An 8-Year-Old Boy Solved His Own Mother’s Murder
Her killer was sentenced to 65 years in prison
Rebecca Hoover was a 38-year-old mother of three married to Judson Hoover, 50. On August 5, 2020, Rebecca was reported missing by her mother. She was last seen on August 2nd.
A few weeks later Rebecca’s 8-year-old son told his elementary school counselor that he had witnessed his father, Judson, kill his mother in the basement of their home. The counselor immediately notified the authorities who arrived on the scene and further questioned the child. The boy told police graphic details of his own mother’s murder.
He told the police he witnessed his father stomp on his mother’s head twenty times and then repeatedly punched her in the stomach with a set of keys, even after she stopped moving. He said it happened three to four weeks prior — the same time Rebecca was reported missing.
The autopsy would later corroborate the young child's account, confirming that Rebecca died due to blunt-force trauma to her head and abdomen.
When the boy's father, Judson Hoover, arrived to pick him up at school that day he was greeted by the New Albany police instead. The police asked Hoover if they could search his house and surprisingly, he agreed; a warrant would not be needed.
