An Ohio man who stabbed his victim 45 times, set his body on fire, and posted 70 Snapchat videos of the horrific slaying will spend the rest of his life in prison, despite a last-minute plea that he's a changed man.
Timothy Kendrick, 35, pleaded guilty in June to charges of aggravated murder, murder, kidnapping, tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse, in connection with the death of 30-year-old Drew Mendelbaum, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
Prosecutors said Kendrick, a transient, met the victim at a Columbus, Ohio, gas station in July 2021, and invited him back to his extended-stay hotel across the street under the guise of drinks. Instead, he struck Mendelbaum on the head, stabbed him dozens of times and slashed his throat during a two-hour deadly, torture session, after he thought the victim was trying to steal his wallet.
Kendrick posted dozens of bloody videos to Snapchat, showing himself holding a knife to Mendelbaum's throat, stomping on his body, and cleaning up the murder scene, prosecutors said, according to WBNS-TV and WCMH-TV.
He then bound Mendelbaum's ankles with zip-ties, wrapped his body in a shower curtain, stuffed it in a duffle bag, placed it in a shopping cart, and set it on fire outside a business.
Kendrick was arrested two weeks later after authorities tied him to the Snapchat videos.
Before learning his fate Thursday, Kendrick begged Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Andy Miller for compassion.
"Give me one more chance. This experience is making me the best version of myself, I just need one more chance," Kendrick pleaded, the Dispatch reported.
But, Miller didn't buy it.
"Regret is not remorse. Regret is feeling sorry for yourself, it is not sympathy for those you have done wrong," Miller explained. "The defendant has not really taken responsibility for anything. He still invokes a victim stance. He insists he tortured and killed a man and put it all on social media because he was drugged and someone tried to steal his wallet."
During Kendrick's sentencing hearing, Mendelbaum's mother delivered a heartbreaking victim impact statement.
"My only consolation is that he's now at peace," Dr. Gail Herman said. "I think how he suffered alone in his last minutes and how it must have been awful for him."
Kendrick was denied the possibility of parole.
