All language subtitles for Episode 05 The Leaf Killer

This is a case of brutal,
staggering violence.

We're talking about
something quite extraordinary

that happened to this family--

multiple murders, the range,
and incomprehensible.

What makes this killer
so twisted

is the sick and truly bizarre
sexual proclivity

that drove him to kill.

This is the strangest
disorder I've ever heard of.

I've been reporting
on criminal cases

for a long time,

and this one
is one of the most twisted.

Apple Valley
is a very beautiful area

in a rural part
of Knox County, Ohio.

Very pleasant place,

and not a lot of crime
that occurs there.

This case was really
unbelievable to happen

in a--in a community
like Apple Valley.

It's something that they
would have never anticipated

at all.

Uh-huh.

Uh-huh.

Okay.

Okay.

We get a call from Valerie
who is the manager

at the Dairy Queen
where Tina worked

and she had become concerned

when Tina didn't show up
for her shift.

Valerie told us Tina Herrmann
is a single mom.

She has a 13-year-old
daughter, Sarah,

and Kody
is the 11-year-old son.

She has been living with
a boyfriend, Greg Borders.

Her and Greg were
getting ready to break up.

When we do have someone
that's missing

and the person
who is reporting it says

that there is a conflict
with an ex

or current relationship,
that is a red flag for us.

The Knox County
Sheriff's Office

did a welfare check
around 7:25 p.m. that night.

The deputy had went
to the residence

and they knocked on the door

and at that time
no one responded.

The deputy didn't see
anything out of the ordinary

and then left to go back
on his shift.

The next morning
we got a report

there's another missing woman.

Ron Metcalf contacted

the sheriff's office
on Thursday morning

to make a report
that his girlfriend,

Stephanie Sprang was missing.

Ron Metcalf told us

that Stephanie was a close
friend of Tina Herrmann's.

One of the pieces
of information that Ron gives

is that Stephanie had plans
to go with Tina

to search for a new residence
for her

and they were planning on doing
that on Wednesday afternoon,

Tina was planning
on moving out

from her boyfriend
Greg's house.

Then it was a matter of,
well, now they're both missing.

The next progression
in this case

would be to check on
Tina's kids, Sarah and Kody.

The sheriff's office
made a contact

at the children's school

and determined
they were not in school.

They had been dropped off
by their bus drivers

at their house the day before.

Once we determined that
the children weren't in school

that heightened
the--the concern a great deal.

This is very unusual to have

basically a mother,
her two children,

and her best friend all
go missing at the same time

especially without any word
to the wise, to anyone.

So that certainly, you know,

raised the question
of what is going on here?

It wasn't long after that
that we got another call.

Uh-huh.

Mm-hmm.

The sheriff's office
of course responds immediately.

When I arrived at the scene,
I walked into the living room

and I noticed that there are
multiple bloodstain patterns.

There is the large
saturation stain on the floor

just inside the doorway
of the living room

where the significant
amount of blood

did saturate
into the carpet pad.

And then there's a spatter
pattern on the wall.

And then you have
this drag mark in blood

from that saturation stain
down the hallway...

And then we see
two other drag marks in blood

that converge
in two of the bedrooms.

There was a significant
bloodletting event

in each of the back bedrooms.

The saturation stains
were probably a foot by a foot

and they soaked
into the carpet pad.

There were

the living area,

Sarah's bedroom,

and also Tina's bedroom.

There were either a spatter

or cast off the patterns
in each location.

When we look at
the spatter pattern

and then the saturation stain,

that indicates someone
was assaulted, they fell,

and they bled
for a certain amount of time.

But we didn't see any evidence
that gunshots had been fired

so we were more leaning
towards blunt force trauma

or sharp force trauma.

There was a great deal
of concern

that there might be
at least three fatalities.

But we don't see
any victims.

No bodies.

We found that there were three
distinct drag marks in blood

that all converged
into the bathroom.

As you enter the bathroom,

your eyes are immediately
drawn to the bathtub.

There was a lot of blood
in the tub area

and on the floor and around
the sink and the toilet.

The shower curtain
had a blood mark on it

like a high watermark

that would have suggested
that at one point

there was maybe
a couple of inches of blood

in the--in the bathtub.

