SIX

“Trying to Cut Corners”

Matt Hoffman did not cause trouble in prison and was in fact a model prisoner in the eyes of the system. He completed a Victim Impact Awareness program and received a “diploma” to that effect. He also received a certificate for Intermediate Microsoft Works education.

Hoffman mostly kept to himself and had few friends in prison, though one of those few friends was a fellow inmate named Joe Aldrich, who later spoke of Hoffman as being very “closemouthed” but not a hardened criminal like some inmates. Aldrich thought that Hoffman had made a youthful mistake and was now trying to better himself. He also thought that Hoffman was an intelligent individual who could improve his lot in life once he was out of prison.

It wasn’t long before Hoffman was taking advantage of his right to appeal the sentence, and his latest public defender, Cynthia Camp, helped him in this regard. She wrote, “Mr. Hoffman has no prior felony convictions. Further, Mr. Hoffman has no pending charges or detainers and no history of escape. During his incarceration, Mr. Hoffman has been employed in the janitorial department as a porter.”

Camp went on to write about Hoffman’s completion of the Victim Impact Awareness program and his enrollment in the Intermediate Microsoft Works program. She also stated that Hoffman’s family resided in Ohio and that he’d been in constant contact with them by letter, phone and visits. Camp said that his family was supportive of him while Hoffman was in prison.

Camp declared that Hoffman had a stable work history and had been employed before his incarceration as an electronics and plumbing assistant, golf cart mechanic and dietary aide. He had knowledge in residential and industrial electrical wiring and in carpentry. Hoffman stated he would find “gainful” employment if released early.

To bolster these contentions, Hoffman wrote a letter to Judge Thompson a couple of years into his prison stay. He started out by saying that he had changed since the time of the crimes. “During the crime, although my morals were weak, I did understand the difference between right and wrong. Due to my adolescent ignorance, I did not grasp the magnitude of my actions.”

Hoffman wrote that he’d never even thought to consider the impact his crime of arson would have on others. He said he never would have gone through with it had he realized how devastating it would be: “My assumption was that the insurance company would just take care of the damage and that would be the end of it.” Hoffman added that he now realized his actions had deprived the area’s residents of their sense of security. He said that he’d hurt the owners of the condominium complex not only financially but emotionally as well. In fact, Hoffman claimed that this realization of the impact his actions had had on his victims bothered him more than his prison sentence.

Hoffman wrote that he’d been raised to face up to the consequences of his actions. And he claimed that’s exactly what he’d done when he voluntarily returned from Ohio to Colorado. He stated that his attitude about his role in society had changed dramatically while in prison. Before the crime, he said, he took things for granted. Now, he declared, he no longer felt as if he was just drifting, but wanted to go to college when he got out of prison. With a college degree, he said, he could “put this horrible disgrace behind me.”

He went on, “The reason I am pouring my heart out to you in this letter is because you are the only one with the power to give me probation at this reconsideration hearing that is coming up soon. I need to start picking up the pieces of my life and putting them back together.”

Matt Hoffman wasn’t alone in writing letters to Judge Thompson. His mother, Patricia, wrote that her son had been a model prisoner while located near Las Animas, Colorado. She added, “He is determined to turn his life around and put this all behind him.” She stated that in his letters to her, Hoffman spoke of trying to be around people with positive attitudes.

Patricia added, “I am asking that you release him from prison and allow him to come home to Ohio. Matt is lucky to have family that supports him and can help him settle back into society. It will be a great relief to me when he can begin college and get his life back in order.”

Hoffman’s father, Robert Hoffman, also wrote Judge Thompson, stating, “On behalf of my son, I ask that the court impose a structured release program for Matthew. A guidance program consisting of rehabilitation and counseling in addition to a work release program. In Matt’s short life he has caused so much pain and suffering, not only for his victims, but his family and friends and lastly himself. He needs this opportunity rather than continued incarceration.”

Hoffman’s sister, Melanie, wrote the judge too, saying that her brother had made a terrible mistake. It was one that he would never be able to forget. She added, “I love my brother, and I’m interested in him becoming a productive member of society, learning the skills necessary to live the life of a functional citizen and not an inmate in our country’s justice system.”

Melanie added that she believed that her brother, if released, could become a useful member of society and could put to use the computer skills he’d learned while incarcerated. She worried that the longer he spent in prison, the more hardened he would become and might “develop the lifestyle of an inmate.”

The Routt County District Attorney’s Office, by contrast, was unequivocally against an early release of Mathew Hoffman. Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth Wittemyer drew up a seven-point motion against it. Point one stated that a sentence of eight years was reasonable in light of the crimes he’d committed. Point two noted that while Hoffman was declaring a lack of prior felony convictions, that had already been factored into the original eight-year term.

Point three stated that although Hoffman had been enrolled in the Victim Impact Awareness program and computer training, these were not sufficient reasons to lessen his term of incarceration. Point four noted that at no time had Hoffman expressed regret for the danger he’d put tenants and firefighters in when he torched the condominium. Point five brought up the fact that although Hoffman stated he had “come to his senses” and returned to Colorado on his own when presented with the charges, in truth Hoffman had come back to face the charge of theft of the three signs only, not the more serious counts. She declared, “This is a person who was caught and confessed only after he was backed into a corner.”

Point six cited Hoffman’s claim, made in his interview with detectives, that he’d stolen items from the condominium because he wanted to cut corners. Wittemyer wrote, “Once again, through this motion, the defendant is trying to cut corners.”

Point seven addressed the fact that without provocation, Hoffman had robbed and torched a place to cover his tracks. “He put human lives at risk, caused an immense amount of monetary and emotional damage and put a whole community in fear. The People request that the defendant not be allowed to cut any more corners and that he serve his full sentence.”

In the end, Matt Hoffman served six years of an eight-year sentence. Typically, a person must serve parole in the county where they committed the crime, which in Hoffman’s case was Routt County, Colorado. But Hoffman went back to Knox County, Ohio, to serve his parole.

Once back in Ohio, in 2007, Hoffman had a hard time readjusting, although the difficulty seemed to have less to do with his time in prison than with his oddball personality. He managed to make a few friends and land a few jobs, but sooner or later, people would comment on just how “weird” he was. He made them nervous and edgy.

For a while, though, things seemed to be getting back on track. He got the tree-trimming job and had a good relationship with a new, pretty and personable girlfriend. Hoffman was even able to buy a house on Columbus Road in Mount Vernon in 2009. It cost only $37,500 because it needed a lot of work. Hoffman and his girlfriend and her son moved in, and for a few months everything was fine. But as Hoffman’s neighbors later said, he soon began to show very odd traits and to treat his girlfriend badly, culminating in her leaving him in late October 2010. Not long after, he lost his tree-trimming job as well.

So there he was, an ex-con with no girlfriend, no job and bleak prospects. He was by now burning with anger and ready to lash out at the world. It almost didn’t matter to him who would bear the brunt of his anger. Somebody was going to pay, and it was going to be soon.