The Girl in the Leaves (13 page)

TWENTY-ONE

“I’m a Monster”

At 9:00
AM
on November 16, 2010, in an interview room, BCI&I Special Agent Joe Dietz and FBI
Special Agent Kristin Cadieux met once again at the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.
Just before Matthew Hoffman was brought into the interview room, he spoke privately
with Dietz for a moment.

Dietz and Hoffman went into the interview room alone, while Agent Cadieux waited outside,
and Hoffman told Dietz that he wanted all audio and video devices turned off. Then
Hoffman asked Dietz to take him to the restroom. Agent Dietz agreed to do so, and
remained in the restroom with Hoffman while Detective Doug Turpen was stationed right
outside the door. Once Hoffman and Dietz were inside, Hoffman asked if there were
any recording devices in the restroom or if Dietz had any on his person.

Upon Hoffman’s request, Dietz went outside and handed his two cell phones to Detective
Turpen and then returned to the restroom. Hoffman then told Dietz that during the
night he had a dream about being at a food-processing plant. In the dream, Hoffman
said, he opened up a trash bag and saw human body parts inside. He got a knot in his
stomach, he said, and it started coming back to him.

Hoffman told Dietz that he now recalled some of what had happened, but that he wanted
to reveal it in his own way. Hoffman said he wanted to write the location of the bodies
down on a piece of paper and then have a legal document created through an attorney,
who would hold on to the document until Hoffman was dead. Hoffman continued that he
wanted Agent Dietz to arrange for Hoffman to take another drive outside the jail facility.
Hoffman added, “I’ll pretend to escape, and then I want you to shoot and kill me.
After I’m dead, the attorney will reveal the location of the bodies.”

Hoffman said he could not live with what he had done, and if this could not be agreed
to, he planned to kill himself in jail anyway. He said he did not want to be injected
with Thorazine for the rest of his life in prison. He’d rather die now. Hoffman seemed
to believe that if he was sent to prison he would be given an antipsychotic drug for
the rest of his life.

Agent Dietz said he couldn’t agree to the drive or to shooting Hoffman, but that instead
Hoffman should “relieve the pain in your gut by telling [us] where the bodies were
hidden.” Hoffman instead said that he would do so only if his plan were carried out.
“I’m a monster and I can’t live with what I’ve done! I just want to die! I saw horrible
cut-up things,” Hoffman said.

Dietz repeated that Hoffman would feel better if he just revealed where the bodies
were, but instead Hoffman eventually claimed that he’d actually made up the story
about remembering where the body parts were hidden, and added that he’d done that
so he could get himself killed in the escape plan.

After this bizarre interlude in the restroom, Agent Dietz and Matt Hoffman returned
to the interview room, where the official interview with both Agents Dietz and Cadieux
continued, though with meager results.

Despite gleaning little useful information, investigators did note that Hoffman seemed
more animated with a woman in the room than he had been with only the male detectives
there. Detective David Light said later, “Special Agent Dietz and Special Agent Cadieux
spoke to Hoffman again on Tuesday, November 16th. Hoffman advised them that he did
not want an attorney and that it was in his best interest not to have one. The public
defender’s office was assigned to represent him for his bond hearing scheduled that
day. Attorney Bruce Malek [of the Knox County Public Defenders Office] went to the
sheriff’s office and insisted on meeting with Hoffman immediately. Hoffman was asked
again if he wished to see an attorney and he again said that he did not want an attorney.

“Officers continued to talk with Hoffman until advised by Knox County Prosecutor John
Thatcher that they must stop the interview. Hoffman was then placed back in the jail,
where an attorney made contact with him several hours before the bond hearing.”

When it was time for the actual court hearing in Judge Paul Spurgeon’s courtroom,
Matthew Hoffman wasn’t present. He was videoed from his jail cell, where he sat quietly
next to Malek, rather than being escorted into the courtroom.

