Michael Benson

Michael Benson is one of today’s most popular true-crime writers. His books—including Betrayal In Blood, Murder In Connecticut, Killer Twins, The Burn Farm, Mommy Deadliest, A Killer’s Touch, Evil Season, and The Devil at Genesee Junction—tell vividly of today’s most heinous criminals, and the clever and stalwart lawmen who bring them to justice. He is currently a regular commentator for two true-crime series, Evil Twins and Evil Kin, on the Investigation Discovery (I.D.) channel, and had also made guest appearances on that channel’s Evil Stepmoms, Deadly Sins, Southern Fried Homicide, and On the Case with Paula Zahn. Benson’s most recent crime book, The Devil at Genesee Junction, tells the story of his return to the scene of a childhood trauma. Two of his friends were murdered and mutilated near his rural home south of Rochester, N.Y. when he was nine. Those murders were never solved. As an adult and veteran true-crime writer, Benson teamed up with the mother of one of the victims and a local private investigator to heat up that cold case and propel it in a startling new direction. During his three decades as a professional writer, Benson has worked closely with a retired Army Intelligence agent during the tense days after 9/11 for a book about the CIA, and with a retired FBI agent for a book about National Security; co-written two books with a former New York Police Department “Cop of the Year”; explored the Grassy Knoll in Dallas with a former KGB agent while researching his much-acclaimed Who’s Who in the JFK Assassination; collaborated efficiently with an astronaut; and covered the Stephen Hayes triple-murder trial in New Haven, Ct., for the New York Post. Benson has a B.A. with honors in Communication Arts from Hofstra University, and currently lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. He is the winner of an Academy of American Poets award. Early reviews for THE DEVIL AT GENESEE JUNCTION: Kathleen P. Munley True crime author Michael Benson has written a deeply thoughtful and intriguing work of the horrific and unsolved murders of two young women from upstate New York that occurred some forty-nine years ago. A youngster at the time of the murders, the victims were neighbors of the author and their deaths deeply impacted his and the lives of the entire community. Written over an extended period of time, beginning in his youth, then in the 1980s and 1990s, and, finally, from 2011 to 2015, the author, in effect, reopens the case taking his readers on a protracted investigation into the crimes that includes consideration of "likely suspects" who got away with the murders. Along the route, readers are introduced to the people, places, and events that were the setting for the murders. The book is made even more interesting for the reader by the author's consideration of possible connections between the murders and those of others that occurred in various places in the United States around the same time. A really good read for all true crime buffs! Patrick A. Patterson Once again Mike Benson has documented a true crime event -- this time in his small, boyhood neighborhood in upstate New York during the late 1960s. He has created labyrinth of detail about the loss of innocents near a Tom Sawyer-like swimming hole where the death and sexual mutilation of two of his adolescent friends caused a frenzy and panic in the community. A crime that has never resulted in justice for the person or persons who committed the crime nor closure for the victim's families. Nearly fifty years later he describes the murders, the multitude of suspects developed and a community surrounded by pedophilia, rape and serial killers -- a story of sexual predators that makes us all fear for our children. Robert Mladinich Veteran crime writer Michael Benson embarks on a deeply personal and thought-provoking investigative journey into the murders of two young female neighbors nearly a half-century ago. Along with one of the victim's mothers and a private investigator, they leave no stone unturned in identifying suspects and linking them to other grisly killings throughout the United States. It's a page-turner. Donald A. Tubman, Private Investigator In 2011, I was offered the opportunity to be a large part of Michael Benson's investigation into the June 1966 murders of George-Ann Formicola and Kathy Bernhard, and jumped at the chance. I went to school with the victims, and graduated from high school on the evening of the murders, so I felt an emotional connection to the case. My many years as a policeman, investigator and now as a private investigator left me more than qualified for the task. The results of our investigation is now available to the public, expertly written by my friend and veteran true-crime writer, Michael Benson in the book The Devil at Genesee Junction. The book tells Benson's personal story, his close involvement with the tragedy, from the time he was nine-years-old to the present, almost 50 years later.The Devil at Genesee Junction is a must read as both a memoir and an investigatory procedural, for true-crime fans everywhere. Although the evidence against several suspects is analyzed in the book, one suspect in particular I feel necessitates increased scrutiny from the Monroe County Sheriff's Office's cold-case investigators. I believe that this case is solvable, and closure for Alice Bernhard, Kathy's mom, is possible. But action needs to be taken.