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Religion: manifestly non-religious 
Name: Benny Farrel
Classification:
villain
Publisher(s): 
First Appearance: Action Comics (vol. 1) #24 (May 1940): "Carnahan's Heir"
Creators: Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Paul Cassidy
Number of Appearances: 1
Enemy of: Superman, Peter Carnahan, Jake Brent
Occupation: gambler
Gender: male
Benny Farrel was a gambler who ran illegal gambling operations. He was the "bitterest enemy" of Jake Brent, a man that Peter Carnahan was falsely convicted of killing. Farrel murdered Brent Jake simply because the rival gambler was "stealin' some of [his] best suckers", meaning that Jake took away some of Farrel's illegal gambling clientele.
Farrel was fully aware that Peter Carnahan was about to be executed for the crime that Farrel committed. He didn't care. Farrel's henchmen kind of joked about it, but Farrel didn't want word of his guilt to spread, so we warned them, "Ferget it, both o' you -- or yer liable t' get what I gave Jake!"
In order to save Peter Carnahan from the electric chair, Superman re-investigated the crime scene and found evidence that led him to conclude Carnahan had not committed the murder. Superman tracked down the real killer, Benny Farrel.
Farrel really was a cold-blooded killer. He killed Jake Brent purely for financial reasons. When Superman confronted Farrel, he even tried to kill Superman with a gun. Of course, that didn't work. Bullets bounced off Superman and hit Farrel in his wrist. Superman said, "Those bullets of yours seem to prefer your company! Benny, you're coming with me to confess that you instead of Carnahan should be electrocuted!"
Superman brought the frightened Benny Farrel to the governor's office to confess. The governor gave Carnahan a pardon, sparing his life and freeing him. The murder Benny Farrel was presumably convicted of the crime off-panel.
Action Comics (vol. 1) #24 (May 1940): "Carnahan's Heir"
Suggested links for further research about this character and the character's religious affiliation:
- https://www.comics.org/issue/769/
- http://comicbookdb.com/issue.php?ID=60137