Hoffman was wearing a green padded “suicide gown,” which essentially kept him from
hurting himself in any manner. Occasionally he stared at the camera lens, but he did
not utter a single word while his attorney jotted down notes on a pad. John Thatcher
asked for a no-bail amount so that Hoffman would have to stay in jail, saying, “The
weight of evidence against the defendant, well, there’s no question as to his identity.
He presents a flight risk due to his lack of family ties in the community other than
his mother and stepfather. His unemployment and severe nature of the crime of which
[he] is accused makes him a grave flight risk.”

Malek, Hoffman’s attorney, disagreed, saying, “Mr. Hoffman’s sister and father live
in northeast Ohio. He does have connections in Knox County as well. Mr. Hoffman is
currently without funds, and a minimal bond with ten percent application should be
set.”

The hearing lasted only five minutes, and Judge Spurgeon set bail at one million dollars,
an amount toward which Hoffman was unlikely to raise even the minimum amount. Judge
Spurgeon also set a preliminary hearing date a little over a week away, on November
23, 2010, at which time Hoffman could enter a plea.

* * *

Sheriff Barber gave his usual afternoon press conference on November 16, and again
emphasized that citizens with any information about the case should phone the sheriff’s
office. “We are getting a ton of calls. Tips, leads and information from the public.”
And once again he told the public not to touch any suspicious items but to leave them
where they were so that a law enforcement officer could go and check them out.

He added, “Be assured that all that information, no matter how small it may sound,
is being followed up, not only by detectives of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office,
but by all the other agencies as well.”

Barber then showed the media photos of three vehicles he wanted the public to think
about: Matthew Hoffman’s silver Toyota Yaris, Tina’s Ford F-150 pickup and Stephanie’s
Jeep. Barber said, “We want people to think back to last Wednesday or Thursday. Did
you see one of these vehicles? Maybe at a restaurant, maybe parked along a road somewhere.
Give us that information and let us follow up on it.”

And so, as requested, tips kept coming.

Kelly P reported to authorities that a friend of hers said that her ex-husband had
once lived with Matthew Hoffman for a couple of months. Detectives found this ex-husband,
who offered to let authorities search all seventy acres of his farm.

Brenda C said she’d seen a man with a young boy who looked like Kody at a buffet.
The adult male was white, with a thin build and wearing a flannel shirt. Brenda took
a photo of the man with her cell phone and sent it in to police.

Elissa T reported that she’d seen Stephanie Sprang’s Jeep parked near Matthew Hoffman’s
residence quite often in the previous months. While potentially interesting information,
ultimately this could not be verified.

Crystal G reported that she had been on Amity Road near dark on November 5 and had
almost hit Matthew Hoffman, who she said had just been sitting in his car in the middle
of the road, staring out into the cornfields.

Other potential leads came in directly to the investigators.

Detective David Light spoke with Patrolman Andy Burns of the Mount Vernon Police Department.
Burns related that a man named Doug Tucker informed him that in the past August, Matthew
Hoffman had been at Tucker’s house for a cookout. Tucker had a large fire pit in his
backyard where they were cooking, and Hoffman had allegedly commented, “This would
be a good place to burn a body.”

Burns said that Tucker was currently in Florida but that another friend of his had
called him in the previous week and asked if he could use the fire pit to burn something.
That raised the question, had Hoffman or the friend burned something related to the
crime on King Beach Road in that fire pit? This was checked out, but nothing leading
to the crimes was present.

Lieutenant Gary Rohler received an e-mail from a man named Joe Aldrich, who wrote
that he had been friends for nine months with Matt Hoffman while both had been inmates
at the Trinidad Correctional Facility in Colorado. Even after Joe was transferred
to a minimum security institution, they had kept in touch by mail. At the time, Joe
had considered Hoffman to be a good person who had made a stupid mistake when he burglarized
and torched the condominium in Steamboat Springs.

Joe added, “I knew Matt, and he had no friends besides myself, and I don’t know whether
in the last five years if he had very many. I hope that you have good leads as to
the location of the three missing people, hopefully alive. Matt is a very intelligent
person, and very closemouthed, but I hope that he talks to you soon regarding their
fate. If I can help in any way, either by possibly having some influence over getting
him to open up, or giving you insight into his personality, please contact me.”

