The Girl in the Leaves (15 page)

TWENTY-FOUR

The Hollow Tree

Aside from his strange bathroom conference with BCI&I Special Agent Joe Dietz, Matthew
Hoffman had been as silent as a sphinx since his arrest on the morning of November
14, 2010. But there were changes in the air by the end of the day on November 17.
Behind the scenes, even as tips continued to come in and searchers fanned out throughout
the community, Prosecutor John Thatcher had started working out a deal with Matthew
Hoffman and his attorney.

Hoffman had told Special Agent Dietz on November 15 that he wanted to die; he wanted
Dietz to arrange a situation where Hoffman could appear to attempt an escape and then
be shot dead. By late November 17, however, Hoffman seemed to have lost his interest
in dying. In fact, in exchange for the prosecutor’s taking the death penalty off the
table, he agreed to tell authorities where he’d hidden the bodies of Tina Herrmann,
Kody Maynard and Stephanie Sprang.

Before any legal documents could be signed with Hoffman and his attorneys, Prosecutor
Thatcher met with the victims’ closest relatives. Even though the final judgment was
his, Thatcher wanted them to know what was happening and allow them to give their
input.

Several people were initially against Matthew Hoffman being allowed to escape the
death penalty. But Thatcher convinced them that making this deal was their only real
means of finding their loved ones’ remains. Otherwise, Tina, Kody and Stephanie might
not be found for years, if ever. Eventually all agreed that this was the best they
could hope for.

After the meeting, Thatcher began writing up the all-important agreement for Hoffman
and his attorneys to sign. The first stipulation on the list was that the prosecutor’s
office would not seek the death penalty if “all conditions were met.” Second was that
Hoffman would lead investigators to the remains of Tina, Kody and Stephanie within
twenty-four hours of the acceptance of the agreement. Third was that all remains would
be found, except for those that might have been moved by “animal activity.”

The fourth point was that Hoffman had to give the Knox County Sheriff’s Office a full
written statement, dictated to his attorneys, including written responses to questions
submitted by KCSO. Fifth was that Hoffman would plead guilty to the charges of aggravated
murder, burglary, tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse, kidnapping and sexual
assault. Sixth on the list was that the State of Ohio and the defense would jointly
recommend to the judge a prison sentence of life without parole.

After consultation among all the would-be signatories, the document was signed by
Prosecutor John Thatcher, Matthew Hoffman, Sheriff David Barber, and Hoffman’s public
defenders, who now included not only Bruce Malek but also assistant public defenders
Brandon Crunkilton and Fred Mayhew.

Detective David Light later noted, “On Thursday, November 18, 2010, Matthew Hoffman
and his attorneys reached an agreement with Knox County Prosecutor John Thatcher,
to reveal where the bodies of Tina Herrmann, Kody Maynard and Stephanie Sprang were
located. Hoffman disclosed the location through his attorneys.”

In essence, Matthew Hoffman wasn’t going to accompany investigators to the location,
but would give them directions to the spot.

* * *

Unaware that Hoffman had struck a deal with the prosecutor, volunteer searchers continued
to comb woods, fields and stream banks. Even if they had known, perhaps they would
have continued anyway; there was always the possibility that Hoffman could’ve been
lying.

About three hundred volunteers gathered at the Premier Theatres parking lot on Thursday
morning, November 18, to be assigned their tasks for the day ahead. This was the third
day of coordinated searching. It was a very cold, blustery day. Many volunteers had
accepted the likelihood that the missing trio would not be found alive. Still, they
persisted in the search. As volunteer Charles Christopher, a student at Central Ohio
Technical College put it, “I came out to help no matter what.” Many of the volunteers
were off-duty police officers, firefighters, EMT workers and even a mounted search
team from surrounding counties and communities. For some of them it was the second
or third day of volunteering. At the KCSO headquarters, eighty canine officers with
their dogs were briefed by Deputy EMA Director Matt Sturgeon.

Volunteers were warned that the weather would be very cold and that in some places
they’d be working in rough terrain. They were also told to take their time and be
careful. And once again, they were instructed that if they found anything that looked
like it might be related to the case, not to touch it but to call KCSO so an officer
could come out and collect the item.

Doug McLaman, operations manager of the Knox County Park District, commented about
the volunteers, “This is what makes Knox County unique, is that we have so many people
willing to come out when the weather’s like this.”

To assist and support the searchers, various area restaurants were donating coffee
and snacks, and other volunteers supplied homemade sandwiches. Among the latter group
was Brittany Peck of Mount Vernon, who said, “We came to help out all these searchers
that are freezing. Many of them have come out to help someone they don’t even know.”

