He Was Presumed Dead, Then Accused of Murdering His Dad

In 1965, Scott Banish watched as his friends began to leave for boot camp. He had tried to enlist in the army himself but was rejected because of a heart condition. He was devastated. His parents, Loretta and Scott, were concerned that he might do something drastic. Those around the family assured them that he would get over it.

They were overjoyed when he told them that he was going to hang out with some friends at the beach on June 3, 1965. Yet there was some worry. The weather was bad, and a storm threatened to make things very difficult for the boys. However, the Banishes brushed off their concern and told themselves that he was 18; Scott would do whatever he wanted.

As night fell, Loretta Banish worried. There had been no word from Scott, and it was unlike him. Normally, he would have told them that he was staying at a friend's house if that was the plan.

Loretta and Edward began to call Scott's friends. They reasoned that he might have forgotten to call them. Or if he had been drinking, he may have wanted to avoid upsetting them further. Each friend gave the same answer; they were supposed to hang out at the beach, but it was canceled. And Scott knew that.

Perhaps Scott just wanted some time alone. They reasoned he was dealing with a lot and maybe the time by himself was what he needed. Still, the weather was getting nasty, and they decided to head out to the beach and bring him home.

What they found was tragic. Their son's car was in the beach's parking lot, but he was nowhere to be found. They went down to the beach and were horrified by what they discovered. His towel, wallet, and clothes were on the beach.

But Scott was nowhere in sight.

They called the police. Officers arrived and noted that things were not looking good. They began talking about the teen as though he were dead, which upset Loretta.

The investigation went on. They checked the water and tried to find anything that might explain where Scott had gone. But they kept coming back to the same conclusion. He had drowned and washed out into Lake Michigan.

Edward and Loretta began to grieve the loss of their son. They were devastated by his disappearance. Though neither could bring themselves to admit that he was dead.

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Return To The Living

As time passed, Loretta and Edward tried to resume a normal life. They started hosting their game nights again, though there was always an elephant in the room that wasn't addressed. Their friends weren't sure how to approach the topic.

One of the things that made the conversations difficult was that Loretta didn't believe her son was dead. She often pointed out that his wristwatch wasn't with his possessions. He would have taken it off if he went swimming. Edward didn't agree but found it difficult to argue with his wife's logic.

On August 22, 1965, the Banishes hosted a game night. Things were in full swing, and everyone was having fun. Drinks were plentiful, and there were more laughs. It seemed that things had finally settled back into a normal pattern. As normal as they could be given the circumstances.

Edward began to grow tired into the night. He decided to turn in early and head to bed. After saying good night to his wife and friends, he went upstairs. There he confronted someone in the house. The intruder said nothing.

But plunged a knife into Edward's body multiple times.

After hearing the thud of her husband falling to the floor, Loretta ran upstairs. She found him slumped over. Before he died, he tried to communicate who killed him but was unable to get the words out.

Loretta heard a thud and ran upstairs. Her husband faced her and tried to speak. He fell over and died before he was able to communicate who had hurt him.

For the second time in less than two months, Loretta lost a loved one.

Who Did It?

Loretta called 911 immediately. She hoped that there would be a way to save her husband. But Edward was dead on arrival when the paramedics got to their house.

Police began looking into what might have happened. They ruled out robbery as a motive since nothing was stolen. Edward's car keys and wallet were on the table, and none of the cash had been taken out of it.

They put forth a theory that the man had caught a burglar in the middle of committing the crime. He threatened to call the police, and the robber stabbed him to keep him from doing that. There was a small window that someone could get into the house through. And the front door was wide open when Loretta came upstairs, so the killer could have run out in a panic.

But it was a weak case, and nobody quite believed it was true.

Weeks after the murder, there was a big break. On August 31, an army recruiter called the police station with some shocking information. Scott Banish was alive and had assumed a new name. The recruiter was asked to keep the young man there while they sent out a patrol car.

Then they called Loretta and asked her to come to the station; they said that there was a break in the case. When she walked into the office, she was shocked to find her son there alive and well. Tears welled in her eyes.

Then she realized that the police suspected her son killed her husband.

Confession or Coercion

Investigators proposed a new theory. Scott broke into his family home to get some more money because he was living on the run. His attempts at joining the army had failed, and he had nothing else going for him. They also said he could have needed to get some documents.

When father and son came face-to-face, both were shocked. Edward couldn't believe that the son he believed to be dead was standing in front of him. And Scott couldn't believe his parents were at home, ruining his scheme.

A pair of Scott's bloody jeans was used to bolster the theory. They decided that there was enough evidence to begin questioning the young man. There was hope that he would confess and they could bring two cases to a close within hours.

Scott agreed to take a lie detector test. He believed it would clear his name and help the police find the real killer. Most of what he told the officers was true, but there were large chunks that he fabricated.

There was only one reason investigators believed Scott would lie: because he killed his father. They told him that there was enough evidence to take the case to the grand jury and then to trial. He would be doing himself a favor if he confessed. The district attorney would go easy on him, they promised.

He agreed and confessed to the murder. But later recanted and said that the cops forced him to say he did it. Investigators denied any wrongdoing. They claimed that he only recanted because he wasn't given the deal that he thought he would get.

However, Scott had an ace up his sleeve. He was across the country, on a fishing boat in Oregon, at the time of the murder. At the time, he was using an alias, Daniel McFarland.

As proof of his claims, Scott offered up paycheck stubs that bared his alias. Police didn't believe him; they felt that he made up the alibi to make them look foolish and to get away with murder. They decided to look into these claims some more.

The case still went to the grand jury.

Twisted Turns

Investigators contacted the captain of the ship that Scott claimed to be working on. They believed he was lying, and this would help them prove it. To their dismay, the new witness confirmed that a man matching the young man's description was with them the night of the murder.

Further disappointing them, Scott was on the boat the night that Edward was murdered. This put him in Oregon, an airtight alibi. However, police and prosecutors believed that they had enough evidence to take the case to the grand jury and ultimately win a conviction.

What they didn't count on was the captain and his wife showing up to the grand jury hearing. They testified that everything Scott said about being on the boat and not even close to Indiana was true.

In a shocking development, the grand jury found that there was not enough evidence against Scott. They decided not to indict him and cleared his name of any wrongdoing.

After those events played out, Scott sued the sheriff's department for defamation, among other charges. It did not pan out for him; a judge dismissed the case because it lacked merit.

There's a large segment of true crime lovers who still try to solve the murder of Edward Banish. Some believe that Scott killed his father and conspired with the captain to get away with it. They point to the bloody jeans as their evidence.

Scott Banish had a horrible few months. It started with him being denied a role in the army and ended with him being accused of murdering his father. In between, he was presumed dead and denied by the army a second time.