The Girl in the Leaves (20 page)

THIRTY-ONE

Impact Statements

Just before formal sentencing by Judge Otho Eyster on January 5, 2011, victim impact
statements were read in court. Many people were heartbroken by the brutal crimes and
very angry at Matthew Hoffman, who sat at the defense table next to his attorneys
as one after another, family members and friends either read their victim impact statements
or had them presented to him.

One of these people was Tammy Erwin, a close friend of the Herrmann family. Tammy’s
husband, Terry, had grown up with the Herrmann children, Tina, Eric, Bill and Jason,
and Tammy had known them for twenty-four years. Tina’s mother, Barb, had babysat Tammy
and Terry’s children, and Tina would go along and help babysit the Erwins’ kids from
the time she was in elementary school until she was in high school. Tammy and Terry
had helped to celebrate all the Herrmann children’s high school graduations, weddings
and births. They also spent Christmas and New Year’s Eve with them over the years.

Before launching into the impact of the “horrific crime,” Tammy thanked the SWAT team,
FBI, Bureau of Missing and Exploited Children, Mount Carmel Health’s Crime and Trauma
Assistance Program, and everyone who had helped in the search for Tina, Kody, Sarah
and Stephanie.

Tammy then said, “Kody, Tina and Stephanie were brutally murdered in Tina’s home.
Matthew Hoffman broke into Tina’s home, robbed Sarah of her innocence and corrupted
her of her morals. He lied, he cheated, he stole, he murdered and he has no respect
for human or animal lives.”

Tammy related that as a parent, her biggest fear was that something might happen to
her children. Since the incident of November 10, she feared for her daughter to be
alone at any time. When the subject was brought up at home, Tammy started crying.
It had caused her many sleepless nights. Even in the daylight hours, she often would
be consumed by thoughts of what had happened to Tina, Kody, Stephanie and Sarah. Tammy
said it was beyond the worst horror movie she could think of.

Speaking of Sarah, Tammy said, “A sweet thirteen-year-old girl was tied up and gagged
in her own home while this evil monster murdered her mother and little brother.”

Tammy noted that grief, fear and insecurity would be a part of Sarah’s life to come,
and said she couldn’t even imagine what Sarah and her family were going through at
the moment.

She said, “Matthew Hoffman is not sick, he is just evil. There is absolutely no way
this beast can be rehabilitated.” She likened all that Hoffman had done to a nightmare
from which no one in the area would ever be fully able to wake up. She called him
“the devil child of Satan” and asked that the judge show him no mercy. She also asked
that he be kept in isolation in a high-security prison and never be allowed to see
the light of day again. Tammy wanted Hoffman to have one bite of food a day and hoped
that his cell would be filled with cobwebs and that he would soil his pants on a regular
basis. She wanted Hoffman to have a tiny dark space to inhabit, as he had forced Sarah
to endure.

Tammy declared that Matthew Hoffman should never have the opportunity to play ball
in a prison yard. He had robbed Kody Maynard of ever playing ball again on earth.
She added, however, that Kody was now playing in God’s garden.

Tammy wished that there wasn’t a deal in place to spare his life—that instead he would
be strapped to an electric chair and executed. But since that couldn’t happen, she
declared, “I hope Matthew Hoffman rots in hell!”

Tina’s brother Jason Herrmann also had a statement for Judge Eyster. “This horrific
episode has brought immense sorrow to my family, not to mention the hundreds of friends
and acquaintances.” When Jason first learned of the disappearances, he said, he felt
a sense of numbness and fear. He said there were days of disbelief and of hope. “It
wasn’t until November 17, the saddest day of my life, when my two brothers and I made
the choice to walk through my sister’s house, that within minutes of entering the
house, we were sure we would never see our loved ones again.”

Jason felt sad and angry all the time. Sad that he knew Tina had struggled in an attempt
to save her children. Sad for Kody, robbed of his life at such a young age. Sadness
for his niece, Sarah, who would never see her mother or brother again, and had been
robbed of her innocence. Jason related that no amount of restitution or punishment
would ever compensate for the struggles Sarah would face in her life. He prayed she
would not constantly be haunted by what happened.

