I've been trying to bring back my weekly true crime articles, but life has sort of gotten in the way lately. However, when I read about this one, I knew I had to write about it. It's pretty bizarre.
Chelsea Perkins is a 35-year-old resident of Arlington, Va. She grew up in Virginia and attended high school there from 2005 to 2009. One of her classmates was Matthew Dunmire. I do not know how well the two knew each other or what their relationship was, but in 2017, Perkins filed a police report in Virginia Beach stating that Dunmire had raped her. Police never had enough evidence to file charges, and nothing ever came of her claims.
Dunmire moved to the Cleveland area at some point. He was an aspiring musician and the father of two children, though I'm not clear on their ages or what kind of relationship he had with them. He also had a girlfriend.
Perkins joined the Coast Guard. She met a guy and got married while serving, and once she was out, she became an OnlyFans model and an adult star of sorts, under the name Selena Savage. Her Instagram account shows that she had a little bit of a following and seemed to be moving up in her salacious career.
Despite apparently finding love and creating quite a unique resume for herself, Perkins couldn't get Dunmire out of her head, so she came up with a plan that would lead to her driving over 300 miles and murdering him.
In March 2021, Dunmire was at a bar in the Cleveland area, having drinks with some co-workers. He told them that he was going to meet a woman whom he'd been talking to online. Moments later, Perkins drove up. She was driving a car that matched the one registered to her husband.
The two reportedly drove to an Airbnb and spent the night. He texted his girlfriend the next morning and told her he was going to donate plasma and would then come home. He also tried to assure his girlfriend that he hadn't slept with Perkins and sent a text saying "Well I pissed this chick off anyway so I hope (you’re) happy."
Perkins texted a tattoo artist in Michigan the next morning, too, and said she was on her way, but she had to make a stop first.
Side note: I couldn't exactly figure out the dynamics here. Did Dunmire know he was meeting up with Perkins, or did he think it was a random girl whom he'd never met before? And did he just tell his girlfriend he was going to hang out with some other woman for the night?
At some point the next morning, the two went hiking at the Terra Vista Natural Study Area, which is located within the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Why he agreed to go hiking, I'm not sure, but Perkins brought a loaded gun.
Some hikers reported hearing a gunshot that morning. Others said they ran into a woman dressed in all black who matched Perkins' description. She didn't necessarily look like she was dressed for hiking. She told them she was looking for a cemetery but acted confused and showed no emotion.
Three days later, yet another group of hikers found Dunmire's body in the woods. He'd been shot in the back of the head. Perkins had registered the Airbnb in her real name, which led police to her place in Virginia a few weeks later. While there, they spotted the car that his co-workers said she used to pick him up that night, and there was a gun in her purse. Bullets in her house matched the ones used to kill Dunmire. Phone records, social media activity, DNA found under Dunmire's fingernails, and GPS activity also gave her away. However, she wasn't charged for nine months.
Though, for what it's worth, she did go get that tattoo after committing the murder.
Chelsea Perkins, 35, a former U.S. Coast Guard turned OnlyFans star pleaded guilty to fatally shooting Matthew Dunmire in the woods as revenge for allegedly raping her. https://t.co/DLr5LqntAe pic.twitter.com/QsV1HZAtRz
— Mark Chapman (@MC_IBTimesSG) May 28, 2025
Here's the part that really grabbed my attention. Apparently, Dunmire's parents weren't happy with the speed at which authorities were working, so they decided to take matters into their own hands. The two drove to the place where they believed Perkins lived in November 2021, about eight months after their son was murdered.
They went to what they thought was Perkins' apartment. Dunmire's mother, Tommie Lynn Dunmire, was dressed as a UPS delivery driver and had a gun hidden in a box. When the woman in the apartment opened the door, she shot her in the stomach twice and fled. Well, as it turns out, they had the wrong apartment. The woman was not Perkins.
Police eventually caught up with Tommie Lynn and Dunmire's father, John McQuillen, after a high-speed chase. Once they were caught, Tommie Lynn shot herself. McQuillen eventually pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to assault with intent to kill. He was sentenced to three years in jail and was just released this year. Thankfully, the innocent woman who got caught up in this mess survived.
When authorities first visited Perkins after the murder, she claimed she knew nothing about it. Eventually, she had plans to claim self-defense. Earlier this week, Perkins pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and using or carrying and discharging a firearm during, and in relation to, a crime of violence on federal property. It came about a week before she was scheduled for trial, "where she faced a mandatory sentence of life in prison plus 10 years if convicted on charges that included first-degree murder."
She now faces 20 to 25 years in prison and will be sentenced in September.
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