Holbrook Sentenced for Murder
On July 18, 2025, Brandon Ross Holbrook, 49, of Reedsville, PA was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the murder and dismemberment of renowned Washington, DC, photographer Joseph Shymanski. The sentence was the maximum allowed under Maryland law. The Honorable Mark S. Chandlee presided over the trial and sentencing.
On September 3, 2023, Holbrook drove 200 miles from his house in Reedsville, PA, to the home of Joseph Shymanski in Huntingtown, MD. In the driveway of that home, Holbrook shot and killed Mr. Shymanski. Holbrook then loaded Mr. Shymanski’s body into his pick-up truck and drove back to Reedsville, PA. Once there, Holbrook dismembered Mr. Shymanski’s body with a power saw, burned the body parts in a metal barrel, and scattered the remains in a clearing near his house. Holbrook then cleaned his truck with bleach before covering the bed of the truck in chicken organs and fluid.
Statement of Calvert County State’s Attorney Robert Harvey:
“Brandon Holbrook was convicted of the brutal and senseless murder of Joseph Shymanski following a fair and impartial jury trial. Holbrook thought he could escape the consequences of his actions by dismembering and disposing of the body, but he was proven wrong. Today’s sentence will ensure that Holbrook spends the rest of his life in prison. I sincerely hope that the sentence brings some measure of peace and justice to the family and friends of Joe Shymanski.”
“I am extremely proud of the work done in this case by the trial attorneys, Benjamin Lerner and Christopher Monte, and by their victim advocate, Christine King. This was an extremely difficult case. There were no eyewitnesses, no murder weapon, no confession, and no body. Mr. Lerner and Mr. Monte were thoroughly prepared to address each contested issue and presented the State’s evidence in a straightforward and seamless fashion. As the verdict clearly indicated, they left no room for doubt in the minds of the jurors. The trial was a masterwork of criminal justice.”
State’s Attorney Harvey and Sheriff Ricky Cox would like to extend a special thanks to Dr. Dennis Dirkmaat and the Applied Forensic Sciences Program Staff of Mercyhurst University in Erie, PA, for their assistance in the recovery and identification of Mr. Shymanski’s remains.