Taw Benderly: Embezzler and Murderer | Handsome Devils | True Crime Central

she opened the door and here's this really Charming Man it didn't take long for the lodger to become the lover everything it was all fake he had financially ruined her he had emotionally raped her How could somebody manipulate her to the point that she was willing to walk away from her daughter her decision to confront Taw was the worst decision of her life [Music] foreign [Music] I was a kid that grew up classic dyslexic so I always needed help it reads you couldn't even sign a a form for a job application if I couldn't do something I always relied on my mother we had a bond and a trust and a love for each other that was phenomenal that there was one penny left in the world she would cut it in half and give me half that Penny we're ready for that so when uh we got an idea about doing a consignment store my mom was my partner okay here we go rolling and action hi welcome to Terry's design and consign we have new gently used model home furniture Terry and Loretta were like this great American success story knew the price would be fifteen hundred dollars Terry's price only 500 that's great mom foreign we had a successful business but my mother was lonely she had been single for about 18 years and she really had a sense of depression and hopelessness she was too young and too beautiful to live alone and I thought heck I'm a good marketer I can do this we had gotten this idea from a TV show let's run an ad to rent out a room and more than likely a gentleman's gonna respond to this Loretta lives in a large home in Phoenix suburb Tempe plenty of room for a good-looking lodger two weeks after their ad ran someone answered [Music] so she opened the door and here's this really Charming Man big smile on his face bright lit up eyes he was very handsome foreign [Music] saw the room he liked it he said like take it please wonderful tonight he very clearly gave her that feeling like wow I'm really excited about you and and how attractive you are and she was ecstatic and then he told him I have just a little bit of a money difficulty I lost my wallet on a flight home from UK so he didn't have any money and he didn't have an ID or anything have you got another form of idea a driver's license No Maybe the wallet I need to get it all replaced on one hand her woman's side was just you know she was beside herself and then on the other hand she goes oh I'm going to be renting this guy and he needs to pay rent Todd doesn't have any ready cash but he does have the means to make it he tells Loretta he's a successful inventor and entrepreneur he had done something for the Olympics he had been all over the world he had gone to school with Donald Trump and he'd been a CEO my mom was really torn she said let's pull back a little bit and let's meet a couple times and let me have a chance to talk to my daughter and and get to know each other about three or four days later we set up a dinner at my house I watched my mother you know fly in like Twinkle Toes nice to meet you oh nice to meet you she wasn't lonely and that was worth everything right then after dinner Todd talks about his inventions he sat down and he pulls out this big piece of paper he started telling me all about this lawnmower blade that he's invented and it was serrated so it cut the grass at aside and it was going to be a huge invention it's just one among many gizmos that tall has patented he was just immediately extremely Charming the future it really was like we had known each other forever I felt sold this is what my mom's been looking for a few days later having paid neither rent nor deposit Tom moves into Loretta's house tall was a very helpful man he was a gourmet cook he could fix anything those are the kinds of things that are very alluring to a woman who was going to be the handsome man she always wanted on her arm anyone who has ever Evans novel knows this scene it didn't take long for the lodger to become the lover Tov found in Loretta not only a woman with her own checkbook but a network of friends and relatives that he could also tap to get money for his Investments are you ready for an experience in your lifetime one of the inventions tallahawks to Loretta's friends is a gadget that transforms walls into speakers it was the most amazing sound that I'd ever heard he was prepared any objection you might have or question you might have he he was ready to answer it was this the lawnmower blade to go National I decided to invest six thousand dollars people were investing in Taw because this was Loretta's man who was going to make a fortune and they were going to help all that happen and get rich themselves on the side ten thousand [Music] not everyone buys into tall smooth sales talk however Loretta's sister Darla is alarmed in 1987. I went to Phoenix to visit I think if she had said she was dating somebody it wouldn't have bothered us but she said that he was living in her house and she didn't know anything about we wondered is he an Ax Murderer does he want to move in and steal her things and kill her we weren't in high alarm but we were concerned about it and thought somebody ought to meeting he was so interested in letting me know how brilliant he was I thought he was full of it oh the sunsets in the morning I said to Loretta Loretta