John Bennett, 24, Killed When Car Hits Oil Driller’s Truck

Olney – John Bennett aged 24, was killed almost instantly at 1:30 a.m. Friday, 2 miles west of Noble, when the car driven by him and owned by Lloyd Hill of Olney, his employer, crashed into an oil driller’s truck, owned by the L.C. Neeley Oil Drilling firm of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, which is drilling an oil well on the Allard location in Noble.

The truck was driven by Kenneth Bechdolt,40, who was enroute to the Clay City bottoms to get water from some of the streams and hauling it back to Noble to use in the drilling operations there.

Bennett had visited at Mr. Hill’s home about midnight in Olney and then drove over to Clay City, possibly to see the oilfield operations. He was headed east when the accident happened on a straight stretch of road. Bennett, it is thought, went to sleep at the wheel and drove over on the left side of the road, hitting the truck, which was almost totally wrecked. Bechdolt suffered chest injuries and was shaken up somewhat.

Gus Deckard of near West Liberty, a stock truck driver, was following the oil firms water truck when the accident happened. He immediately stopped the truck and helped to extricate Bennett from the wreckage. Some difficulty was encountered in freeing him from the car. Bennett’s left leg was amputated just below the knee when part of the car cab was smashed and pinned him in. He also suffered a skull fracture, a severe cut above the right eye and the left arm was believed to have been broken.

It is believed that he died almost immediately as Mr. Deckard stated that he breathed only twice after reaching him. The body was brought to Olney, Deputy Coroner, Orville Schaub impaneled a jury to hear the evidence Saturday afternoon.

Kenneth Bechdolt, charged with manslaughter in the death of John Bennett in the collision near here September 24, has been arrested in Rockford, Michigan. Deputy Sheriff, James West left Olney Saturday morning for Rockford to bring Bechdolt here to face the charges.

40 year old Bechdolt, oil field worker was charged with having been drunk at the time of the collision. Bechdolt pled guilty to the charge and was sentenced to a year on the Vandalia prison farm and was ordered to pay a fine of $300.

John Bennett, 24, was a son of Frank Bennett of Olney. He is survived by his mother, Mrs. Luella Bennett of St. Louis; a brother, Monte Bennett of St. Louis and a sister, Miss Thelma Bennett.

He was married about three years ago, but is separated from his wife.

He was a popular young man and attended the Olney High School until taking a position with the Western Auto Store, owned by Lloyd Hill. During his attendance in high school, he was employed at the C.E. Hasler shoe store in Olney.

The funeral of Mr. Bennett will be held at the Evangelical Church with Rev. O.D. Wissler in charge. Burial in Haven Hill.

The Decatur Daily Review (Decatur, IL) – Sat. September 25, 1937 & Sun. October 24, 1937