* * *

A retired police officer mentioned to Lieutenant Rohler that there had been a recent
fire that destroyed a business on Millersburg Road in Martinsburg, Ohio. Given Matt
Hoffman’s known penchant for arson, the officer wondered if the business had been
inspected by an arson specialist to see if Hoffman might’ve been involved.

Forrest Frazee, the friend of Stephanie Sprang whom Ron Metcalf had mentioned to police,
also contacted KCSO and went to the office to write out a statement in person. Forrest
wrote that Stephanie had been looking for work cleaning houses. According to Forrest,
Tina told Stephanie about a job to clean a friend’s place. Then a few weeks later,
Stephanie and Tina went to look at a house on Columbus Road.

According to Forrest, Stephanie was to clean this house at some point, but supposedly
there were plumbing issues that had to be taken care of first. Forrest believed the
person whose house Stephanie was supposed to clean was Matthew Hoffman. This person’s
mother lived near Tina’s residence, and in fact, Hoffman’s mom did live nearby.

Forrest continued, “I knew this guy creeped Stephanie out. She would not meet him
alone. I do know for sure that Stef and Tina did go to a Columbus Road address on
a Friday sometime in the past three weeks. I know Tina was talking to this man at
one time.” Forrest even thought Tina might have wanted to go on a date with him but
had decided against it. Forrest also wrote that he thought Tina and this man had connected
on Facebook.

This brought a whole new angle to the case. Had Tina actually thought of dating Matt
Hoffman and then turned him down? Was that why there was so much blood in Tina’s house?
Had he gone through another situation with a woman, like his ex-girlfriend, been rejected
and then gone berserk? Or was this new information really off the mark?

Still, there was some more information to support the possibility that Hoffman had
met Stephanie before, at least.

Detective Craig Feeney learned that Stephanie’s ex-husband, Mike Sprang, had put an
addition on Matt Hoffman’s house a few years back, and Feeney was told that “his wife
did odds and ends there also.” In other words, Stephanie Sprang might actually have
done some cleaning at Hoffman’s residence, at some point.

This story seemed credible. Patrolman Tim Arnold of the Mount Vernon Police Department
was told that Mike Sprang had also done some work on Matt Hoffman’s mother’s residence,
and according to the informant, Stephanie had accompanied Mike on some of those jobs
as well.

* * *

All of Knox County was having a hard time coming to grips with the ongoing situation.
Not surprisingly, this was especially true for the schoolchildren of the area. Dr.
Rick Stutzman, a psychologist who worked with the Mount Vernon Schools, said, “It
evokes the number one fear for both children and parents—the loss of a child or the
loss of a parent.” But Stutzman encouraged parents to talk to their kids and be honest
even if they didn’t have all the answers. “By encouraging children to ask frank and
accurate questions, we are reassuring them that the questions they have are normal
and okay,” he said.

Dr. Christopher Fiumera, a psychologist in Mount Vernon, agreed with Stutzman. He
advised parents to “answer their [children’s] questions accurately, but without speculation.
Speculation can exacerbate anxiety.” And Fiumera stressed that parents should reassure
their children that “there are things we do as a family, or as a school group, to
keep [them] safe. Talk about those things in a very reassuring way. And reassure them
about the rarity of this type of crime.”

Fiumera expanded upon this latter point, saying that the very rarity of this type
of crime made it hard for parents to explain about what to feel and what to do. Fiumera
added, “It’s a unique situation that our day-to-day living skills have not schooled
us in because we don’t deal with it very often. But don’t avoid the subject. That’s
the worst thing to do.”

The East Knox School District, where both Sarah and Kody attended school, was feeling
the weight of these events. The Ohio Crisis Response Team, some of whom had worked
with survivors of the 9/11 tragedy, was working with the school district.

Sarah’s and Kody’s classmates at East Knox Middle School had been particularly hard
hit by the situation, but School Superintendent Matthew Caputo admitted that even
teachers and staff were affected. Truth be told, there was hardly a person in Knox
County who wasn’t.

