On November 10, 2010, in broad daylight, a man broke into the home of Tina Herrmann and her two young children. The attacks, murders, and kidnapping that followed were some of the worst crimes in the history of the state of Ohio.

Matthew Hoffman was known by his neighbors as a bit of an oddball, but this didn’t necessarily mean that he was dangerous. He did have a history of breaking and entering that put him in prison once, but he didn’t appear to be a violent person. Then, in 2010, Hoffman’s odd behavior began to escalate.

Join us at the quiet end for House of Leaves. Tina was a working mother, determined to give her son and daughter a stable, safe, and loving home. Despite not having much money, she had been successful. But Tina had no way of knowing that her home had become the target of the increasingly disturbed Hoffman. When Tina didn’t show up for work on November 11, the scene inside her house pointed to unspeakable violence. And, when the police entered Hoffman’s home, what they saw inside was unlike anything they’d seen before.


Sources

Father, stepmother charged with assaulting Knox County kidnap victim, The Columbus Dispatch, by Allison Manning, 5/21/2013

The Girl in the Leaves by Robert Scott

Killer Stuffed His House With Leaves, Kept Kidnapped Girl on Bed of Leaves, ABCNews.com by Jessica Hopper, 2/10/2011, ret. 7/5/2022

The Leaf Killer, Twisted Killers, S1 E5, Oxygen

Man Charged in Deaths of Victims Found in Ohio Tree, BBC News 1/4/2011, ret. 7/7/2022

What was in the home (and mind) of Matthew Hoffman? The Columbus Dispatch 2/9/2011, ret. 7/5/2022