Susan Mauldin was fed up.
After spending thousands of dollars on a complete bathroom renovation in her Fleming Island home in Florida‘s Clay County was not only unfinished, but completely demolished.
Mauldin decided she would confront her contractor, Corey Binderim, and sue him for not finishing the job.
On October 24, 2019, Binderim called the 65-year-old homeowner twice before going to a hardware store to get items. A day later she disappeared.
After a quick visit to Mauldin’s home, 49-year-old Binderman drove across the state line into South Georgia and dumped 300 pounds of material at a landfill place. In January 2020, the FBI discovered Mauldin’s remains at the landfill, with the coroner ruling that she had been knocked down and strangled.
Nearly five years later, on October 14, Binderman sat emotionless as he was found guilty of murder.
State’s Attorney Ashley Terry said in her opening statement last week that Binderman had the “façade of a respectable contractor” who “discarded Mauldin like the trash he thought she was.”
Binderman was convicted of three felonies, including first-degree murderassault and battery during a burglary, and destroying evidence on October 14. Two days later, he narrowly avoided the death penalty, with the jury instead recommending that he receive life in prison without parole.
On Wednesday, Binderman’s attorney, Jim Hernandez, filed a motion asking for a new trial.
Mauldin disappears
Wanted notice from Clay County Sheriff’s Office after she went missing in October 2019 (Clay County Sheriff’s Office)
Mauldin would confront Binderim seeking reparations for her unfinished bathroom.
Binderim was hired for $12,000 to renovate Mauldin’s bathroom but repeatedly failed to work or complete the task, court documents show. He told detectives he thought it was a $1,200 job.
According to prosecutors, a day before her disappearance on October 23, 2019, she was expected to give the contractor an ultimatum threatening criminal and legal action.
She did not know that weeks before the murder, Binderim made a joke to an employee, Leigh Stansbury, about where to bury a body, the employee testified.
Then, on October 24, 2019, Mauldin disappeared.
At approximately 7:00 a.m. ET that morning, CCTV footage shows Binderim visiting a Home Depot where he purchased heavy demolition bags and two 60-pound bags of concrete, according to an affidavit.
Binderim sits in court as he is sentenced for the murder of Susan Mauldin on October 14, 2024 (News4Jax)
According to prosecutors, one of those bags would become the victim’s shroud.
After calling Mauldin twice, Binderim pulled up in front of her house in his white truck at about 8 a.m.
He initially denied entering the home, but later told investigators he entered her property to retrieve some tools.
By 9 a.m., he had arrived at the Rosemary Hill Waste Management transfer facility in Clay County. It sent waste to a factory in Folkston, Georgia.
He then returned to his storage unit before going to the hardware store again, prosecutors said.
On October 25, 2019, Mauldin’s girlfriend reported her missing.
The evidence is piling up
Binderim was indicted in January 2020 as he was charged with Mauldin’s murder (Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Florida)
Duval County jail records show Binderim was booked on an unrelated forgery charge and was held on a $50,000 bond in December 2019.
It was completely separate from the missing Mauldin case, but Binderim had been a person of interest since November 2019 when authorities investigated the victim’s death.
At Mauldin’s home, crime scene technicians found blood stains on a lampshade and drops of blood on the living room floor, as well as blood in the kitchen, according to the arrest warrant.
Binderim also had deep scratches on his arms.
During a search of Binderim’s storage unit, a K-9 unit smelled decomposition coming from a tool bag that had been in Mauldin’s home.
A prison informant incarcerated with Binderim gave a damning account, claiming the defendant admitted to beating and choking a client during an argument over payment.
“He said she started getting loud and he was trying to shut her up,” he testified last week.
Find Maudlin
Susan Mauldin was murdered after complaining about poor quality work on a kitchen renovation (Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Florida)
As of January 21, 2020, the FBI, along with investigators from the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and State Attorney’s Office, led the extensive search of the Chesser Island Road landfill in Folkston, Georgia.
About 40 staff members worked 12-hour shifts and roamed an area the size of a baseball diamond, investigators said.
“This is like looking for a needle in a haystack,” State’s Attorney Melissa Nelson said at Bindermin’s arraignment in January 2020.
After nine days of searching through more than 7,300 tons of trash, Mauldin’s remains were found, according to Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels.
One member of the team came across part of a skull and more remains were found the next day, and dental records confirmed they belonged to Mauldin.
“What took place in her home, which truly provided her with safety and comfort, is now a constant reminder of the horror and loss of my true friend,” Mauldin’s friend Christine Wright told the court.
Dr. Edmund Donoghue, a forensic pathologist who performed an autopsy, ruled the manner of death a homicide.
He concluded that the cause of death was blunt force trauma, with ‘strangulation’ being a contributing condition, due to a broken bone in Mauldin’s neck.
Binderim was arrested on March 3, 2020.
During Binderim’s criminal trial last week, the defense also called doctors to testify about his addictions and brain injuries, which may have led to behavioral changes.
They noted a family history of mental illness, Binderim’s attempts to self-medicate with cocaine, and brain damage from more than five concussions, some from playing football in high school.
Bindermin now faces a life sentence.