There were spatter patterns,
diluted blood,

and also tissue that was
intermixed with the spatter.

Something really horrible
has happened here,

and all those things
tell me that...

victims were dismembered
in the bathtub.

In the living room,
in the bedroom,

in the children's room--

there is a saturation of blood

and you see blood splatter
and cast off on the walls.

The bathroom--
clearly a slaughter house.

This is personal
and the question is why?

This crime scene tells us
some information

about the individual
who created it.

This person was able to spend
an extended period of time

in this household undetected.

This criminal didn't seem
to be too concerned

about getting caught.

Seemed to be comfortable
inside the house.

This is either someone
who lives there

or has been watching
the patterns of this family

over time.

There are four
missing people.

Tina and Stephanie
and Kody and Sarah.

My first gut reaction
was that everybody is dead.

But we started seeing footwear
impressions in the blood.

There was one
that was a wavy pattern

and a second one
that was some circles

with circles in between

and then lines attaching
to those circles

and those told us that
two people were walking around

after the blood-shedding event.

It could be two suspects.

One of these
footwear impressions,

we could tell the type of shoe
and the size.

Airwalk 7 1/2.

Agents went into the closets,
started to look around.

And we could actually
match it to a box

of the same shoes
in Sarah's closet.

Sarah's footwear impression
indicated

that she could be still alive.

The questions come up.
Well, why is this person alive?

You know, are they alive
because they've been kidnapped

or are they alive because

God forbid
they might be involved?

We found garbage bags

and some tarps in a Walmart bag
in Tina's garage.

They could have been left
by the offender.

When we go into
the basement, what happened,

that will stay with me
for the rest of my life.

It's like a horror story,
really.

At this point
in the investigation,

Tina, Stephanie,
Kody, and Sarah,

but only three

distinct areas
of bloodstain patterns.

The crime scene is indicating
that three people have been

brutally murdered
and dismembered.

And then footwear impression
evidence led us

to the suggestion
that Sarah,

the 13-year-old daughter
might still be alive.

The idea that she might have,
you know, been involved

was a very remote possibility
in our minds

because the scene was
obviously an indication

of extreme violence,
and I mean,

we're dealing with
a young 13-year-old girl.

We pretty much felt like
the greater likelihood

was that Sarah
is being held captive

by our potential suspect.

Regardless,
time is of the essence.

The longer Sarah is out there,

the longer
she's with the offender,

the more dangerous it is
for her.

We've got to act quickly.

There was certainly a
greater urgency to find Sarah

and to figure out who did this.

We have to continue
pushing forward

with processing the crime scene

to see if there are
any more leads

that we can derive from it.

As you go into the kitchen,

the first thing
you see on the ground

are several
Kroger grocery bags

that had not been put away.

They also found a receipt
in the bag

that showed that the purchases
were made

just after 12:00 p.m.
on Wednesday.

It would seem to suggest
that Tina had been interrupted

after she got home
from the grocery store

because that was basically
the last kind of reference

they had
for what was going on with Tina

before she didn't show up
for work at 4:00.

There were no apparent signs
of a burglary,

but I noticed that the
garage door is off the track,

and to the right side of it
is slightly ajar.

We're in the garage.
We see the Walmart bag.

I look in bag, I pull it out,

and in the Walmart bag
are two heavy-duty tarps

and a package of heavy-duty
garbage bags.

There was no receipt in there.

We at that point identified it

as a piece of evidence
that we were gonna collect.

Inside that garage,
Tina's vehicle,

the Ford F-150 is missing.

There's a possibility that
the offender took her vehicle.

Deputies put out
an all-points bulletin--

a notice to any law
enforcement officer in the area

that if they come across
Tina's vehicle

that they need to stop it

and secure it
for crime scene processing.

It was the number of victims
and the potential

that there was,
you know,

someone to be rescued that
really put this into top gear.

For the sake of the family
and for the sake of the case,

we've got to figure out
where they are.

When I first found out that

Tina and the kids
were missing,

it was like utter shock.

Tina, she was a good mom.

She showed her love and she was
very protective of both of them

but very strict
at the same time.

Sarah,
as a bubbly personality,

and then Kody,

this shy little boy that had

the most innocent personality.

Stephanie was so generous.

She didn't have
a lot of money at the time.

