He Thought He Was Spending the Night with a Woman He Met Online — Then She Lured Him to the Woods and Fatally Shot Him By KC Baker 36

An OnlyFans model and former adult film actress took revenge on a man she claimed had raped her by luring him into the Ohio woods and firing a bullet into the back of his head — and now she has learned her fate.

Chelsea Perkins, 35, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran from Alexandria. Va., was sentenced to 22 ½ years in federal prison for the murder of Matthew Dunmire, 31, at Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio said in a statement.

In May, 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, in connection to Dunmire’s fatal shooting death in March 2021, per the U.S. Attorney’s office.

She initially faced up to 25 years in prison.

“It was a coldly, calculated intention to cause his death,” prosecutors said during the hearing, Cleveland19 News reports.

The slaying came to authorities’ attention on March 9, 2021, when hikers at Cuyahoga Valley National Park came upon a dead body in the woods.

Authorities quickly identified the victim as Dunmire, an aspiring musician who grew up in Virginia and moved to Cleveland, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported. He had been shot once in the back of the head.

Investigators looking into the case learned that four days before Dunmire was killed, he told co-workers during a bar outing that he was going to meet a woman he met online who was visiting the area, authorities said, according to the criminal complaint obtained by PEOPLE.

When the woman arrived, she sent him a text, prompting Dunmire to tell his coworkers, “she’s here,” according to the criminal complaint.

Unbeknownst to Dunmire, Perkins had driven her husband’s Smart car 300 miles from Virginia to Ohio to see him, the U.S. Attorney said in the statement. She had previously accused him of raping her about four years prior, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

After she picked him up, they spent the night at an Airbnb she rented. On the morning of March 6, Perkins drove Dunmire to Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Valley View, Ohio.

“They hiked past a cemetery, across deep ravines, and off-trail into a wooded area,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s statement.

When they were deep in the woods, Perkins wielded a firearm and fatally shot Dunmire in the back of the head, per the statement.

She then left the scene and drove to Michigan to get a tattoo of a noose on her forearm before driving back to Virginia.

Investigators linked Perkins to the crime through surveillance, text messages, and ballistic evidence.

Federal agents executed a search warrant at her home in Virginia and found three 9mm pistols, including one inside a purse that also contained Perkins’ photo identification. 

The firearm later tested positive for Perkins’ DNA. 

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Perkins took further steps to cover up her crime. Investigators also found a deleted note on Perkins’ cellphone that appeared to be a fake suicide note from Dunmire written around the time his body was found, the U.S. Attorney said in the statement.

In court on Monday, Perkins apologized to Dunmire’s family, saying “I take full responsibility for what I’ve done,” Cleveland19 reports.

Perkins had accused Dunmire of raping her, but no charges were ever filed against him, according to Cleveland 19 News.

On Monday, the court heard from Matthew Dunmire’s father, who said “My son was a good person too and now his children have no father,” according to Cleveland19 News.

In addition to her sentence, Perkins was ordered to serve five years of supervised release after she gets out of prison. Restitution is to be determined at a later date.

Her attorney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.