Police also wondered.
Beginning tomorrow, the squabbling survivors of this wealthy Pennsylvania clan will relive those painful memories in a Fort Myers courtroom, where one of their own - Steven Benson, 34 - stands accused of murdering his family for money.
Authorities contend that the stocky, bespectacled businessman rigged a car bomb in the family van because he feared he was about to be disinherited. His tale, revealed in bulging court files and tape recordings, is no ordinary scrapbook of family history.
Not since the plot of the "Who Shot J.R.?" episode on television's Dallas, nor since Alexis scrapped with Krystle on Dynasty, has there been such public speculation about a rich family's foibles and failures.
People magazine chronicled the Bensons' troubles in a series examining the problems of five wealthy families titled "Family Feud."
Local reporters from Naples - a sun-washed haven for wealthy retirees - say they have fielded calls about the case from South African and West German reporters. And a movie is already in the works about the family by the producers of The Amityville Horror.
Indeed, the line between television drama and real life has become so thin that the New York producers of the Benson movie have been subpoenaed by the defense to testify at the trial about information they received regarding the case.
The real-life story of the Benson family has its roots in Lancaster, Pa., a pretty town of brick houses, graceful neighborhoods and the Lancaster Leaf Tobacco Co., a cigar-tobacco importing business that produced the family's wealth.
It was founded by Harry Hitchcock, 88, a teetotaling Methodist well-known in town for his prayer breakfasts and the vast tulip gardens that he opens to the public every spring.
His daughter, Margaret, was also well-known among the small town's residents who found plenty to gossip about with the Benson brood.
