Former UVA Cop Charged With Rape: Sean Michael Horn Faces Bond Hearing Today
Charlottesville, VA- Sean Michael Horn, 42, current Albemarle County reserve deputy and former police officer for the University of Virginia as well as the Albemarle Sheriffs Office was arrested last evening for rape. The arrest follows an extensive investigation conducted by the prosecutors office.
While there has been no specifics released, and it is the policy of www.blinkoncrime not to identify alleged victims of sexual crimes, we have learned that a complaint of rape against Horn was received in the Fall of 2011.
The arrest follows what can only be described as a series of chaotic incidents and events affecting Albemarle county law enforcement officers since 2009 at a minimum.
Following the death of 18 year old Greene County resident Colby Eppard on New Years Day 2010 by police gunfire, 7 Albemarle county officers were either suspended and/or demoted. Caleb Marden, a decorated sharp-shooter who served in Iraq was fired.  Denise Lunsord, prosecutor for Albemarle county and North Garden resident, cleared all officers of any wrongdoing from the incident.
Eppard allegedly stole a neighboring Greene County patrol car and traveled almost 60 miles to Albemarle county. Although off duty Greene Sgt Randall Snead was out of his jurisdiction, Snead was among the officers in pursuit of Eppard and participated in the ambush to stop the teen. Snead’s former mentor and Sherriff, Willie Morris, committed suicide on January 28th.
Although he was on desk assignment pending the investigation of Eppard’s death, Snead responded to the scene of Morris’s home where he was located and rushed to the hospital. Morris was removed from life sustaining efforts without ever regaining consciousness.   A suicide note blamed his tinnitus condition.
In a recent election, Steve Smith won the Sheriff slot running against Snead, and has since met with controversy after releasing nearly all of his staff.  An email criticizing Smith was received by several news outlets from a previously fired Albemarle County Lt. Scott Cox, then a Greene county deputy who has since been released.  Horn has Sheriff Smith listed as a friend on his facebook profile. Cox was among the Albemarle County Officers who was demoted after 18 years of service in the scandal.
Albemarle county is also the home of The Anchorage Farm, where murdered Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington was recovered after exhaustive searches of the areas surrounding the JPJ arena, UVA campus and private LE searches failed to locate her.  Harrington disappeared from a Metallica concert at the John Paul Jones Arena on October 17, 2009 after being refused re-entry by security. DNA evidence has linked the Harrington case to a suspect in an unsolved rape in Fairfax, VA in 2005. Former lead detective now retired, Lt. Rader, has only indicated that forensic link means that Morgan came into contact with that individual prior to leaving Charlottesville.
Efforts to confirm whether Sean Horn was working the event as a UVA officer that evening have not been returned.
Corrine Geller, public information officer for the Virginia State Police, whose agency leads the probe into Morgan’s homicide responded to our inquiry as to whether or not Horn was a target of their continuing investigation this morning:
“The investigation remains ongoing at this time. I’m not able to comment on who our agents have or have not looked into during the course of their investigation.”
Horn lists Virginia Tech among his educational credentials on his facebook account, where Harrington was a junior at the time of her disappearance. It is not known if the two were acquainted.
Horn is being held in the Albemarle Regional jail pending his bond hearing today.
Check back to www.blinkoncrime.com for updates.
Related Posts
Related Posts:
1,151 Comments
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
oh yes…Sydneyfrog, I too would love to hear Cosmos’ common denominators. The Googoosh concert was at the Patriot center nearby the night of the 2005 rape. So “concert” would be one. Fall would be another.
I just listened to Sydneyfrog’s blogtalkradio link. Nov. 10, 2010? Wow.
“no answers” — then answers, “things that don’t make sense”. I think we all on BOC have seen this. NO VIDEO – purse – no struggle – cell phone battery out – hitch-hiking run-away – T-shirt – miss-identifying of her clothing – Anchorage Farm. ETC!
(Pre-planned? Initiation?)?? “Pre-planned?
Blink, do “you have someone in your sights”??
Is Sketch a throw off as the t-shirt was???? Maybe that’s why the initial holding it back occurred? Someone in VSP didn’t trust it? Or, do you know of a possible connection??
