A 51-year-old Stafford man already locked up on sexual assault and obscenity charges is now accused of trying to arrange the murder of a victim from that same case while behind bars. Christopher L. Tinnermon was charged Wednesday with one count of criminal solicitation to commit murder-for-hire and one count of attempted aggravated murder-for-hire, according to authorities.
The charges stem from an investigation that began after the Office of Stafford County Sheriff was alerted to a possible murder-for-hire plot involving an incarcerated individual. Detectives determined that Tinnermon attempted to arrange the murder of the victim from his previous case, the office said, after he had already been charged and incarcerated for several sexual assault and obscenity offenses.
Investigators gathered available evidence on Tinnermon and the alleged plot, then interviewed him on Wednesday. According to the sheriff's office, Tinnermon made statements that matched evidence gathered during the investigation. Detectives also executed search warrants that day as the case came together.
Held Without Bond at Rappahannock Regional Jail
Tinnermon, who resides in Stafford, remains held without bond at Rappahannock Regional Jail. The sheriff's office said the investigation is active and ongoing, and credited the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office for its assistance and partnership in the case.
Virginia's criminal solicitation statute, Virginia Code § 18.2-29, states that a person who commands, entreats or otherwise attempts to persuade another person to commit a felony other than murder is guilty of a Class 6 felony. The statute underscores how seriously Virginia law treats efforts to convince someone else to carry out a crime, even when the plan does not succeed.
A Separate Plot Uncovered Months Earlier
Tinnermon's case is not the only alleged murder-for-hire or murder-plot matter the sheriff's office has investigated this year. In a separate case from June, deputies detained two suspects at a Wawa on Garrisonville Road after responding to a reckless-driving report, according to the Stafford County Sheriff's Office. A search of the vehicle turned up opened alcoholic beverages, multiple knives, medical items and a notebook detailing a murder plot.
That notebook, investigators found, belonged to 19-year-old Louis Conely of Stafford. The sheriff's office said Conely and a juvenile had developed two detailed murder plots against the juvenile's family. Conely was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder, two counts of felony threats in writing and several additional offenses; the sheriff's office said that investigation also remained active and ongoing, with no further information released at the time. The June case is separate from Tinnermon's and the two have not been connected by investigators.
No additional details about Tinnermon's previous sexual assault and obscenity case, including the identity of the victim or how the alleged plot was arranged, have been released. The sheriff's office said its investigation into the murder-for-hire allegations remains active and ongoing.
