Ohio – In a disturbing case that left Ohio residents shocked, a 35-year-old Virginia woman, identified as Chelsea P., has been sentenced for the murder of a 31-year-old man, identified as Matthew D., whom she fatally shot in the back of the head inside an Ohio national park after luring him under false pretenses. On May 27, Chelsea admitted in federal court to second-degree murder and using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence in the 2021 killing of Matthew, a man she claimed had indecently assaulted her four years earlier.
Chelsea had filed a police complaint in Virginia in 2017, alleging that Matthew had indecently assaulted her. However, police said there wasn’t enough evidence to pursue charges at the time. That’s when she decided she had to take matters into her own hands. According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Ohio, Chelsea had traveled over 300 miles, where she met with Matthew, whom she knew from high school. She rented an Airbnb where they spent the night before she drove him to the national park. There, she walked with him deep into the park, then shot him once in the back of the head. His body was found three days later by hikers. The chilling murder took place on March 6, 2021, though Matthew’s body wasn’t discovered until March 9. A single gunshot wound to the back of the head was ruled as the cause of death. A water bottle with Chelsea’s DNA was found next to the body, according to federal investigators.
Court documents show that on the night before the murder, Matthew had gone out with co-workers to a bar. He told them he planned to meet a woman in town. His boss watched him leave in a white vehicle—later determined to belong to Chelsea’s husband. Chelsea and Matthew then spent the night at a rented Airbnb. The next morning, they headed to the national park. Around the time of the killing, hikers heard a single gunshot and later saw a woman matching Chelsea’s description wandering in the woods, dressed in black knee-high boots and a hoodie. The woman, later confirmed to be Chelsea, claimed she was lost and looking for a cemetery.
Evidence linking Chelsea to the murder included ballistics tests, GPS data, phone records, and social media exchanges. She had messaged Matthew on social media shortly before driving to the arranged location. Authorities obtained a search warrant for her home and seized matching bullets. Her DNA was also found on Matthew’s body and items at the scene. During her initial interview with investigators in March 2021, Chelsea denied any involvement in the murder. However, nine months later, on December 9, 2021, she was arrested and charged after the FBI concluded their investigation.
After rejecting a previous plea deal that would have sentenced her to over 27 years, Chelsea ultimately accepted a deal that reduced her charge from first-degree to second-degree murder, sparing her from a mandatory life sentence. On Tuesday, September 9, 2025, Chelsea was sentenced to 22 ½ years in federal prison. Prosecutors described her actions as a “coldly calculated intention to cause his death” and criticized what they called a lack of remorse. In court, they pointed out that she had attempted to fabricate a suicide note on her phone after the murder and had driven to Michigan afterward to get a tattoo of a noose on her forearm. Chelsea addressed the court, saying she took full responsibility.
The case took a dark turn when, frustrated by the delay in prosecution, Matthew’s parents tried to take justice into their own hands. In November 2021, his mother and father drove to Washington, D.C., in search of Chelsea. The victim’s mother disguised herself as a UPS worker and shot a woman she believed to be Chelsea twice in the abdomen. The victim turned out to be an unrelated bystander who survived the attack. The pair fled but were eventually caught after a high-speed chase in Florida. The mother fatally shot herself as police closed in, while the father was arrested and later sentenced to three years in prison for being an accessory after the fact to assault with intent to kill.
Matthew’s family described him in his obituary as a “free spirit” who loved music, his guitar, and time with friends. His tragic death, followed by a violent ripple effect involving both the accused and his grieving parents, underscores the devastating consequences of unresolved trauma, unproven accusations, and misguided vengeance. With sentencing now complete, Chelsea will spend the next two decades in federal custody—the final outcome of a meticulously planned murder carried out under the guise of justice.
