Judge calls Vampire cult leader ‘irreparably corrupt,’ denies shorter prison sentence

Welcome to Crime Watch Daily Update briefings. Today we are looking back on a case originally covered on Crime Watch Daily in 2016.

On Nov. 25, 1996, Rod Ferrell killed Richard Wendorf and Naoma Ruth Queen, whose daughter left with Ferrell to join his vampire cult, by beating them with a tire iron. Initially sentened to death, a Supreme Court deicision changed the sentence to life in prison with the possibility of parole because he was a minor when he killed Richard and Naoma. Ferrell sought to lessen his sentence, but in April 2020, Circuit Judge G. Richard Singletary struck down the request and called Ferrell "irreperably corrupt."

He wrote in his decision, "He has adjusted to incarceration, and he has a good prison record. However, the continuation of his pattern of fabrication and manipulation of the narratives of his crimes in order to serve his own interest demonstrates that he is neither changed nor rehabilitated."

Let's take a look back at the case, including an interview with Ferrell himself.