Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault

Jury Convicts Man of Murder, Forcible Sodomy, Abduction, Malicious Wounding After Killing 1 Norfolk Woman in 2021, Assaulting 2 Others in 2023

NORFOLK, Va. — A jury convicted Thomas John O’Bryen, 43, on Friday of second-degree murder, abduction, forcible sodomy, attempted forcible sodomy, two counts of malicious wounding, and two counts of using a firearm in the commission of those felonies after he attacked three women, killing one of them: in October 2021 when he beat and stabbed the first victim, leaving her to die after she escaped from his moving vehicle; in March 2023 when he shot a second woman while sexually assaulting her; and in April 2023 when he attempted to sexually assault a third woman.

On Oct. 16, 2021, Mr. O’Bryen beat and stabbed 51-year-old Angela Renee Joyner inside his SUV. Ms. Joyner was able to climb out of the window of the moving vehicle before collapsing near the intersection of Tidewater Drive and East Little Creek Road. Bystanders found Ms. Joyner bleeding profusely from her head and called Norfolk Police, and medics rushed Ms. Joyner to the hospital for surgery. Ms. Joyner died the following day. A medical examiner determined Ms. Joyner died from blunt force trauma to her head, and that stab wounds to her hands contributed to her death because they were significant enough that they would have prevented her from opening a door. How Ms. Joyner came to be in Mr. O’Bryen’s SUV is unknown, the police had no leads to connect Mr. O’Bryen to the crime at the time, and Ms. Joyner’s case went unsolved until Mr. O’Bryen was arrested in 2023.

At about 4:00 a.m. on March 26, 2023, the second victim was walking through a parking lot in the Wards Corner area on her way to work when Mr. O’Bryen drove up to her and offered her a ride, which she accepted. When she got into the vehicle, Mr. O’Bryen asked her to give him oral sex. When the victim said no, Mr. O’Bryen pulled out a firearm and forced her to do so. The victim then spat on Mr. O’Bryen, and Mr. O’Bryen shot her in the back of her head before trying to force her to continue performing oral sex. The bullet entered and exited through the back of the victim’s skull, leaving a flesh wound. Feeling herself bleeding and realizing that Mr. O’Bryen was driving faster, the victim opened the passenger door of the SUV and jumped out of the moving vehicle, breaking her ankle in the process. Norfolk Police responded to the victim’s location and took her to the hospital for treatment. During their investigation, police pulled surveillance footage from the parking lot and nearby businesses, and the footage showed Mr. O’Bryen’s vehicle. After investigators distributed photos of the SUV to the police department, an officer located it outside Mr. O’Bryen’s home on Elk Avenue, which was a few minutes away from the parking lot. While the police had linked Mr. O’Bryen’s SUV to the incident, they did not have enough evidence at that point to identify and arrest him.

At about 3:30 a.m. on April 27, 2023, the third victim was walking home in the same area. As she crossed through a parking lot, she noticed Mr. O’Bryen drive by her in a van and make a U-turn. He pulled up next to her and offered her a ride, which she accepted. The victim got into the van and told Mr. O’Bryen where she lived, but soon after they started driving, Mr. O’Bryen asked if she “wanted to have some fun.” The victim declined to have intercourse and offered him oral sex in exchange for money. Mr. O’Bryen agreed, and the victim consensually performed oral sex on Mr. O’Bryen. While Mr. O’Bryen was driving, the victim could feel the vehicle turn in the wrong direction, and so she sat up, asked Mr. O’Bryen where he was going, and asked for her payment. Mr. O’Bryen told the victim to keep performing oral sex, pointed a gun at her head, and grabbed her hair to pull her head toward his lap. The victim opened the passenger door to escape, Mr. O’Bryen reached over to shut it, and the victim put her foot in the doorway to keep it open. Mr. O’Bryen then hit the victim on her head with his gun, and she jumped out of the moving van. The victim hurt her foot in the process and had bruises, gashes and road rash from her fall, but she was able to run to a nearby residence to call 911. Police took the third victim to the hospital and associated her attack with that of the second victim.