TWENTY-TWO

“Prepare Yourself”

Sheriff David Barber closed his statements at the Tuesday, November 16, 2010, press
conference by saying, “There’s a ton of rumors out there right now. We can’t speculate
on that kind of information. Just be assured that any information received will definitely
be followed up on. We’re just not going to speculate as to ‘Did someone do this, did
someone do that?’ We’re not going to make up a theory.” Before opening the floor to
questions, he reiterated that there were certain things “I can’t discuss, lab results
and things like that, that would impede the investigation. I won’t answer any question
today that are of a speculative nature.”

The first question asked was whether Matthew Hoffman was cooperating with investigators,
or if his public defender had said anything that might help find the missing people.
Barber replied, “Hoffman’s represented by the public defender’s office at this time,
so our contact with him is cut off.”

“Has he said anything at all?”

“Not since he’s been represented.”

Someone wanted to know how Sarah Maynard was doing. Barber said, “Everything that
we’ve been told from her father is that she’s doing well under the circumstances.
I’m looking forward to meeting this young lady in person because she has more friends
and fans than she’s ever going to realize. And she is receiving services from the
county.”

A reporter asked what Matthew Hoffman had been wearing when he was videotaped for
his court appearance. Barber explained, “That’s a suicide gown,” which raised the
follow-up question, “Did he try to commit suicide?”

Sheriff Barber said, “He has not. But as the sheriff of the county, who is responsible
for the operation of the jail, I have to comply with Ohio’s minimum standards, if
an inmate exhibits any behavior or any indication that they may harm themselves. It’s
my responsibility to protect that person from doing that. So that’s why he’s wearing
the suicide gown.”

A reporter asked, “Did he threaten to commit suicide?”

Barber began to reply, “He gave indications to the jail staff and investigators—”
then cut himself off and ended with, “Well, until a mental health professional says
otherwise, he’ll be in the suicide gown.”

The sheriff was asked if he could talk about specific areas that had been searched.
To this Barber said, “A lot of the searches were centered at Foundation Park. There
were some other areas around Gambier and Kenyon College. Mostly around where the pickup
truck was recovered. The searches have expanded anywhere between the crime scene on
King Beach Drive to where the pickup truck was found to Matthew Hoffman’s house on
Columbus Road. Our priority is to find Stephanie, Tina and Kody, but we also have
to look for evidence that may have been left by Hoffman anywhere between King Beach
Drive and his house.”

A reporter asked if any significant evidence had been found so far. With all the trash
bags and items of clothing found in roadside ditches and elsewhere, the reporter wondered
how much the sheriff’s office could take in. Barber said that all items that were
deemed as possibly being connected to the case would be looked at. Then he added,
“One thing we will have for you tomorrow are photographs of the clothing worn by Kody,
Tina for sure, and hopefully Stephanie. Clothing they were wearing the last time anyone
saw them. We’re in the process of getting these photos. Most of them are from videos
from the school, businesses and places where they may have been when last seen. We
want to get those out to you guys in the media, so that if someone sees a hooded sweatshirt
for instance somewhere”—Kody Maynard had last been seen wearing a hooded sweatshirt—“they
won’t think, ‘Oh, that just fell out of someone’s truck.’”

One reporter wanted to know if the trash bags that had been found at Tina’s residence
and traced back to a Walmart were significant. Barber did not respond directly, saying,
“We have recovered significant evidence in this case, but I’m not going to be specific.”

“When you say ‘significant,’ you mean involving the young girl, or the three missing
people?”

Barber replied, “The entire case.”

“Can you shed any light into how Matt Hoffman got into that house and got those people
under his control?”

Barber answered that it was a speculative question and not something he was going
to get into.

* * *

By Tuesday, November 16, the crime tape had been removed from around Tina’s residence
on King Beach Drive and Greg Borders had been allowed back inside. When Tina’s brothers
noticed that the crime tape was gone, they called Larry Maynard about going in to
retrieve belongings. Larry said later, “We had to ask Greg’s permission to come inside
the house, since he still owned it. He said okay, and I went in with Tina’s brothers.
Before I even set one foot inside, they had told me, ‘Larry, prepare yourself [because
they had already been inside]. Once you go in, all your questions about Tina, Kody
and Stephanie are going to be answered.’