your sisters and I are really concerned about this situation he seems to have no family you don't know any background I know what I'm doing and it's none of your business and so I thought it's time for me to shut up but I didn't like him this man was not what he said he was six months in taw's Inventions don't appear to be getting anywhere my mom was getting anxious bringing home money you know helping pay the rent was real important when do you think they'll get back to you you need some sort of commitment close friends are increasingly concerned about the man Loretta is dating [Music] finally Loretta agrees to ask an ex-boyfriend at the justice department to do some digging said he'd gone to the to the business school with Donald Trump and he'd had all these degrees they'd gone to Penn University none of that was true so are we in trouble when goes it's not that he's doesn't show he's done something wrong but it's a red flag he says we need to be careful he's just jealous that I found somebody I'm happy with Loretta is confused is her Newfound happiness about to unravel Todd was not the person he said he was everything was all fake we checked on him there are red flags we should be aware of it but we were already involved in the situation eventually my mom did say I'm going to check it out with ta when Loretta challenges Taw he admits he's been lying but says it's not his fault he talked about a really really bad childhood his father was really bad to him she goes did you really go to this school I ran out of money my heartstrings Loretta bought the excuses because she really didn't want to be without a man I think that for her being with a bad man was better than being with no man at all foreign gets back to normal but pressure is building from Loretta's friends [Music] Loretta is aware that the Investments are not getting repaid she's aware that the inventions are not selling I became suspicious after lending ta six thousand dollars because in the ensuing months I never heard when I would get my money back foreign to me that he was really trying to Market the things that he was inventing I felt uncomfortable going and saying I want my money back because of Loretta but at some point you have to do that I went and saw him face to face and told him the situation oh you got it I understand no problem I'll get the check to you next week no problem it's coming waited a little bit same thing next week it's coming nothing this went on and on and on I felt increasingly suspicious and increasingly disgruntled next thing I know my mother and one of her best friends aren't friends anymore he was totally insensitive to the discomfort around him as he is pushing people for money it's not just lawnmower blades and speakers now Taw is talking about a new design for a massive solar plant solar is the future I kept asking tall where where is your income because you have these other inventions they're not in the marketplace so where do you where do you get your funds don't worry Gary I've got investors all over Chicago Colorado Canada the investors there were always imminent and there were always in a position to invest but the investment never materializes she was well aware that this guy was ripping off her friends but she was praying that in fact the rip-off would eventually turn into a solid return over the years Taw never pays back a cent of the money he takes off Loretta's friends and he never pays a cent towards the rent and bills she started feeling very disillusioned but didn't have the strength to push him out the door Loretta's Journal show is letter after letter she wrote to Todd demanding that he contributed to the household she did this year after year after year it gets almost silly it's so repetitive that she keeps saying I'm going to make him pay I'm going to make him be part of this household he can't live off me forever she was exhausted he used her in so many ways tar was not only interested in his own inventions he was interested in any place else that had money and the place that had the most money so visible and soaked at hand was Terry and Loretta's business to get his hands on the business he needs Terry out of the picture they said you know for you to really succeed you need to overcome your dyslexia I thought you might be interested there's a summer program at Arizona State University where they work to help people who have a learning disability my mother and I could watch the furniture store while you're gone he said that in such a true caring manner that it felt like your father saying something to you that you would feel safe about Terry leaves for Arizona happy that business is safe in her mother and taw's hands while Terry was away at school Taw was taking over the business they had always had a cash only business they would buy things they would sell them they would buy more things sell those Taw saw this as too slow and he went after bank loans to buy more merchandise and to have bigger and bigger Returns on the money yes a business loan when I got back there I realized we've lost about ten thousand dollars I said this is crazy that there's this much money missing in this amount of time this is nuts this business was everything to me this was like someone just walking in and taking taking your child I got mad I got really upset and remember