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{{short description|British model (1944–1972)}}
{{For|the American businesswoman|Gayle Benson}}
{{for|the American businesswoman|Gayle Benson}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2012}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2012}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2012}}
⚫
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
|name = Gale Benson
|name = Gale Benson
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|image_size = 180px
|image_size = 180px
|caption =
|caption =
|birth_name = Gale Ann Benson
|birth_name = Gale Ann Plugge
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1944|11|4|df=y}}
|birth_date = {{birth date|1944|11|4|df=y}}
|birth_place = [[London]], United Kingdom
|birth_place = London, United Kingdom
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1972|1|2|1944|11|4|df=y}}
|death_date = {{death date and age|1972|1|2|1944|11|4|df=y}}
|death_place = [[Trinidad]], [[Trinidad and Tobago]]
|death_place = [[Trinidad]], [[Trinidad and Tobago]]
|other_names = Hale Kimga
|other_names = Hale Kimga
|father = [[Leonard Plugge]]
|father = [[Leonard Plugge]]
|mother = Ann Plugge (née Muckleston)
|known_for = Victim of murder by [[Michael X]] (among others)
|known_for = Victim of murder
|occupation = [[Model (person)|Model]] and [[socialite]]
|occupation = {{hlist|[[Model (person)|Model]]|[[socialite]]}}
|nationality = British
|nationality = British
}}
}}

'''Gale Ann Benson''' (4 November 1944 – 2 January 1972) was a British [[Model (person)|model]], [[socialite]] and daughter of [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Member of Parliament|MP]] [[Leonard Plugge]]. She was [[Premature burial|buried alive]] and murdered in [[Trinidad]] by activist [[Michael X]] and members of his [[Black Power]] group.<ref name="DailyMail_514916">{{cite web|url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-514916/Buried-alive-The-model-socialite-daughter-Tory-MP-fell-charismatic-black-civil-rights-leader.html|title=Buried alive: The model, socialite and daughter of a Tory MP who fell for a charismatic black civil rights leader|last=Moore|first=Victoria|date=16 February 2008 |publisher=''Daily Mail''|accessdate=2008-12-17}}</ref>
'''Gale Ann Benson''' (née Plugge; 4 November 1944 – 2 January 1972) was a British [[Model (person)|model]], [[socialite]] and daughter of [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Member of Parliament|MP]] [[Leonard Plugge]]. She was stabbed and [[Premature burial|buried alive]] in [[Trinidad and Tobago]].


==Life==
==Life==
[[File:Gale Benson and Hakim Jamal.jpg|thumb|upright|Gale Benson and Hakim Jamal]]
Benson was born in [[London]] to Leonard and Ann Plugge. Gale had two brothers, Leonard Frank (born 1937), and Greville, her twin. She attended school at the [[Lycée Français]] in London. Later she started modelling, and worked as a DJ for a French radio show.
Benson was born on 4 November 1944 in London to Leonard and Ann Plugge. Gale had two brothers, Leonard Frank (born 1937), and Greville, her twin. She attended school at the [[Lycée Français]] in London. Later she started modelling, and worked as a DJ for a French radio show.


She married film director Jonathan Benson at the age of 20, but the marriage had difficulties and she moved away to [[Argentina]] when she was 22, in 1967.<ref name="DailyMail_514916"/> Returning to the United Kingdom she started a relationship with [[Black Power]] activist [[Hakim Jamal]], an associate of Michael X. Jamal was an American from [[Boston]] whose previous name was Allen Donaldson. She changed her name to "Hale Kimga", an anagram of her first name and Hakim.
She married film director Jonathan Benson at the age of 20, but the marriage had difficulties and she moved to [[Argentina]] in 1967 when she was 22.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} Returning to the United Kingdom she started a relationship with [[Black Power]] activist [[Hakim Jamal]], an associate of [[Michael X]]. Jamal was an American from [[Boston]] whose previous name was Allen Donaldson. She changed her name to "Hale Kimga", an anagram of her first name and Hakim.


