A Virginia man has been sentenced to 58 years in prison for the 2021 murder of a woman and the sexual assaults of two others in 2023 — crimes that terrorized the Norfolk community until his arrest.
Thomas John O’Bryen, 43, was convicted of second-degree murder, abduction, forcible sodomy, attempted forcible sodomy, two counts of malicious wounding, and two counts of using a firearm during those felonies.
Judge Devon R. Paige handed down the sentence, emphasizing that O’Bryen preyed on vulnerable women and treated them as “disposable commodities” to vent his rage when they resisted.
The first crime occurred on October 16, 2021, when O’Bryen fatally beat and stabbed Angela Renee Joyner, 51, inside his SUV. Joyner managed to escape from the moving vehicle but collapsed shortly after. She died the next day from blunt force trauma to the head, and investigators later determined stab wounds to her hands had prevented her from opening the door. At the time, police had no leads connecting O’Bryen to the murder.
Nearly two years later, O’Bryen resurfaced. On March 26, 2023, a second victim accepted a ride from him near Wards Corner. When she refused his sexual demands, O’Bryen pulled a gun and forced her to comply. After she spat on him, he shot her in the back of the head, causing a flesh wound. The woman escaped by jumping from the moving SUV, breaking her ankle. Surveillance footage helped investigators identify O’Bryen’s vehicle.
A month later, on April 27, 2023, another woman accepted a ride from O’Bryen in the same area. When she declined intercourse, he struck her with a firearm as she tried to flee the moving van. She was injured after jumping out.
Investigators soon linked the 2023 attacks through surveillance footage and witness tips, locating O’Bryen’s van and SUV outside his home. Inside his residence, police found Joyner’s driver’s license, a gun, and a bullet casing matching the recovered firearm. They also found blood traces in a different SUV he had sold after the 2021 killing — further tying him to the murder.
After his arrest, O’Bryen admitted having all three women in his vehicle and injuring them, though he denied firing the gun. He pleaded not guilty but was convicted on all major counts following a jury trial.
The Commonwealth’s Attorney, Ramin Fatehi, sought a life sentence, while defense attorneys cited O’Bryen’s mental health struggles and childhood sexual abuse as mitigating factors.
Judge Paige recognized his troubled past but said it did not excuse his violent acts, sentencing him to 58 years in prison with an additional 70 years suspended.
“My heart breaks for the victims of Mr. O’Bryen’s violent crimes — both those who survived and the one he so callously murdered,” Fatehi said. “The judge’s sentence may not have been life, but it is essentially the same thing, and we hope it brings peace and closure to the victims and their families.”
O’Bryen was previously sentenced in February 2024 to three years for assaulting a cellmate while awaiting trial.
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