Austin Todd Stryker will spend life behind bars for the 2019 murder of Hannah Bender
News December 17, 2021
DAWSON COUNTY, Ga. – Austin Todd Stryker, 24, of Dahlonega will spend the rest of his life behind bars for the 2019 murder of 21-year-old Hannah Bender.
Superior Court Judge Kathleen F. Gosselin handed down the sentence Wednesday, saying,“I cannot in good conscience give you the hope of parole in this case.” she added. Gosselin the murder was as “cold and manipulative” as any she had seen.
Stryker was convicted in November of shooting and stabbing the Lumpkin County woman 32 times and burying her body in a shallow grave. He was also convicted on 24 charges related to Bender’s death, including malice murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, violating the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act (SGTPA), concealing the death of another, and evidence tampering.
Austin Stryker found guilty in the murder of a Lumpkin County woman
Featured News, Featured Stories, News November 11, 2021
Austin Stryker
HALL COUNTY, Ga. — Austin Stryker was found guilty of the September 2019 murder of Hannah Bender Wednesday.
The Dawsonville man was convicted of 24 criminal charges including malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and violations of the state Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.
Isaac Thomas Huff and Dylan Patrick Reid, both of Dawsonville, testified that Stryker lured Bender from her home with the promise of a trip to Florida then shot her as they drove through Dawson County and stabbed when she did not die from the shooting.
Bender’s mother reported the Lumpkin County woman missing in on September 14, 2019. Her body was found three days later in a shallow grave in Dawson County. Stryker fled to Pennsylvania but surrendered to authorities in October.
Man accused of Hannah Bender murder will appear in Superior Court Friday
News April 15, 2021
DAWSON COUNTY, Ga. – Austin Stryker, the man indicted for the grisly murder of 21-year-old Hannah Bender of Lumpkin County in 2019, and Jerry Harper, the man indicted for hindering Stryker’s apprehension, will appear for a calendar call in Dawson County Superior Court Friday (April 16).
Stryker, 24, faces charges of malice murder, felony murder, violation of Georgia’s Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act, concealing the death of another and tampering with evidence.
Harper, 78, was indicted for violation of the state’s street gang law and hindering the apprehension of a criminal.
Jerry Harper
Two other defendants, Isaac Thomas Huff, 20, and Dylan Patrick Reid, 21, pleaded guilty in Superior Court to aggravated assault, tampering with evidence, concealing the death of another and violation of the state’s street gang law. Both men accepted a plea deal for a lighter sentence and have testified that Stryker is the man who murdered Bender. The men were all members of a small street gang called “This.”