“They were both good boys, well-liked in their community, in their jobs. It’s not something you see too much anymore. Everybody’s talking about this. These are the suburbs: what the hell is going on?” This is how David Zembower described the tragic event that took place on November 10th, 1993.
Seann Campbell and Bryan Benson were two twenty year old men who had been best friends since childhood. On November 10th 1993, they were working the closing shift together at West Coast Video located in Rosemore Shopping Center right off of County Line Road in Warminster, Pennsylvania.
Campbell had been working as a part-time employee at WCV for six years, but Benson had been employed by WCV for about 6-months. Benson wasn’t scheduled to work on November 10th, but he thought he was on the schedule and came into the store. When he showed up, his supervisor asked him if he could stay. Benson agreed to stay with his best friend and work the closing shift.
At around 9:00pm, Benson’s father came in to rent a video. Nothing was amiss. Campbell and Benson were behaving normally and nothing was unusual about the store itself or the patrons. Benson’s father picked out a video, said goodbye to his son, and left the store. This would be the last time he saw his son, or his son’s best friend alive.
Just before 9:00am on the morning of November 11th 1993, the owner of West Coast Video, James Somers arrived at the Rosemore Shopping Center to open up shop. As he approached the front of the store, he noticed something odd; the front door was slightly ajar and unlocked. This was unusual considering Campbell and Benson closed the store the night before. The young men were trusted and responsible employees. A robbery? Upon entering the store, Somers conducted a cursory inspection of the front of the store. Everything looked fine.
Somers eventually began walking toward the back of the store, which means that he would have to enter the closed-off, Adult Video Section. As Somers entered the room, he made a horrifying discovery; Campbell and Benson were lying next to each other on the floor, covered in blood, and dead.
Authorities descended upon the scene. A cursory observation of the scene revealed multiple stab wounds to the neck, chest, back, and forearms (defensive wounds) of both men. During their autopsy, it was determined that the wounds were made with a large, heavy knife that would never be found. Since both victims were tall (6’0”ft) and physically fit, and since there was no signs of them being tied up, police believed there may have been more than one assailant.
Between the two men rested the only significant clue authorities would find in this case. It came in the form of a gold, fake diamond stud earring. Authorities believe that this earring had been ripped from the ear of the perpetrator during the attack. And while the earring did contain DNA evidence (in the form of blood and bodily tissue), the DNA sample never led to a match.
The security camera that was pointed towards the cash register, had its wire cut. It’s unclear when the line was cut, but the camera itself wasn’t set to begin recording until after 10:00pm, after the store was officially closed. Since it’s assumed the murders took place shortly before the store closed, the camera wouldn’t have captured the crime or assailant anyway. The perpetrator had taken about $300.00 from the cash register but they didn’t empty the register completely. Campbell and Benson’s wallets remained with their bodies; they hadn’t been robbed.
With the security camera disabled and the fact that there was about $300.00 missing from the register, investigators were led to believe that the motive for the killings was robbery, albeit a robbery that had gone horribly wrong.
Almost 30 years later, the murder Campbell and Benson remains unsolved. These men were loved by those who knew them. Even though Campbell and Benson had graduated two years before, their fellow students at William Tennent High School, could be found crying in the hallways after they heard the tragic news.
At the end of the day, the lives of Campbell and Benson were needlessly and mercilessly cut short. Their families will never know closure. Closure doesn’t exist when a loved one is murdered, but their pain is made more severe by the fact that the person (or people) who killed their sons is out there walking free and with that freedom, the ability to harm someone else. At the very least, these families deserve their day in court and the knowledge that what happened to their loved ones, won’t happen to anyone else.
The case is still open. Anyone with information regarding the murders of Seann Campbell and Bryan Benson has a responsibility to contact The Warminster Police Department at 215–443–5000.
My Thoughts
I don’t think the assailant went into WCV with the intention of murdering Campbell and Benson. I think they were desperate for cash, and were willing to do anything for it, but I don’t think murder was in the plan.
I’m not so sure there was more than one assailant. I think the perp entered the store during operating hours and hid in the closed-off Adult Video Section. They planned on robbing the store immediately after Campbell and Benson left and could steal from the cash register without interference. Or maybe the perp thought they could threaten Campbell and Benson with their weapon and they’d give up the store’s money without a fight.
I believe either Campbell or Benson went through the closed-off section, found the would-be robber, and an intense fight ensued. Hearing the screams / struggle occurring in the back of the store, the other friend came running and met the same fate as the first. The perpetrator, cut the security camera line, grabbed some of the money and fled. They were most likely in a rush considering what had just happened and wanted to get out of the store as soon as possible.
I don’t think the perpetrator knew the victims beyond (maybe) knowing that the two men were employed at WCV but this implies the perp staked out the store beforehand (but I think that’s giving the perp too much credit).
Sources
Davis, M. &Rohde, D. (1993, November 13). Bucks video-store leave residents angry, fearful. Newspapers. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17268063/the-philadelphia-inquirer/
Henley, N. (2018, May 28). The Unsolved West Coast Video Store Murders. Medium. https://medium.com/of-misdeeds-and-mysteries/unsolved-the-murders-of-seann-campbell-and-bryan-benson-882239ffe081