Benson and Jamal moved to [[Guyana]] in 1971, before moving later that year to the commune of Michael X in Trinidad, who had fled the UK while bailed on charges of extortion and robbery.<ref name="DailyMail_514916"/>
Benson and Jamal moved to [[Guyana]] in 1971, before moving later that year to the commune in Trinidad and Tobago of Michael X, who had fled the UK while bailed on charges of extortion and robbery.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}


==Murder==
==Murder==
On the morning of 2 January 1972, a group of men including Michael X took Benson out for a walk outside the commune. Arriving at a hole in the ground, they started digging until it was about four feet deep. One of the men turned to Benson and asked, "What do you think this is for?" She shrugged, and the man replied, "This is a fresh hole for decomposed bodies". They pushed her in, two of the men attacking her with a [[cutlass]], badly wounding Benson in the chest and throat.<ref name="DailyMail_514916"/> She was buried alive, some of the men jumping on the soil to keep her down until she succumbed. The postmortem later found inhaled dirt in her lungs. It was alleged that Michael X had ordered her death because she was causing "mental strain" to Jamal.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YBEQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ypADAAAAIBAJ&pg=4566,3875225&dq=hakim+jamal+murder&hl=en |title=Two Will Hang for Burial Murder |date=18 July 1973 |work=[[The Age]] |accessdate=22 July 2011 }}</ref>
On the morning of 2 January 1972, Benson was stabbed 10 times and buried alive by Stanley Abbott and Edward Chadee. It was alleged that Michael X had ordered her death because she was causing "mental strain" to Jamal.<ref>{{cite web |title=Two Will Hang for Burial Murder |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YBEQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ypADAAAAIBAJ&pg=4566,3875225&dq=hakim+jamal+murder&hl=en |work=[[The Age]] |date=18 July 1973 |access-date=22 July 2011}}</ref>


Her badly [[Decomposition|decomposed]] body was found seven weeks later, and eventually two of the men were convicted of her murder, after one of the group turned witness for the prosecution. Stanley Abbott and Edward Chadee were sentenced to death, but one was commuted to life imprisonment. Another of the group drowned at sea, and barber Joseph Skerritt was murdered. Michael X was charged with Benson's murder but never tried; he was sentenced to death for the murder of Skerritt on 21 August 1972,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/08/22/archives/michael-x-doomed-in-trinidad-murder.html|title=Michael X' Doomed in Trinidad Murder|last=Reuters|date=22 August 1972|publisher=''New York Times''|accessdate=2008-12-20}}</ref> and [[hanged]] in [[Port of Spain]]'s Royal [[Gaol]] in May 1975. Her lover Hakim Jamal was murdered in the United States in 1973, just over a year after Benson.
Her badly [[Decomposition|decomposed]] body was found seven weeks later, in a shallow grave near the home of Michael X. Eventually two of the men were convicted of her murder, after one of the group turned witness for the prosecution. Stanley Abbott and Edward Chadee were sentenced to death, but Chadee's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Abbott was hanged in 1979. Michael X was charged with Benson's murder but never tried; he was sentenced to death for the murder of Joseph Skerritt on 21 August 1972,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/08/22/archives/michael-x-doomed-in-trinidad-murder.html|title='Michael X' Doomed in Trinidad Murder|agency=Reuters|date=22 August 1972|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=20 December 2008}}</ref> and [[hanged]] in [[Port of Spain]]'s Royal Gaol in May 1975. Benson's lover Hakim Jamal was murdered in the United States in 1973, just over a year after her own death.


==Cultural references==
==Cultural references==
The movie ''[[The Bank Job]]'' (2008) portrays Michael X as having been in possession of indecent photographs of [[Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon|Princess Margaret]] stored in a bank vault, and using them to blackmail the British establishment. [[Hattie Morahan]] plays Benson, who the movie portrays as a spy whose role is to find any additional photos or negatives Michael X may have. Her brother Frank, however, said the idea Benson was a spy in real life was "ludicrous".<ref name="DailyMail_514916"/>
The movie ''[[The Bank Job]]'' (2008) portrays [[Michael X]] as having been in possession of indecent photographs of [[Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon|Princess Margaret]] stored in a bank vault, and using them to blackmail the British establishment. [[Hattie Morahan]] plays Benson, whom the film portrays as a spy whose role is to find any additional photos or negatives Michael X may have.