PS: Gil, mentioned partying on Anchorage Farm before she was interrupted. Do you know what she was referring to??
I am not understanding what you mean by a “throw off”?
B
I just can’t get away from a landscape/maintenance/field crew connection between UVA and the AF area.
If fields were being prepared as in this video I’m hoping the curtsey duo didn’t have access to this equipment to chase her down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRPa-2SVcTI
So Rose7, do you mean by “throw off” that someone was trying to throw off the search? The t-shirt was an attempt to lead investigators away from AF and toward the university, and Sketch was an attempt to lead investigators away from the actual guilty party? Personally, I believe that Sketch has a lot to do with whatever happened to Morgan.
Speaking of Barbara’s post and link, I wish we had more information on the nature of the damage to Morgan’s body/bones. Can they tell from her bones whether she was hit by a vehicle? Or was something else done to cause death and breaking of bones? I gather that this information is off-limits to the general public. Landscaping, security, vehicles…hmmm.
Those guys breaking into cars and the like, in Redly’s link: could they be required to provide DNA by any chance, given the number of crimes they have been involved in locally? One wonders whether any of them have day jobs, own any vehicles, and/or have any connection whatsoever to AF.
Thanks J.me! That gives me some more things to ponder. And yes, would love to get inside Blink and Cosmos thoughts
I think it’s only a matter of time until this person(s)? makes a mistake… If they haven’t already. J.me, you obviously have some great info as well. 
I do not have the link but I do remember reading here on BOC in the early days of the investigation, after they found Morgans body that according to the blood or bleed off effect on Morgans bones they could tell she was badly beaten and tortured before she died …that the breaking of the bones was not post humous.
I remember this because it made me so mad and so sad. If it is the case I pray by that stage that dear Morgan was already unconscious and hovering somewhere “out of her body” so to speak and did not feel this pain.
Does anyone here remember reading this?
J4M.
Rose7 says:
February 25, 2012 at 12:39 am
“…Gil, mentioned partying on Anchorage Farm before she was interrupted. Do you know what she was referring to??”
The older house on Anchorage Farm was the site for several parties involving local/college musicians through the years. Morgan’s ex- boyfriend is a musician had a gig in Richmond at the time of Morgan’s disappearance.
Trying to think outside the box….
What if the plan was to meet up with certain people after the concert, and to have that meeting in the AF area (not necessarily at the AF house)?
In this scenario, Morgan was not abducted at all from the bridge or lot. She asked the basketball players to take her to the AF area. When she couldn’t get them to take her she borrowed a cell phone and called someone there, or someone already in Charlottesville, to come and get her – which they did.
Later, in the AF area, Morgan succumbs (whether to an overdose of illegal drugs or a combination of legal drugs and alcohol isn’t really too relevant at this point). After Morgan succumbs the people she is with realize they can’t call the authorities without implicating themselves as they are on illegal drugs themselves so they panic and come up with the plan to bury her on AF.
They select the area 200 feet southeast of where she was eventually found, a wooded area crossed by farm paths made by equipment accessing the fields. That initial site is slightly higher in elevation than the site where she was found.
As the publicity increases before Morgan is found the people who were with her realize they need to throw off the searchers so some favors are called in and “sketch’s” DNA is obtained and placed on the shirt (and maybe the leggings) and the items planted near the UVa campus.
During the heavy flooding Morgan is washed out and later found by Bass. Her injuries were not caused by someone breaking her bones while she was alive; they were cause by the farm machinery unknowingly running over the site where she had been buried.
One thing has always bothered me about Morgan’s injuries. If they were caused by a person striking Morgan, would that not be evident to any Medical Examiner, who would be able to tell if the assailant was right or left-handed and the approximate height of the person inflicting the blows. Would that information not have been released immediately to the general public? The failure to release such information would seem to be inexcusable – if, in fact, they had such info.
For what it is worth…..
Yes, Blink, Olivia’s “throw-off” — to lead the investigation away from those really responsible and make a prosecution almost impossible. I.E., “Judge I have an alibi and that’s NOT my DNA”??