She was a single mom
working three jobs.

Working very hard
to take care of her kids.

You just wanna find
your friend and save her.

You just wanna know
where is she.

Of course, you all hope
for the best at that time.

You're just wanting answers.

I was so mad and I didn't know
who to be mad at.

I wanted my little girl back.

While crime scene agents
were processing the scene,

we were told that Tina's truck

had been recovered
near Kenyon College

by the Knox County
Sheriff's Office.

We believe the offender
took it from the residents,

and now we have
more opportunities

to get fingerprints
and DNA from that.

The Knox County
Sheriff's Office deputies

do a search of that area
looking for the victims.

Despite searching that area
very thoroughly,

nothing came of it.

On Friday at 5:30 p.m.,

Knox County detectives
brought in

Greg Borders, Tina's boyfriend
for questioning.

We were all just trying
to gauge

whether or not as a potential
suspect he might be involved.

Greg Borders' story was that
on that Wednesday he left

for work early in the morning
as he usually does.

He said he spent
the whole day at work

and then at the end of the day,
he had made previous plans

to spend that Wednesday night
at a friend's house.

Got up the next day,
went and played golf,

and then drove back home.

So my plan was to hit the road
the next morning

and check out those alibis.

I basically headed down
to his place of work

at the Target
distribution center.

They explained to me that
it was a very secure facility,

that their employees
have to scan in with a card

and they have to scan out

when they leave
at the end of the day.

That we thought that the crime
had initiated

between the time the Kroger's
purchase had taken place

and Tina failed to report
for work,

which is roughly 12:00-ish
to 4:00 on that Wednesday.

I talked to the supervisors

and he had been at work
all day.

He had a rock-solid,
you know, alibi.

We had eliminated Greg Borders
at that point.

All the other alibis
for the other suspects

had all checked out.

At this point, there is
the obvious conclusion

that it could be a stranger.

When it's a stranger,
we have no place to start.

We have to then rely hopefully
on physical evidence

to identify who that person is.

Dan and the other
crime scene agents

had raised the question
about there being garbage bags

and some tarps in a Walmart bag
in Tina's garage.

With a dismemberment,

when the bodies
are not at the crime scene,

the offender has to use
something

to take the victims
out of the crime scene.

We start thinking that
possibly this Walmart bag

could have been left
by the offender,

but there was no
receipt in there.

So I had to ride over
to Walmart in Mount Vernon.

We look at all the purchases
for two tarps

and a garbage bag from the
time the family went missing

until law enforcement
showed up that night.

We were basically able
to find the transaction

in the computer.

It was just after midnight,
Wednesday night into Thursday.

That then gives us
the cashier and the aisle

that it was purchased.

And from there,
we were able to obtain footage

of the individual
who bought those items.

There are
four missing people.

We believe the offender
has killed three people

and dismembered them.

We hoped that Sarah was still
alive so the clock is ticking.

Dan Winterich had raised
the question about there

being garbage bags
and some tarps

in the garage
in a Walmart bag.

We start thinking that
possibly this Walmart bag

could have been left
by the offender.

Walmart has excellent
surveillance cameras.

And we were able to obtain
footage of the individual

who bought those items.

It was an adult male.

I would say
25 to 40 years of age

and he didn't appear to be
in any great hurry.

And not only did he buy
the tarps and the garbage bags,

but he also bought
a Turkey sandwich

and he also picked a--

an orange and black
camouflage shirt

off of the dollar racks
as he went to check out.

What investigators noticed
when they look at the video

is that this guy is heading
right to the aisles

for the items he needs to buy.

So he seems to know
this Walmart,

which means he probably lives
in the area.

How could someone who just
committed such a horrific act

go shopping
and seem completely normal

and raise absolutely
no red flags?

This is something we see
in psychopathic individuals.

They don't have
a fight or flight mechanism

the way an average person does.

We can experience
an adrenaline rush

or a sense of anxiety

by going on a roller coaster
or skydiving.

That bar for a psychopath
is much higher

or at times
impossible to obtain.

Seeing them act in a manner
in which we see on this video,

casual,
is not surprising to me.

He's already done
what he needed to do.

He's undetected.

It's just a matter of cleanup
for him and he'll head back.