Benson is a central character in [[Diana Athill]]'s memoir of her friendship with Gale's lover, Hakim Jamal, ''Make Believe: A True Story''.<ref>Athill, Diana, ''Make Believe: A True Story'', [[Sinclair Stevenson]], 1993.</ref>
Benson is a central character in [[Diana Athill]]'s memoir of her friendship with Gale's lover, Hakim Jamal, ''Make Believe: A True Story''.<ref>Athill, Diana, ''Make Believe: A True Story'', London: [[Sinclair-Stevenson]], 1993.</ref>


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Benson, Gale Ann}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benson, Gale Ann}}
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:1972 deaths]]
[[Category:1972 deaths]]
⚫
[[Category:Murder in 1972]]
⚫
[[Category:People from London]]
[[Category:English female models]]
[[Category:Murdered models]]
[[Category:British people murdered abroad]]
[[Category:British people murdered abroad]]
[[Category:Deaths by live burial]]
⚫
[[Category:English female models]]
⚫
[[Category:Models from London]]
[[Category:People murdered in Trinidad and Tobago]]
[[Category:People murdered in Trinidad and Tobago]]
[[Category:Premature burials]]
[[Category:1972 in Trinidad and Tobago]]
[[Category:Deaths from asphyxiation]]
[[Category:1972 murders in North America]]
[[Category:Racially motivated violence against white people]]
[[Category:Violence against women in Trinidad and Tobago]]

Latest revision as of 17:13, 9 November 2023

For the American businesswoman, see Gayle Benson.

Gale Benson
Born
Gale Ann Plugge

(1944-11-04)4 November 1944
London, United Kingdom
Died2 January 1972(1972-01-02) (aged 27)
Trinidad, Trinidad and Tobago
NationalityBritish
Other namesHale Kimga
Occupations
Known forVictim of murder
Parents

Gale Ann Benson (née Plugge; 4 November 1944 – 2 January 1972) was a British model, socialite and daughter of Conservative MP Leonard Plugge. She was stabbed and buried alive in Trinidad and Tobago.

Life

[edit]
Gale Benson and Hakim Jamal

Benson was born on 4 November 1944 in London to Leonard and Ann Plugge. Gale had two brothers, Leonard Frank (born 1937), and Greville, her twin. She attended school at the Lycée Français in London. Later she started modelling, and worked as a DJ for a French radio show.

She married film director Jonathan Benson at the age of 20, but the marriage had difficulties and she moved to Argentina in 1967 when she was 22.[citation needed] Returning to the United Kingdom she started a relationship with Black Power activist Hakim Jamal, an associate of Michael X. Jamal was an American from Boston whose previous name was Allen Donaldson. She changed her name to "Hale Kimga", an anagram of her first name and Hakim.

Benson and Jamal moved to Guyana in 1971, before moving later that year to the commune in Trinidad and Tobago of Michael X, who had fled the UK while bailed on charges of extortion and robbery.[citation needed]

Murder

[edit]

On the morning of 2 January 1972, Benson was stabbed 10 times and buried alive by Stanley Abbott and Edward Chadee. It was alleged that Michael X had ordered her death because she was causing "mental strain" to Jamal.[1]

Her badly decomposed body was found seven weeks later, in a shallow grave near the home of Michael X. Eventually two of the men were convicted of her murder, after one of the group turned witness for the prosecution. Stanley Abbott and Edward Chadee were sentenced to death, but Chadee's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Abbott was hanged in 1979. Michael X was charged with Benson's murder but never tried; he was sentenced to death for the murder of Joseph Skerritt on 21 August 1972,[2] and hanged in Port of Spain's Royal Gaol in May 1975. Benson's lover Hakim Jamal was murdered in the United States in 1973, just over a year after her own death.

Cultural references

[edit]

The movie The Bank Job (2008) portrays Michael X as having been in possession of indecent photographs of Princess Margaret stored in a bank vault, and using them to blackmail the British establishment. Hattie Morahan plays Benson, whom the film portrays as a spy whose role is to find any additional photos or negatives Michael X may have.

Benson is a central character in Diana Athill's memoir of her friendship with Gale's lover, Hakim Jamal, Make Believe: A True Story.[3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Two Will Hang for Burial Murder". The Age. 18 July 1973. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  2. ^ "'Michael X' Doomed in Trinidad Murder". The New York Times. Reuters. 22 August 1972. Retrieved 20 December 2008.
  3. ^ Athill, Diana, Make Believe: A True Story, London: Sinclair-Stevenson, 1993.
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