* * *

Before noon on November 18, the news of the plea deal’s imminent signing reached investigators.
Detective Sergeant Roger Brown recalled, “I was advised that Matthew Hoffman agreed
to disclose the location of the bodies of Tina Herrmann, Kody Maynard and Stephanie
Sprang. Lt. Kohler and I followed Knox County Assistant Public Defender Brandon Crunkilton,
Knox County Public Defender’s Office Investigator Avery Dyer and Special Agent Dietz
to the Kokosing Wildlife Area on Yankee Street, Fredericktown, Ohio.” This was about
eight miles north of Mount Vernon.

Around the same time, Agent Joe Dietz met with other BCI&I agents at the Knox County
Sheriff’s Office. He told them that all the families had signed off on the deal put
together by the prosecution and defense, where in exchange for taking the death penalty
off the table, Matt Hoffman would disclose where the bodies of Tina, Kody and Stephanie
could be found.

Dietz later recapped in his report the meeting with Hoffman’s defense team, “I met
with Assistant Knox County Public Defender Brandon Crunkilton and Public Defender’s
Office Investigator Avery Dyer. Mr. Crunkilton advised that he had received information
from Matthew Hoffman as to the location of the missing victims and wanted to check
the location to verify the accuracy of the information he was given. I then rode with
Mr. Crunkilton and Mr. Dyer in their vehicle to locate the place where the bodies
of Tina Herrmann, Kody Maynard and Stephanie Sprang were located.”

Dietz documented that Lieutenant Rohler and Detective Sergeant Brown were following
them in a separate vehicle. Dyer drove to a wooded area of public land in the Kokosing
Lake Wildlife Area in the Yankee Street and Waterford Road locale outside of Fredericktown,
Ohio; this was the area that Hoffman had indicated they should go.

Lieutenant Rohler picked up the narrative. “As we were pulling in to the wildlife
area, an officer with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife,
flagged us down. Sergeant Brown explained to the officer the situation, and the Wildlife
Officer was shown the map that was provided by Matthew Hoffman.”

Luckily, the wildlife officer was very familiar with the area and explained in detail
to the others how to get to the location that Hoffman had indicated. Without his help,
the exact spot might have been very difficult to find, since to the investigators
one tree looked very much like another in the area.

Detective Light, who had come on the trip as well as the others, continued, “Officers
had to drive the winding path for approximately one half mile, then walk into the
woods a short distance.” There they found what they were looking for: “A tree with
a large opening, approximately thirty to forty feet up was pointed out.”

It was actually Public Defender Avery Dyer who first spotted the tree in question.
It was a beech tree with a large hole about forty feet off the ground, as Detective
Light described.

Special Agent Dietz noted, “The tree was approximately seventy feet tall and had obviously
living branches and leaves at the top. Mr. Crunkilton indicated based on information
provided to him by Mathew Hoffman that the beech tree was the likely location of the
missing victims’ bodies. The tree was solid and intact, although approximately forty
to fifty feet above the ground, the main section of trunk divided and a large opening
was visible. This opening appeared to provide access to the main trunk of the tree
which appeared to be hollow.”

At this point, Dyer knelt down so that Special Agent Dietz could stand on Dyer’s back
and peek into a small hole more than five feet off the ground. This was a separate
hole from the much larger one forty feet off the ground. With the aid of a flashlight,
Dietz was able to confirm that the tree was indeed hollow, with an interior space
of about thirty inches in diameter.

The interior was littered with bark chips, but Dietz could also make out three small
sections of plastic bag material, which appeared to be similar to the trash bags Matthew
Hoffman had purchased.

It appeared that Hoffman had led them to the right place.

* * *

At that point, crime scene agents Ed Lulla, Gary Wilgus and George Staley were called
to the scene. The Ohio BCI&I special agents had been told to standby at the Knox County
Sheriff’s Office until the other agents located the tree. Around 1:00
PM
, they got the call that the tree with the plastic trash bags had been found. The
agents headed out immediately and arrived at the scene around 1:50
PM
.

Once there, the trio of BCI&I agents were briefed by the others, and began their precise
measurements. The beech tree was eleven feet, six inches in diameter near its base,
and thirty feet up to its lowest branch. From there, it extended approximately another
thirty feet up to its crown. Special Agent Staley stood next to the tree to provide
scale as another agent photographed the tree. Staley was dwarfed by the large beech
tree.

The small opening into which Agent Dietz had peered measured three inches wide by
six inches tall, and was located five feet, six inches off the ground. A professional
tree trimmer was called to the scene to make the actual cuts into the tree, as the
agents did not want to accidentally harm the evidence in any way. The tree expert
was a man named Jan Laymon.

Once Laymon arrived on scene, the agents and investigators stood nearby while he started
making his cuts with a chain saw. After there was a wide enough opening, Special Agent
Wilgus began to remove the plastic bags from the interior of the tree. He noted, “Due
to their location deep inside the tree, two additional cuts in the tree had to be
made to reach all of the plastic bags.”

