NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – A Norfolk General District Court judge denied bond Tuesday morning for Thomas O’Bryen, a man accused of killing a woman and abducting two others in a string of crimes dating back to 2021.
O’Bryen is charged with second-degree murder in the October 2021 death of 51 year-old Angela Joyner.
The case of Joyner’s death originally sat cold, until last month, when police uncovered evidence linking O’Bryen to her killing.
On March 26, police said that O’Bryen offered a woman a ride to work after spotting her walking on Granby Street before 4 a.m. They say she got in his car, and he showed her a gun and demanded that she perform oral sex. They say she complied, and O’Bryen shot her in the back of the head and demanded she continue. O’Bryen later told police that he did see the woman, but he never shot her.
The woman escaped the vehicle and called 9-1-1.
On April 27, police said O’Bryen again picked up a pedestrian and demanded oral sex from her. That woman escaped and called for help.
Prosecutors said that surveillance video links O’Bryen to the vehicle used in the crimes. During a search of his residence, investigators found Joyner’s I.D. O’Bryen allegedly told them that he gave Joyner a ride and showed her a knife, and Joyner then escaped from the vehicle and fell to the ground.
A medical examiner’s report showed that Joyner suffered stab wounds and injuries consistent with falling out of a vehicle.
O’Bryen, in addition to the second-degree murder charge, faces several other charges, including two counts of sodomy, one count of aggravated malicious wounding, two counts of use of a firearm in commission of a felony, one count of abduction and one count of malicious wounding.
His attorney told the judge that O’Byren had been a plumber in Norfolk for 22 years. She said all of his family lives in the area, and that he could live with his son in Norfolk if granted bond. She said he is not a flight risk.
O’Byren remains in custody and is due back in court for a preliminary hearing July 19.
