David Hendricks (born 1954) is an American businessman convicted of killing his wife and three children in 1984, but

acquit In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal means that the criminal prosecution has failed to prove that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the charge presented. It certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an of ...

ted in a

retrial A new trial or retrial is a recurrence of a court case. A new trial may potentially be ordered for some or all of the matters at issue in the original trial. Depending upon the rules of the jurisdiction and the decision of the court that ordered ...

in 1991.

Life

David James Hendricks was born in Morton Grove and raised in Oak Park, Illinois. He was a member of the Exclusive branch of the

Plymouth Brethren The Plymouth Brethren or Assemblies of Brethren are a low church and Nonconformist (Protestantism), Nonconformist Christian movement whose history can be traced back to Dublin, Ireland, in the mid to late 1820s, where it originated from Anglica ...

, a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

denomination. He started and ran a highly successful business in

Bloomington, Illinois Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census showed the city had a population of 78,680, making it the List of municipalities in Illinois, 13th-most populous ci ...

, selling an orthopedic back-brace he had patented. He later bought a large house at a then-new development in Bloomington and moved his family there.

Murders

On November 7, 1983, while Hendricks was out of state on a business trip, his wife Susan, 30, and the couple's three children — Rebekah, 9; Grace, 7; and Benjamin, 5 — were found murdered in their Bloomington home by a police officer performing a welfare check, requested after Hendricks was unable to reach them by phone. The murder weapons, consisting of an

axe An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...

and a butcher's

knife A knife (: knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least Stone Age, 2.5 million years ago, as e ...

, had been left at the scene. Hendricks was interviewed immediately on return from his trip and became the primary suspect due to his relationship with the victims and the police detectives' initial dissatisfaction with his demeanor.

Trial and afterward

Hendricks was tried the following year. The trial was moved from Bloomington to

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, Winnebago and Ogle County, Illinois, Ogle counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in far northern Illinois on the banks of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock River, Rockfor ...

, away, where he was found guilty in a jury trial. The judge took the unusual step of indicating publicly that while he was not criticizing the jury for performing their duty, he was not personally convinced beyond reasonable doubt. Hendricks' guilt was questioned due to the prosecution's reliance on

circumstantial evidence Circumstantial evidence is evidence that relies on an inference to connect it to a conclusion of fact, such as a fingerprint at the scene of a crime. By contrast, direct evidence supports the truth of an assertion directly, i.e., without need ...

and the possible prejudicial effect of statements made about his religious beliefs. Among other factors, the prosecution attempted to link the

murders Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse ...

to Hendricks' belief that

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

was a

sin In religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law or a law of the deities. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered ...

. Hendricks had recently hired female models to demonstrate his product for marketing materials. Some of these women gave testimony for the prosecution that Hendricks asked them to remove clothing and made intimate contact with their upper bodies during private test-fittings. Since the brace was normally worn externally, expert witnesses were called to testify that regular clothing and a brief fitting time were more typical, emphasized with an in-court demonstration. The prosecution used these to form a circumstantial case for Hendricks being dissatisfied with his marriage and argued that since Hendricks did not believe in divorce, he had a motive to kill his wife and children. The prosecution argued for Hendricks' sole guilt, although no direct evidence of guilt was found on Hendricks, including a lack of blood contamination. His lawyers failed to challenge some other key pieces of the prosecution's evidence, such as how the order of killings was dubious for a sole killer acting on Hendricks' schedule that evening, and that the weapons and blood spatter suggested two perpetrators. There were signs of carelessly-handled evidence by the investigating team, such as containers identified as the children's stomach contents containing material inconsistent with their known preferences. The contents had been used by an expert witness to establish a time of death prior to Hendricks leaving on his business trip. Hendricks was sentenced to four consecutive

life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are c ...

s. He served seven years in

Menard Correctional Center Menard Correctional Center, known prior to 1970 as Southern Illinois Penitentiary, is an Illinois state prison located in the town of Chester in Randolph County, Illinois. It houses maximum-security and high-medium-security adult males. The avera ...

in Illinois. While incarcerated Hendrick befriended his cellmate, convicted murderer and prison fugitive Henry Hillenbrand. Using a tape recorder and with Hillenbrand's blessing Hendricks used his jail time to pen a novel about Hillenbrand's life. Hendricks married a second time while in prison. In 1991, the Illinois Supreme Court overturned the conviction and Hendricks was granted a retrial at the McLean County Law and Justice Center in Bloomington. A surprise prison witness for the prosecution claimed Hendricks had confessed the crime while incarcerated, but a jury was unconvinced and he was acquitted and released. Shortly afterward he renounced his fundamentalist religious ties and moved to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

to start another orthopedic business. He presently lives in Orlando, Florida with his fourth wife, Gazel. He recently sold his last business and is presumed retired.

In popular culture

A true-crime book about the family, religious background, murders and trial was written by journalist Steve Vogel, entitled ''Reasonable Doubt''. Originally published in hardcover by Contemporary Books, it was a ''New York Times'' best-seller as a paperback published by St. Martin's Press, was re-issued as part of St. Martin's True Crime Classics, and re-published in 2018 with additional photos and new content as a paperback and e-book ). Also available as an audio book. Jessica Snyder Sachs references the case in ''Corpse: Nature, Forensics, and the Struggle to Pinpoint Time of Death'', published by Basic Books in 2001 (, ). In 2018, interest in the case was revived by an

Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries, similar to corporate sibling HLN. It is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery's netw ...

television episode focusing on the crime and its aftermath. The episode also attracted the attention of

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in ...

columnist Jim Dey writing in the ''News-Gazette'', who summarized the major points of the trial and the criticisms levied against it.Decades-old murder mystery back before public
Jim Dey, Champaign News-Gazette, April 5, 2018. On October 4, 2021, ''

Crime Junkie ''Crime Junkie'' is a true crime podcast hosted by Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat, based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Production and format In a Q&A with ''Inside Radio'', Flowers said that she and Prawat, her co-host, have been friends since birt ...

'' podcast released a full episode about the murders called: ''MURDERED: The Hendricks Family''.

References

External links

Family Murdered While Father Was On Mysterious Business Trip - David Hendricks Case Analysis
13 October 2023, ''Dr. Todd Grande''
MURDERED: The Hendricks Family
4 October 2021, ''

'' podcast
Hendricks: Nov. 7, 1983, the day that changed Bloomington
7 November 2008, ''

The Pantagraph ''The Pantagraph'' is a daily newspaper that serves Bloomington–Normal, Illinois, along with 60 communities and eight counties in the Central Illinois area. Its headquarters are in Bloomington and it is owned by Lee Enterprises. The name is ...