t like to be in.  Their commitment to working and understanding how victims of violence suffer everyday, paves a way for a peaceful and safer community.

I will always consider Crime Survivors as a place where I can go to to contain my sanity after the murder of my child.

Brothers Murder / Families Survival

While the murder of my younger brother Robert Adair was the single most devastating and tragic event to happen in our lives, in many ways it strenghtened us as a family and reaffirmed our faith and belief in the goodness of human nature.

That’s not to say we didn’t go through a very difficult period. We did.

When I spoke to my mom immediately after I heard the news, I could not differentiate between what I thought were screams or hysterical laughter. It’s then that my heart started to race and I got scared. These were the most horrible cries of anguish I have ever heard in my life.

Our dear mother aged 10 years within several months and died of a mysterious auto-immune disorder 4 1/2 years later. She confided in me that there was not a night she went to sleep without crying.

My association w/ Crime Surviviors was mainly w/ the founder, Patricia Wenskunas. She attended one of our JHV monthly meetings about 2 /12 years ago and I’ve been friends w/ her ever since.

She is the heart & soul if you will, – the guiding force of Crime Survivors and she is honest, intelligent and truly a very decent survivor of an attempted murder. She and her organization are well organized and well established in both Los Angeles and Orange counties and put on about 20 or so events per year plus the day-in-and-day-out work of fundraising.

She appears to me to be totally fearless in doing her daily work, and, she can “work a room” as good as any politician I’ve ever seen.

Sincerely,  John

Survival * Resource * Thanks

My name is Renae’.  My son who is 10 years old and my daughter who is 6 and I lived in Modjeska Canyon for 3.5 years. Our rental property was taken by a Arsonist in the Modjeska Canyon fires in October of 2007.    Two days after the fire i was called by the fire department and asked if we wanted to be escorted up to the property get maybe get some closure.  I met a lady Patricia from Crime Survivors who never left my side.  She was amazing and very concerned for me and this horrible situation.  For 6 weeks I got a phone call weekly from Patricia making sure the kids and I were OK and making sure we had all the correct resources to move on with our lives.  I want to thank all the firemen and woman from the fire dept. and I want to personally thank Crime Survivors for guiding me in the right direction for all the assistance that we received.  Patrica, you are an amazing woman, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a great friend to us when we needed you the most.  We truly could not of gotten thru this disaster in our lives with our people like you.