| “ | I'll admit, she's a little young for my taste, but she looks so much like Miriam, doesn't she? | ” |
— Farland to Amelia
| ||
Benton Farland was a rapist-turned-spree killer and abductor who appeared in Amelia Porter.
Background
"You know, when I was little, a teacher told me that I was snake-bitten. You know what that means? ...I attract bad luck. Everything I touch turns to garbage. But it's not my fault. I'm jinxed. Nothing ever goes my way."
Benton's mother died in 1993 when he was eight, which caused him to become romantically fixated towards his older sister Miriam. However, because she was leading a life of her own as an adult, raising two children named Andy and Rebecca, this caused him to develop a strong psychopathic rage towards her, as well as a sexual attraction to older women. As a teenager, he began dating an older woman named Amelia Porter, who had a submissive personality, allowing him to manipulate her. One day, on October 5, 2002, he got Amelia to become high on drugs, then raped Miriam before ordering Amelia to kill her. Her train of thought disoriented by the drugs, Amelia complied and stabbed Miriam to death. She then realized what she had done and fled into the wilderness, while Benton was arrested by police officers. He feigned innocence and pretended that he was the submissive partner in their relationship, which resulted in him being sentenced to twelve years in prison for Miriam's murder. While in jail, Benton began formulating a scheme to get back together with Amelia once he was released, to which he would then have her emulate what she had done to Miriam, this time using Rebecca, who greatly resembled her mother. During the past three years, he was visited twice and received letters written by Andy, who forgave him for his participation in his mother's death.
Amelia Porter
"Hi, Amelia."
Two days after his release from prison, Benton goes to his father Oren's house, where Andy and Rebecca, now teenagers, are currently living. Being low on money and having nowhere else to stay at, he convinces Andy to let him stay over for dinner. When Oren comes home from shopping and sees Benton, he begrudgingly allows him to eat dinner so he can be appeased and eventually leave peacefully. During the dinner, Benton tries appealing to his father, only to be rebuffed by him, though Andy stands up for Benton. When Oren threatens Benton after he quotes the Bible to him in another attempt at appealing to him, the latter stabs him with a steak knife in self-defense. He then holds Rebecca at knifepoint and tells Andy not to call the police, since they will never believe Benton killed his father in self-defense because he just got out of prison. He then proceeds to abduct both siblings, steals his father's car, and travels to an office building where Andy was having therapy for behavioral issues at his school. There, Benton stabs a night security guard to death and steals his handgun while Andy is forced to watch.
Then, he goes to the house where Amelia once lived, where he digs up the backyard in search of money that was apparently left behind by Amelia. He is surprised by the current residents of the house when they come home and is forced to shoot and kill both of them with the stolen gun. After spending another hour digging up the backyard, Benton finds the stash of money and goes out of town with Andy driving him and Rebecca tied up in the trunk of the car. The two make a stop at the side of the road, where Benton allows Andy to go to the bathroom while he washes his bloodied hands with drinking water. When Andy returns, he unsuccessfully tries appealing to Benton, then suggests getting food and water for Rebecca, which Benton agrees to. Later on, Andy gives Rebecca some more drinking water while Benton remarks that she looks like Miriam, much to her dissatisfaction. He then tries excusing his actions during Miriam's death, and Andy replies that they do not remember their mother that well. Andy then suggests going to a cabin owned by a friend of his where they can think up of an escape plan for Benton.
After being briefly pulled over by a state trooper, who warns Andy that one of his taillights is out, Benton tells Rebecca that he will not let her go yet when she tries demanding for her release. When Benton is distracted, Andy drives the car off the road and crashes it into a small ditch, knocking Benton unconscious. Andy gets out of the car and tries getting Rebecca out, but Benton regains consciousness and shoots Andy. He then knocks Rebecca out and kills a motorist who pulls over and tries to help with the crash. After taking Rebecca and stealing the motorist's car, he pulls over sometime later. Rebecca regains consciousness; when she doesn't remember anything about the crash, Benton says that Andy was killed and he rescued her. He then sets the car on fire and continues onward with Rebecca on foot. The next day, as they wander in the wilderness, she tries reminding him of a Christmas celebration the entire family once spent together a long time ago. However, he tells her that he knows she is trying to bond with him and take advantage of it, just like Andy did. From his words, Rebecca remembers that Benton had shot her brother, but he replies that it was fair, as it always was whenever someone betrays another person.
