DELPHOS — A man who killed a father and son in 1974 and then tried to escape several times after his arrest has been denied parole, a spokesman for the state prison system said this week.
Robin Bender, now 62, will not be up for parole again until 2020, according to state prison records.
The parole board continued Bender’s parole and set a hearing to consider it again on April 1, 2020, according to prison records.
The parole board found Bender takes responsibility for his crimes and has remorse but “his history is extensive and full of violence and therefore he is not suitable for release,” according to records.
The board said Bender would pose “an undue risk to public safety” and his release “would not further the interest of justice or be consistent with the welfare and security of society,” according to records.
Bender, a native of Columbus Grove, is serving a life sentence but is eligible for a periodic parole hearing. He was sent to prison for the July 17, 1974, killing of Kenneth Youngpeter, 27, and his father, Louis Youngpeter, 51, of rural Delphos just west of the city.
This was Bender’s fifth parole hearing after becoming eligible for parole consideration after serving 20 years. He is an inmate at Madison Correctional Institution.
Bender randomly picked Kenneth Youngpeter’s Gerdeman Road home to break into and their paths crossed while Bender was inside. Kenneth Youngpeter’s wife, Judy, also was home. Bender forced her to tie up her husband and then shot him. Judy ran and was shot in the back but was able to continue running to a neighbor’s house where she collapsed.
Youngpeter’s father, Louis Youngpeter, showed up shortly after the crime began and discovered Bender in the house. Bender shot the father outside the home in the front yard. Bender used a 12-gauge shotgun to kill the men.
Bender chased Judy Youngpeter but with the help of neighbors and police arriving, Bender was stopped but not captured. An intense manhunt concentrated on the Delphos area but stretched well beyond immediately after the killings.
Bender stole a truck in Middle Point and drove to Indianapolis and abandoned it. He fled to Wisconsin where he was arrested in a bar several days later and charged in connection with a series of burglaries. Those charges were dropped so he could return to Ohio.
Bender pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated murder and one count of felonious assault. He received two life sentences. He also is serving time for attempted escaping and obstructing justice out of Scioto County after he tried to escape from the maximum security prison in Lucasville.
After his arrest, Bender said he would return and kill everyone, a family friend said.
Bender also tried to break out of jail using a hacksaw blade while he was awaiting trial.
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