Bio 

Dustin J. Lynch was born on December 3, 1986. Before the murder, he had a long history in Ohio’s juvenile justice system. He had repeated problems with truancy, theft, drugs, alcohol, probation violations, and being placed outside his home. He had also been committed to the Ohio Department of Youth Services before JoLynn Mishne’s murder.

Lynch’s home life was unstable. His father had been absent for much of his life, and his mother was described by the court as ineffective in controlling or helping him. The court also noted that several male figures in his life had been abusive or demeaning.

By November 2002, Lynch was a DYS parolee and a runaway. He met JoLynn Mishne, who let him stay at her family’s home because he claimed he had nowhere else to go. JoLynn’s father allowed Lynch to stay in the house. The court later found that Lynch’s trusting relationship with JoLynn helped him commit the crime because he was already inside the home and close to her.

Murder Story

On November 2, 2002, JoLynn Mishne was killed inside her family’s home in Montville Township, Medina County, Ohio. She had been asleep in her bedroom when she was attacked. Lynch beat her with a bedpost from her own bed and stabbed her with a kitchen knife from the home.

After the murder, Lynch stole JoLynn’s car. Police later found him in the vehicle with other teenagers who apparently did not know they were with a suspected killer. Investigators also found a taunting note at the crime scene.

Because Lynch was 15 years old at the time of the murder, his case first went through juvenile court. On May 12, 2003, the juvenile court ordered him transferred to adult court. The judge found that Lynch was not amenable to rehabilitation in the juvenile system and that public safety required adult sanctions.

The case also became part of a public controversy over violent video games, especially Grand Theft Auto III. Some people argued that the game influenced Lynch, but Lynch rejected that explanation. He wrote that the game did not cause him to kill JoLynn and said he committed the murder for his own satisfaction.

In December 2003, Lynch pleaded guilty to aggravated murder. He gave no explanation in court. When Judge Christopher Collier asked if he had anything to say before sentencing, Lynch answered, “Nope.” He was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.

While serving that sentence, Lynch committed another murder. On March 17, 2013, he strangled inmate Arturo Lopez at Toledo Correctional Institution. About a week earlier, he had also attacked inmate Christopher Trent, scalding him with boiling water and stabbing him with a shank. Trent survived. In October 2013, Lynch was sentenced to life without parole for the prison murder of Arturo Lopez.