Chelsea Perkins is a killer from Virginia who has been convicted of the murder of Matthew Dunmire in Ohio
According to court documents Matthew Dunmire would tell coworkers that he was meeting a woman who was in town for the weekend. That would be the last time he would be seen alive
According to authorities Chelsea Perkins would lure Matthew Dunmire into a wooded area where she would execute him. After killing him Perkins would then go off and get a new tattoo
Authorities would learn about the killing about five days after Matthew Dunmire would go missing and soon the trail would lead back to Chelsea Perkins.
Chelsea Perkins would claim that she was sexually assaulted by Matthew Dunmire but would ultimately plead guilty to second degree murder instead of going to trial
She will be sentenced at a later date
Chelsea Perkins Case
A Virginia woman accused of shooting and killing a Northeast Ohio man in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park has taken a plea deal less than a week before the case was set to go to trial.
Chelsea Perkins, 35, pleaded guilty to second degree murder and using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
Murder in a national park
Prosecutors said Perkins, a veteran, traveled from out of state to meet the victim before killing him and trying to cover up her tracks.
Hikers discovered Matthew Dunmire’s body in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in March of 2021.
The 31-year-old was killed by a gunshot wound to the back of the head.
According to federal court documents, Dunmire told his coworkers just days before his murder that he was planning to meet a woman coming in from out of town over the weekend.
They were out at a bar together when coworkers saw a woman with brown hair pick him up in a white smart car.
And that was the last time they saw him.
Months after his death, FBI agents arrested Chelsea Perkins, 31 years old at the time, in Florida.
Documents show they tracked the white smart car that picked up the victim back to a U.S. Coast Guardsman who used to live in northern Virginia with his wife Chelsea Perkins and their two young children.
Agents discovered she had reserved an Airbnb in Cleveland and GPS data from Dunmire’s phone showed he had been there.
According to court documents, witnesses later told investigators they saw a woman who matched Chelsea Perkins’ description on the park trail on the day of the murder.
They said she looked suspicious because she was wearing all-black clothing and knee-high boots instead of hiking clothes.
Turnpike records revealed Perkins drove from Ohio to Michigan that same day to get a tattoo.
According to prosecutors, she left an evidence trail behind.
They said her DNA matched samples taken from Dunmire.
Nine months after Dunmire’s murder, his accused killer was indicted by a federal grand jury.
Chelsea Perkins faced a firearms charge and two counts of murder.
Case has faced delays
This case was originally set to go to trial in February 2022, but that date was pushed back at least four times.
Court records had indicated her attorneys planned to claim the deadly shooting was self-defense.
Back in 2017, Perkins had previously accused Dunmire of rape.
But he was not prosecuted.
In March 2024, Perkins rejected a plea deal that offered 27 to 31 years behind bars, meaning she would be in her 60s when she completed her sentence.
Victim’s mother searched for answers
We spoke with Matthew’s uncle, Dan Dunmire, a year ago.
“Yeah, it was it was a shock as you can imagine especially as the details started to come out,” Dunmire said.
He told us his nephew was an aspiring musician who came to Cleveland after growing up in Virginia.
“I mean if you have you ever met him, I mean, you couldn’t even think this kid could harm a flea nonetheless, you know harm anyone else,” Dunmire said.
After Matthew’s death, his mother Tommie who was living on the East Coast tried to track down the suspect on her own, according to her brother, Dan Dunmire.
But investigators said she shot the wrong woman at a home in Washington D.C., where she knocked on the front door disguised as a UPS driver.
That woman survived. But as police closed in, Tommie took her own life.
“It was like a movie. It was all so surreal,” Dunmire said.
“You know losing Matthew and then his mother. What six months later? I mean– it’s been rough. It’s been a rough couple of years,” he said.
What’s next
The court still has to accept Perkins’ plea deal.
She faces 20 to 25 years in prison and has already been behind bars for more than three years.
The federal public defender’s office representing Chelsea Perkins told us they had no comment in this case.
Sentencing has been set for Sept. 9.
https://www.cleveland19.com/2025/05/27/woman-pleads-guilty-killing-man-cuyahoga-valley-national-park