PA PA - Markia Benson, 36, found slain in bathtub, Secane, 30 Mar 2016

[janewall]

My uncle lived in the building back in 20o4. I grew up in the area. I thought the apt complex was in Secane and was in Ridley Township

Delaware County, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia
That has some maps of Delaware County. I'm not sure if that helps.
$5,000 reward in year-old Delaware County murder case
Here is a link to the apartment complex
https://www.hgliving.com/new-orlean...&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=website_link
I grew up in the area and I can't describe it lol.

not Darby. It doesn’t matter really. The Darby Police could be in charge of the area but it also seems like something that should have been investigated with every resource in the county and surrounding counties. I remember being shocked how little people seemed to care. If I lived in the building I would have been scared. Even at the time I remember thinking was it a serial killer because they were vague with details but what was released sounded brutal.

If she didn’t give out her key it doesn’t mean someone couldn’t get it. The office or maintenance would have a copy. Someone could have taken her keys and made one. She also might have opened the door in a rush for a friend or ex, or someone she thought was maintenance. When it’s daylight people sometimes open a door to check the temperature. I wonder what it what it was. You might not be as cautious locking a door if you are about to leave. I think my uncle thought the walls were thin. He also had moved in because he was separated from his wife and was back in an apt for the first time in awhile. Being able to hear other people can give you a false sense of security. You feel like someone is always close enough but you also get used to hearing other people moving around, talking loudly or a tv being on. Most people don’t want to be the neighbor that complains about every noise. It also sounds like she might not have had the chance to struggle. So tragic smh.

The killer possibly showing up when people were getting up, going off to work or school is kind of like hiding in plain sight. It wouldn’t be weird for people to be coming and going.


There is racism in that area. A pregnant woman went missing around the same time as lacy Peterson in Philadelphia. She wasn’t white or married. LaToyia Figueroa didn’t get national attention. Her dad was leading searches all over Philly. There is definitely a disparity between the attention given to POC that go missing or are murdered and white people that share the same fate.
Murder of LaToyia Figueroa - Wikipedia
This case just bothers me. Markia seemed to have a great life and someone took that and then people didn’t see appropriately upset in a suburb that possibly had a killer in it. I hope she gets justice.
Sorry for the rant.

I also live in the area and am disturbed by how little local publicity the case has gotten. I do think it’s an example of how LE and especially the media treat similar cases when the victim demographics differ. But as you’ve said I also think jurisdictional questions in this area of Delco tend to minimize coverage of some crimes - it just gets too complicated for the media to suss out where it is. As far as I can tell “Secane” is in 3 different townships - Upper Darby, Ridley , and Springfield. I *think* this crime scene/apartment complex is in Ridley, not UD or Springfield, but I’m not 100% certain. Darby is part of none of these townships, although it’s close by, and doesn’t seem to have any involvement in the crime although the people involved certainly could have been familiar with and frequented Darby. It’s a very confusing tangle of place names vs. official municipalities and local government departments!

*edited to correct typos; my iphone keyboarding skills are highly dubious.

 

[cherrymeg]

I also live in the area and am disturbed by how little local publicity the case has gotten. I do think it’s an example of how LE and especially the media treat similar cases when the victim demographics differ. But as you’ve said I also think jurisdictional questions in this area of Delco tend to minimize coverage of some crimes - it just gets too complicated for the media to suss out where it is. As far as I can tell “Secane” is in 3 different townships - Upper Darby, Ridley , and Springfield. I *think* this crime scene/apartment complex is in Ridley, not UD or Springfield, but I’m not 100% certain. Darby is part of none of these townships, although it’s close by, and doesn’t seem to have any involvement in the crime although the people involved certainly could have been familiar with and frequented Darby. It’s a very confusing tangle of place names vs. official municipalities and local government departments!

*edited to correct typos; my iphone keyboarding skills are highly dubious.

