Fairbury was founded in 1857 when the Peoria & Oquawka Railroad laid its tracks from Peoria to Indiana.
In the almost 170 years since Fairbury was established, eight murders have been committed. Chronologically, Lela Colwell was the seventh murder victim in 1959 in Fairbury.
The man convicted of murdering Lela Colwell was Roy Bennett. Roy was born in 1911 to parents Elmer Bennett (1873-1932) and Rebecca L. Tubbs (1875-1951). Elmer was 21, and Rebecca was 19 when they married. They had 13 children. Elmer Bennett followed the trade of blacksmith and machinist.
Roy Bennett never married. In the 1920 U.S. Census, Roy was nine years old and lived with his parents and siblings in Pleasant Ridge Township. In the 1930 Census, Roy was 19 years old and lived with his parents and two siblings in Fairbury at 613 E. Locust Street. Roy's occupation was as a farm laborer.
In 1932, Elmer Bennett, Roy Bennett's father, died at the age of 58 and was buried in the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery. Roy Bennett was 21 when his father died.
In the 1940 Census, Roy was 29 years old and lived with his mother in Indian Grove Township. Roy's brother, Albert Bennett, was 24 and lived in the household. Roy reported that the highest grade he completed was in the eighth grade. Roy Bennett reported his occupation as a farm laborer.
By the time of the 1950 Census, Roy Bennett was a 39-year-old hired farmhand living with the Addis and Kathleen Liddle family in Avoca Township. Roy reported that the sixth grade was the highest school level he achieved.
John Colwell (1865-1936) was born in England. He emigrated to Fairbury to work as a miner in the town's coal mines. Around 1885, John Colwell married Hannah "Fannie" Cumpston in Fairbury. John was 20, and Fannie was 22 when they married. Their only child was Lela Florence Colwell, born in 1895 in Fairbury.
Lela Colwell never married. Her mother died in 1932, and her father died in 1936. In the 1940 U.S. Census, Lela was 45 years old and lived alone at 210 West Maple Street in Fairbury. She reported owning her house and completing her second year of high school.
In the 1950 U.S. Census, Lela was 56 years old and lived at 201 West Ash in Fairbury. She reported that her occupation was babysitting and keeping the house for a private family.
Roy Bennett first met Lela Colwell around 1955 when he was collecting trash in the alley by Lela's house. Roy later recounted that Miss Colwell spoke to him first and was " friendly." Roy also said that Miss Colwell was the only female who had ever spoken to him in a friendly manner.
In August of 1959, most Fairbury residents eagerly awaited the start of the Fairbury Fair in the week of August 24th. At that time, Lela Colwell was 64 years old and lived at her house at the southwest corner of Ash and Second Streets. On Tuesday, August 25th, Lela Colwell walked from her home to the Fairbury Fair.
In August of 1959, Roy Bennett was 48 years of age. At his murder trial, Roy testified that he had only completed the fourth grade. Roy also testified that he began drinking wine when he was about 19 years of age. Roy recounted spending most of his time in Fairbury bars and repeatedly heard patrons say Miss Colwell "was an easy mark for a man." Over the years, Roy Bennett had been convicted of various minor crimes.
On the day of the murder, Roy drank three bottles of wine, each one-fifth in volume. He then took another bottle of wine with him and decided to go to Lela's house and wait for her to return from the Fairbury Fair.
When Lela returned to her house, Roy Bennett asked her if she would have sexual relations with him. When Lela declined, Roy Bennett attacked her. He hit Lela twice on her head with the wine bottle. Roy Bennett struck her so hard that the wine bottle broke. Mr. Bennett took a broken piece of the wine bottle glass and tried to slit the throat of Lela Colwell.
A neighbor of Lela Colwell, Mrs. Lloyd Zimmerman, saw something unusual at Lela's house: an unsteady figure standing on the porch. She contacted her husband, and the police were contacted. When the police arrived at around nine p.m. at Lela's house, they found Roy Bennett and Lela Colwell. Miss Colwell was barely alive and was rushed to Fairbury Hospital.
Roy Bennett admitted to the police that he had attacked Lela Colwell. The next day, he re-enacted the crime for police officials at Lela's house. A Fairbury Blade photographer took pictures of him re-enacting the crime for police officials, which were then published in the Blade.
Roy Bennett was guilty of two counts. These counts were assault to commit murder and assault to commit rape. After his murder trial, Roy Bennett stated that he was sorry for what he had done to the people of his town and for what he did to Lela. Circuit Judge Hubert H. Edwards then sentenced Roy Bennett to 18 to 20 years in the State Penitentiary at Joliet.
Roy Bennett's attack on Lela Colwell with the broken wine bottle glass almost separated her head from her body. She also had extensive brain damage from being struck so hard by the wine bottle. She required round-the-clock medical attention at the Fairbury Hospital. After suffering for 11 months after the attack, she died on July 12th, 1960, in the Fairbury Hospital. She was buried with her parents at Graceland Cemetery in Fairbury. Her house was sold at auction a few months after she died.
If Roy Bennett had served 18 years in prison after committing the crime in 1959, he would have been released in 1977. Roy Bennett died in 1974 in Pontiac at the age of 63. He was buried in Graceland Cemetery.
In the other seven murders that have been committed in Fairbury, all of the victims died either immediately or within a couple of days of the incident. Lela Colwell suffered for eleven months after the attack by Roy Bennett before she finally died.
(Dale Maley's weekly history article on Fairbury News is sponsored by Dr. Charlene Aaron)
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