CLAY COUNTY, Fla. — A Clay County jury has recommended life imprisonment for a man convicted of killing a client about four years ago.
Corey Binderim was stoic and emotionless as he learned he will spend the rest of his life behind bars for murdering Susan Mauldin.
Binderim is accused of killing 65-year-old Mauldin, who had paid Binderim $12,000 for work on her Fleming Island home's bathroom, but she said Binderim demolished the bathroom and didn't finish the job, according to police records. He was convicted of first-degree murder Monday.
First-degree murder is punishable by the death penalty in Florida. There were seven votes in favor of the death penalty and five for life imprisonment without the possibility for parole from the jury. The threshold to move a death sentencing forward is eight votes.
“He’ll spend the rest of his natural life in Florida state prison,” said State Attorney Melissa Nelson.
By a vote of 7-5, Binderim will not be executed, an outcome his attorney argued before the jury.
“Life without the possibility of parole holds Corey Binderim fully accountable, for justice to be done,” said defense attorney Jim Hernandez.
Mauldin was reported missing Oct. 24, 2019. Deputies said Binderim was the last to see her, and said initially he cooperated in the investigation, but he then disappeared.
Binderim was located and arrested on other charges in Jacksonville on Dec. 3, 2019. 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.
The Florida Times-Union reported that Mauldin planned to sue Binderim. A friend testified Mauldin had intended to call the police during the trial.
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."
“It ended with a 10-day search in a landfill with hundreds of individuals from all departments coming out and assisting,” said a representative from the FBI after the sentence was delivered.
The state attorney’s office sought death for Binderim, but State Attorney Melissa Nelson accepted that he will spend his life in prison.
"The defendant has two daughters who asked the jury to grant mercy and they did, we really appreciate the jury’s significant service on this case," said Nelson.
Binderim will be formally charged during another hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. on Oct. 29.