just physically filling just get out of here you know let me in here let me I got to get back in here and take care of this Mom we need to talk spent that was the first time my mother and I had fought she says he knows what he's doing he knows how to build a business you have to spend money to make money mom spending money on stuff we don't need she's really wanting all these things about Todd to be real to be good and that she's made a good decision so she took that position of this is who I'm standing behind him we need him Terry he knows what he's doing I said I'm sorry I'm not going to let this go down I want him out three days later I was sitting there in my office and she came in she said either you buy me out or I'll buy you out and I remember being really in shock I never thought of us as not being partners my answer back was there's no conversation I buy you out fine I'll have Todd drop the papers toss said he's got a lot of experience in corporate businesses and buyout agreements and stuff and that he would do that to save us money I really should have gone at that point to somebody but I did know that him being in my business was dangerous and I didn't want that so the agreement we made was that it would be a hundred and forty thousand dollars and I would pay it over a year's time I read through it and I signed it and I made the payments that was the begin where we learned not to tell each other everything anymore Terry takes over the consignment store and goes it alone right here we go welcome to Harry's Consign and Design I did my stuff and grew my business both of us were really busy starting our new lives in other directions at Terry's we sell it for you you buy it like new two years after the buyout everything was done and paid for my doorbell rang and I opened the door and my mother was dressed to the hilt she looked literally like Alexis from Dynasty it wasn't unusual for her to look as dressed up but it was unusual for her to have such a cold air tour and she said you've been served they were suing me for the business she explained that the buyout agreement was done incorrectly and that she still was an owner of the company either I returned to work next week or you buy me out again I I was just stunned it didn't even hear the buyout and the and the money that really isn't what was the problem it was my mother was gone this woman was not my mother I didn't know who she was if there was a cord between a mother and a child and I cut it I knew that Tom had probably done that deliberately How could somebody manipulate her to the point that she was willing to walk away from her daughter Terry starts making payments to buy her mother out of the business for a second time I didn't speak to her for a year I missed her and I wanted her to know I still cared and I still loved her finally Mother's Day came around I made the decision to send her flowers yes I'd like 24 purple tulips and my heart no matter whatever happened to us she was still my mother yes Loretta invites her daughter over for a reconciliatory dinner I knew she still loved me and I know I still loved her I could feel my mother wanting to hug me and make things better but there was this thing Taw and it was clear that the game had changed this was Todd's house now I looked right at Todd and I said why did you do this why did you come back and sue me for this money and he said did you ever hear of the donkey trainer and I said no the donkey trainer would go in and take a big sledgehammer and hit the donkey right between the eyes and then leave and I said what does that mean he says you do this to get their attention and I said you know what the next time you want my attention pick up the sledgehammer and hit me because it would hurt less than what you did [Music] I was sitting in the car and my mother knocked on the window I'm so sorry Terry we just talked and I said stop it don't make me buy you out twice she's okay stop making the payments thanks Loretta drops the lawsuit but the damage is done I know we wanted to embrace but at that moment you just kind of both want to just leave it at that our life was never the same [Music] the years pass and Loretta Falls more deeply under taw's influence I've become conditioned to expect failure I'm losing confidence that it will ever be different [Music] Loretta was no longer in control of her own life every month when she thought she was dutifully making her house payments she was actually handing over over a thousand dollars to talk who was taking that money and stealing it from her [Music] foreign ly in December of 2004 everything changed that was the day she discovered that her house was in foreclosure and as far as she's concerned everything is over Loretta finally snapped he knew this day was coming and I think that he was prepared for it her decision to confront Taw was the worst decision of her life I got a phone call about 4 30 or so and at first I thought oh what does he want yes tall tah said your mother and I went on vacation down in Tucson store it too Taw tells Terry that her mom vanished while visiting the mall this is this is ridiculous she just met I said to have you gone in and talk to anybody goes okay I'll do that I got another call at about six yeah I've talked to security guard and no one has seen her Terry I've looked every so