Rebecca Hoover, 38, was murdered by her husband, Judson, 50, a day after he filed for divorce from her.
Trigger Warning: This article contains details of murder and domestic violence that readers may find disturbing.
On August 5, 2020, a mother-of-three from Indiana, Rebecca Hoover, 38, was reported missing by her own mother, Lori Outsen. She was last seen two days before that. Rebecca was missing for a month before she was found. Unfortunately, it was too late by that time. She was discovered only after one of her children went to his school counselor towards the end of August and confessed he had witnessed something horrific.
The 8-year-old boy is likely going to be haunted by what he saw for the rest of his life. The child told his elementary school counselor that he had seen his father, Judson Keith Hoover, 50, kill his mother in the basement of their home. It was later found that she went missing on August 3 and was likely killed then. The couple was estranged and Judson had filed for divorce a day before, as per People.
When the child told the school authorities, they informed the police, who picked up Judson from the school when he got there to pick up his children. They also searched his property and found what appeared to be blood at the bottom of the stairs to the basement. The child, who had seen it all, described the scene in great detail and revealed that it took place two to three weeks earlier, as per Courier-Journal.
He said that Judson stomped on Rebecca's head about 20 times while wearing work boots and punched her while holding a set of keys in his hands when she was unresponsive, reports WHAS11.
The police approached Rebecca's mother to find out more about her relationship with her husband and it was found that they were estranged. Her mom also revealed that Judson had a storage unit near his home. Police searched the unit on August 28 and found that it was smelling like a decomposing body but there was no corpse there. However, the Indiana man had another storage unit in Louisville.
According to probable cause affidavit, one of Judson and Rebecca Hoover’s three children reported to an elementary school counselor that his dad killed his mom in the basement. Judson Hoover is set to be in court this afternoon. @WDRBNews pic.twitter.com/rdY4ACR6lW
— Gina Glaros (@ginaglaros) September 3, 2020
When the police went through the CCTV footage they found that he moved what appeared to be a body into the old storage unit on August 4 and then removed a 55-gallon container from the unit on August 28, after being interviewed by detectives, as per People. Rebecca's remains were found in the container in Louisville. According to Courier-Journal, New Albany Police Chief Todd Bailey told reporters, they "put everything into high gear and spent countless hours uncovering the facts of this case" after hearing about the story the child told his school counselor. "That took a lot of courage," Bailey added.
Son watched #Indiana husband / Dad Judson Hoover stomp on wife / Mom Rebecca Hoover's head 20 times, before Dad punched Mom in face with keys. Husband pleaded guilty, to avoid trial. Family had history of #DomesticViolence https://t.co/XVgtXy0azS
— Bad Marriages (@BadMarriages) September 3, 2020
An autopsy of the body confirmed what the child revealed, an affidavit says. Rebecca died of blunt force trauma to the head and abdomen, as per WHAS11. The 50-year-old father-of-three has previously been charged for domestic violence, as per court records cited by the Courier-Journal. Rebecca's mother told police she didn't believe her daughter, who had been living at a hotel in nearby Clarksville, would go back to their residence due to an abusive relationship with her husband. The case is "profoundly sad" for the couple's children and other family members, Floyd County Prosecutor Chris Lane said.
Judson Hoover admitted that he killed his 38-year-old wife and pleaded guilty to keep his 8-year-old son from testifying in the case, reports WHAS11.
References:
https://people.com/crime/indiana-dad-pleads-guilty-murdering-wife-after-reporting-her-missing/
