What Happened to the Sweet Tooth Killer?

What happens in most serial killer cases is, the killer is caught, processed through the system, and either winds up in a life or death situation, depending on the state.

In Delaware, As of 2016, the death penalty has been off the table. That didn’t sit well with the father of a little boy who was kidnapped from his home, brutally raped, bludgeoned to death, and left to decompose in a marsh in New Castle County.

Known as the “Sweet Tooth Killer,” Lyle Livingston worked as an ice cream truck driver. He would go through neighborhoods, round up children, and put them in the back of his truck, bound and tied. He would then play the music loudly enough to cover their muffled screams. Once he found a grassy area, he would take a large stake and run it through the hearts of his victims.

That father in question, Kendall Rodham, served as the lead witness in Livingston’s trial He had testified about, amongst other things, the few times he had stopped to talk with Livingston before his six year-old son Bernard became one of the victims. Livingston on a few occasions before the abduction of little six-year-old Bernard Rodham.

The boy was just one of the seven children in total who perished because of the Sweet Tooth Killer’s actions in the First State.

Twins Agatha and Amy Griffey had just wanted to cool down after playing in the sun all day. Unfortunately, they were probably disarmed by Livingston’s bright white smile, and offer of sweet pops, so when he asked them to come around to the back of the truck, they didn’t hesitate. They were never seen alive again.

Another victim, eight year-old Mel Noble, had wanted to get some chips and a soda after a few games of pick-up basketball. Livingston followed the same routine; flashing a bright smile, asking the child to meet him around the back then kidnapping and killing the unsuspecting victim.

Seven year-old Goneril Giuseppe had apparently tried to scream after being pushed into the back of the truck, but Livingston quickly silenced her with a thick layer of duct tape. Like the others, she was never seen alive again.

Friends Nat and Quindarius had each tried to escape, but, were quickly incapacitated when Livingston sedated them with barbiturates. The Killer’s M.O. after the abductions and killings was always the same: he brought the victims to a marshy area where he assumed they would decompose more quickly. He was wrong, however, and some of them didn’t. Fisherman Telly Regent, out on his Sunday morning fishing trip, discovered some round objects floating near the banks. These were the bodies of Noble and the twin girls. Nat, Quindarius, Goneril, and Bernard would be found later.

Their conditions varied, but their dental records helped police identify those with the greatest degree of decomposition.

Livingston knew he would not get the death penalty. He acted bizarrely in the courtroom at times. Some days he would be completely silent, others he would yell at the judge. He was found in contempt more than seventeen times. His wicked grin was prominently featured to sensationalize the case in magazines and the Daily Delaware newspaper.

The victims’ families were driven to shout back at him, and some had to be removed.

The trial stretched on for eleven weeks. The jury heard testimonies from children as young as five. Livingston seemed to be without a single care in the world, and the judge found him guilty on all counts. Weeks later, she sentenced him to three life sentences to be served consecutively with no chance for parole.

Though the families became close, and offered each other support, they had been robbed of the joys of their lives. They were of one mind: there would be no forgiveness. They could not take solace in the knowledge that justice had been served.