Susan Jonusas- HELL’S HALF-ACRE: The Untold Story of the Benders, a Serial Killer Family on the American Frontier

In 1873 the people of Labette County, Kansas made a grisly discovery. Buried by a trailside cabin beneath an orchard of young apple trees were the remains of countless bodies. Below the cabin itself was a cellar stained with blood . . . And the Benders were nowhere to be found. This discovery sent the local community and national newspapers into a frenzy that continued for decades, sparking an epic manhunt for the Benders. The idea that a family of seemingly respectable homesteaders—one among the thousands relocating farther west in search of land and opportunity after the Civil War—were capable of operating "a human slaughter pen" appalled and fascinated the nation. But who the Benders really were, why they committed such a vicious killing spree and whether justice ever caught up to them is a mystery that remains unsolved to this day.

HELL’S HALF-ACRE is a journey into the turbulent heart of nineteenth century America, a place where modernity stalks across the landscape, violently displacing existing populations and building new ones. It is a world where folklore can quickly become fact and an entire family of criminals can slip through a community’s fingers, only to reappear in the most unexpected of places.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Susan Jonusas attended the University of St Andrews and holds a Masters in Science, Technology and Medicine in History from Kings College London. During her Masters she focused on the intersection between crime and technology in the 19th Century. She was a bookseller, but now spends her free time on the archery range. This is her first book and she lives in London.