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.”