The Tribune Papers
by Pete Zamplas
"I look like a junkyard dog."
Benson Nearly Killed by Vicious Machete Attack, is Robbed of Life Savings
The Tribune Papers
by Pete Zamplas
"I look like a junkyard dog."
Edward J. Benson is thankful he's still alive to make such dry quips about the violent "Halloween" film-like horror that struck him on the eve of Thanksgiving.
Benson, 76, of Fletcher, NC was nearly killed that night by a man he said is 50 years his junior and took off with his "life savings" of $200,000 from his underground home vault. He was slashed many times in the scalp, face and hands by what he describes as a three-foot-long machete, and had his nose broken, according to authorities. The vicious and extensive attack began after 9 p.m. Wednesday night, Nov. 26 in his modular home is at 125 Humphrey Drive, near Fletcher Elementary.
"The floor looked like a slaughterhouse" from his blood, he told The Tribune. And as photos attest, bathroom mirrors were also bloodied by his spraying blood. The gruesome image is reminiscent of killings by Charles Manson's cult in 1969, minus messages. Benson was treated at Park Ridge Hospital, and back home two days later. He's able to move about, and bruising is subsiding.
But "I'm still very sore," he said Tuesday. "I've been kicked, dragged, cut and robbed. I look like a junkyard dog" - mangy from a fight.
Worse, he said, he recognized the masked man by how he walked and for knowing where Edward's home safe is - as only very few people do. He said the culprit is his grandson James Alan Benson, 26. Edward said James once lived with him for "months and months."
James Benson is wanted on charges of attempted first-degree murder plus robbery with a dangerous weapon, Henderson County Sheriff's Investigations Capt. Steve Carter said.
As for motive, James Benson married a Chinese woman early this year and wanted money for legal and immigration fees to bring her to this country, Edward Benson said.
Dorothy Benson said she turned down James' request for money. The amount was $5000, and the request was two or three days before the attack, Edward added. He said his son Jerry, James' father, warned Dorothy that James might swindle relatives. "He said he thought James was on drugs, and he's been doing a lot of stealing. That he'll get everything he can get his hands on. He said, 'Be careful, He might ask you for money.'"
Here's what Edward Benson said happened to him Nov. 26: Edward was alone at home, grinding wheat flour in the carport for Dorothy to bake into bread the next day. He went back in to the dining room and was standing there when an intruder barged in the carport door. The man wore a ski mask but as he came within eight feet, Edward Benson felt he recognized him by how he walked. He greeted the man by "James." "He said, 'What do you mean, James?!' I said, 'That's your name, boy!'"
Violence ensued. "He grabbed me around the neck, and said, 'I'm gonna cut your damn head off.' He pulled out a machete and put it up to my neck, and started to saw it."
He said in fending off early whacks, his hand was sliced to bone. Edward said of the fracas, "there wasn't yelling -- just a lot of cutting. He swung that big blade." A neighbor across a field from Benson told The Tribune he was home at the time, but didn't hear any commotion.
Edward wasn't able to turn the blade on the attacker, but he got off a groin kick. Infuriated, the assailant dragged Edward around. They went from the dining room past the kitchen down a narrow hall to a small bathroom on the left. Edward said the vault entrance was hidden there, and he caught on robbery was the motive.
"I figured he fully intended to kill me, as soon as he got the money." So he had to act fast. His plan nearly worked. Weakened from slashing and without his glasses, Edward's eyesight was extra blurry. He told the assailant that to see the safe lock clearly, he had to get his glasses from his bedroom's bathroom two rooms away. Edward said the man agreed, and he locked himself in that second bathroom. He reached for a pistol hidden there. But the assailant kicked open the door. "Just as I cocked the gun, he grabbed it." The man kicked it away, under the bed.
The assailant resumed his Jason act, minus the hockey mask, whacking more with the machete. Bloodied, weakened Edward finally ceased resisting. He was dragged back into the first bathroom, and opened the safe. After Edward opened the safe, the intruder scooped stacks of $100 bills into two pillow cases. Edward said there was $200,000 including $160,000 he got selling timber eight years ago, in the safe for "quite a long time."
The man then tied Edward's hands and feet to his bed. "I told him, 'I'm going to bleed to death,'" Edward Benson said. He said the assailant returned with a shaker and sprinkled cayenne pepper onto head wounds to slow the bleeding, but also into his eyes which stung. The culprit then left. Edward broke free, and called 911. He was "conscious and alert" when taken to the hospital, Capt. Carter noted.
"James is a super strong guy," said Edward, a retired plumber who's three inches taller at six feet. He said he's strong for his age. Dorothy said Edward is a tough survivor.
The Wilmington native said he kept little money in a bank, not trusting banks' solvency from growing up in the Depression after banks crashed back and before savings were insured.
He and Dorothy have four children and six grandchildren, including James. "He was my favorite grandson. He was my good friend," Edward said. "I took care of him for months. The thanks I get is he uses what he knows about my house to rob me of my life savings. Few people knew I had a safe. I don't know if he'd seen it. But he knew it was there."
Local law and the FBI focuses on tracking down James Benson. Capt. Carter said the suspect listed an Arden address, mostly lived in Henderson County, but "floated from house to house to include his grandparents" and the local "Chinese community."
Plus he has links to New York City and Cleveland. His Chinese bride has relatives in New York City. Edward's hunch is James left the money with them to get back after he relocates, and to afford to either bring the woman to the U.S. or to rejoin her there. "He talked about getting a job there, and teaching English," Edward said. He said James flew there a few times, including to meet then marry the woman. But since James'd be more easily tracked at an airport, Edward's hunch is James will instead take the proverbial slow boat to China. As for Cleveland, he said, that's where James drove a Chinese-American man's moving truck.
James Benson is described as 5-foot-9 with a medium-stocky build, and short brown hair. Call in tips about his whereabouts to Crime Stoppers at (828) 697-7867.
"When they find him," Edward Benson said, "he needs to be held accountable for all his bad deeds."