A Texas man has been charged with murder for allegedly killing Christine M. Sheddy, the Delaware woman and single mother of three who went missing from a Pocomoke City area farmhouse in November 2007.
Justin M. Hadel, 19, of College Station, Texas, is being held without bond at the Worcester County Jail on charges of first- and second-degree murder and first- and second-degree assault. No date has been set for his preliminary hearing.
According to Worcester County State's Attorney Joel Todd, as of Thursday no other arrests have been made in the case.
Sheddy's body was found buried on the property of the River House Inn in Snow Hill on Feb. 19.
In November 2007, Hadel and Sheddy were guests at a rural farmhouse rented by Clarence Jackson in the 2900 block of Byrd Road outside of Pocomoke City, according to a statement from the State's Attorney's Office. Todd said he could not comment on why Hadel, a Texas resident, was in Maryland, or about his relation to Jackson.
Sheddy, then 26 years old, and her two young sons arrived early that month to stay with Jackson, whom she knew through her boyfriend, Levi Hall. Her third child, a daughter, was not with her at the time.
Sheddy's stay was a temporary arrangement, said her mother, Lynn Dodenhoff, in an interview with The Daily Times in 2008. On Nov. 10, after having only been there a few days, Sheddy called Dodenhoff. She was very upset, and the two made plans to bring her and the children back to Dodenhoff's Bowers Beach home Nov. 13. However, when Hall went to pick up Sheddy and the children that day, she had disappeared.
As the case went cold in the years after her disappearance, Dodenhoff and local residents searched the area around the farmhouse and had Sheddy recognized on "America's Most Wanted."
"It will come to an end, and we will find my daughter, and justice will be served," Dodenhoff told The Daily Times in 2008. "I have full confidence that will happen."
Information from unnamed witnesses led police to the Snow Hill property Feb. 19 of this year, according to the State's Attorney's Office. Dental records later confirmed the remains were Sheddy's. A warrant was issued for Hadel the following day. On Feb. 25, he was arrested in Texas and, after waiving extradition, he arrived Tuesday at the Worcester County Jail.
Todd said there was very little he could say about the case, which is still under investigation by his office, the Worcester County Sheriff's Office, the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation and the Maryland State Police.
However, if Hadel is found guilty of murder, he will likely not face capital punishment for the killing, Todd said.
"In order to get the death penalty in Maryland, there has to be certain aggravating factors that are not off-set by mitigating factors" like additional killings or rape, Todd said. "I do not think this is the type of case that is going to have aggravating factors."
Dodenhoff has not said anything publicly about the discovery of her daughter's body or the arrest of her alleged murderer.
"At this time, she is in seclusion with Christine's children, helping them to begin the healing process," said Mandy Albritton, a spokeswoman for the family. "I can tell you that they are comforted to know that their mommy did not leave them."
VIA: DelmarvaNow.com
PPE NOTE: Todd says "no death penalty" I know this is not Todd's call but I say we all do what we can, contact or reps. congressmen, etc. and lobby to get the death penalty delivered to ALL that were involved in the murder of Christine Sheddy.
I'm sooo happy Hadel is behind bars but at the time he was 17 years old and he DID NOT do this alone nor did he do this and others not know. Where's Domo? I have not read or heard anything about him or the others and I have had bad vibes from day one about Domo, he had to many excuses and explanations and the alibi of washing clothes never did wash with me.
1 comment:
One part of me says he is/was just a teenager, a child really when all this went down, but then I look at him and he looks sinister and diabolical.
And the fact remains it's been over 2 years....so, sorry pal, you had 2 years ? months and ? days to make things right and you didn't, because you are sinister and diabolical (and by the looks of Hadel he'll take being called that a compliment)
I hope the 1st degree charges stick.
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