Charles Smith

Timeline

• July 28, 1997 — Charles Smith, 53, fatally shot his ex-girlfriend, Cindy Benson, 34, in the passenger seat of her red Pontiac Grand Prix between 2 and 3 a.m.; he then drove with her body 36 miles to Benson’s sister and brother-in-law’s home in Marseilles, where he shot and killed Benson’s daughter and Benson’s sister and brother-in-law; Smith raped a 13-year-old girl staying with the Murphys and tried to strangle the Murphys’ 18-month-old and 7-year-old sons; he then took his life by hanging himself with an orange extension cord near a pool table in the family’s unfinished basement.
• 4:45 a.m. — Neighbors in Marseilles were awakened to the cries of the 13-year-old girl, who had run out of the house to a next-door neighbor with a cordless phone in her hand.

Background

Charles Smith was 53 and of Joliet. He had prior arrests on weapons charges. Authorities said Smith was quick-tempered and upset that his ex-girlfriend’s family disapproved of their relationship because he was black and she was white. Smith fatally shot his ex-girlfriend, Cindy Benson, 34.

Cindy Benson’s relatives lived in Marseilles. The Murphys lived on Walnut Street in a close-knit neighborhood where, as one neighbor put it, “if somebody’s dog barks, you look out to see what it is barking at.” Smith parked the Pontiac beneath some trees and behind the Murphys’ pool, where relatives and kids had gathered Friday night for a party.

The offence

Authorities said Smith fatally shot Cindy Benson in the passenger seat of her red Pontiac Grand Prix between 2 and 3 a.m.

Smith then drove with Benson’s body 36 miles west to the house of Benson’s sister in Marseilles, about 70 miles southwest of Chicago. After parking the car behind the house, authorities said he went inside and shot and killed Benson’s daughter, Erica Benson, 16, and Benson’s sister and brother-in-law: Jymme Murphy, 28, and James Murphy, 27.

After shooting them, authorities said Smith raped a 13-year-old girl staying with the Murphys and tried to strangle the Murphys’ 18-month-old and 7-year-old sons. The 18-month-old and the 7-year-old sons were found unconscious in the home.

A 4-year-old daughter of the Murphys was spared; Smith apparently did not notice her. She slept through the rampage.

Authorities said Smith unsuccessfully tried to strangle the Murphys’ children.

Investigation

LaSalle County Coroner Jody Bernard said: “Smith shot two of the victims once and two of them more than once with a .44 Magnum handgun.”

Neighbors were awakened about 4:45 a.m. to the cries of the 13-year-old girl. She ran out of the house to a next-door neighbor with a cordless phone in her hand, and she was crying and pacing in the driveway. A neighbor said: “ `They shot . . . Jymme and he strangled the kids and he raped me,' ” Another neighbor said: “She was shaking and crying. She was terrorized,”

Arrest

No arrest was described because Smith died that day.

Trial

No trial was described.

Sentencing

No sentencing was described.

Appeals

No appeals were described.

Outcome

Authorities said Smith then apparently took his life by hanging himself with an orange extension cord near a pool table in the family’s unfinished basement.

Jymme, a homemaker, and James, an electrician, were found in their bedroom; Erica Benson was found in a second bedroom.

Aftermath

Marseilles was described as a rural town of about 5,000 people in LaSalle County. Neighbors described the neighborhood as so quiet that “if somebody’s dog barks, you look out to see what it is barking at.” Authorities said no one heard the shots Saturday morning, and Smith easily walked into the house because it was the kind of neighborhood where nobody locks their doors.