Back in 2016, a woman’s family was met with a tragic event. The day started out like any other. Markia Benson, 36 years old, texted her mother that morning just as she usually would. That day, on March 30, she was expected to be at work. Just that afternoon, however, there would be a chaotic scene outside her apartment in New Orleans Park. The police were called to the scene as neighbors watched the events unfold.
The police arrived at Markia’s apartment to find that she was no longer alive.
Markia Benson’s body was naked in her bathtub. She had several burns throughout her body due to the scalding hot water that was running onto her skin. As the police made their way through her apartment, they found that her home was in a state of disarray. The furniture in her apartment had been knocked over and there were papers thrown all over the floor. There was also a hateful message — directed at women — written on the wall in red lipstick. The exact message has never been revealed by the investigators. They believe that Markia knew her killer and that it was personal. They explain that the lack of forced entry (or signs that point to it) shows that Markia had to willingly allow that person into her apartment. Markia had been killed by being struck with a blunt object to her head and neck. She was murdered at around 9:30 am.
Earlier that day, Markia’s ex-boyfriend went with a co-worker of hers to perform a welfare check on her. They were concerned for her well-being after she failed to make it to work that morning — something that was knowingly out of her character. The apartment complex’s manager let them into the building after they explained why they were there. After getting in, they called the police when they discovered the crime scene.
Given the time of death, it would appear that Markia was murdered while she was in the middle of preparing for work that morning. Crime scene investigators found blood on her pillow and mattress. This suggested that killed in her bedroom and then her body was dragged to the bathroom.
“I’ve been doing this a long time. If I say to you, I’ve seen 500 dead bodies in my life. You can look at a scene and you can tell the violence associated with the scene. This was a very, very violent scene,” said Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.
The police zeroed in on Markia’s ex-boyfriend as their prime suspect. Investigators discovered that he placed a call to Markia several times after she was murdered. He left a voicemail every time asking her why she was avoiding him in an angry tone. While this would suggest he had no idea she was dead at the time, the police believe these calls were staged to remove him from suspicion. Unfortunately, they have nothing concrete to tie him to the murder.
If you have any information about this case, please contact the Upper Darby Police Department at (610) 734–7693. They are offering a reward of $5,000 for information in this case.
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