Suspect pleads guilty to 1994 Suffolk murder

SUFFOLK

Darrin Bondhill pleaded guilty Thursday to first-degree murder, conspiracy and attempted robbery that occurred in 1994.

As part of a plea agreement, the 35-year-old Bondhill was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Originally, he had been charged with first-degree murder, robbery, burglary, conspiracy and four counts of use of a firearm in commission of a felony. He's already facing 42 years on the federal level and 30 years in Norfolk for robbery, said prosecutor Will Jamerson.

Bondhill is an inmate at Wallens Ridge State Prison in Big Stone Gap. He'll likely be returned to the western Virginia prison to serve his remaining sentences, Jamerson said.

Bondhill was barely 20 years old in 1994, when Robert Lee Cromer was shot to death on the street near Ashley Avenue. Cromer was asleep with a girlfriend when he got up and went outside to investigate a noise, according to court records.

Jamerson said the investigation continues, and police believe Bondhill was one of three people involved. Bondhill was indicted by the grand jury in September 2008. He was brought to Suffolk and arrested in April.

Bondhill was the fourth person to be arrested by the city's cold-case investigation unit and the first of those to enter into a plea agreement. The others have gone through trials.

Linda McNatt, (757) 222-5561, linda.mcnatt@pilotonline.com