Records show leaves cluttered home of Ohio killer

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (AP) — Case records reveal that leaves filled the Ohio home of an unemployed tree-cutter who killed two women and a boy and stuffed their remains into a tree.

The Columbus Dispatch reports the first two officers who entered the Mount Vernon home of Matthew Hoffman on Nov. 14 found a 3-foot pile of leaves on the living room floor.

After Hoffman was taken away in handcuffs, the detectives found a kidnapped 13-year-old girl alive in the basement, bound on a bed made of leaves.

Back upstairs, they discovered bagged leaves hanging on a living room wall, and a bathroom lined with more than 110 bags of leaves.

One detective says the leaves may indicate Hoffman planned to set fire to the house.

The Dispatch obtained detectives’ notes through a public-records request.