Jason said that he, and everyone around him, had had their lives turned upside down
because of what Matthew Hoffman had done. His family had to face daily mental anguish
and public inquiry. He and others now constantly questioned their security, their
neighbors and “the good will of our common man.”

“There is an absence of words, absence of emotion and absence of feelings that fills
this void in my heart. I do not contain the capacity to put this onset of emotions
into words. Extreme sadness is the only emotion I can define. I wish that Matthew
J. Hoffman is sentenced to serve the hardest, most uncomfortable time possible for
the rest of his breathing days.”

Tracy Herrmann, Jason’s wife, also addressed the judge. She noted that she was so
emotional that she felt overwhelmed. Tracy related that Tina was a hardworking mother,
dedicated to creating a life of happiness for her children. “Kody and Sarah were beautiful
children, great students, dedicated to baseball and softball. They were two innocent
children just going through life like any child should.”

Tracy stated that because Jason was so overwhelmed by what happened, it was she who
had to explain the tragedy to their young children, eight and five years of age. She
asked, “How do you explain something so horrific to children who have been blessed
to know nothing but love?” She still had not fully explained to them what happened
to their cousin Sarah, except to say a bad person had taken her and that he was now
in jail because of what he had done. Tracy said that she knew that Kody had been protective
of his sister, and that both children had fought all they could. “However, this monster,
Matthew Hoffman, was pure evil and not able to be stopped by two little children.”

Tracy related that since the first day she’d learned about the incident on King Beach
Drive, she’d suffered from lack of sleep, weight loss, headaches and nausea. When
she did fall asleep, she was haunted by nightmares. The most consistent thing she
felt was fear. Fear of being alone in the house, fear of traveling alone to town,
fear for the safety of her children.

Tracy declared that Matthew Hoffman had ruined many, many lives. Not just their own
friends and family, but the entire community as well. She felt sadness for all the
investigators who worked countless hours on the case. She knew they would take the
scars of this experience with them for the rest of their lives. Most of all, she said,
she felt such a deep sadness for Sarah that at times she could not utter a word about
it.

Tracy ended by saying, “I believe wholeheartedly in the United States’ justice system
and have faith that you will impose the maximum sentence on Matthew Hoffman.”

Tina’s brother Bill Herrmann gave a statement similar to those of Jason and Tracy,
adding that for years to come, they would have to celebrate birthdays, family events
and holidays without Tina and Kody. Bill was extremely angry at Matthew Hoffman and
didn’t mince his words. “You are a coward, a real piece of shit! I can only hope and
pray that God takes you out soon. I hope you rot in hell, you be treated and tortured
as you have done to our family member. If only the law would allow us, my brothers,
Larry and I would enjoy the opportunity to dismember you alive!”

Lisa Robey, Bill’s girlfriend, was just as adamant. “There is no amount of punishment
that is even comparable to the heinous acts and level of brutality that Hoffmann put
into the kidnapping, torturing and slaughtering of our family. If justice cannot be
served here in this lifetime, he will experience it in full force when he reaches
the fiery pits of hell.”

Tina’s mother, Barbara Herrmann, expressed, “Matthew Hoffman is not a normal human
being. He’s a ruthless, selfish animal who took the lives of three loving and caring
individuals. He murdered them, cut them up into pieces, stuffed them all in garbage
bags, and then if that was not enough, he proceeded to lower them into the hollow
of a tree where they would be almost impossible to find. No mother should have to
bury her baby girl and grandson at the same time.”

And Larry’s mother, Sarah’s grandmother, Esther Maynard, related, “I cry all the time.
How could I not? Sweet Kody and his mom, Tina, were taken from us in the worst possible
way. I find myself shaking inside. The only way to describe this pain is to say that
it’s as if I were shot in the heart by a shotgun.” Esther, like others, hoped that
Matthew Hoffman would suffer all the torments of hell. “I beg that your days be long
and full of agony as you deserve.”

