Real Name: Naoma Ruth and Richard James Wendorf
Nicknames: No known nicknames
Location: Eustis, Florida
Date: November 25, 1996
Case[]
Details: On November 25, 1996, the bodies of Naoma and Richard Wendorf were discovered beaten to death by their daughter, Jennifer, in their Eustis, Florida home. Police suspected a vampire cult that her sister, Heather, was involved in was responsible for the murders.
They suspected that two men named Rod Ferrell and Scott Anderson, who were also involved in the cult are the killers. Ferrell reportedly cut his arm and had other people suck his blood in order to join the cult. It often met at an abandoned building called the "Vampire Hotel" and in a local graveyard. Authorities are uncertain as to how many people were involved in the actual murders or how much vampirism was involved.
Suspects: Ferrell and Anderson, along with the othercult members, were considered the primes suspects in the murders.
Extra Notes: This case first aired on the February 21, 1997 episode, along with the disappearance of Ceara O'Connell. It was also the subject of a book, The Vampire Killers by Clifford Linedecker.
Results: Solved. A few weeks after the murders, Ferrell and Anderson, along with several other of the cult members, were arrested in Louisiana. Ferrell claimed that he was a 500-year-old vampire and immortal. In February 1998, he pled guilty to the murders and was sentenced to death, although the term was later reduced to life in prison. Anderson was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison. Charity Keesee and Dana Cooper were convicted of an accessory after the fact and were given ten-year sentences. Although Heather was initially charged with the murders, the charges were later dropped.
Links:
- Wendorf murders on Wordpress.com
- Rod Ferrell on Wikipedia
- Vampires or game gone awry?
- Blood ties (article about the Wendorfs)
- Teens in Suspected "Vampire Cult" Arrested in Double Murder
- Teenager cleared in "Vampire Cult" slayings
- Teen cleared in cult killing of parents
- Interest in occult fades, but still exists, since Florida couple's deaths
- Vampire Cult Leader Pleads Guilty to Murder
- Jurors hear tapes of Ferrell's murder confession
- In vampire game, people pretend to do what's taboo
- "Vampire" Wendorf says she never wanted parents killed
- Was cleared in her parents' 1996 murder in Eustis. Now married and living out of state, she reflects on a tragic time.
- Richard and Naoma Wendorf on Find a Grave