I am on and off this fence, but VSP did not want to use the ‘sketch’. Why???
The crime scene is ‘right here’ … by these bushes where the shirt is found. The murderer is DNA from 5 yrs. ago; with a ‘sketch’ VSP did not want to release to the public. And still, to this day, have not done a good job of showing it to witnesses and around Albemarle Co. Why???
We’ve found interesting look-a-likes with other criteria that would match JPJA … Surely at ‘catch’ of a sample for DNA could have easily been made by now by any conscious LE????
Color me confused as to why Virginia seems to think their public is protected from the monsters among them.
@Hummingbird
“Does anyone here remember reading this?”
I do. If my memory is correct, Mrs Harrington is the one who talked about it. Not sure about that, though. But I do remember, very sadly, reading about this.
I hope that the poor victim from Fairfax keeps her eyes open looking for him. Wouldn’t it be nice if she spotted him? I hope VSP is in close contact with her.
I’m sure Morgan’s soul left her body and was hovering, before she felt pain. I remember Mrs. Harrington saying her bones were broken . This killer is a violent SOB.
Today Morgan’s parents also revealed the killer severely battered the student before her death. They said the damage to her skeleton was horrifying.
“This Charlottesville man hurt Morgan Harrington enough to break her bones before he murdered her. I cannot get the image of Morgan’s shattered bones out of my mind.”
http://www.wtkr.com/news/wtkr-morgan-harrington-cp-murders,0,6816155.story
This is another thing that has always nagged at me. Apparently VSP has reason to believe that Morgan may have borrowed a cell phone to call someone that evening. Did one of the friends get another call from Morgan, and if so, wouldn’t the number that was called from give them an indication who owned the phone?
In a news release, police also said MorganHarrington, 20, might have borrowed a cell phone to make a call, The Roanoke Times reported. Investigators asked anyone who had let a young woman matching the missing student’s description use a phone to come forward.
http://tinyurl.com/76mfagm
I have no basis for saying this other than my inability to rule it out, but I believe that was prompted by the stolen purse and contents call to UVA PD that was suspended.
B
I located something that I found very interesting. The woman sex offender who works for PRICHARD SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT, JPJ ARENA UVA AVENUE, CHARLOTTESVILLE, also was the Director of Operations for the Whispering Winds treatment center AKA Jefferson Trails Treatment Center. I’m just wondering if Dan Harrington knew this woman, and Morgan in her work with children if she knew her.
Worst sex scandal: Five former Whisper Ridge staffers are indicted August 21 on charges of sexually abusing their teen-age wards who were suffering from mental health issues or drug abuse problems, Rob Seal reports in the Daily Progress. Former Whisper Ridge director of operations [b]Bianca Nicole Johnson[/b] is charged with taking custodial indecent liberties for allegedly making a graphic sexual proposal to a 15-year-old male resident. Johnson denies the charges.
http://tinyurl.com/7wz52cm
Restaurant: Jefferson Trail Treatment Center
Address: 2101 Arlington Boulevard, Charlottesville, Virginia
Total inspections: 18
Last inspection: Oct 19, 2009
@ Alexandra, I heard the Fairfax victim left the states.
From where Sydney if you don’t mind- link please?
B
Hi B, I’m not positive which board but someone posted it on another forum. I have no idea if it’s factual, I did hear that, or should say, read that. I’ll try to find it and link it. Be back in a bit.
Thanks Sydney, as best we can, I would like to stick to factual information when it comes to victims and witnesses in particular. I appreciate the link when you find it.
B
Gross indecency
What happened at whisper ridge?
From fall 2005 to spring 2006, it has been alleged, Bryan Antwann Vaughan had sex with two female residents, Michael Prosise sexually abused a 15-year-old male resident, Bianca Nicole Johnson took indecent liberties with a boy under her care, and Jenicia Minter and Melissa Pohl Sargeant failed to report what they knew about some of the abuse. In addition, several serious assaults and suicide attempts were hidden from the State licensing board, and residents weren’t treated properly for injuries.
http://www.c-ville.com/index.php?cat=141404064434008&ShowArticle_ID=1512509061061433
That Minter name really rings a bell for me. Sick folks- anyone know what is happening there now?
