Left: Timothy Kendrick sentenced on July 18, 2024 (WBNS). Right inset: Drew Mendelbaum (Facebook)
From the start, it was clear to Ohio police that Timothy Kendrick had committed a “particularly brutal murder” in 2021, but the defendant himself owned up to that mid-trial years later, after jurors were shown dozens of Snapchat videos he recorded beating 30-year-old Drew Mendelbaum to death, stabbing or otherwise cutting him 45 times, taunting the victim he met a gas station as a “goddamn loser,” and setting his body on fire a day later.
On Thursday, a judge in Franklin County sentenced Kendrick to serve life behind bars without the possibility of parole, seeing right through the defendant’s last-ditch pleas for “one more chance” to see the outside of prison walls again.
According to the Columbus Dispatch, in making that request for one more shot, the 35-year-old admitted aggravated murderer, kidnapper, and corpse abuser claimed to Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Andy Miller that the whole criminal justice experience is “making me the best version of myself[.]”
The judge reportedly responded by drawing a distinction between Kendrick’s apparent regret for what was now happening and true remorse for murdering Mendelbaum, whom he met at a gas station, invited to his hotel room for drinks, and subsequently killed while fueled by a kind of “rage and savagery” that the defendant’s own Snapchat videos documented.
“Regret is not remorse. Regret is feeling sorry for yourself, it is not sympathy for those you have done wrong,” the judge remarked from the bench, according to the Columbus Dispatch. “The defendant has not really taken responsibility for anything. He still invokes a victim stance. He insists he tortured and killed a man and put it all on social media because he was drugged and someone tried to steal his wallet.”
After jurors saw 70 Snapchat videos of Kendrick killing Mendelbaum, the defendant decided to plead guilty and proceed to sentencing.
The Columbus Division of Police said Kendrick met Mendelbaum at a gas station in July 2021, invited the victim back to his hotel room for drinks, murdered him, and later set his body on fire, leaving the victim’s unrecognizable body outside a business complex covered in a shower curtain with zip ties around his ankles, local CBS affiliate WBNS reported.
Cops arrested Kendrick after discovering the numerous Snapchat videos. According to the Dispatch, Kendrick posted the videos between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. on July 16, 2021, under the screen name Bleyk Diablo Blanco European. They reportedly showed Mendelbaum on the ground with his face bloodied and swollen as Kendrick stood over him with a knife on his throat. Kendrick threatened to “slice” Mendelbaum and claimed he was the “king of Columbus,” the Dispatch reported.
“I’m the king of the 614,” Kendrick reportedly said, referring to Columbus’ area code. “Here’s an example of what happens.”
Other clips reportedly show an unconscious Mendelbaum with Kendrick bragging about knocking out the “goddamn loser.”
According to the Dispatch, prosecutors were prepared to show more videos, including of Kendrick stomping Mendelbaum and him crowing about it in front of a mirror. Despite all the evidence, Kendrick denied his involvement in an interview with detectives following his arrest.
According to his obituary, Mendelbaum graduated from Upper Arlington High School in the Columbus area in 2010.
“He loved travel and cooking, as well as music from 60’s folk to modern rock, but especially his rescue cat Na’mer,” the obit said.
David Harris contributed to this report.
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