The Leaf Killer

Tina Herrmann, 32, lived near Mount Vernon in Knox County, Ohio, with her children, Kody Maynard, 11, and Sarah Maynard, 13. In November 2010, after Tina missed work, her worried manager got into the house and found blood and signs of a cleanup. Tina, both children and Tina’s friend Stephanie Sprang, 41, were all missing.

The killer had bought tarps and garbage bags at a local Walmart. A receipt, store video and vehicle records led police to Matthew Hoffman, 30, an unemployed tree trimmer who lived in Mount Vernon. On November 14 officers searched his house, which was filled with bags of leaves, and found Sarah alive in the basement, bound and gagged. Hoffman had broken into the Herrmann home on November 10, in what he later called a burglary gone wrong, and stabbed Tina, Kody and Stephanie to death. He took Sarah and sexually assaulted her during the four days she was held.

To avoid a possible death sentence, Hoffman led police on November 18 to a hollow beech tree in a wooded wildlife area northwest of Mount Vernon, where he had hidden the victims’ dismembered remains. On January 6, 2011, he pleaded guilty to ten counts, including three counts of aggravated murder, kidnapping and rape, and was sentenced to life with no chance of parole. Sarah later spoke publicly about what she survived.