“I went inside and was absolutely shocked. I had expected some blood, but nothing
like this! There was blood everywhere. On the walls, on the carpet. Large amounts
of it. I had still held out hope for Tina and Kody up until then, although things
didn’t look good. But at that moment I knew they were dead. No one lost that amount
of blood and was still alive.

“I went into Kody’s room, sat down on his bed and started bawling. I couldn’t stop
crying. Greg was standing nearby just shaking his head. He didn’t say a word. It was
so weird—I was crying my eyes out and he was absolutely silent.

“I wanted to get some of Kody’s things to take with me,” Larry related. “Greg just
said to take what I wanted, and then he left the room.

“I got Kody’s shirts and clothes, especially his baseball uniforms. I also took his
trophies and baseball card collection. I noticed there were candy wrappers everywhere.
Kody loved candy and had stashed candy in drawers and all over the room. I picked
up his PlayStation and then got the guitar I’d bought him. It was unreal. Here were
all his things, but I knew he was gone.

“Sarah wanted some of her mom’s clothing, especially the Dairy Queen sweatshirts she
had. I got those and some of Sarah’s clothes. The sheriff’s office had some of Tina’s
jewelry. It was still evidence at that point. I didn’t get much out of Sarah’s room.
When I was in there I noticed blood spatters on the wall and a lot of blood on the
carpet. No one told me at that time, but I learned later that was where Matthew Hoffman
killed Stephanie.

“I took all of these things and put them in my car. I was in a state of shock. It
was like I would wake up from this and it would all be a nightmare. But I didn’t wake
up. It just went on and on.”

* * *

Volunteers and professional teams continued to search the woods near Tina Herrmann’s
residence for more clues. Other teams searched along a bike path near the parking
lot where Tina Herrmann’s pickup truck had been found. And more unused gravel pits
were searched as well. By now the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) was also
helping out on the case. They sent two dog teams with handlers to search the Kokosing
Gap Trail.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) was also giving assistance
to KCSO. NCMEC Executive Director Bob Wally explained, “We provide analytical support
from a center as well as mapping services for ground searches. We have some of the
best resources in the country. We maintain databases where information on individuals
can be shared immediately. There are also search dogs available if needed.”

In addition, NCMEC offered case analysis support as well as the services of its forensic
imaging unit and photo distribution division. As Wally explained, “As far as search
methods and how much we are used, it’s all up to the local officials. We will do as
much or as little as they request.”

Reporters, meanwhile, were trying to learn everything they could about Matt Hoffman,
including his stint in a Colorado prison for robbery and arson at the condominium
complex in Steamboat Springs. One reporter of the
Mount Vernon News
contacted attorney Charles Feldmann, who had prosecuted Hoffman there. Feldmann said,
“He just struck me as someone who had a horrific appetite, a premeditated appetite,
to cause that kind of damage and the potential loss of life. You just don’t see those
kinds of people in small rural towns.”

The
Mount Vernon News
interviewed many local townspeople, who offered their unique perspectives on the tragedy.
Sandy McQuigg, who was picking up her grandson at Columbia Elementary School when
stopped by the reporter, said, “In small-town America, we like to think we’re still
safe.” In fact, this was a common theme coming from many people in the area. They
could not believe that Mount Vernon and Apple Valley had become the scenes of such
horrific crimes.

Seventy-two-year-old Ted Dingler recounted how the sermon at his church on Sunday
had been changed by the pastor to reflect on the incident. The pastor had asked the
congregation to meditate and pray for the missing. Dingler declared that you could
have heard a pin drop in the church.

Even at the public library, the situation was on everyone’s minds. Employees were
gathered around a television, watching the news. Krista Smith, whose daughter went
to school with Sarah, said, “We’re all glued to the television in hopes of finding
out why this happened.” On a window at the Dairy Queen where Tina worked, a sign stating
“Pray for our missing families” had replaced the daily specials.