I thought the apartments were in the Ridley School district. One site says it is ( New Orleans Park Apartment Homes - Secane, PA | Apartments.com ) another one listed schools close by. The property with it’s pool could be right on the border of jurisdictions. Ridley Township has a police department and so does Ridley Park so maybe the school district doesn’t have any bearing on police departments. I don’t think Ridley Township police were equipped to deal with this kind of case on their own. I doubt they wanted it or wanted it associated with them or the Ridley area.
I don’t see how people living in New Orleans Park apts or nearby weren’t more upset or freaked out. You have a young professional woman, living in the suburbs. She is obviously the type of person that is responsible and not they type to be late or forget to call out of work. Her coworker/friend went to check on her with the boyfriend I believe. Her coworkers were worried. It sounded like a ritual type killing from early reports. It didn’t attract a lot of attention locally or even seem to be discussed at all.
When Carolyn Byington was murdered in NJ a few years later in her apt during her lunch break I thought the cases could be connected. Her killer has been arrested. It was a coworker that was stalking her. It seemed like just by being white her case was given more attention. The public showed concern and fear that some one killed a young women on her lunch break. Markia’s case needs to get attention and get new eyes on it. An ex boyfriend could be her killer she also could have been a victim of someone watching her and building up a fake romance in their head. Rejection can set them off.
Is there more we can do to get attention for this case?

 

[janewall]

I thought the apartments were in the Ridley School district. One site says it is ( New Orleans Park Apartment Homes - Secane, PA | Apartments.com ) another one listed schools close by. The property with it’s pool could be right on the border of jurisdictions. Ridley Township has a police department and so does Ridley Park so maybe the school district doesn’t have any bearing on police departments. I don’t think Ridley Township police were equipped to deal with this kind of case on their own. I doubt they wanted it or wanted it associated with them or the Ridley area.
I don’t see how people living in New Orleans Park apts or nearby weren’t more upset or freaked out. You have a young professional woman, living in the suburbs. She is obviously the type of person that is responsible and not they type to be late or forget to call out of work. Her coworker/friend went to check on her with the boyfriend I believe. Her coworkers were worried. It sounded like a ritual type killing from early reports. It didn’t attract a lot of attention locally or even seem to be discussed at all.
When Carolyn Byington was murdered in NJ a few years later in her apt during her lunch break I thought the cases could be connected. Her killer has been arrested. It was a coworker that was stalking her. It seemed like just by being white her case was given more attention. The public showed concern and fear that some one killed a young women on her lunch break. Markia’s case needs to get attention and get new eyes on it. An ex boyfriend could be her killer she also could have been a victim of someone watching her and building up a fake romance in their head. Rejection can set them off.
Is there more we can do to get attention for this case?

I can certainly make contact with the right police department and inquire – once I figure out which one that is. I want to reread this thread and look for old news articles about the case. I'm another one who didn't know about it until it was mentioned in the coverage of the Petito case, even though it happened only a couple miles from me. So maybe not even many people in the apartment complex knew about it. It's strange and discouraging how some cases simply never get on the public radar. Anyway, long story short I skimmed this thread once, and would like to go back and register more details before I contact anyone official about it. I also wonder if mentioning it to a couple of local news outlets, especially the smaller ones that serve this area of the suburbs, might spark some attention toward an unsolved, very ugly cold case.

 

[cherrymeg]

I can certainly make contact with the right police department and inquire – once I figure out which one that is. I want to reread this thread and look for old news articles about the case. I'm another one who didn't know about it until it was mentioned in the coverage of the Petito case, even though it happened only a couple miles from me. So maybe not even many people in the apartment complex knew about it. It's strange and discouraging how some cases simply never get on the public radar. Anyway, long story short I skimmed this thread once, and would like to go back and register more details before I contact anyone official about it. I also wonder if mentioning it to a couple of local news outlets, especially the smaller ones that serve this area of the suburbs, might spark some attention toward an unsolved, very ugly cold case.

The officer or detective on the podcast seems like he wants the case solved. If Markia Benson’s family is okay with it maybe social media is one way to spread awareness. I don’t know if State Police or the FBI could take over. Darby might be fine. I don’t think the Ridley Township police should be in charge of a murder.