B
Does anyone know if SMH was back in court today with a new attorney?
Last I read in January, press was barred from attending court date. New court date was set for today, Feb 27, while he obtained new counsel.
Nothing in the Hook that I can find today.
diana h.
Would it be inappropriate to call Fairfax County Police and ask them if they are still in touch with the victim? She holds the key to solving this crime and helping to save the next girl. I know she deserves privacy. I do not want to know her name, I just want to know that she is available to help the police and that she is watching and looking for him. Is that ok?
Yes, very innapropriate. I commend you for asking the question upfront though. It is an open criminal investigation and LE would not release that information whether it was true or not.
I suspect this woman has undergone extreme trauma and has hopefully been working diligently to get past her victimization.
As I opined a few weeks ago, I do wish that LE would use stronger prosecutorial strategy techniques in cold cases. I am not even sure some of the smaller agencies know what is available to them- not a jab, but I had a recent conversation in a different case with a veteran detective who was unaware of an avenue available to him until I pointed it out. As a result, it caused a round table discussion about “prosecutorially challenged” cases and some thoughts on strategy to clear them.
B
Regarding the Fairfax victim, a neighbor said:
“The young woman “felt more comfortable speaking in her language,” says Jenkins, who says she never saw the young woman again but heard she had moved in with family somewhere nearby.
http://www.readthehook.com/67132/morgans-killer-fairfax-case-connection-offers-hope-fresh-fear
…not sure if somewhere else might have said she “moved back home (out of country)”
I wonder if the passerby, the one that caused the SOB to flee the Fairfax victim, got a good look at him?
It was very interesting to reread that Hook atricle. Thank you j.me.
It is my personal opinion the sketch came FROM the intervening witness, always has been.
B
Diana — It was continued to April 9. This hearing will likely determine if the case will go forward or not.
It is my personal opinion the sketch came FROM the intervening witness, always has been.
B
ahhh, ok. Very interesting. That’s a new thought, for me anyway. It was around 10pm right?. It must have been dark in the area there behind the pool.
The sketch is essentially of a generic black guy IMO. Useful at most for a sense of his size and weight.
While I agree with you that is what the overall appearance is, for police to have released it with this case there HAS to be a chain of custody to it as evidence just like anything else, ergo, it is a real sketch and it’s origin and all substantiating facts are subject to discovery. As we know this man’s DNA is linked to two crimes.
B
The FF victim may not be the key to identifying him. The intervening witness is and who ever was walking on that part of the street that night, that may have seen him running away or getting into a car. Am I grasping at straws? September 24, 2005 was a long time ago.
Certainly it is a real sketch based on a real witness description. I just think the witness described a generic black guy he/she saw from some distance at night. In other words, I don’t think anyone has much confidence in it.
O there is confidence in it. It just looks like most black men of similar height and stature.
No getting around that. I do not believe they would have even released the Fairfax composite without a DNA match to be honest.
B
I just wonder who those people were on the golf cart. Could one of them have been this sex offender? We wouldn’t know. And if so, it just could be that Morgan got into a vehicle with a WOMAN driving!!
I would like to take the sketch and raise the eyebrows somewhat. That is one way in which he could possibly become identifiable as a human of earthly origins. NO one has his eyebrows directly above his eylids, in the crease of his eyelids as does sketch seem to have.
Could someone possibly ID him if we made him slightly more humanoid.
Alright, you are officially freaking me out- seriously. Can we agree that after you write a post you commit to reading it before you submit and asking yourself.. Will Blink think I am contributing to the discussion or “other”?
B
B, did not mean to officially freak you out. Ok, I could have left out some of the descriptive elements like “humanoid”, but I have a legitimate complaint about the sketch. The “artist” has not depicted the sketch correctly to resemble anyone, because like I said, “no one” has eyebrows that low. Putting the eybrows that low distorts the features, and makes him unrecognizable to others who might reecognize him otherwise. In a portrait, even a very small line here or there or slant of the eye can make a difference on whether you capture a “likeness” or not. This is why I want someone to correct the sketch. Raise the eybrows at least a bit out of the eye sockets. I hope I am explaining it better. ; -)
John- you do not know who it is a sketch of so how in the world could you critique it.
