CLAY COUNTY, Fla. — Four years later, the man accused in the death of a Clay County woman whose remains were found in a landfill in 2020 has been found guilty. He was accused of first-degree murder, which is punishable by the death penalty in Florida, burglary with assault or battery and evidence tampering.
He will be sentenced Oct. 16 at 9 a.m.
Binderim was accused of killing Susan Mauldin, who was 65 when she was killed. Mauldin had paid Binderim $12,000 to work on her Fleming Island home's bathroom, but she said he demolished the bathroom and didn't complete the work, according to police records. The Florida Times-Union reported that Mauldin planned to sue Binderim. During the trial, a friend testified she had intended to call the police.
Mauldin was reported missing Oct. 24, 2019. Police say Mauldin was the last to see her, and initially he cooperated in the investigation, but he then disappeared.
Binderim was located and arrested on other charges in Jacksonville on Dec. 3, 2019. Then Mauldin's remains were found at Chesser Island Road Landfill in Folkston, Georgia on Jan. 29, 2020. Police announced Binderim would be charged in the murder shortly after.
An investigation by the Clay County Sheriff's Office showed that Binderim went to a Fleming Island Home Depot Oct. 24 2019 -- the day Mauldin went missing -- buying two 60-pound bags of concrete and large heavy-duty construction debris bags. They discovered he went to Mauldin's neighborhood and called her twice.
Video surveillance showed Binderim backed his pickup truck up to her garage about 8 a.m. that morning, then left a few minutes later, went to his home for 15 minutes and then drove to Rosemary Hill landfill in Clay County, dumping "approximately 300 pounds."
Police say they knew to search the Chesser Island Landfill because trash from Rosemary Hill is taken there.
“Medical waste, rotten food, dirty diapers, blood tubes from dialysis, the most disgusting things a person can think of, those items served as the burial ground for Ms. Mauldin," said the State Attorney Ashley Terry during opening statements. “He tossed her out like the garbage he thought she was."
Binderim's arrest warrant says other evidence included scratches on his arm and hand and blood found in Mauldin's home.
A CCSO K-9 also detected the odor of decomposition on Binderim’s tool bag and a plastic bin when a search was made of his storage unit, according to the warrant.