'Random burglar' admits killing three and raping girl

A man who broke into a home to commit "a random burglary" admitted killing three people who surprised and confronted him, stuffing their remains in a hollow tree, and kidnapping and raping a 13-year-old girl who was with them.

Unemployed tree-cutter Matthew Hoffman, 30, pleaded guilty to aggravated murder, burglary, kidnapping, rape and other charges.

He was sentenced in Ohio to life in prison without parole for the deaths of Tina Herrmann, whose home he burgled on November 10, her 11-year-old son Kody Maynard, and neighbour Stephanie Sprang.

They were stabbed, dismembered and put into bin bags and then into the tree.

The girl said in a statement read aloud in court by a prosecutor: "This is so sickening, Matthew, to know you even had the guts to do this."

Hoffman's lawyer Bruce Malek said Hoffman apologised and decided not to speak in court in part because he "did not feel that he would be able to make even a short statement without breaking down".

Mr Malek said Hoffman did not single out one person or family and attributed the violence to "a random burglary that went terribly, terribly wrong".

Hoffman was accused of kidnapping the teenage girl during the break-in and raping her at his home in the small central Ohio city of Mount Vernon. She was found alive, bound and gagged, in his basement.

Mr Malek and Knox County prosecutor John Thatcher said they were not sure why Hoffman killed the other three but not the girl.

"I don't think he gave any other reason other than he couldn't bring himself to do it," Mr Thatcher said.

The girl said the crimes have changed her life, but she was no longer scared of Hoffman.

Seven more relatives of the victims gave their own statements in court, sharing memories and wiping away tears.

Prosecutors decided not to pursue the death penalty in exchange for Hoffman agreeing to plead guilty and telling authorities the location of the remains, which otherwise would have been difficult to find.

Mr Malek said: "He knew the families needed closure, that they deserved to have their families back and properly buried."

Hoffman spent six years in a Colorado prison for arson and other charges stemming from a fire to cover a burglary.

His former girlfriend claimed he choked her during an argument in October. The woman told investigators she thought he was going to kill her, but she did not want to press charges.