Timothy Kendrick, right, pleaded guilty to murdering Drew Mendelbaum, inset, in the middle of his trial after he saw dozens of videos showing the beating in Columbus, Ohio. (Mendelbaum: Facebook; Screenshot: WBNS/YouTube)
A murder trial in Columbus, Ohio, ended abruptly after the defendant decided to plead guilty to all charges.
Timothy Kendrick entered the guilty plea after the jury saw more than 70 Snapchat videos he posted of him beating 30-year-old Drew Mendelbaum to death, the Columbus Dispatch reported. Jurors had heard two days of testimony along with the videos before the 35-year-old changed his plea from not guilty to guilty first thing Thursday morning.
The Columbus Division of Police said Kendrick met Mendelbaum at a gas station in July 2021. Kendrick invited the victim back to his hotel room for drinks. The now-convicted murderer went on to stab Mendelbaum 45 times and set his body on fire. Authorities found the victim’s unrecognizable body outside a business complex covered in a shower curtain with zip ties around his ankles, CBS affiliate WBNS reported.
Cops arrested Kendrick after discovering the 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 show Mendelbaum on the ground with his face bloodied and swollen as Kendrick stands 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.
“This case has nothing to do with self-defense or with intoxication,” Franklin County Assistant Prosecutor Cory Helffrich reportedly said during opening statements on Tuesday. “It has everything to do with what one human being can do to another.”
If Kendrick’s attorney had a defense strategy, he didn’t divulge it during his opening statement. Jeffrey Blosser gave brief remarks, admitting to the jury that it was his shortest opening statement he ever gave as an attorney, the Dispatch reported. He told them to keep an open mind and said prosecutors would have to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
In the end, Kendrick pleaded guilty to murder, kidnapping, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse. He faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced in July.
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.
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