Investigators sent officers to the Elk Avenue address where the SUV was still parked. There, the officers also saw the van matching the description from the third victim’s attack, and they waited until morning when Mr. O’Bryen came outside and got into the van. The officers arrested Mr. O’Bryen, and investigators later secured search warrants for his home and vehicles. Inside Mr. O’Bryen’s house, they found Ms. Joyner’s driver’s license and a gun, and in the SUV, they found a single bullet casing which matched the gun inside the house. Homicide detectives traced Mr. O’Bryen’s vehicle records and found an SUV he had sold shortly after he killed Ms. Joyner. The detectives located that vehicle in West Virginia, got permission from the new owners to search the vehicle, and found traces of blood between the center console and passenger seat.

After being read his Miranda rights, Mr. O’Bryen agreed to speak with investigators and admitted to driving around the third victim, receiving oral sex from her, and hitting her on the head before she jumped from the van. When asked about the incident with the second victim, Mr. O’Bryen admitted to driving her around and that she had also jumped from the vehicle, but he denied shooting her. When asked about the first victim, Mr. O’Bryen admitted that he had also had her in his vehicle, that he had cut her with a knife, and that she had climbed out the window. Mr. O’Bryen claimed he did not know Ms. Joyner had died because he did not want to look her up and arouse suspicion that he was her killer.

Based on their investigation, police charged Mr. O’Bryen with second-degree murder for the first victim; abduction, forcible sodomy, aggravated malicious wounding, and using a firearm in the commission of malicious wounding for the second victim; and forcible sodomy, malicious wounding, and using a firearm in the commission of malicious wounding for the third victim. Mr. O’Bryen pleaded not guilty to his charges and opted to be tried by a jury.

A jury heard the evidence over the course of four days beginning on July 11, 2025, and — after about an hour of deliberations — convicted Mr. O’Bryen of second-degree murder, abduction, forcible sodomy, attempted forcible sodomy (a reduced charge from forcible sodomy against the third victim), two counts of malicious wounding (one of those counts being a lesser-included charge of aggravated malicious wounding against the second victim), and two counts of using a firearm in the commission of felonies. Judge Devon R. Paige, who presided over the jury trial, set Mr. O’Bryen’s sentencing hearing on Nov. 7.

While in custody and awaiting trial for the 2021 murder and 2023 attacks, Mr. O’Bryen attacked and repeatedly punched a fellow inmate at the Norfolk City Jail in March 2024, breaking the inmate’s nose and fracturing his skull around his eyes. For that incident, Mr. O’Bryen was charged with malicious wounding and opted to be tried by a judge. After hearing the evidence in a bench trial in December 2024, Judge Mary Jane Hall found Mr. O’Bryen guilty. On Feb. 7, 2025, Judge Hall sentenced Mr. O’Bryen to serve three years in prison and suspended another three years on the conditions that Mr. O’Bryen be of uniform good behavior for the next three years and have no further contact with the victim.

“Mr. O’Bryen’s crimes were violent, premeditated, and devastating for the victims and their families,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “When I say that we focus our work on holding violent individuals accountable, I mean cases like these. My heart goes out to the victims and their families for what they have suffered. Mr. O’Bryen poses a grave danger to other people, and we will seek a sentence that will fit the serious crimes he has committed and will protect the public from further harm at his hands.”

Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Emily A. Woodley and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney J. Drew Fairbanks are prosecuting Mr. O’Bryen’s cases, and Norfolk Police Detectives Kyle D. Austin and Richard J. Wampler led the investigations.

If you and/or someone you love has fallen victim to a crime — including but not limited to sexual violence — resources are available at the Norfolk Family Justice Center. For more information, please visit norfolkfjc.org, call 757-330-0376, or stop by the NFJC located at 835 Glenrock Road, Suite 100, between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays. If you are in crisis, call the 24/7 hotline by dialing 757-251-0144. In an emergency, please call 911.

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