NOTE: This video is previous coverage from 8/15/23
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – A jury convicted 45-year-old Kristie Marie Lynch of first-degree murder Sept. 12 for beating and strangling 45-year-old Jose Luis Moreno alongside her husband James Christian Lynch, according to the Commonwealth’s Attorney.
The couple met Moreno in 2022 and invited him to live with them on Mariners Way because he had “nowhere to go,” according to statements the Lynches made to police.
Moreno contributed financially to the household from his Supplemental Security Disability Income, due to the fact he had weakness in his ankles that required him to use a walker, says the CA’s office.
James admitted the couple used to “punish” Moreno by beating him over the head with a frying pan for not contributing to household chores and because Moreno spoke in Spanish, his native language.
While it unclear when Moreno died, his death was reported on Aug. 11, 2023 after the couple requested to speak to their local pastor and informed him that Moreno was dead in their home, according to the Commonwealth’s Attorney.
Police arrived to the residence and found Moreno covered in bruises and cuts, while partially under a blanket naked, the CA’s office said. Investigators found blood splatter on the walls and floors, including missing sections of carpeting near the stairs “that the Lynches had tried to clean blood from different areas of the second floor.”
Investigation revealed Moreno most likely died Aug. 9, from a combination of strangulation and blunt-force trauma.
According to investigators, Kristie told James on the night of the murder that Moreno attacked and sexually assaulted her and challenged her husband to “man up” and “take care of your boy.”
James proceeded to beat Moreno with a frying pan and then switched to a baseball bat after Moreno “was possessed with a demon-like strength and would not be subdued,” according to testimony investigators received from James.
The couple then used James’s belt to whip Moreno and a dog leash to strangle him, according to the Commonwealth’s attorney.
The Lynches were then sentenced to second-degree murder and offered a plea deal. Kristie rejected the plea deal and elected to go to trial, where she was found guilty of first-degree murder.
James, 52, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in May 2025 and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
“The word ‘shocking’ has been overused, but the suffering that the Lynches inflicted on Mr. Moreno — a disabled man they claimed to have been ‘helping’ and who had ‘nowhere to go’ — is truly shocking,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi.