The latest (https://unsolved.com/podcasts/who-killed-kia/) UM podcast episode covers the brutal murder of Markia Benson (https://www.phillyvoice.com/upper-darby-police-still-searching-markia-bensons-killer/) back in 2016. When she didn't show up for work on March 30th, her boyfriend and a coworker showed up at her apartment at around 4:00 p.m. The front door was locked, as well as a sliding door, so the boyfriend and coworker went to the leasing office to get a key. The boyfriend, coworker, and two apartment workers go in to the apartment and find everything in disarray. The boyfriend hears running water and goes into the bathroom to find Markia in her bathtub, naked and lying on her back. Hot water had been running all day so her skin was scalded. The medical examiner concluded that her death was the result of "blunt and sharp force injuries to the head and neck complicated by immersion and extensive scald burns."

The police were able to determine that Markia was killed in her bedroom, and then dragged to the bathroom and placed in the tub. From the Philly Voice article:

“The homicide scene was indicative of somebody who was really, really angry,” Chitwood said. “This was personal. We believe it was a crime of passion and hatred. There were [derogatory] messages written on the wall.”

The superintendent declined to divulge the specific words.

“It was a vicious fight,” Chitwood said. “There was blood on the walls and feces on the floor. He beat her and killed her and dragged her into the bathroom. It looks like she fought for her life and lost."

He continued, “This was a brutal, sadistic killing because of the messages, the body and the crime scene. It’s tragic.”

Also, according to the Superintendent of Police, "we have numerous suspects." The police have never divulged the message written on the walls. One person who was questioned by police failed a polygraph. IMO, everything points to a jilted lover. I believe the police are keeping a tight lip on this case because they are waiting for a forensic breakthrough. Unfortunately, they haven't been able to tie anything from the scene to any of the suspects or persons of interest.

The UM podcast has more information that hasn't been shared online about this case.

* The boyfriend was ruled out as a suspect and had an airtight alibi.

* The message scrawled on the walls was described by a detective as one "derogatory" word used to describe a female written three times over.

* A neighbor that Markia described to her family as "creepy" was checked out and he too was ruled out as a suspect.

* The police believe Markia knew who murdered her, because there were no signs of a struggle.

* Markia's passport was deliberately destroyed, and her killer trashed the apartment after the murder.

* The main suspect in the case, and one who the detective made very clear was the prime suspect, was an ex-boyfriend who Markia dated from 2009-2013. They had recently started communicating again, and Markia's family described him as abusive both physically and emotionally. He has no alibi from 7:30 p.m. the night prior to Markia's murder to about 9:30 a.m. on the morning of her murder. The police theorize that she was murdered as she was getting ready for work (IIRC her shift started at 9:00 a.m.).

Crazy that this brutal beating and murder happened in the middle of the morning and no one heard anything.

Crazy that this brutal beating and murder happened in the middle of the morning and no one heard anything.

They believe she was surprised and incapacitated. There wasn't a struggle.

So she "fought for her life and lost" but there wasn't a struggle. Got it.

So she "fought for her life and lost" but there wasn't a struggle. Got it.

The detective interviewed in the podcast said that the reason no neighbors heard anything was because she was surprised by her killer, and that she was incapacitated before she could scream.

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. She could have been awake and up, but forced onto the bed where she was assaulted. But either way, we believe it to be a surprise attack because she, we believe, she would have fought and someone would’ve heard it.

There's blood on her pillow, and on the mattress, and on the wall. First, we did some blood spatter analysis which determined the attack took place in and around the bed. There was not a major sign of struggle. There was no lamps knocked over, nothing that suggested a knockdown, drag out fight. Her fingernails, at the time, were not that long, so there wasn't a guarantee that the person would have been scratched during a struggle. And then, she was more than likely unconscious and dragged out of her bedroom and into the bathroom, which is just the next door out of the bedroom so it's not a far distance, and she was placed in the tub, and then the killer turned on the
shower which was determined to be only hot water, so there was scalding hot water turned on her while she was in the tub and left running until she was discovered later that day.

The Philly Voice article was written less than a month after her murder, and it described what they believed at the time to have been a violent struggle and fight for her life. It was the working theory at the time because her apartment was initially found in disarray. According to the podcast, they believe that the killer trashed the apartment after the murder, mainly because the bedroom was where the blood spatter was, and the furniture in there was in tact. Her living room and kitchen area were trashed.

he boyfriend hears running water and goes into the bathroom to find Markia in her bathtub, naked and lying on her back. Hot water had been running all day so her skin was scalded.

I can't get enough hot water to have 2 people take a shower at the same time..

I can't get enough hot water to have 2 people take a shower at the same time..

If the apartment complex had a centralized hot water system, that would explain why the hot water was able to run all day.

If the apartment complex had a centralized hot water system, that would explain why the hot water was able to run all day.

Yeah.. In my area, that would be unusual for a complex (individual or small 'grouped' units) to have that.


The pic on the article posted, assuming that shows the actual unit and isn't just a stock photo.. I'd still think it would be unusual, but.. That's about the only way it happens. Unless they have one of those 'instant hot water' heaters.

And.. quite frankly.. Someone had the hot water temp set too high, IMO, if it was hot enough to scald, even over an extended timeframe.

But.. I know, there's people that like HOT hot water.