Belinda Thompson, Stephanie Sprang’s stepmother, hoped that Hoffman would suffer hell
on earth, as well as in the hereafter. She prayed that he would constantly be looking
over his shoulder in prison, afraid of who might rape him or kill him. That he never
know one more moment of peace.

“My wish is that you remember
I
will never forgive you. I will never forget that I look forward to the day you live
eternally with the demons of hell. May you be torched and burned over and over, forever.
I will hate you to the day I die for what you have done to my family and my community.”

Stephanie’s daughter Trisha said, “The pain I have endured is unbearable. Not only
have I lost a mother who I’ll never get back, but I feel like I’ve lost my younger
brother [Kody] for whom I’ve played the role of a second mom.”

Trisha related that two weeks prior to the events of November 10, she and Stephanie
had been squabbling, as mothers and teenage daughters often do. Trisha found it incredible
now that she couldn’t know then how little time she had left with her mother. “I never
thought I’d lose her and become completely helpless. Everyone tries to help me, but
no one can help like her. She knew what to say and how to say it.”

Tracy Maynard, Larry’s wife, asked Matthew Hoffman, “How could you do this to our
family? How can you call yourself a human being for that matter? What kind of man
preys on two innocent women and children?”

Tracy spoke of how she had to try and explain all of this to her four-year-old son,
AJ, who woke up crying every day because he missed his big brother, Kody. Tracy said
she had to explain that Kody and his mom Tina were now in heaven. “You have ripped
my family apart mentally and physically. It’s hard to go on with life since things
will never be normal again and this tragedy has changed our lives forever.”

Tracy was angry that because of the plea deal, Matthew continued to live on earth.
That was something he’d denied to Tina, Kody and Stephanie. She added, “I hope you
suffer every day like my family will, except the difference is I am human and you
are not.”

Larry Maynard read a portion of Matthew 18 from the New Testament. “At that time the
disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’”

Larry related the story of Jesus calling the little child to him, and his words: “If
anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would
be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned
in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people
to stumble!”

Larry said later, “I purposely picked a verse from Matthew to see how Matthew Hoffman
would react to that. He didn’t react at all. He just stared down at the desk in front
of him.”

Larry was just as angry at Matthew Hoffman as the others had been; he said in his
statement, “I don’t even know where to begin. My kids are my world, like most parents.
On November 10, my life as I knew it changed forever. The children that Tina Herrmann
and I brought into this world, Kody and Sarah Maynard, were two beautiful kids. Sarah
was only four pounds, nine ounces, and six weeks premature. Kody was five pounds,
seven ounces and was a preemie also.

“I could hold each one of them in the palm of my hand. When God gave me these two
beautiful kids, I knew I was responsible for more than just myself. These two precious
babies depended on me and looked up to me as their father. A child’s bond is like
no other love or bond I believe you can have with anything else on earth.

“Matthew Hoffman, when you took my son from me by brutally stabbing him to death and
then cutting up his body like a piece of meat, a majority of me died with him.

“I am very thankful my daughter lived despite the wrath of your evil. But she will
never be the bubbly little innocent girl she once was. My son, Kody, was a straight-A
student who had dreams of going into the Coast Guard and being a helicopter pilot.
He would have saved a lot of lives. He was that type of kid. So you didn’t just take
him from our family, you deprived America of a great human being.

“I used to think that the parent was the teacher of children, but they taught me more
about love than I ever knew existed. Matthew, my son was on this earth for eleven
years, and I guarantee you, he made more of a positive impact and showed more love
than you have shown in your entire life. Matthew Hoffman, you are a coward, a spawn
of the devil. Any man who can harm two innocent women and two innocent kids, is a
pathetic person.

“Whatever they do to you today won’t even be half as much as God will do to you on
Judgment Day. I hope you are cast into the fiery pits of hell, you sorry excuse for
a human being. I hope you wake up every day thinking of Tina, Kody, Sarah and Stephanie.
And I hope you get jailhouse justice. Maybe God can forgive some day, but I sure the
hell never will!