Inset left to right: Kristie Lynch and James Lynch (Norfolk Police Department). Background: The apartment complex where the Lynches killed Jose Moreno in Norfolk, Va. (Google Maps).
A Virginia woman has learned her fate for the humiliating tag-team murder of a lodger she killed with her husband's help.
In September 2025, Kristie Lynch, 46, was found guilty by a jury of her peers in Norfolk on one count of murder in the first degree over the death of 45-year-old Jose Moreno. The month prior, her husband, James Lynch, 53, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the case.
And for the same crime, despite orders of degree, and different paths to guilt, the couple were each sentenced to spend 25 years in prison.
James Lynch was sentenced last year. Kristie Lynch was finally sentenced on Friday by Norfolk Circuit Court Judge David Lannetti.
The victim met the since-condemned pair at their church in 2022. They then invited him to live at their apartment because he had "nowhere to go." Moreno suffered from a physical disability that required him to use a walker. In return for living with them, the Lynches required the disabled man to use a portion of Supplemental Security Disability Income for rent and contribute to chores around the house.
But there were consequences for failure to abide by house rules.
The husband would later admit he and his wife physically "punished" Moreno on several occasions because he did not pay the rent on time, and because he did not complete household chores as expected.
The boarder was even punished when he dared to speak to his own family on the phone using Spanish – in those instances, he would be beaten and have his phone taken away, authorities said.
In the days leading up to the murder, James Lynch beat the victim with a frying pan, bashing in his head. The husband then refused to take Moreno to the hospital because he did not want to be arrested. The couple also hit the victim with a baseball bat and strangled him with a belt and dog leash. Prosecutors believe Moreno died on Aug. 9, 2023.
"This case is one of the most heinous ways to murder someone that I could imagine," Senior Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Emily Woodley said during the sentencing, according to a courtroom report by The Virginian-Pilot.
For two days, the slain man's corpse remained in the residence because the Lynches were reticent about reporting his death. Finally, they called 911 after speaking to a pastor about the situation.
The Norfolk Police Department responded to their apartment on Mariner's Way and found Moreno's naked body at the bottom of a staircase underneath a blanket. The victim was covered in bruises and cuts and had ligature marks on his neck. An autopsy determined Moreno died from a combination of strangulation and blunt force trauma. The couple were arrested days after the murder.
The Lynches told investigators an argument turned physical and they both hit him with a frying pan and then beat him on the head and knees with the baseball bat, according to court documents obtained by Hampton-based ABC affiliate WVEC. The killers also admittedly placed a "dog leash around his neck" and "to causing victim's injuries."
Kristie Lynch told police that Moreno had assaulted her that day by making non-consensual contact over her cloth. She then challenged her husband to "man up," "grow a set" and "go take care of your boy," according to prosecutors.
James Lynch claimed that when he attacked, the victim began to kick him and fight him off. Moreno "was possessed with a 'demon'-like strength and would not be subdued," he claimed, despite being nearly a foot taller and more than double Moreno's weight.
Inside the apartment, investigators found blood all over. Telltale marks of crimson were spattered on walls, floors and the ceiling of the kitchen as well as the stairwell into the hallway on the second floor.
"The word 'shocking' has been overused but the suffering that they Lynches inflicted on Mr. Moreno – a disabled man they claimed to have been 'helping' and who had 'nowhere to go' – is truly shocking," Commonwealth's Attorney Ramin Fatehi said in a statement. "It is possible to kill another person in an instant using a gun, but to beat and strangle another person to death takes serious physical exertion and a sustained determination to inflict pain and to kill."
In the end, the state requested the husband and wife be sentenced to the same amount of time in prison. The court obliged.
Kristie Lynch, for her part, has maintained she did not take part in the killing. Her attorney cited a lifetime of hardships during the hearing – including physical and mental illness.
The defendant offered a terse allocution.
"I hope someday that they (Moreno's family) can find it in their heart to forgive me," she told the court, speaking softly on Friday.
David Harris contributed to this report.
Comments