Family Grieves Plea Bargain in Middle Tennessee Rape, Murder Case of Young Mother

A Middle Tennessee family is furious with the judicial system after two men are allowed to plead to lower charges for the rape and murder of Fairview's Carolyn Pope.

The Pope family feels at a complete loss. Not only did their loved one's killers get reduced sentences, they say they were told to rewrite their victim's impact statements and then were not allowed to read them in court.

Carolyn Pope's body was found in a ditch in remote Hickman County wrapped in plastic and covered in sticks two weeks after her disappearance back in October of 2019. She was only 29.

The young mother's autopsy revealed heroin, fentanyl and meth were in her bloodstream but also noted that asphyxia and hypothermia could not be ruled out as causes of death. The case quickly moved from drug overdose to murder when the stories of suspects Mitchell Hinderliter and Chris Hall fell apart.

"They had admissions, they had videos, statements from other people, text messages, and they had a mountain of evidence," said family friend Tori Hayes.

That mountain of evidence lead to multiple charges. Both men were charged with first degree murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.

Hinderliter was charged with rape and Hall was charged with an accessory to rape.

The two men admitted to shooting up Pope with heroin and then making a video of her rape.

Nevertheless, district attorney Hans Schwendimann immediately felt there were problems with the case.

"And one of the reasons that they told us they couldn't' really prosecute for the rape was because she was unconscious in the video so they couldn't tell if she was alive or not," Hayes says.

The rape charge wouldn't be the only charge to drop off. The two men were allowed to plead down to second degree murder.

Chris Hall ended up pleading to 12 years at 30 percent, which means he is already eligible for parole.

Hinderliter pleaded guilty to second degree murder 15 years at 100 percent, and then seven more years at 30 percent.

The family feels betrayed. What started out as possible life sentences just dropped.

"There was video of her being raped," Hayes said. "But we couldn't go to trial because there wasn't enough evidence? They didn't think we could get a conviction. I'm going to go with 12 people seeing all that evidence. I know I would have convicted on that jury. There was a mountain of stuff."

To add insult to injury, the family says that judge did not allow them to read their own victim impact statement.

"I wanted to look them in the face because their back was to us," said Pope's grandmother, Ann Pope. "We need to look them in the face and just see what was there. Why and how could you do such a thing? It was a horrendous crime. And it was all there. They had it."

Meanwhile, Pope leaves behind her now 9-year-old daughter Ellie who is still struggling to believe her Mom is gone forever.

"For the first year, two years, every time she would see a little car go down the road like our Mom's, she would run to the edge of the yard and watch it to see if it was going to turn around," Ann Pope said. "To see if it was her Mama coming, and of course her Mom never came."

"It broke my heart because even now I'm not sure that she actually realizes that she is actually gone," said Grandma Pople.

But Carolyn Pope is actually gone. And the people who love her thinks she deserves better.

"But I absolutely feel like if she was not known for being a drug addict, and if she had not had those problems, there would have absolutely been a different outcome," said Tori Hayes.

FOX 17 News spoke with District Attorney Hans Schwendimann who said, "This was a decision made with input from the family and the explanation of the possible outcomes in the jury trial. I recognize no sentence can make up for the loss of a loved one and my sympathy and support remain with the family and friends of Carolyn Pope."

District attorney's are not allowed to talk about the details of their cases. But other people close to the case say some of the best statements were made by notorious liars and that these sentences are actually a victory considering the possible outcome.