Sometime later, Rebecca tries appealing to Benton, but he replies that even if she is being loyal to him right now, she will betray him at the first chance he gets. The two then come across a couple of hikers; one of them seems to recognize Rebecca, who is one of her daughter's classmates. When Benton prepares to pull out the gun, Rebecca tells the hikers that it is a coincidence and the couple walks away. The two then come across a house, which Benton manages to get into using a key he had been holding for the entire episode. Entering inside, they find a woman in the kitchen; Benton confronts her and greets her as Amelia. When she asks how he managed to find her, he tells her about how she had gotten drunk and told him about one of the survival plans she learned from her father. Amelia then spots Rebecca and, after learning she is Miriam's daughter, calls Benton sick. He beats her and yells at her for abandoning him, but stops after Rebecca yells at him, and he kisses Amelia. Then, he reveals that he brought Rebecca along with her so they can relive the day they killed Miriam. Horrified, Rebecca tries to escape, but is caught by Benton and held at knifepoint.
After tying up Rebecca and forcing her down onto the floor, Benton gives Amelia a knife and comments that while Rebecca is younger than him, he is still willing to go on with the act because she looks like Miriam. He then tries forcing Amelia at gunpoint to stab Rebecca, claiming that she wanted to. Amelia refuses, and when Benton tries telling her she loved stabbing Miriam, she reminds him that she had been high on drugs at the time. As she accuses him of killing Miriam, Rossi, Reid, and Kate burst into the home, forcing Benton to run over to Rebecca and hold her at gunpoint as she tries to flee again. The agents hold him at gunpoint and Amelia tries telling them what Benton was planning on doing, but he feigns innocence and accuses her of killing Miriam. They pretend to believe Benton's story and tell him that Amelia is the one they want. Reid then tells him that Andy survived his gunshot wound and says he told police that Benton had been forced to commit his killing spree out of necessity. However, Benton eyes Kate as she continues pointing the gun at him and realizes they are lying. When Amelia tries to flee, Benton releases Rebecca and fatally shoots himself in the head.
Modus Operandi
Benton killed his first two victims by stabbing them in the stomach with a steak knife, and also abducted Andy and Rebecca Farland using the same weapon. He then shot his later victims with a handgun stolen from the second victim, who was a night security guard. On the day Amelia killed his sister Miriam, Benton raped her prior to the act, then had a drug-induced Amelia kill her. During the killing spree, he tried to have Amelia (who was not drugged this time and instead held at gunpoint) emulate Miriam's attack on Rebecca.
Profile
"Just remember, I always get my payback."
It is known that after Benton's prison release, he went home and murdered his father in an improvised way, then fled with his nephew and niece. Because he needed a weapon, he stabbed a night security guard to death for his handgun. He then went over to the Meyerson house, where Amelia Porter once lived, to dig up money that was buried there, shooting the Meyerson couple with the stolen gun when they surprised him. He is currently in an extreme state of mind and believes that his only choices in his situation are fight or flight. He is looking for a way to escape, which makes him highly unpredictable. He is armed and extremely dangerous, is most likely traveling in his father's automobile, and is with his nephew and niece. The nephew is either trying to help him while the niece is most certainly a hostage, or the nephew is simply acting out in an effort to protect his sister. It cannot be stressed how volatile the situation is; one wrong mistake could result in Benton killing more people.
Known Victims
- October 5, 2002: Miriam Farland (his sister; raped, then manipulated Amelia into killing her)
- 2014:
- December 2: The attack at Oren Farland's home:
- Oren Farland (his father; stabbed once in the stomach in self-defense)
- Andy Farland and his sister Rebecca (his nephew and niece, respectively; abducted both):
- Andy Farland (attempted, but barely survived; was shot on December 3-4, then rescued a few hours later)
- Rebecca Farland (attempted; later tried to force Amelia to kill her; was rescued two days later)
- December 2-3:
- Erwin Jackson[1] (the night security guard; stabbed four times in the stomach and stole his gun)
- Ron and Karen Meyerson (incidental; both were shot once in the chest)
- December 3-4:
- Unnamed female state trooper (incidental; intended to shoot, but relented when she walked away)
- Unnamed female motorist (incidental; was shot once in the torso; stole her car)
- December 4:
- An unnamed couple (intended to shoot, but relented when they walked away from him)
- Amelia Porter (his former accomplice; assaulted and held at gunpoint)
- December 2: The attack at Oren Farland's home:
Notes
- According to his arrest record from the Department of Corrections, Benton's Social Security number is 963-00-8642.
Appearances
References
- ↑ According to the behind-the-scenes info on the episode at CBS.com. A prop used in the episode showed only his surname, which instead read "Gardella".