Killer of 3 confesses Ohio house was random target

[February 08, 2011]  MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (AP) -- An Ohio man who killed two women and a boy during a home burglary and dropped their dismembered bodies down a hollow tree confesses the house was a random target, picked because no neighbors were nearby and the garage door was open.

The Columbus Dispatch newspaper obtained Matthew Hoffman's confession through a public-records request.

The 30-year-old Hoffman pleaded guilty and is serving life in prison. Prosecutors told him they wouldn't seek the death penalty if he revealed where the bodies were and explained what happened.

The newspaper says most of the confession focuses on four days Hoffman spent at his Mount Vernon home with a teenage girl he kidnapped. He describes cooking her hamburgers and sleeping with his arm around her.

He also pleaded guilty to raping her.

[Associated Press]

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