CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – On Wednesday, a Clay County jury heard testimony as they considered whether to recommend the death penalty for Corey Binderim.
Monday, that jury found Binderim, 49, guilty of first-degree murder, burglary, and evidence tampering related to the 2019 death of 65-year-old Susan Mauldin at her Fleming Island Home.
RELATED| Clay County contractor found guilty of murdering client in 2019 | Inmate testifies that Clay County contractor confessed he killed client over money dispute
She had hired Binderim as a contractor to do home remodeling in 2018, but after paying him $12,000 and with the project left unfinished for months, she threatened to call the police if he didn’t pay her back. That’s when, the prosecution said, he strangled her and took her body to a landfill.
The defense spent hours Wednesday presenting testimony about their client’s background, drug use, and brain injuries.
The court also heard from friends of the victim for the first time about what it was like losing her. Known as Sue, she was originally from Britain. At the time of her death, she was a widow with no family in the area, but she was surrounded by a supportive community of friends. She was part of the British Club, a garden club, and a knitting circle, and she loved her cat, Jags football, gardening, and entertaining.
Her friends remembered her as generous, kind and a true friend.
“To know Sue was to love Sue,” said her friend Phyllis Yates.
“The emotional toll of this is not something that fades with time,” said Mauldin’s friend Christine Wright. “It’s a permanent scar that I’ve got to carry with me. She was not just a victim. She was someone full of life with so much still ahead of her. There were plans left unfinished, things still were on her bucket list.”
The prosecution argued Binderim deserves the death penalty because the crime was premeditated, committed for financial gain and to avoid arrest and because he had a previous felony conviction. Binderim was sentenced to seven years in prison for aggravated battery with a gun in connection to a shooting when he was 17 years old.
They also noted a family history of mental illness, Binderim’s attempts to self-medicate with cocaine, his rough childhood, and brain damage from more than five concussions, some of them from playing football in high school.
A neurologist presented scans of Binderim’s brain, testifying traumatic injury had led to CTE, which is a disease that can lead to behavior changes and issues with impulse control.
Binderim’s family members asked the jury for mercy. His two adult daughters, who were not in court Wednesday, provided a statement that was read by a representative.
“He wanted to impart to us the importance of education and making good decisions,” they said. “Teaching us these lessons at an early age showed us how much he loved us. Dad tried his best to lead by example and steer us toward success and happiness, which is one reason this tragic crime has been so hard for us to understand. We cannot imagine dad hurting anyone. He has never been violent. He has been a protective and loving father to us throughout our lives.”
Sentencing is expected to continue on Thursday.