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MURDERED: The Hendricks Family

Episode Summary

For years, David Hendricks was the walking embodiment of the true crime trope “The Husband Did It.” After his family was brutally murdered in their Illinois home back in 1983, police were quick to zero in on him as their main suspect despite the lack of evidence and mostly because… nothing else made any sense. Decades later some still believe in his guilt but knowing what we know now can you still be so sure?

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For our friends in the Deaf and Signing community, you can view an ASL version of this episode HERE.

Episode Info

The Hendricks family on the front porch of their home in May 1983

Photo Source: Reasonable Doubt: A Shocking Story of Lust and Murder in the American Heartland (p. 227)

Becky, Grace and Benjy Hendricks in a department store photo taken three weeks before they were murdered

Photo Source: Reasonable Doubt: A Shocking Story of Lust and Murder in the American Heartland (p. 229)

Susan and David Hendricks on their wedding day, July 28, 1973

Photo Source: Reasonable Doubt: A Shocking Story of Lust and Murder in the American Heartland (p. 230)

Hendricks breaks down at the graveside service for his wife and three children. His mother, Laverne Hendricks, is on the left. His mother-in-law, Nadine Palmer, is on the right. Hendricks was charged with the killings a month later. (AP/Wide World Photos)

Photo Source: Reasonable Doubt: A Shocking Story of Lust and Murder in the American Heartland (p. 244)

Hendricks as he appeared in a television interview the afternoon after the murders were discovered

Photo Source: Reasonable Doubt: A Shocking Story of Lust and Murder in the American Heartland (p. 2436)

Episode Source Material