Lieutenant Rohler continued, “Special Agent Gary Wilgus carefully and respectfully
removed the large trash bags from the hollow beech tree and placed them on a tarp.
Numerous garbage bags were removed.”

Detective Sergeant Roger Brown added, “The agents removed the trash bags from the
tree as I took photographs” of the gruesome contents, which Special Agent Wilgus confirmed
“contained various dismembered body parts including the heads of Kody Maynard, Stephanie
Sprang and Tina Herrmann. The remains of a small dog was also found inside one of
the garbage bags, along with bloodstained towels, clothing, a hat and shoes. Upon
examining the backs and torsos [of the victims], numerous deep lacerations were observed.”

At some point later, Knox County Coroner Jennifer Ogle arrived on scene and the trash
bags were opened for her inspection. Once all the garbage bags had been opened and
the body parts identified, they were placed in official-issue body bags and released
to employees of Snyder Funeral Homes to be transported to the Licking County Coroner’s
Office for autopsies. The Licking County Coroner’s Office would be aasisting Ogle
in her task.

TWENTY-FIVE

“My Heart Is So Heavy”

The news of the discovery of the bodies in the tree had, of course, hit the victims’
families the hardest. Tracy Herrmann, the wife of Tina’s brother Jason, later spoke
of how she broke the news to her children. “I had both kids on my lap and held them
while I told them the news. Madison, my eight-year-old, was crying and I was full
of tears. My five-year-old, Alex’s, little bottom lip quivered but he refused to cry.
He just kept wiping my tears, trying to stay strong for Mommy and his sister.

“I know that Kody was protective of his sister, Sarah, too,” Tracy said. “They had
a close bond, and Sarah had even written Kody a note for his lunch the day they went
to school for the last time, telling him how proud of him she was. I am sure both
kids were brave and fought all they could for each other. Against Matthew Hoffman
they didn’t have a chance.”

Lisa Robey, the girlfriend of Tina’s brother Bill, asked a question that was on many
people’s minds: “Why?” Why had Matthew Hoffman chosen to kill and dismember these
three individuals? She added, “It is a question that has no answer, because no answer
will ever be good enough. And no answer will ever change what happened. All we can
do is turn this one over to God and pray. We pray that Sarah will be able to once
again find precious love for herself that every girl needs. And will someday be able
to hold her head high and grow into the beautiful strong woman we all know she is
destined to be.”

Stephanie’s father, Steve Thompson, would later say, “My heart is so heavy, my mind
is blank. My trust in everyone is shaken. I know my daughter is at peace, and I’m
glad that she doesn’t have to see the change in all of us.”

* * *

By 5:00
PM
on the evening of Thursday, November 18, it was finally time to share with the world
the sad news regarding what had befallen Tina Herrmann, Kody Maynard and Stephanie
Sprang. Sheriff David Barber held another news conference, sounding tired and saddened
by the turn of events. Barber began by saying, “It’s been a long week for Knox County
and this community. It’s been a long week for the families of Sarah, Kody, Tina and
Stephanie. Today, this investigation took a major turn. We have discovered the remains
of Kody Maynard, Stephanie Sprang and Tina Herrmann.

“The discovery of those bodies was the result of information produced by Matthew Hoffmann.
The bodies were located in a wooded area inside garbage bags in a hollow tree off
of Yankee Street, which is not far from Fredericktown here in Knox County.” He went
on to say that the three recovered bodies had been turned over to the Knox County
Coroner, and to assure people that Hoffman remained in the county jail.

Barber also took the time to thank his fellow law enforcement agencies. “It’s been
a long week, a very stressful week, for this entire county and particularly for law
enforcement. My office could not have come to the point we are at today but for the
outstanding assistance provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Ohio Attorney
General’s Office, BCI&I, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the Mount Vernon Police Department,
the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office, the Central
Ohio Child Abduction Response Team and the tremendous amount of volunteers that we
had.

“As the sheriff of this county for eighteen years, I have never experienced a case
this big and this tragic. And in my entire law enforcement career I have never experienced
anything like this. It’s reassuring to know that when something like this happens,
and God forbid we should ever have to go through anything like this again, that I
can depend upon all the agencies and then some. There were even more people waiting
in the wings to help out with this tragedy.

“There’s a lot more to be done in this case. We were optimistic a few days ago that
there was a remote chance that these folks were still alive. This is a homicide investigation
now. It is the homicide of three individuals. As the homicide investigation progresses,
it will be turned over to the Knox County Prosecutor’s Office.”

At that, Sheriff Barber stepped aside and Prosecutor John Thatcher began to address
the media. He said, “As happy as we were with Sarah’s rescue on Sunday, we have to
deal with this tragedy now. I want to express my deepest condolences to the Maynard,
Herrmann and Sprang families. I also want to express my gratitude to all the people
who helped in the searches. It was a phenomenal thing to watch. I want to keep Sarah
in my prayers and hope that she can recover and overcome this.

