Sarah Jo Pender (born May 29, 1979) is an American woman convicted along with her former boyfriend, Richard Edward Hull, of murdering their roommates, Andrew Cataldi and Tricia Nordman, on October 24, 2000, in Indiana. She has claimed ever since that she is victim of a wrongful conviction. She came to national attention in August 2008 after she escaped from the Rockville Correctional Facility and was featured on America's Most Wanted. She was recaptured by police in December at a house in Chicago. Since spring of 2023, a team out of Georgetown University's "Making an Exoneree" program has been working to exonerate Pender. In January 2026, Pender's appeal was denied, with her earliest possible release date occurring in 2054 when she would be 75 years old.
Crime In 1997, Sarah Jo Pender graduated from Lawrence Central High School. She went on to attend Purdue University, but dropped out. She worked as a secretary at Carl E. Most and Sons.US district Court – Southern District of Indiana, Case 1:07-cv-00464-DFH-TAB, Document 12-11, Page 8. Richard Hull, her boyfriend, worked as a bouncer at a bar. He had a criminal history that included six misdemeanors and two felony convictions for auto theft and residential entry.Court of Appeals of Indiana, No. 49A02-0504-CR-298 Richard Hull Vs State Of indiana, December 30, 2005 p 12, see footnotes Andrew Cataldi, 24, and Tricia Nordman, 25, were both fugitives from a Nevada Correctional Facility where Nordman was serving time for forgery and Cataldi for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.Masson, John man caught in slayings of couple left in trash Indianapolis Star. October 28, 2000 According to the police, Hull and Cataldi reportedly sold drugs from their place; this was confirmed by Hull.Ryckaert, Vic Suspect describes horrific scene Indianapolis Star. November 3, 2000
The murders According to neighbour, Jana Frederick, tensions had been growing for three weeks between the couples, as Hull and Cataldi had frequent arguments. At some point prior to the murders, Hull, who could not legally purchase firearms due to his criminal record, sought to purchase a weapon from the son of Frederick's boyfriend.US District Court – Southern District of Indiana, Docket Case 1:07-cv-00464-DFH-TAB, Document 12-11, Page 8. He was unsuccessful in this attempt but on the morning of October 24, 2000, Hull drove Pender to a local Walmart to purchase a 12-gauge shotgun, ammunition, a soda, and condoms. The clerk who handled the sale of the weapon later reported seeing Hull select the ammunition and bring it to the counter, where Pender then paid for it.Court of Appeals of Indiana, No. 49A02-0304-CR-359, Richard Hull Vs State Of indiana, December 09, 2003 The couple then went for an outing with Pender's parents and returned home around 11 p.m. Shortly after returning, Pender left the building to take a walk.
Hull reported that while Pender was away, an argument broke out between Hull and Cataldi regarding money that Hull's sister, Tabitha, owed to Cataldi. Hull said that Cataldi, who knew about the recently purchased shotgun, went into Hull's room to attempt to retrieve the weapon. Hull later told detectives that Cataldi "said he was going to kill my f---ing family". Hull said he attempted to prevent Cataldi's actions, which resulted in a physical struggle between the two men that ended with Hull shooting Cataldi in the chest and also shooting Nordman in the head as well as the chest.Noblesville Man Charged In Connection With Shooting Deaths the indychannel.com October 27, 2000
When Pender returned, both victims were dead and Hull had already placed one of their bodies in the back of a truck owned by his friend Ronnie Herron.US district Court – Southern District of Indiana, Case 1:07-cv-00464-DFH-TAB, Document 12-11, Page 10. Hull had borrowed the truck on October 23 to remove items from the basement of the building as part of a plan he had with Cataldi to create a methamphetamine lab in collaboration with a chemist from Las Vegas. Hull and Pender then drove a few blocks away and placed the bodies in a dumpster, where they were later found by Steve Stultz.
On October 25, Pender went to work while Hull borrowed equipment from neighbor, Jana Frederick, to clean up the blood in the house. On October 26, the couple went to Noblesville to return the truck to Herron. Hull then burned several bloodstained items at Herron's home.US district Court – Southern District of Indiana, Case 1:07-cv-00464-DFH-WTL, Document 2, Page 3,4. On the same day, detectives — who by now had identified the victims — searched Hull and Pender's home. They found traces of blood and observed that attempts had been made to conceal the murders. Hull was arrested in Noblesville on October 27, and confessed to both murders. On October 28, Pender gave police a pair of bloodstained pants belonging to Hull. DNA tests confirmed that the blood was that of Nordman and Cataldi. No DNA evidence was found that linked Pender to the murders for which both she and her boyfriend were charged. Pender stated later that "after he committed these murders, I did not call the police but, instead, stayed with him out of love, fear, loyalty and sheer stupidity”.Sarah Pender Manuscript letter to "America's Most Wanted" January 26, 2009 Pender was 21 years old at the time of the murder.
Murder conviction
Trial Pender's trial was held at Marion Superior Court in July 2002, with James Nave as the defending attorney, Larry Sells as the prosecuting attorney, and presiding judge Jane Magnus-Stinson. Sells was known for his recently failed campaign to become prosecutor of Hamilton County, in which he had highlighted his success with convicting murderers and violent offenders.
Neither Pender nor Hull testified at the trial.