he called the police and reported her missing I jumped in the car and drove to Tucson in less than an hour it usually takes two hours to get there first 24 hours in any missing person case are extremely important after that the chances of locating people or gathering evidence is significantly diminished [Music] detectives spoke with Todd vanderley then I dropped her off to do some shopping by this point there's several hours have gone by since Loretta disappeared when I went back to meet her find her Mr Bender Lee seemed pretty calm given the seriousness of the matter tall child's investigators that he and Loretta stopped by the mall around 2PM on the way into Tucson they agreed to meet outside Dillard's department store at 4 but she didn't show I searched the whole Mall then I went to security and reported her missing at this stage in the investigation detectives are treating this case as a missing person's case I really believed that she had been kidnapped because of being wealthy and really well known all over Arizona I did notice someone was following me though in a van acting on the kidnap Theory Tucson PD swings into action Department organized and deployed numerous officers the air support unit who was also actively involved in a surgical [Music] later that evening Terry arrives at the hotel Todd and her mom are booked into and finds more questions than answers it really didn't make a lot of sense why he was sitting so calmly you can't just sit there tall we need to go find her listen let's get a flyer made let's call the the newspaper print me off a picture that's good I said I was heading out and I was going to go searching for him and I said you want to go with me he goes I need to get a bite first I remember looking at him and puzzled like let's get going the only thing I had to go on was there was a kidnapping the next morning Tom and I went to the mall together we were looking around and he was showing me like where he had dropped her off I saw him looking up where the security cameras were on the outside so I noticed that but I didn't make much out of it I just kept busy sign of Loretta detective Pacheco begins to check out taw's story he stated that he searched for her extensively before reporting her missing the video surveillance tape that I viewed shows Mr benderly coming into the department store and immediately going to the customer service to reporter as a missing person also Mr Bender Lee said he stopped halfway from Phoenix to Tucson to gas up buy a couple of sandwiches then arrived in Tucson in about 12 30. but the video showed that he checked in at 2 44 pm none of those videos ever showed Loretta bowersock could see top enderly but not Loretta it seemed very suspicious back to the hotel and the police were there they had gone in there and they had taken everything out of the suitcases and everything was set out in the room I looked at the counter and there was a whole spread of all my mother's jewelry all of her gold and her diamonds and her rings and all of her expensive jewelry were all laying there I remember that moment taking a deep swallow there were four big suitcases and it had talls clothes and shirts and sweaters and just full and then over here was my mother's suitcase and it had four shirts four pants four socks and they really don't match then the real shock was he also had a whole bunch of knives and guns and bullets it was at that point in my head I wouldn't say it out loud I I knew it I didn't see tall anymore I saw a gangster it's not just Terry who's thinking Taw is behind her mom's disappearance we had a very solid circumstantial case against him however I don't have a body and I don't have a confession the police leave and then toss sits down and says listen [Music] I remember thinking why would you go down to Tucson to pay me back money that's a lie as soon as I got in the room I had a phone call hello it was the police station and they said that Tom was going to be going down to the station and that I should come down okay I also I really don't think that you should stay there tonight after what happened this afternoon you probably would be better if you went somewhere else and we'll get in touch with you tomorrow bye I just started grabbing stuff and went to a hotel about four miles away and checked in I was scared chances are pretty good this man had murdered my mother foreign [Music] got to the police station I saw a Todd [Music] I remember looking up and thinking that he looked really weathered and and and and small and he usually is a very big looking man and you can see he was just like trying to figure out what to say [Music] I remember feeling even a little bit of sadness for him Mr boundary will you come with me please [Music] based on all the information that I had my instincts were telling me that top end really was a suspect in this case and I needed to probe a little deeper you guys left Phoenix about what time to drive down here probably about 10 30. and did you stop anywhere in my gas and what time do you think that was foreign 11 30. we have you at 1 58 pm how could that be I don't know how can that be Todd's timeline doesn't add up alarm Bells Are Ringing loud and clear for detectives this area there are Miles and Miles of desert most of it are uninhabited Mr Beverly had spent time that he couldn't