From the video footage
of the individual at Walmart,

we saw after purchasing
the items by using cash,

he went out to the parking lot
and got into a Toyota Yaris.

We had hoped that a license
plate would be visible

on the camera,
which it wasn't.

And that's when Agent Dietz
decided to search

for all the Toyota Yarises
in Knox County

that matched that color.

There were multiple entries,

but at the bottom
of the first page

was someone who looked
just like our guy in the video.

Not only did he look
just like him,

but he was wearing
the same shirt

he had on at Walmart
in the driver's license photo.

His name was Matthew Hoffman.

The address associated with
that was on Apple Valley Drive

which is only 4/10 of a mile
from the crime scene.

He was run through
the various police databases

and he did show
a criminal history

for burglary in Colorado.

His method of operation was
he liked to go into houses

and steal things

and then leave
without the person

ever knowing
he was in the house.

We all felt our first real jolt

of "this must be the guy."

There was certainly
a greater urgency.

We don't know if Sarah
has been abducted.

If she is alive, how long
she was gonna be alive?

So it was that point that
we wanna get a search warrant

in Matthew Hoffman's house.

It wasn't going to be
a knock on the door.

Would you let us in?
We have a search warrant.

It was gonna be
a no-knock search warrant.

And we were going to do
a joint venture

with the sheriff's office

on the possible apprehension
of Matt Hoffman

and hopefully the rescue
of Sarah Maynard.

When we approached the house,
it was just after daybreak.

Get a couple
of deep breaths...

That door flies open
and the flashbang goes in.

I entered that residence
with my partner behind me

and we encountered Mr. Hoffman.

I observed what appeared
to be a weapon within reach.

We pulled him off the couch.
He didn't wanna comply.

He realized I was not playing

and he put his hands
behind his back.

He was handcuffed and
he was escorted out the door.

I observed a very large pile
of leaves in the family room.

Found that very odd.

I felt it was deep enough

that there could be bodies
underneath these leaves

whether they're alive or not.

So without
disrupting evidence,

I used the stick
to hit the floor.

"It's the police.

If you can hear me,
please move around."

But there was nothing
but a pile of leaves.

The upstairs team lets us know
that that's clear.

We let them know
downstairs is clear.

The one room to the left was
where this basement door was.

Made our way down the steps.

When we go into the basement,
what happened--

that will stay with me
for the rest of my life.

We hit
Matthew Hoffman's house

with the SWAT team.

Four of us make our way
into the basement.

We find a terrified,
exhausted little girl

tied up on a bed of leaves.

I was laying down there

and I heard this really,
really loud noise.

And I was like,
literally scared to death.

My first thought was somebody
is coming downstairs,

you know, to get me again.

And they shine the lights on me
and they said,

"Are you Sarah Maynard?"

And, um, I said, "Yes."

They said,
"We're not here to hurt you.

We're here to save you."

I don't think there was
a dry eye in the house.

We knew that we just saved
this little girl's life.

It was really one of the
greatest momentary feelings

of relief and victory
that I've had in my, you know,

40 years in law enforcement.

When I stepped out of the
basement into the real world,

I felt so free.

You know,
not have to worry about

if it's gonna be
death tomorrow.

After Sarah was rescued

and Hoffman
was placed into custody,

our objective was to process
that crime scene.

In addition to finding Sarah
in the basement,

we also recovered
a blackjack,

which is a blunt force weapon

that can be used
to incapacitate people.

In the same drawer
was a pretty heavy-duty knife.

It's potentially
the murder weapon

and certainly capable
of dismembering a body.

There was a large pile
of leaves

as I walked into
the living room,

which is something that was
really kinda shocked me.

And then there were more
leaves that were found in bags

stapled against the wall,

in the bathroom,
in an upstairs bedroom,

and also in the basement
where Sarah was being held.

I just didn't understand
the significance of it

and had never really seen
anything that unusual.

Leaves scattered
throughout the living room.

Bags of leaves
lining the walls.

Has he used these bags

to muffle the sounds of Sarah

in the dungeon of his home

so that she cannot be heard?

What is the rationale?

Maybe he really is a psycho

and he has this fetish
for leaves.

And the idea
that he's put Sarah

whose life he has spared
on a bed of leaves

is to him a kind gesture.