“As the sheriff said, this investigation is ongoing. I’ve been able to be involved
in the investigation—and as it continues, I’m sure it will be an excellent job, as
was done in the last week. When I get the final report from the law enforcement agencies,
and there’s been time in the prosecutor’s office to analyze all the evidence, we’ll
review that and prepare an indictment, containing additional charges. Then we’ll present
that to a grand jury within the next four to six weeks. At this time I can’t speculate
on what those charges might be without knowing what the evidence is.”

After reminding journalists that Matthew Hoffman was still being held in jail on a
one-million-dollar bond and that a preliminary hearing would be held the following
Tuesday, Thatcher threw the floor open to questions. The first one was prescient:
a reporter asked, “Was the death penalty ever on the table and used as a tool to get
a confession? In other words, ‘We will take the death penalty of the table if you
tell us where those folks are?’”

Thatcher did not want to discuss this aspect at that point and said, “One thing I
cannot comment on is whether any such deal took place.”

Another person wanted to know the timeline by which Hoffman had gotten word to the
authorities about the remains. Sheriff Barber answered, “As far as the timeline goes,
we received information through Matthew Hoffman’s attorney early today where the victims’
remains were located.”

A reporter asked whether the families of the victims had been kept in the loop about
the developments. Barber replied, “We have kept the families in the loop. When the
case took the direction that it was headed today, we contacted them with crime victim
advocates for all the families. The Knox County Sheriff’s Office and all the agencies—we
express our deepest condolences to the families.

“We’re a small community here, and we became close to the victims’ families. We have
to look out for the needs of the survivors. That was part of the reason we needed
to go in the direction we headed in today. At least these three families know that
they’ve been found. They’re not missing anymore. And at least the process of resolution
can now start for them.”

A reporter wanted to know what condition the bodies had been found in.

Barber would not describe the condition of the bodies, but said only that they had
been inside trash bags and placed inside a hollow tree.

“Did this have anything to do with Matt Hoffman being a tree trimmer?”

Barber replied that called for speculation, and he would not go into that.

“Were the victims’ bodies covered with the same clothing that you had mentioned them
wearing the other day?”

“Yes, they were.”

“Is Hoffman the only suspect right now?” Barber confirmed that he was and said there
was no indication that anyone else had been involved.

Someone asked if Barber had yet met with Sarah. He said, “We did not meet with her
this morning, but rather with her father and stepmother.”

“How did they react?”

“I think there was a certain sense of relief. And grief as well, because they hoped
it would turn out differently than the way it did. I can say that my staff and I are
inspired by Sarah. We’re inspired by Sarah’s bravery. After we met with the families
this morning, I asked Larry Maynard to convey to Sarah that she was my hero.”

Another question was, “Did all the murders happen in Tina Herrmann’s home?”

Barber responded, “I would say, yes.”

A follow-up question was, “So, Sarah was there when the murders occurred?”

“What she saw, I can’t speak to that.”

“Did the victims appear to be bound in any way?”

“No.”

In answer to a question about how specific Matthew Hoffman’s instructions had been
to get to the hollow tree, Barber said, “They were specific—we didn’t have to do much
searching.”

At that point the press conference ended. One of the reporters said in a loud voice,
“Thank you, Sheriff. Good job.”

After the press conference, the news flashed throughout the community that the bodies
of Tina Herrmann, Kody Maynard and Stephanie Sprang had been found. The
Mount Vernon News
ran a special announcement on their website at 5:55
PM
: “Bodies Recovered.”

A WBNS News helicopter had been the first to follow investigators to the Kokosing
Lake Wildlife Area and film footage from above the tree line. Then the helicopter
news team spotted three white hearses being driven to the area. The image of the three
white hearses in the woods was a very powerful one, one that would remain for a long
time in many people’s minds.

On the ground, a Fredericktown woman visiting her parents told a WBNS reporter that
KCSO deputies had blocked the road at the intersection of Yankee Street and Quaker
Road. The woman told the reporter, “Typically, this is a very quiet and very serene
area.” She added that her mother had not seen any suspicious activity in the area
in the last week, but that it was a very heavily wooded terrain.

Most of the people in the area realized something was happening because of the television
news helicopters hovering over the wooded area. Some residents said that in the immediate
community, it was more likely to see Amish passing by in their horse-drawn buggies
than police activity. All said it was generally a quiet area, and many were shocked
that Matt Hoffman had chosen those woods as the hiding place for the bodies.

One woman said, “I’ve been praying for them, but now it’s just terrifying that he
was this close.” Another area resident said much the same, adding, “I just don’t understand
who could do something like this to women and a child.”