account for you've got me at a terrible disadvantage for 40 minutes I'm not sure if you just want to clarify some things let me say this please let's let's communicate he begins to get angry when he became angry and frustrated he's even less likable you need to respect the fact that I'm trying to give you information in as clear reform as I can with Taw on the back foot police go on the offensive you're taking her to the mall at 4 o'clock the time you said you were supposed to pick her up I can't believe that well it's it's right here on the paperwork he is cornered he can't think of Lies fast enough I'm wondering if my watch was off I wear this watch this is the watch sometimes you're watching this right now it's uh that's because I just said it this is off when I said it this is an automatic how far off was it yesterday I don't know when you said it too I don't know you don't I don't know and she had you know her credit cards and stuff she had her clutch which is which is a woman's wallet um she uses checks with ID while tar is grilled in Tucson Police in Phoenix search the home he shares with Loretta we're asked to do a search of the home and we found a purse that contained credit cards and an ID belonging to Loretta bowersock why would your wife's purse be at home I don't know what's there I don't know why I would be another person why the purse would be at home I really don't know he was caught off guard didn't know that we actually had detectives up at their house or in a search warrant and we had uncovered this evidence I don't know what you're talking about I really don't that stinks that stinks big time I'm feeling some frustration that I believe that something happened to Loretta you care about Loretta yes I do very much look at her yes I see her now do the right thing and tell us where she's at I have no idea I think you do I I don't he gets very nervous and I thought he was close to cracking I don't know where she is if I knew where she is I don't as far as I know she is here as far as you saw as far as I know she never made it to Tucson I'm not the cause of it what is the cousin then give me a nice donation oh I really don't know but he was able to collect himself by just shaking his head and repeating I don't know where she is you had nothing to do with her disappearance it has nothing to do with her disappearance you didn't kill your wife no I did not you didn't murder Loretta no I did not you know how I know you're lying when I ask you these questions you close your eyes and you look down that's classic you're on your way out buddy by now detective Pacheco is convinced tah is guilty as Sin but without a body he has no choice but to let him walk it was pretty frustrating because I knew deep down that Loretta was most likely dead in that top enderly had killed her at that point I'm really confused because I'm thinking why was he still free after everything that happened at that time Todd was free to go wherever he decided to go Todd Andrew Lee returned to Tempe at this point we had to turn over the investigation to the Tempe Police Department tall checks into a hotel in Phoenix yeah it's tough he said he didn't go to the house because the police were all over there I've got something for you Hotel reception I remember on the phone he sounded real kind of groggy and Spacey I jumped in the car and went down to the hotel I talked to the person the front desk and they said he had walked down here and he seemed like he was on something I took the briefcase I found a power of attorney that everything he owned he was leaving to me Focus the minute I read that I knew in my heart he was committing suicide I called the police before I even went to his room Phoenix PD sends a detective to a company Terry she's determined to confront Taw he's the only one that knows where she is and I've got to stop this I I've got to stop him from killing himself I really believed that if I could get in there and talk to him I could get him to tell me foreign I had in my mind that I was going to offer to help him get away in exchange for telling me where she was I was really willing to say anything it's me Terry let me in I fell asleep took a pill and he says I only she can come in just you foreign I just took a deep breath and I walked in and I remember he reached behind me and blocked the door I said they're they're going to come in and get you do you understand that I said ta please look at me did you kill my mother do anything I remember at that moment I like stepped back and I took this breath that didn't come from me it's almost like I felt myself shift into somebody else and I reached up like my mom did with her fingernails and I straightened back down his hair the only thing I can think of is my mother and I were there together I looked at him very caringly and I looked straight in his eyes and said Taw I will help you I'll help you get away but I need to know did you kill my mother I can't tell you anything I I just knew he wasn't going to tell me [Music] everything okay in there okay I went to give him a hug goodbye I remember feeling like my mother was there and that I could feel this like hanging on to each other [Music] it wasn't me they were just kind of like holding each other for like the last time when I walked away as much as I should have had all kinds of