Judson Keith Hoover, 50, pleaded guilty to murdering his wife, 38-year-old Rebecca Ruth Hoover, just hours after being formally charged. Rebecca was last seen on August 2, and Judson filed for divorce the next day—after she had already been killed.
The case unraveled when their eight-year-old son told a school counselor he had witnessed the murder. To spare his son the trauma of testifying, Judson chose to plead guilty.
Rebecca’s mother reported her missing on August 4. A police search of the couple’s home initially revealed nothing, but by August 27, investigators received critical information suggesting foul play. That same day, Rebecca’s body was found, and Judson was arrested.
According to the son’s account, Judson stomped on Rebecca’s head about 20 times and punched her while she lay motionless in their basement. Crime scene investigators later confirmed blood spatter at the scene.
Judson confessed to strangling Rebecca and leaving her body in the basement, though the autopsy revealed she died from blunt force trauma. He also mutilated her body, but claimed to have no memory of doing so.
Surveillance footage showed Judson moving what appeared to be a body on August 4 and again on August 28, using a rented van and a 55-gallon container. He eventually admitted to relocating Rebecca’s body to a storage unit in Louisville, where it was recovered.