Murder suspects returned to Virginia

Two Staunton men charged with killing a former roommate and arrested in Florida returned to Rockingham County today.

Brian P. Bingham and Justin M. Bindel, both 21, are being held without bond at Rockingham Regional Jail on charges of first-degree murder and use of a firearm in commission of felony for the killing of Michael Ryan Tolsdorf, 20, who was found in April near the West Virginia state line.

Officers arrested the men May 15 in Jacksonville, Fla., when their “strange” behavior, Virginia license plate and littering caught attention. Charges of drug and drug paraphernalia possession, littering and failure to wear a safety belt were dropped in Duval County court.

Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office deputies transported the suspects beginning before 5 a.m. today and returned to the area at about 3 p.m., authorities said.

The suspects caught police attention multiple times before and after the crime, according to court records reviewed by The News Virginian.

Police charged Bindel with beating a chihuahua puppy five days before a turkey hunter found Tolsdorf’s body. Two weeks two weeks after the body was identified, Bingham called 911 to report that another man hit him in the head with a shovel. And the white 2000 Chevrolet Lumina in which the men were ultimately caught had been searched days before the arrest by Augusta County authorities for suspected connections to home burglaries.

Bingham and Bindel each face charges of first-degree murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony in Tolsdorf’s killing. The suspects and victim lived together for some time in Staunton. Tolsdorf was never reported missing.

Bingham and Bindel have not been charged in the string of Augusta County burglaries, which The News Virginian first reported in February. Authorities said last week they have a break in the case and are awaiting forensic lab results.

The alleged aggressor in the shovel incident, Matthew Giovine, of Staunton, was also charged for the murder of Tolsdorf, but authorities dropped charges against him a day later.