From the start, Ohio police knew Timothy Kendrick had committed a “particularly brutal murder” in 2021, but the defendant admitted it mid-trial years later after jurors were shown dozens of Snapchat videos in which he recorded beating 30-year-old Drew Mendelbaum to death, stabbing or otherwise cutting him 45 times, taunting the victim at a gas station as a “goddamn loser,” and setting his body on fire the next day.
On Thursday, a Franklin County judge sentenced Kendrick to life in prison without the prospect of parole, rejecting the defendant’s last-ditch pleas for “one more chance” to see the outside of prison walls.
According to the Columbus Dispatch, in requesting one more shot, the 35-year-old admitted aggravated murderer, kidnapping, and corpse abuser told Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Andy Miller that the entire criminal justice system is “making me the best version of myself.”
The judge reportedly responded by distinguishing 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 then killed while fueled by a kind of “rage and savagery” as documented in the defendant’s own Snapchat videos.
“Regret is not remorse.” “Regret is feeling sorry for yourself, not sympathy for those you have wronged,” the judge said from the bench, according to the Columbus Dispatch. “The defendant has not accepted responsibility for anything. He still takes a victim position. He claims he tortured and murdered a man and posted it all on social media because he was high and someone tried to steal his wallet.”
After jurors saw 70 Snapchat recordings of Kendrick killing Mendelbaum, the defendant opted to plead guilty and face a sentence.
According to the Columbus Division of Police, Kendrick met Mendelbaum at a gas station in July 2021, invited him back to his hotel room for drinks, murdered him, and then set fire to his body, leaving the victim’s unrecognizable body outside a business complex covered in a shower curtain with zip ties around his ankles, according to local CBS affiliate WBNS.
Police arrested Kendrick after discovering his multiple Snapchat videos. According to the Dispatch, Kendrick submitted the films between 1 and 3 a.m. on July 16, 2021, using the screen name Bleyk Diablo Blanco European.
They showed Mandelbaum on the ground, his face wounded and swollen, with Kendrick standing over him, a knife in his throat. Kendrick threatened to “slice” Mendelbaum, claiming to be the “king of Columbus,” according to the Dispatch.
“I’m the king of the 614,” Kendrick reportedly stated, alluding to Columbus’ area code. “Here’s an example of what happens.”
Other footage allegedly shows an unconscious Mendelbaum, with Kendrick bragging about knocking out the “goddamn loser.” According to the Dispatch, prosecutors planned to introduce further films, including one of Kendrick stomping on Mendelbaum and boasting about it in front of a mirror. Despite the evidence, Kendrick denied involvement in an interview with detectives after his detention.
According to his obituary, Mendelbaum graduated from Upper Arlington High School in Columbus in 2010.