Journalists spoke to Hoffman’s former supervisor at Fast Eddy’s grounds-keeping and
tree-trimming service, Sandy Burd, who recounted how Hoffman seemed like a normal
guy at first but then became increasingly strange. “He would just stare into space.
And he oversold his tree-trimming experience,” she told them. Richard Burch, of Burch
Tree Care, related that Matthew Hoffman had worked for him as a tree-trimmer from
October 28 through November 3. Burch said he was aware that Hoffman drove two different
vehicles, the silver Yaris and a red Dodge Neon. Burch added, “Matthew is very knowledgeable
with trees and ropes, and he always had several rolls of rope in the Yaris.”

The newspapers published information from the police report filed October 24, 2010,
by Hoffman’s former girlfriend, in which she described Hoffman pushing her to the
floor and choking her. That incident occurred only seventeen days before the crimes
at Tina Herrmann’s residence.

Reporters once again spoke with Matt Hoffman’s neighbor, Dawna Davis. She repeated
some of the things she’d said to the media before, and added that the whole situation
was “crazy.” She said that Hoffman had “seemed like a decent guy at first.” And then
she reiterated how he had become very “weird” in her estimation.

Ron Fowler, Dawna’s live-in boyfriend, related, “He was really weird about the squirrels.
We were feeding them and he killed them!” Ron also noted Hoffman’s affinity for trees.
“He was an athletic guy and he’d climb up into those trees.”

As to the present circumstances, Ron said, “I saw him on Friday [November 12] with
his backpack walking towards the old gravel pit in Foundation Park. It was an area
he knew well. My son even went swimming in that gravel pit with him.”

Dawna said that she had seen Hoffman poking around in his backyard fire pit one night
the previous week. She added, “I feel so bad that I was right here and didn’t hear
anything . . . That basement where [Sarah] was, it was so dark and dirty that Hoffman’s
girlfriend wouldn’t let the dog down there. And the worst thing was, I went outside
that week and would shout my daughter’s name. Her name is Sarah too. I might have
given Sarah Maynard false hope. Every time I yelled for my daughter, Sarah Maynard
probably thought someone was going to help her.”

* * *

Stephanie Sprang’s father, Stephen Thompson, went on WBNS TV and said that the family
still held out hope for the rescue of the three missing people. Stephen stated, “If
Stephanie can hear us out there, I want her to know, and hopefully she can feel our
thoughts, that we will get her back. Your mom, me, your whole family—we’re all looking
for you.”

Stephen added that the entire situation was beyond comprehension and they barely knew
how to cope with it, other than to keep searching for Stephanie and hope that she
was still alive.

Tip after tip barraged the KCSO phone lines, and they all had to be taken into consideration.

Duct-taped trash bags were discovered by a volunteer alongside a road in eastern Knox
County, about a half mile from where Tina Herrmann’s pickup truck had been located
by Officer Aaron Phillips, and where he had also spotted Matthew Hoffman sitting in
his Toyota Yaris. Though duct-taped trash bags were suspicious under the circumstances,
nothing ultimately came of the finding.

Selena R called in to report that her uncle used to work with Hoffman. Supposedly
Hoffman had said at one time, “Small’s Sand and Gravel would be a good place to put
bodies.” Officers went to Small’s, a local construction materials company, to check
out the lead, but no bodies were discovered there.

A woman who would not give her name phoned KCSO and said that a lot on the 900 block
of High Street in Mount Vernon needed to be checked. According to this woman, Hoffman
had a treehouse there and it was filled with tools and other equipment.

Another tipster reported, “I was stopped by a female in Grand Island, Nebraska, seeking
money for gas. She was travelling with a mother and son. I asked her destination and
she said it was Colorado.” This brought up the remote possibility that Matt Hoffman
had a female accomplice who was taking Tina and Kody to Colorado.

Tiffany S said, “At the spillway on Knox Lake, off of Woodview Lane, there are three
trash bags. One has a shoe sticking out of it.” Another person reported that something
blue could be seen in the water of the nearby lake. And she indicated that the something
blue might be an article of clothing.