This would not be
the first individual

who had a sexual attraction
or affiliation to trees.

In fact, there's
an actual term for it.

It's called dendrophilia
and it describes individuals

who have a sexual attraction

and a particular level
of comfort with trees,

and he seems
to fit that profile.

I went and accompanied
Sarah to the hospital.

She was remarkably composed.

She was able to talk and tell
the story of what happened.

On November 10, 2010,

Kody and I do our

say bye to mom,
give her a hug and kiss,

and then tell her
that we loved her.

We got home and Kody and I
open up the door

to go into the house.

I shut the front door.

And when I looked down
to take off my shoes,

I see blood.

And then I started
yelling for mom.

No answer.
Mom didn't reply.

And then a guy ran out
from the hallway

and I proceeded
to run into my room.

And then I hear Kody
yelling and screaming,

and I don't know why
I didn't turn back,

but I think I was too scared.

I'm looking around.

I'm seeing blood
that was all over the walls.

And then all of a sudden,

this guy busts
through the door.

He had the knife out,

and he put the knife
to my chest

and it had blood on it.

He then tied my hands.

He then blindfolded me.

He told me that
if I start screaming,

that he was going to kill me.

Eventually, he puts me
over his shoulder.

He lays me in a vehicle.

So I'm super scared

and it felt he was driving
very fast and crazy.

Eventually,
the vehicle stopped.

He unblindfolded me.

I was in a house
at this point.

He opened up the door
to the basement

and he literally pushed me
all the way down the stairs.

And I'm looking around
and it's completely, like,

scaring the crap out of me
even more now.

There was leaves everywhere.

I think it was the second
or third day.

He sexually assaulted me, um,

and when he did so,

he had laid the knife
on top of me.

During those four days
while I was down there,

it was complete darkness.

So I was just mentally tired

and so extremely worried.

I asked where my mom
and brother are

and he said
that if I brought it up again

that he was gonna kill me.

I knew that something serious

had happened to my mom
and then Kody.

And I'm trying
to have the hope

that my mom's okay
and Kody is okay.

As excited and thrilled as we
were to--to have rescued Sarah,

it was tempered by the fact
that the other three

were not able to be rescued
because they were in fact dead.

We're still missing Tina,
Stephanie, and Kody.

We don't know
where the remains are,

and there's only one person
who knows where they are

and he's not talking.

Sarah was recovered.

She was harmed,
but she was alive.

Matthew Hoffman had been
taken into custody

and was taken back
to the sheriff's office.

Of course, that was some sense
of relief that, okay,

we have the guy
we're looking for

and he's not able to do
something else,

but where are
the other victims?

We knew that by having him
we had the best chance

to find out hopefully
what happened to the rest.

They've been, you know,
laboring at it

for several hours with nothing.

So I asked
if I could take a shot.

Hi, Matt.

We have to try
to get him to talk to us

before he asks for an attorney.

When you have a suspect

who does not talk,

it is the absolute
worst nightmare

for any investigator.

Authorities suspect
he may be catatonic.

The likelihood of this
is essentially zero.

You cannot be a psychopath
and go into catatonia.

Catatonia is an anxiety response.

It's a reaction
that significantly depressed

or psychotic, schizophrenic
individuals go into.

Psychopaths, for the most part,

are essentially unable
of experiencing anxiety.

And so the only alternative
is that he's using this

as a strategy to not speak
to the authorities

and is putting on a show.

In the state of Ohio,
there was a death penalty

and prosecutors would seek it
in a case like this.

So there is some leverage
to use against Hoffman

in trying to get him
to cooperate.

Maybe take death off the table.
Tell us where the bodies are.

Then it would give the family
some closure.

He could save his own life,

and let the families bury
their loved ones.

The consensus was that
recovering their family members

and getting Hoffman put in
prison for the rest of his life

was more important than
the death penalty.

Part of the deal
that the prosecutor

put into the agreement was that
he would give a full confession

and he agreed to the deal.

So Hoffman told his attorneys
and he claimed that it was

a burglary
that, you know, went wrong.

One of the reasons
he identified that house

was because it was isolated

and didn't have
any close neighbors.

Matthew Hoffman
explained to us.

He camped out across
the street in the woods

to watch the house.

He waited till Tina left
in the truck.

And then he crawled under
the garage door which was ajar.

He felt comfortable
with spending some time there.

Maybe an hour or so later,

Tina had got home
from the grocery store

and that's when Matthew
Hoffman confronted her.

He struck her several times
in the head,

but she would not go
unconscious.

At the same time,
Stephanie had plans

that afternoon to go with Tina

to search for a new residence
for her--an apartment.

Stephanie shows up
at the house

when he was confronted
by two people.

He panicked.

And he grabbed his knife
and stabbed Tina

who was on the bed...

and then chased
after Stephanie

who went into Sarah's room,
stabbed her.

Matthew then dragged
Tina and Stephanie

down the hall
into the bathroom.

And then he dismembered
their bodies...

With his knife
in the bathtub.

And then
a couple hours later...

The children come home before
he can finish what he's doing.

He told us
that he had stabbed Kody,

but Sarah ran down the hall
to her room

and Hoffman said he gagged her
and tied her up.

And then Kody was dismembered.

So he went and bought bags
and tarps at Walmart.

He was using those
to transport the body parts

out of the bathroom
into the vehicle.

And then drove off
to the house with Sarah.

He stated that he then
disposed of the bodies

and then left Tina's truck
near Kenyon College.

He described himself
as having become a monster.

The location of those bodies
was the last card to be played.

And that's when Hoffman
tells us the remains

are in a hollow tree.

We're all motivated
in wanting to find Tina,

Stephanie, and Kody.

Matthew Hoffman had given
this information

about where the bodies were.

He decided I'm putting them
in the hollow tree...

The Kokosing
Wildlife Refuge area.

It's a wildlife area,

heavily wooded, very remote.

It's just not a place

that it was likely
we would ever find anybody.

So we drove out to that area

following the directions
that he had given to us.

We were not going to let him
go out there.

We walked into the woods
and it was a huge tree,

but there was a knothole about
7-8 feet off the ground

that looked like
it might give us a look inside.

And I climbed up and I could
see black garbage bags.

And then we decided we needed
a tree surgeon to come out

and they basically started
the knothole

and cut squares
going down the tree.

It was basically lift--
just lifting heavy bags

out of the tree and down
a ladder onto the ground.

The challenging part was...

looking at the bags,
and--you know.

The final confirmation that
they were in fact deceased.

The bizarre part of this
whole thing--

Matthew Hoffman wanted pictures
to show

that we had not destroyed
the tree.

He killed three people
and kidnapped a fourth,

and he was worried
about the tree.

This tree represented

his sacred burial ground,

the place that he had
a connection with.

When putting the bodies
in this tree,

in his mind he's likely created
sort of the ultimate shrine,

the ultimate place
he can go back and visit

which killers often do.

Who would have ever thought
about a tree

and then the inside of his home
is like a tree, right?

It's full of leaves.

And he kidnapped
a 13-year-old girl

and sexually assaults her
on a bed of leaves.

I mean, I've never seen
a factual scenario like this

and probably never will again.

I was laying in the bed
at the hospital.

I looked up and I see it
on the news.

Authorities in a small
Ohio town say two women

and an 11-year-old boy
were stabbed to death

and dismembered
before their remains

were put inside a tree.

I kept thinking to myself
and telling myself

that it wasn't real because of
the details were so gruesome.

I just seriously
couldn't believe

that somebody could ever even

do such a thing
to a human being.

I don't understand
how you could have

a normal loving family...

And then...

one day, it's gone
in a split of a second.

I think that on that day,
honestly...

There was...

There wasn't anything
I could have done.

Hoffman admitted to killing
the three people he killed,

admitting to the gross abuse
of corpse,

charges for dismembering
their bodies.

Admitted to kidnapping
and raping Sarah Maynard.

So there's not
gonna be a trial,

but it all came down to life
in prison without parole.

Never ever getting
out of prison.

I don't believe she's dead.
She's, like...

Gone away for a long visit
in my head.

If I don't see her
anywhere else,

I'll see her in heaven.

When things get hard,

um,

I just picture them
standing there

telling me that
everything is gonna be okay.

I wanted to tell my mom,
you know, thank her

for how she made me become

a strong-willed little girl

and a strong-willed woman.

She would be happy that

I'm...

I'm carrying her memory
on with me forever.