Yes, I am certain your descriptors would have been offensive, and honestly, you cant really believe a line here or there on a sketch is going to alter it to become immediately recognizable.
B
Q……the woman sex offender targeted young teen boys, no?
BUT, you are right, they must have the DNA from the golf cart duo, by one means or the other by now.
Why would they have DNA from the golf cart duo?
B
Q, I would really like to say lots more, but have to think befor I speak from now on.
Since they were among the last to see Morgan alive that we know of, why would they not run as fast as they could to offer their DNA to rule themselves out as having anything to do with the crime. That is what I would do, in order to make LE job easier and concentrate on those who did not offer their DNA. All innocent parties must want the murderers of Morgan to be caught.
People think it is like CSI where LE takes DNA from all sorts of people and has the results back in a few hours. The DNA backlog in Virginia is in the 1000s (and nationwide is measured in 100,000s) and it costs a lot of money. LE is not going to be DNA testing folks who are not considered potential suspects. They will have talked to the two cart witnesses, asked them where they were the rest of that night and then checked with other witnesses to verify their stories. The Hook reporter clarified that they have been interviewed and are not suspects.
Just to clarify, LE is not going to tell a Hook reporter, me, the Harrington’s or anyone else if someone is a suspect until they are ready to declare that individual or individuals same officially for whatever the purpose would be that they would need to. They do not have to, they should not, and non-suspects can change into suspects on the way to a judge seeking an arrest warrant. Jus sayin.
B
B…I know I do not know who it is a sketch of. The point is that it could not be an accurate sketch of anyone. NO one could look like that. No human person would have their eyebrows down in their eye sockets period. I know this to be true.
B…what do you mean my descriptors WOULD have been offensive? You saw/read all of them. You feel like picking at me to-day. The truth is that the sketch could not represent anyone. I am unsure why you are taking it personally.
I am not taking it personally, and neither should you- lets move on.
B
John – I don’t think that the golf cart duo would have been tested, or any of the witnesses necessarily, although, maybe they should have been. I’m not certain LE would have had the authority to do that without cause.
When the C’ville rapist was running around, it seemed they tested just about every African American within the county and that didn’t turn out well.
As it is, I’m finding that many African American males moved out of C’ville in 2009 – 2010 and it’s just possible that many clearly remember the fiasco back in the day.
Q…yes agree with you on all that you say. That is why it is beneficial for the innocent to volunteer to give swab, as J. W. always says…rule yourself out in order to get on with the case.
unfortunately, that is the problem and why i think so many are skeptical of how efficient and effective VSP and UVA and the LEO in the area really are when it comes to solving this crime / mystery.
i confess i thought the same thing … oh great we are looking for a black man in Virginia for this crime which screams local white person.
@redly @blink that’s what I’ve always wondered — how much of what VSP is releasing is the actual truth? I sometimes have the feeling they have deliberately released false info in hopes of drawing someone out, someone saying, “that ain’t the way it happened.” But that’s probably a little CBS crime drama too. If a witness was really a pre POI, why wouldn’t they just keep quiet? What could be gained by stating outright that alibis had checked out…to give someone a false sense of security?
@Questioner I don’t discount your research into the female SO. I recently re-read the details of the Channon Christian/Christopher Newsom murder in Knoxville, TN in 2007. Has to be one of the worst crimes I’ve ever read about – I can’t sleep for a couple of days after reading about it it’s that horrible.
Local white person and sketch teamed up? What IF a woman was involved as an accomplice?
Her bones were broken before she died. So, how? With what sort of instrument? A vehicle or something like a hammer? I assume this was determined through an examination of her bones. Either way is horrendous, of course, but I imagine that the perp’s psychological profile would be slightly or very different depending on which way he chose to kill her. The vehicular way seems more detached and thrill-seeking. The hand held instrument M.O. seems (if possible) more enraged and sadistic.