Evidence against Pender Citing the fact that Pender had bought the murder weapon on the morning of the murders and that she later helped Hull dispose of the bodies, Sells told the jury that she had planned the murders and had manipulated Hull into committing them. According to Indianapolis Star journalist Vic Ryckaert, Sells "likened her influence over Hull to the control Manson had over his followers, who committed a string of murders in 1969."Ryckaert, Vic Woman gets 110 years in 2 deaths The Indianapolis Star. August 23, 2002 The "female Charles Manson" tag has stuck to Pender ever since.
To prove Pender's guilt, Sells relied chiefly on a letter allegedly sent to Hull by Pender in May 2001 and on the testimony of inmate Floyd Pennington. In the letter, Pender took responsibility for the murder. "I wish I could go back and change the events of that night," said the letter. "Drew was so mean that night. I just snapped. I didn't mean to kill them. It must have been the acid. [...] When you said you would try to take the blame, I knew then that you loved me deeply. At first I thought you would tell, but you stuck to your promise." The letter ended with a postscript: "Destroy this."Ryckaert, Vic Woman convicted of killing 2 roommates The Indianapolis Star, July 26, 2002 Forensic Document Examiner Lee Ann Harmless testified the letter had been written by Pender.US district Court – Southern District of Indiana, Case 1:07-cv-00464-DFH-WTL, Document 2, Page 6. Defense attorney James Nave contended the letter was a fake. He said that Sarah Pender was no "clever criminal mastermind" and that the murder "was not a cleverly planned criminal act. It was an act of the moment." He argued that Richard Hull had shot Cataldi and Nordman because they were about to cut him out of a big drug deal.Ryckaert, Vic Woman convicted of killing 2 roommates The Indianapolis Star. July 26, 2002
Another piece of evidence presented to the jury was the testimony of fellow inmate Floyd Pennington, who had a pen relationship with Sarah Pender for several months. He testified that Pender had admitted her responsibility in the double homicide to him during a meeting they had arranged on September 22, 2001, at Wishard Hospital.US district Court – Southern District of Indiana, Case 1:07-cv-00464-DFH-WTL, Document 2, Page 5.
On August 22, 2002, Sarah Pender was found guilty and sentenced to 110 years in prison.Ryckaert, Vic Woman gets 110 years in 2 deaths The Indianapolis Star. August 23, 2002 Richard Hull pleaded guilty to avoid trial.Ryckaert, Vic Man pleads guilty to killing roommates The Indianapolis Star. January 7, 2003 His defense was that he had been influenced by Sarah Pender at the time of the murder, which was considered at the time by the court as a mitigating factor. He received two 45-year sentences.Court of Appeals of Indiana, No. 49A02-0304-CR-359 , Richard Hull Vs State Of Indiana, December 9, 2003
Controversies
Letter The only hard piece of evidence presented at Pender's trial as proof of her guilt was a letter that she allegedly wrote on May 16, 2001, and sent to Hull. Hull gave this letter to his attorney, who passed it on to Indianapolis detective Kenneth Martinez between September and October 2001.US district Court – Southern District of Indiana, Case 1:07-cv-00464-DFH-TAB, Document 2-11, Page 8. Pender, her lawyers and her supporters have always said that Hull had manufactured the evidence to shift the responsibility of the murder on her. Several elements support this claim:
Richard Hull himself, in a signed affidavit, has recanted and admitted the letter was a forgery. In it, he has explained that while he was detained at the Marion County Jail, he showed samples of Pender's handwriting to fellow inmate Steve Logan and asked him to write the letter for him, since Logan wrote more like a woman. In return, Hull would provide protection on the cell block for Logan, who was a small white guy. By producing the forged letter, Hull's goal was to get a shorter sentence.US district Court – Southern District of Indiana, Case 1:07-cv-00464-DFH-TAB, Document 2-11, Pages 8-9. However, on May 4, 2004, when he appeared for re-sentencing, the court found as an aggravating factor the notarized affidavit in which he admitted the forgery, since it contradicted his earlier testimonies. The court found "an additional aggravating factor [that arose since the original sentencing], which, actually, is very serious. [Hull] appears to have committed perjury in an effort to help his co-defendant manipulate her way out of a criminal conviction for [the] very serious offenses of murder."Court of Appeals of Indiana, No. 49A02-0504-CR-298 Richard Hull Vs State Of indiana, December 30, 2005 p 8-9 While admitting the May 16 letter was a forgery resulted in a heavier sentence for Hull, it was of no benefit to Pender. Fingerprints from both Hull and Logan were found on the letter, but not those of Pender.US district Court – Southern District of Indiana, Case 1:07-cv-00464-DFH-TAB, Document 2-11, Page 6 Detective Kenneth Martinez could not find a sealed envelope to match the letter. Most of the eighty letters sent by Pender to Hull were in cursive writing. The alleged self-incriminating letter was printed, which was less common. While Logan has always stopped short of admitting he wrote the May 16 letter, he has testified that Hull showed him letters written by Pender, and also asked him to write some sort of letter as a way to reduce his charges or sentences, which Logan claims he did not do. On another occasion, according to Pender, Logan admitted to a private investigator hired by Pender that Richard Hull had requested for him to forge a letter incriminating her.Sarah Pender Manuscript letter to "America's Most Wanted" January 26, 2009 (this is also alluded to in the court document mentioned in the previous footnote)