An Indiana man has pleaded guilty to killing his wife and stuffing her body in a storage unit — after their young son allegedly witnessed the attack and told a school counselor.
Judson Hoover, 50, of New Albany, Indiana, entered the guilty plea Thursday at Floyd County Superior Court in connection to the vicious death of his wife, Rebecca Ruth Hoover, 38, NBC affiliate WAVE reported.
The husband was arrested for the murder Monday — the same day police discovered Rebecca’s body inside a storage unit in Louisville.
Rebecca had been reported missing on Aug. 2, and later that month, the couple’s 8-year-old son told an elementary school counselor that his father had killed his mother in their basement, according to WAVE.
The boy witnessed his father stomp on his mother 20 times and stab her in the stomach with a set of keys until she was bleeding and unconscious, the news outlet reported, citing a probable cause affidavit.
Police also found what appeared to be blood spatter at the bottom of the basement stairs.
In court, Judson Hoover told a judge he strangled his wife and then put her body in a 55-gallon container at a storage unit about five minutes from their home, WAVE reported.
Surveillance video showed him moving what appeared to be a body on Aug. 4 just minutes after police searched the home.
The same surveillance footage showed Hoover hauling a 55-gallon container from the storage unit using a rented Dodge Caravan on Aug. 28.
During police questioning, Hoover admitted to moving his wife’s body to another storage unit in Louisville, where cops made the grisly discovery.
He said during the court appearance that he entered the plea deal in order to prevent his son from testifying in court.
Rebecca Hoover’s longtime friend Chris Karraker told WAVE that the couple had an abusive relationship for years.
“I’m sure you can imagine very horrible things in your head that you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy and she probably had every one of them done to her, times 10,” Karraker said.
Judson Hoover was previously arrested and charged April with strangulation and domestic battery committed in the presence of a child younger than 16, according to court records, the news outlet reported.
He is slated to be sentenced in October.