John, I do get what you’re saying about the inaccuracy of the brows. The outer edges are placed well enough. I guess the sketch was drawn as he was seen in the dark, with heavy shadow below the inner brow areas, making these seem darker than his brows. JMO.
Sorry, was called away unexpectedly…in the Christian/Newsom carjacking, rape, torture and murder, a woman was present…I sincerely hope Morgan didn’t go through anything like that.
After watching the “Disappeared” episode again, I can’t help but ask ifany of the wedding reception attendees have been questioned. Lt. Rader said that when they were vetting the Norma Parsons sighting on the Lawn, it was discovered (actually by Courteny Stuart) that there was indeed a wedding. Given how it has been reported that Morgan was uninhibited,she could have easily ended up partying with total strangers.
Even though Ms. Parsons’ sighting does not add up in a number of ways, I believe that she saw something.
Its possible a woman was involved its in the same line of reasoning as ‘ authority’ figure meaning someone able to trust however it would add another layer of complexity . Concerning the blunt trauma, could it be athletic equipment like a baseball bat, stored maybe in the building on the tracks I often wonder what it was used for and if it was involved. Its probably storage for equipment or even the golf cart?
Concerning the disappeared episode and the initial LE reports:
Its very annoying to see that those publications lead viewers/readers to the conclusion that this is a typical case of someone drinking too much and taking huge risks and ending up meeting a random killer.
I do not agree with that view but there is no proof just a lot of possibilites that Morgan was very rational (mostly)
a small example is the curtsey (not a strange sight but possibly a normal response to voyeurism)
I have always believed that Sketch acted alone or with another male, but as we are discussing this I feel a lump in my throat, an instinctual and fearful sense, that a female accomplice or spouse/girlfriend was/is somehow involved. Something about the shirt being neatly laid out, the necklace missing, possibly other jewelry, the leggings missing. You know how women pick up after everyone else around the house? That’s what this seems like–a woman trying to “clean up” after a man to protect him.
The first time I watched the Disappeared episode I was struck by the nonmention of the basketball players but the second time I watched it I felt they were actually trying to link Morgan and the players to the Norma Parson sighting, saying they were “eerily similar”…Actually when you think about it, it is kind of weird…two women, the bookkeeper and Norma Parsons, both asking themselves “what is that girl doing with those guys?”
There is also another angle: the obvious identification
Morgan did not just disappear she was seen and talked with and there is more to what happened at UVA JPJ than we know:
Morgan was a concert goer not at the concert instead moving away from it anyone could see something was not right. In all the interactions she had this must have come up in conversation. Why are you leaving, they asked? a fight? Ousted by Jpj? Too loud, headache, meeting a friend outside? I guess in the background was very loud music
So obviously a concert goer and alone asking people she trusted for a ride. Losing all her items on the rv lot, no signs of struggle, no crime scene, missing. No car keys, no coat obviously foul play from very soon on in the night.
At the wedding, people in black would stand out like a sore thumb, it would be easy to remember this, ask the guests?
level of violence and motivation
When I read about the violence I thought/hoped maybe it could still be some form of accident that they are trying to cover up.
Because why would someone be that cruel? Or maybe she jumped out of the car? And why would someone take such a huge risk at a concert even? Its all very strange.
Also if she was attacked we can assume it was not at AF so if it was for example in C ville and they needed to hide the body why drive all that way? Usually the criminals use public places like forest or roads?
There are more questions than answers in Morgan’s case. Of course the police have more answers than we do so surely they have someone in mind. Every now and then I think about another important consideration: the reward. I guess the people who know something are afraid.
I don’t think we can assume the murder didn’t happen at AF. Here’s a link to a fantastic article I came across last week with tons of great information. I now have a crush on Mark Gleason. Anyway, he states that most bodies are found within *200 feet* of the murder site. 72% in fact.
http://www.sarti.us/sarti/files/SearchForHumanRemains.pdf
where did/do the sexcapades take place? how far was/is that from the location of where she was found?
so take a look at Tango and it does beg the question … whatever happened to the UVA basketball players? where they all cleared? did any of them transfer right after? how many were there … 4?
any familial DNA related to “Sketch”?