Adult performer sentenced in Cuyahoga Valley National Park murder

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - A military veteran and adult performer, now turned convicted killer, was just sentenced to 22 and a half years in federal prison for the murder of a local man in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Chelsea Perkins, 35, blamed the killing on PTSD from past sex assaults.

“There’s no real way to put value on a human life,” the judge said during the sentencing hearing in federal court in Cleveland.

Back in May, Perkins pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge and using a gun in the murder of Matthew Dunmire.

She faced 20 to 25 years in prison.

The judge ultimately landed on a sentence in the middle.

Tuesday, family flew in from out of state for the convicted killer and the victim.

There are no cameras allowed in federal court.

Chelsea Perkins apologized to the victim’s family.

“I take full responsibility for what I’ve done,” she said.

Perkins, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, smiled at her sister and made a heart sign to her with her hands during proceedings.

At the time of the murder, Perkins was a mother of young children and married to a U.S. Coast Guard member.

She also ran an OnlyFans account.

Perkins admitted to traveling from Virginia to meet the victim, Matthew Dunmire, in March 2021 before killing him.

Prosecutors said she then tried to cover up her tracks.

The two previously knew each other, and she had accused him of rape a few years earlier, but no charges were ever filed.

Prosecutors said revenge was the motive for Dunmire’s murder.

Investigators found Dunmire and Perkins spent the night together at an Airbnb in Cleveland before he was found murdered near a cemetery in the national park in Valley View.

Since this happened on federal land, it became a federal case investigated by the FBI.

According to prosecutors, Perkins left an evidence trail behind, including turnpike records of her driving her husband’s car across several states and records showing she got a tattoo of a noose on her arm in Michigan the same day she murdered Dunmire.

Federal agents later executed a search warrant at her Virginia home and found three 9mm pistols.

One was in a purse with Perkins’ photo identification.

Prosecutors said that firearm later tested positive for Perkins’ DNA.

Investigators also said Perkins had deleted a note on her cell phone that appeared to be a fake suicide note she had written as if it was from Dunmire.

“It was a coldly, calculated intention to cause his death,” one of the prosecutors said in court.

“What I see here today is a lack of remorse,” he said, addressing the defense’s argument of her being triggered by PTSD.

Dunmire, an aspiring musician and father, was 31 years old when he was killed.

At the beginning of the sentencing hearing the judge heard from both sides, including the sister of Chelsea Perkins.

“My sister is not a violent person, she has a very big heart,” she said.

“My heart is heavy today for my family and for the family of Matthew. This never should have happened,” she said.

Matthew Dunmire’s father said “my son was a good person too and now his children have no father.”

“I was in the Marine Corps and never met anyone as evil or vile,” said Dan Dunmire, Matthew’s uncle.

“Someone who can do this can do it to anyone,” he said.

Dunmire’s uncle later told us he believes Perkins got off easy.

Before he read his sentence, Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. said he agreed with prosecutors that her motive was revenge.

But he also believed her lifetime of trauma, spoken about in detail by the defense, should be taken into account.

“She creates some trauma on herself, because of her trauma,” Oliver Jr. said.

“She wasn’t living a lifestyle conducive to being a good mother, that’s just a fact,” he continued.

The judge said this was one of the most difficult cases he had ever had.

The defense team told 19 Investigates after sentencing “we respect the court’s decision and the compassion shown to Chelsea.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office told us they were “unable to comment beyond the press release.”

Perkins was also ordered to serve five years of supervised release after she is released from prison.

The judge said they will address restitution at a later date.

The defense asked the judge for Perkins to serve time in a federal prison in West Virginia to be closer to her family and the judge agreed to the recommendation.

Perkins will be in her early 50s counting time served when she gets out of prison.

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