Holbrook rejects plea, Calvert murder trial set for March
Sep 18, 2024
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The murder trial of a 48-year-old Pennsylvania man that was supposed to take place this month has now been reset for next year in late March.
Brandon Ross Holbrook, 48, is charged with murdering Joseph Shymanski, 51, of Huntingtown in early September 2023, and transporting his body to his home in Reedsville, Pa., and dismembering it.
On Monday, Holbrook, who has remained in jail since his arrest last September, through his attorney, Thomas Christopher Mooney, rejected an offer to plead guilty to first-degree murder.
Mooney told Calvert County Circuit Court Judge Mark Chandlee his client was rejecting the offer since it would “leave the defendant open to the harshest penalty possible.”
In addition to murder, Holbrook was indicted last year on charges of first-degree assault, second-degree assault, firearm use in a violent crime and altering physical evidence.
In January, the Calvert County State’s Attorney’s Office filed notice in court of its intention to seek a penalty of life without the possibility of parole against Holbrook.
The judge told Holbrook that by having his case presented to a jury, “you can argue for everything you want.”
“I would like to go to trial,” Holbrook told Chandlee.
Christopher Monte, the case’s prosecuting attorney, said he and Mooney agreed that March 31 should be the new trial date. The trial is expected to last 10 days.
Holbrook’s trial had been scheduled to begin this past Monday. However, last month the trial date was vacated when the attorney’s notified the court that plea negotiations were in progress.
Shymanski was the father of two children and was a well-known special events photographer in the Washington, D.C., area. He had been reported missing by his ex-wife, who went to his Huntingtown residence a day after the alleged crime occurred for a child custody claim.
During their investigation into Shymankski’s disappearance, Calvert County Sheriff’s Office investigators learned the victim’s ex-wife had been in a relationship with Holbrook.
Detectives looked at Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Administration information and found that a Dodge truck with a Pennsylvania registration was registered to Holbrook.
“Detectives then browsed license plate reader data, which captured Holbrook’s white Dodge pickup truck ... leaving Calvert County heading north on Route 4 at 1736 hours [5:36 p.m.] on Sept. 3, shortly after Shymanski’s neighbor heard gunshots in the area of Shymasnki’s house,” sheriff’s office Detective Wayne Wells wrote in court documents. “Shymanski’s ex-wife also informed detectives that Holbrook has expressed anger toward Shymanski for what he has put her through.”
