GUILTY OH - Two women & child killed, 13yo abducted, Apple Valley, 10 Nov 2010 #2

[Texas Mist]

"We have no one that we're aware of who is deceased," Barber said. "So we're still treating this as a missing person's case."

He did not know if Hoffman was connected to either Herrmann or Sprang, but said he is not the ex-boyfriend of either woman.

Barber said authorities hoped Hoffman would give them information leading to the other three.

more here

http://www.newschannel10.com/Global/story.asp?S=13500426

 

[Noway]

I don't know what's more disturbing - a neighbor that's a weirdo & ya keep your kids away from him...or the "nice guy who's always there to help" that no one would ever suspect.

I think you could give a heads up to LE about the creep in the neighborhood, and why his behavior was disturbing. The comment by the neighbor reminded me of the neighbors' comments in the Somer Thompson case.

ETA
And the jump in the severity of the suspect's crimes ... if indeed the other 3 have been murdered.

 

[wfgodot]

It occurs to me that the dog might be the key to how this went down. After all, if someone uses the pet as leverage -- i.e., "I will hurt the dog unless you do as I say" -- most kids (and adults) would cooperate. Just thinking out loud as to how four people might have been subdued by (allegedly) one person that we know of...

Or he could have gone with the "(knock-knock) Hello, I found this little dog wandering up the street and I wonder if he might be yours?" approach, and gained an opening of the door that way. Entry to the home appears unforced.

 

[jjenny]

I think if we read between the lines on this, and considering the presser in which the sheriff was asked specifically what led them to Hoffman's house and another question about cell phone pings (sheriff declined to answer these two questions)............I think Sarah had her cell phone in her pocket and somehow managed to send some sort of alert to a friend who called LE.

This is how LE KNEW for sure she was there. They had no info on the other three and went in there expecting to find Sarah, and hoping the others would be there too. In the presser the sheriff said the SWAT team was used to make it all happen suddenly and quickly, as it was less of a chance that the perp would harm Sarah. They caught him off guard.

Oh maybe they got a tip that Sarah was there.

 

[SuziQ]

Or he could have gone with the "(knock-knock) Hello, I found this little dog wandering up the street and I wonder if he might be yours?" approach, and gained an opening of the door that way. Entry to the home appears unforced.

It's suspected that the three missing women from Mo. were lured with their dog as well.

 

[Noway]

If Sarah had her phone, why call a friend ... why not call 911 directly? Maybe someone did report MH as a creepy neighbor.

 

[wfgodot]

It's suspected that the three missing women from Mo. were lured with their dog as well.

Yep. That's where I got the idea for here!

 

[tracy87]

my first thought was that MAYBE the 13 year old and the suspect had some sort of "secret" relationship....maybe mom and friend discovered and things went terribly wrong. the 13 year old was naive and went "along" with it until she learned what a horrible person the suspect was, but by then it was too late.

this would help explain how the suspect was able to control the victims.

i certainly hope i am terribly wrong.....

prayers that all are found safely and quickly.

 

[tracy87]

this case also reminds me of the case of the "cable guy" who gained access in a womans home, assaulted her, waited for her kids to come home after school, killed her children, tried to kill her and set their home on fire.

does anyone else remember that case? i read about it here on websleuths

(mother survived, barely, and he was convicted)

 

[sherbetjello]

I think they all vagueing knew each other. It will be interesting to see what fingerprints are on the beer cans in Tina's home.

 

[Noway]

What time was Tina supposed to be at work? Was her schedule constant?

I think if he'd been stalking S or having a secret relationship with her, he'd know who was expected to be at the home at 4:30ish.

 

[tracy87]

I think they all vagueing knew each other. It will be interesting to see what fingerprints are on the beer cans in Tina's home.

hmmm...i forgot about the beer cans.

 

[Noway]

He did not know if Hoffman was connected to either Herrmann or Sprang, but said he is not the ex-boyfriend of either woman. "At this time, whether he's connected to the family or whether he connected himself to the family ... a lot of that remains to be seen as the investigation continues," Barber said.


http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=12144150

 

[jjenny]

I think they all vagueing knew each other. It will be interesting to see what fingerprints are on the beer cans in Tina's home.

Police say at this time they aren't sure if suspect knew the family.

 

[nursebeeme]

Sheriff Barber also said that Hoffman gave authorities two local addresses as residences.

One was the house at 49 Columbus Street in Mt.Vernon where Sarah Maynard was found.

The other was a house within walking distance of Sarah’s Howard residence which is owned by his mother and step-father.

Hoffman will make an initial court appearance Monday morning so bond can be set.

He faces other charges in connection with the disappearance of Sarah, her brother Kody, her mother Tina Herrmann and family friend Stephanie Sprang.

http://www2.nbc4i.com/news/2010/nov/14/matthew-j-hoffman-suspect-knox-county-crimes-ar-290701/

 

[Noway]

I had a theory he might know the BF but I guess I'll have to wait on that one ...

 

[nursebeeme]

Hoffman will appear in court Monday morning, Barber said.

More charges are expected, but he would not elaborate.

Hoffman has not cooperated with detectives since his arrest about 8 this morning, Barber said. The sheriff believes that Hoffman could lead detectives to the others.

Though Hoffman has no known relationship to the missing people, his parents live within walking distance of the house where they were last seen, Barber said.

"It's obvious that he found his way to their home," he said.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/11/14/14-knox.html?sid=101

 

[Smugshots]

someone had to have seen him creeping around the house or around Sarah.

let us look back to the last thread when one local poster said that the house had been ransacked before but not reported. was this him?

they have been able, infofar as we know, to question Sarah since at or around 8 am this morning... that is nine hours ago........... so:

Question: are there current searches going on????

Hey Nurse, it was me that said Tina told the son of woman's who dogs she is caring for that someone broke in and ransacked her house a few months ago, but she never reported it to police. Another family member works in dispatch in that area and confirmed no reports of this.

After reading about the arson charge for the guy now arrested, makes sense to me, in his arson conviction he apparently broke in, robbed the place then went back the next day with gas and burned the condo down.

I think it's strange he seems confident enought to go back to a scene of the crime the next day. Makes me think it was him that broke in a few months ago and now this, whatever this is. So happy this young girl has been found, can't even imagine how scared she must have been.

The house the young girl was found in is not a very good area at all.

 

[Texas Mist]

hmmm...i forgot about the beer cans.

I'm thinking if his fingerprints were found on the truck or beer cans, LE would've been onto him much sooner....seems like they could've got a warrant to search his house if they had no way to connect him to the family or Stephanie & no reason for him to be there to be leaving fingerprints.

The tip that led LE to Hoffman's house seems to me to be the break in the case that they needed. (FWIW since it's JMO. )

 

[nursebeeme]

Barber said the raid was the result of investigative efforts by detectives of the sheriff’s office. He denied the response was to reports of gunshots at the house or because someone escaped from the house early this morning. He also stated the coroner had not been called in after the raid and that no bodies were found in the residence.

“The residence on Columbus Road is currently being processed by the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation,” Barber explained. “It is being considered a crime scene and treated as such.”

Barber told the News that the incident was still being treated as a missing persons case.

“As of right now we have no one we are aware of is deceased,” Barber said.

Barber added the collection of evidence at the Apple Valley residence was completed Saturday evening.

“Tomorrow (Monday) we hope DNA testing can begin,” he said. “We have been assured this will be considered a priority case by the BCI&I.”

http://www.mountvernonnews.com/local/10/11/13/1-found-man-in-custody-search-continues