Lancaster Online reports that the investigation quickly focused on Margaret Benson’s son, Steven. At 33, Steven had already racked up a series of disappointments to his family. He spent most of his life living in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and attended Franklin & Marshall College there. His enrollment in higher education would perhaps be the first in a long series of failures — he would never graduate. Still determined to make something of himself, he tried his hand at entrepreneurship. He started a landscaping business, which soon failed. He attempted to run an import/export business, which also folded. Other short-lived ventures included real estate, graphic design, and outside sales. He was given various roles in the family business at Lancaster Leaf Tobacco, which were also failures.
Investigators uncovered two different wills left behind by the tobacco heiress. The first will was drawn up in 1983, as reported by The New York Times. The document’s instructions were to leave the estate to be managed by her attorney, Wayne Kerr. The proceeds were to provide an equal income to her surviving children. But a second will was filed in January 1985 by a different attorney. The will filed by Guion DeLoach did not make any mention of the trust that was filed two years prior.
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Naples News reveals what police would consider a strong motive for murder. The outlet reports that greed drove Benson’s son to plant the explosive devices in her vehicle, with the hope of killing her and the two others on board that might stand to inherit what he desperately wanted.
