In 1883 he murdered his father, the Reverend Julius Benn, and was detained at Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum until 1890, returning there in 1903 and receiving treatment until his death.
[4] Benn was released from Broadmoor in July 1890 and subsequently changed his name by deed poll to William Rutherford, using his middle name as his surname.
[2] Although his daughter was told that her father had died of "a broken heart" after her mother's suicide, at the age of 12 she found out that he had in fact been readmitted to Broadmoor Hospital in 1903, where he remained under care until his death on 4 August 1921.
Merriman states that, per Tony Benn, William "was a shipping clerk by trade", bringing in extra money "with journalistic commissions".
Margaret was subsequently sent to live with an aunt at Wimbledon; when William later sought to remarry, his brother John intervened to stop it.