A Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court judge sentenced a Lyndhurst man to 60 years in prison with all but 15 years suspended for a strangulation and abduction case he called “chilling.”
Joshua Wayne Snider, 28, told Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court Judge Michael McGinty he did not recall the incident of Nov. 13, when he broke into his ex-girlfriend’s apartment in the Midlands neighborhood of James City County, choked her, threatened to kill her and prevented her from leaving the apartment.
“I’m sure she thought she was going to die,” McGinty said about Snider’s ex-girlfriend after hearing testimony from Snider, Snider’s probation officer and a licensed clinical psychologist who evaluated Snider.
Snider told the court his girlfriend broke up with him via text message after six months of dating.
“It was sudden,” he said.
Snider said he tried to kill himself after the breakup, swallowing 96 pills and running into the woods. His family and police found him by tracking the GPS signal on his cell phone.
“Did you hope not to wake up?” Defense Attorney Stephen Campbell asked Snider.
“Yeah, that was the plan,” he responded.
A week later on Nov. 15., Snider packed a couple bags of clothes and went to Blue Ridge Parkway near Lyndhurst where there was no cell phone service. He said he took sleeping pills and drank vodka, then blacked out. He said he had no recollection of going to Williamsburg or seeing his ex-girlfriend.
He said he was awakened by a police officer in a parking lot near Interstate 64 at the intersection of Croaker Road and Rochambeau Drive.
“The only thing I thought was, if I take off, he’ll shoot me,” Snider said. He sped off and a police chase ensued.
Police were able to catch Snider in Henrico County by laying spike strips across the road to deflate his tires.
Snider said when he was stopped, he found a knife in the vehicle and stabbed himself in the stomach, lacerating his liver.
“I thought maybe that would do it,” he said, adding he swallowed a razor blade while being detained in Richmond city jail.
Williamsburg-James City County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Joshua DeFord recounted during Snider’s August plea hearing the events that occurred after Snider said he blacked out.
DeFord said when the ex-girlfriend walked into her apartment around 9 p.m. Nov. 15, she noticed a strip of duct tape sticking to the door frame. When she backed out of her apartment, Snider approached her and asked her why she had not answered his calls or texts.
She told Snider she did not have anything to say to him, DeFord said. Snider proceeded to pull her into the apartment, grab her around the neck and begin choking her.
DeFord said the woman had burst eye vessels and bruises that remained on her body for at least two weeks.
The ex-girlfriend was able to text a family member and instruct that person to call the police, DeFord said. She attempted to escape through the front door, but Snider slammed the door with her hand still in it, causing her fingers to swell and bruise.
Snider discovered the text message the ex-girlfriend had sent and proceeded to take the ex-girlfriend outside through the back door, but she was able to get away and lock him outside, DeFord said.
After a few attempts at breaking down the back door, Snider went to the sliding glass door, grabbed his ex-girlfriend and tried to put her in his vehicle, but the woman punched him in the head and ran to a neighbor’s house for help.
Snider then drove away with her cell phone, DeFord said.
McGinty heard from a licensed clinical psychologist who evaluated Snider in January and February and concluded Snider has borderline personality disorder, which he said can be treated with long-term psychotherapy.
Snider’s attorney told the court it would be better to give Snider treatment sooner rather than later.
“His problems aren’t going to be helped by the Department of Corrections,” Campbell said.
DeFord argued that given Snider’s criminal background — Snider was previously charged for allegedly stalking another ex-girlfriend and charged with felony destruction of property in Augusta County in 2011 — and the harm he caused to his ex-girlfriend, a longer sentence would be justified.
McGinty sided with DeFord, exceeding the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s recommended sentence.
“I’m not sure how to ensure this doesn’t happen to somebody like it happened to [the victim],” he said. “It’s chilling. It sounds like a really bad movie.”
Snider pleaded guilty Aug. 8 to felony counts of abduction by force or intimidation, strangulation, grand larceny, entering a house to commit assault and battery and eluding police.
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