In a chilling case of collaboration in crime, a Virginia woman has been sentenced for orchestrating the brutal murder of a tenant, with the assistance of her husband.

In September 2025, a Norfolk jury convicted 46-year-old Kristie Lynch of first-degree murder in the death of Jose Moreno, aged 45. Her husband, James Lynch, aged 53, had already admitted guilt to second-degree murder the previous month in connection to the same crime.

Despite the differing charges and admissions, both Kristie and James Lynch received identical prison sentences of 25 years each.

James Lynch faced sentencing in the prior year, while Kristie Lynch’s fate was sealed on Friday by Norfolk Circuit Court Judge David Lannetti.

The couple first encountered Moreno at their church in 2022, ultimately offering him a place to stay in their apartment due to his lack of housing options. Moreno, who relied on a walker due to a physical disability, was expected to contribute financially through his Supplemental Security Disability Income and assist with household chores in exchange for his lodging.

However, deviations from the couple’s stringent house rules carried severe repercussions.

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.