In the NJ woman’s case the apt complex
She lived in didn’t reach out to their tenants. When they saw their building on the news or cops were there people were upset that they weren’t told about the murder by the buildings management. I wonder how people in Markia’s building felt. Or what they were told.
It’s unfortunate that for people to take domestic abuse seriously it had to be documented by a victim and by police cameras before she was killed. If Markia and other women who have been murdered or assaulted by men in their life or that want to be in them, now get their cases taken seriously that’s a good thing (still came from a senseless tragedy).

 

[wendybtn]

6 Years Ago She Was Found Murdered In Her Bathtub With Burning Hot Water Running Over Her And Her Killer Has Yet To Be Caught

Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. Markia Benson was a 36-year-old woman who lived in the New Orleans Park Apartments located in the Secane neighborhood. She worked for a local company that specialized in packaging, and on the morning

www.chipchick.com

Six year anniversary article.

 

[cherrymeg]

I can’t believe this hasn’t been solved and still hasn’t gotten much attention.

 

[black_squirrel]

I can’t believe this hasn’t been solved and still hasn’t gotten much attention.

I only started following this case since yesterday because there are some similarities to the Julia Niswender case:
MI - MI - Julia Niswender, 23, EMU student, Ypsilanti, 10 Dec 2012 - #6

If I understand correctly, police have a suspect or POI (an ex-boyfriend) for the Markia Benson murder. However, this person has not been arrested because of lack of evidence. From the description of the crime scene, there seems to be a lot of evidence. So it is surprising there is no arrest.

If I recall correctly, there was DNA found at the crime scene. Did the DNA not match the suspect, or does the suspect have a possible explanation for his DNA being present?

I hate to ask this, but was there evidence of sexual assault?

 

[black_squirrel]

There are various puzzling aspects of this case.

One surprising thing is that nobody in the apartment complex heard anything. From what I've read, the walls are pretty thin. Any loud yelling or screaming would have been noticed, one would think. Police suggests that it may have been a surprise attack. I suppose someone could be knocked unconscious in a single blow. However, I wonder if perhaps the killer threatened with a weapon - perhaps a gun (which can also be used to bludgeon).

Another surprising thing is that the door was locked. I have read some conflicting statements about this so am not exactly sure what is true. What I understand is that the door to the apartment was locked, and so was the sliding door. It was suggested that the killer must have had a key to lock the door on his way out. Is this the case? I think the killer probably did not have a key.

 

[TTF14]

I wonder if the POI is already incarcerated so there isn't urgency?

 

[black_squirrel]

I wonder if the POI is already incarcerated so there isn't urgency?

I am new to this case and I don't know who the POI is, except that it is a former boyfriend. What I have learned so far is that he had a DUI, but no history of violent crimes. As far as I can tell he is a free man. Regardless, I'd say there always should be urgency to solve a horrific case like this.

I wondering if police is focusing too much on a single POI/suspect. I am concerned that they apparently do not have enough evidence to make an arrest. They way the crime scene was described, there should be a lot of evidence. If the evidence all matched with this POI, it should be a slam-dunk case, but apparently it is not.

 

[TTF14]

I am new to this case and I don't know who the POI is, except that it is a former boyfriend. What I have learned so far is that he had a DUI, but no history of violent crimes. As far as I can tell he is a free man. Regardless, I'd say there always should be urgency to solve a horrific case like this.

I wondering if police is focusing too much on a single POI/suspect. I am concerned that they apparently do not have enough evidence to make an arrest. They way the crime scene was described, there should be a lot of evidence. If the evidence all matched with this POI, it should be a slam-dunk case, but apparently it is not.

Yep, agree with all of that! I don't understand why an arrest hasn't been made!

 

[ms.esquire]

Thinking of Markia and her family during this holiday season and hoping for Justice this year…

 

[black_squirrel]

I am wondering what Markia's plans were for the evening of March 29, the day before she was found dead. What I write below is based on a transcript of the "unsolved mysteries" podcast on this case.

The Detective talking about the ex-boyfriend:

DETECTIVE SMINKEY: ...... He said that they had an argument over
the phone on Saturday the 26th about not hanging out and him being distant. They then said that they
were going to hang out on Tuesday the 29th. He's unable to provide any details about where he is on
the 29th, but he does say that he texted her at 6:30 on the 29th saying that he was tied up and they, he
couldn't hang out.

