Sarah Jo Pender

According to Indianapolis Star journalist Vic Ryckaert, Sells "likened her influence over Hull to the control Manson had over his followers, who committed a string of murders in 1969."

Sarah Jo Pender (born May 29, 1979) is an American woman convicted along with her former boyfriend, Richard Edward Hull, of murdering their roommates, Andrew Cataldi and Tricia Nordman, on October 24, 2000, in Indiana.

She has claimed ever since that she is victim of a wrongful conviction.

In 1997, Sarah Jo Pender graduated from Lawrence Central High School.

She went on to attend Purdue University, but dropped out.

She worked as a secretary at Carl E. Most and Sons.

Richard Hull, her boyfriend, worked as a bouncer at a bar.

He had a criminal history that included six misdemeanors and two felony convictions for auto theft and residential entry.

Andrew Cataldi, 24, and Tricia Nordman, 25, were both fugitives from a Nevada Correctional Facility where Nordman was serving time for forgery and Cataldi for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

According to the police, Hull and Cataldi reportedly sold drugs from their place, a fact confirmed by Hull himself.

According to neighbor Jana Frederick, tensions had been growing for three weeks between the couples, as Hull and Cataldi had frequent arguments.

At some point prior to the murders, Hull, who could not legally purchase firearms due to his criminal record, sought to purchase a weapon from the son of Frederick's boyfriend.

He was unsuccessful in this attempt, but later persuaded Pender to purchase a weapon for him.

On the morning of October 24, 2000, Hull drove Pender to a local Walmart to purchase a 12-gauge shotgun, a soda, and condoms.

The clerk who handled the sale of the weapon later reported seeing Hull select the ammunition and bring it to the counter, where Pender then paid for it.

The couple then went for an outing with Pender's parents and returned home around 11 p.m. Shortly after returning, Pender left the building to take a walk.

Hull reported that while Pender was away, an argument broke out between Hull and Cataldi regarding money that Hull's sister, Tabitha, owed to Cataldi.

Hull said that Cataldi, who knew about the recently purchased shotgun, went into Hull's room to attempt to retrieve the weapon.

Hull later told detectives that Cataldi "said he was going to kill my f---ing family".

Hull said he attempted to prevent Cataldi's actions, which resulted in a physical struggle between the two men that ended with Hull shooting Cataldi in the chest and also shooting Nordman in the head as well as the chest.

When Pender returned, both victims were dead and Hull had already placed one of their bodies in the back of a truck owned by his friend Ronnie Herron.

Hull had borrowed the truck on October 23 to remove items from the basement of the building as part of a plan he had with Cataldi to create a methamphetamine lab in collaboration with a chemist from Las Vegas.

Hull and Pender then drove a few blocks away and placed the bodies in a dumpster, where they were later found by Steve Stultz.

On October 25, Pender went to work while Hull borrowed equipment from neighbor Jana Frederick to clean up the blood in the house.

On October 26, the couple went to Noblesville to return the truck to Herron.

Hull then burned several blood-stained items at Herron's home.

On the same day, detectives — who by now had identified the victims — searched Hull and Pender's home.

They found traces of blood, and observed that attempts had been made to conceal the murders.

Hull was arrested in Noblesville on October 27, and confessed to both murders.

On October 28, Pender gave police a pair of blood-stained pants belonging to Hull.

DNA tests confirmed that the blood was that of Nordman and Cataldi.

No DNA evidence was found that linked Pender to the murders for which both she and her boyfriend were charged.

Pender stated later that "after he committed these murders, I did not call the police, but instead stayed with him out of love, fear, loyalty and sheer stupidity."

Pender was 21 years old at the time of the murder.

Sarah Pender's trial was held at Marion Superior Court in July 2002, with James Nave as the defending attorney, Larry Sells as the prosecuting attorney, and presiding judge Jane Magnus-Stinson.

Sells was known for his recently failed campaign to become prosecutor of Hamilton County, in which he had highlighted his success with convicting murderers and violent offenders.

Neither Pender nor Hull testified at the trial.

Citing the fact that Pender had bought the murder weapon on the morning of the murders and that she later helped Hull dispose of the bodies, Sells told the jury that she had planned the murders and had manipulated Hull into committing them.

She came to national attention in August 2008 after she escaped from the Rockville Correctional Facility and was featured on America's Most Wanted.

She was recaptured by police in December at a house in Chicago.