A woman from Alexandria, Virginia, Chelsea Perkins, has been sentenced to 22.5 years in prison for the murder of Matthew Dunmire at Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio. U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. handed down the sentence after Perkins pleaded guilty in May to second-degree murder and using or carrying and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence on federal property. In addition to her prison term, Perkins will serve five years of supervised release following her imprisonment. The amount of restitution is yet to be determined.
According to court documents, the incident occurred in March 2021 when Perkins drove more than 300 miles from Virginia to Ohio in her husband’s Smart car to meet Dunmire, whom she knew. After spending a night together at a vacation rental home, Perkins drove Dunmire to Cuyahoga Valley National Park on March 6. They hiked into a wooded area where Perkins shot Dunmire in the back of the head with a loaded firearm she had brought with her. She then left the scene and traveled to Michigan where she got a tattoo of a noose on her forearm before returning to Virginia.
Investigators linked Perkins to the shooting through several pieces of evidence. A search warrant executed at her home resulted in the discovery of three 9mm pistols, one of which was found inside a purse containing her photo identification and later tested positive for her DNA. Authorities also recovered a deleted note from Perkins’ cellphone that appeared to be a fake suicide note allegedly written by Dunmire around the time his body was discovered by hikers.
The investigation involved multiple agencies: FBI Cleveland Division, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, National Park Service Investigative Branch, Valley View Police Department, and Cuyahoga Valley National Park Police Department.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Scott Zarzycki, Margaret A. Kane, and Adam J. Joines for the Northern District of Ohio.