feelings there was a calm in me I didn't think about Tah I just felt that my mother and I were together again Tom moves back into the house he once shared with Loretta [Music] why was he still free after everything that happened but there still is no murder there still is no body there still is no crime there's no evidence Terry was desperate to know what had happened she wanted to know where her mother was buried by this time I had already started looking for her in the desert between Phoenix and Tucson a task was tremendous that was a needle in the haystack every day for weeks on end Terry and her friends dig in the desert outside Tucson but she's getting nowhere I just really became furious and I said I am going over there and I don't care what I have to do to him I'm going to twist his hands back I'm going to do something I'm going to find out what happened she decides to confront Taw one more time so I made a call to the house and there was no answer I called one time two three four five times and he didn't answer so at that point I just knew that I needed to get to the house when I pulled up they had the big police vans I couldn't see the house very well I just see outside and I saw a police all over the place media was just everywhere the cameras all go up on me and the lights go on and they ask me what do you think of top enderly committing suicide I remember just standing there and shock they took their cameras down and they said do you know what has happened he hung himself tall was found in the garage with an extension cord [Music] there was a lot of emotions one is I think hanging yourself is very hard and I I had a sense of feeling for that but then the second thing and the most important thing was not gonna find her it's the only one that knows [Music] I just knew I needed to go in the house I wanted to fill her in the house one more time one more time [Music] you just want to see things you just want to put your hands you just want to put your hands on something that your mother touched [Music] [Applause] [Music] I found a box that was full of presents that she had bought at garage sales and it had a list of things I had asked for that she was wanting to give to me and I did ask to take those home later and I gave those to myself at Christmas [Music] down to the police station they started showing me all the inventions they had checked on them and they were all just lies the deceit that tall perpetrated on Loretta over those 18 years was breathtaking he had betrayed her in every single way he could he had financially ruined her he had emotionally raped her he had been a snake in the grass to this woman who had hoped that he would be the man of her dreams future success interesting he had claimed he was an orphan his father was still alive his brother was still alive he claimed he had never been married he had been married twice before ripped off both of those women Loretta was simply his last and his longest victim Terry's nightmare is still not over the next day I had a phone call from a lady she said I need to tell you that Taw was in jail before he came to Phoenix and I was with him and he conned me and he even conned me into having his record expunged and that's why I could never find it foreign we all thought he came from Scotland he had come straight from prison in Texas [Music] in 20 years was all fake and I really believe her life with him was worse than her death the police investigation reveals that over 18 years Taw embezzled around one and a half million dollars from the woman he claimed to love but the big mystery remains what has he done with her body after Todd died I didn't have any answers from that point on I just spent most of my days going out in the desert [Music] finally [Music] there was a couple out looking for stones and rocks out in the desert [Music] she was found with a plastic bag over her head plastic stuffed down her throat Loretta's skeleton was found buried under 18 inches of desert dirt at the time of her death she was 69 years old hopefully it was fast hopefully it wasn't painful she didn't deserve to have pain [Music] I forgive myself for choosing a difficult person to be in a relationship with I forgive myself for not being enough to attract a kind gentle secure financially viable man as a partner my greatest pain comes from this relationship and maybe leaving is the only way I can heal or is that just befuddles you it is a murder mystery about someone you would never expect to be murdered in a place you'd never expect them to die by someone you'd never expect to be a killer [Music] I'd looked for so long about 360 days in the desert and I'd come to the idea that I wouldn't be able to find her finding her allowed me to go into the grieving process and the next step up till then I was still just on a mission and I don't give up [Music]

Channel: True Crime Central

Views: 751,666

Keywords: #EvilUnmasked, Episodes, Free, Full, Latest, Minds, Online, Season, Series, TV, True Crime Central, UK, crime, crime documentary, documentaries, documentary, free documentary, killer, murder, murders documentary, real crime, serial killer, true crime documentary, true crime stories, best documentaries on youtube, true crime

Id: XRdmiCE019w

Length: 48min 8sec (2888 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 05 2023