DETECTIVE SMINKEY: There were some text messages on Tuesday the 29th at 7:28pm. He did text her
indicating that he couldn't hang out with her. And then there's no activity on his phone for several
hours after that, until the late morning of the 30th, when Markia was killed.

Was Markia going to meet with the ex-boyfriend on the 29th, but it was called off by the ex-boyfriend? Or is the ex-boyfriend lying about this? In any case, he did send a text Markia about calling the meeting off. This was apparently in response to a 7:27pm text from Markia to him:

DETECTIVE SMINKEY: We were able to determine a general timeframe of when she got home after
work. She texted the gentlemen that she was seeing at about 6:21PM on the 29th. She said she had
some homework and had some studying to do, and she stopped at a local restaurant to pick up takeout
dinner. She went home. According to the cell phone records, she last texted an ex-boyfriend at
7:27PM.

Unfortunately, the detective didn't tell us what exactly she wrote to the ex-boyfriend. Markia texted the current boyfriend at 6:21pm that she had homework and studying to do. But from the texts between her and her ex-boyfriend it seems she had at least tentative plans to hang out with the ex-boyfriend.

The Detective believes that the current boy-friend has no motive:

DETECTIVE SMINKEY: They dated since 2013. So, they were on and off for about three years. He was
last with Markia on Sunday, March 27th, when they went to the movies. He was last at her apartment
approximately two weeks prior. So, he, he really didn't have any motive.

I have to disagree with this. If Markia was also hanging out with an ex-boyfriend, this could potentially be a motive. (I don't have any reason to believe that the current boyfriend was involved though.)

What happened on the evening of the 29th? Did Markia spend a quiet evening at home with take-out food,
or did anyone (current boyfriend, ex-boyfriend or someone else) come to her appartment?

 

[black_squirrel]

What was the time of Markia's death? I am not sure we really know.

Again, using transcript from "unsolved mysteries" podcast:

The detective talking about the morning of March 30, the day Markia was found dead:

DETECTIVE SMINKEY: ... Now, the early morning, at about 8:12, she received a text message from her mother which
she responded to which they believed to be an appropriate response from her. So, it was most likely
Markia responding, and that's the last activity.

A similar statement from Markia's sister:

MONIQUE BENSON: ... My mother seems to remember their last text was around 8AM. And her boyfriend
stated the same. And he said he texted her a little later than that, and she didn't respond. But he just
assumed she was busy at work and she would get back to him whenever she was free. But now, that is
not a normal thing for her, like, because if she's working or whatever she's doing, and she can't get
right back to you, she will text, or whatever.

It sounds like Markia texted to both her mother and her current boyfriend. How many texts? Was it just one text for each?
I am not sure if we can conclude from this that Markia was still alive at 8:12am. Someone else could have written the texts pretending to be her. Especially someone who knows her well. But even a stranger can scroll through previous conversations and figure out what a typical response may be. If the killer was the one sending the text responses, they probably would send 1 text, probably not too long, so people won't get worried. They wouldn't send too many text because that might give them away. I'd say, she probably was still alive at 8:12am, but it is not certain.

DETECTIVE SMINKEY: ...
So, we kind of have a timeframe from around 8:12 in
the morning, and then we've, she's found at 4:46PM. We believe she was murdered in the early
morning hours, based on the steam and the temperature in the apartment. There's a chance this
person came there while she was getting ready for work. She allowed them in, and then the attack
happened. ...

I doubt if there is any scientific way of determining exactly how long the shower had been running. How can you tell from the steam and temperature in the apartment that the shower had been running for 8 hours, and not, say 4 hours. I'd think that the humidity and temperature in the apartment would stabilize after a couple of hours. It is not clear that to me that she couldn't have been murdered late morning. It is fair to say though that the killer must have been in the apartment in the early morning, or else Markia would have just gone to work. If the attack was quick, she would have been killed in the early morning (or earlier). There is still the possibility that this wasn't a quick attack. For example, the victim might have been held and gunpoint or be unconscious for some period of time.