Smoronk, Batista remain jailed in Virginia on high bond

From left, Dusty Cousens, Dean Smoronk and Nicholas Batista (Police photos)

Editor's Note: Less than five minutes after this story was originally posted Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald and New Hampshire State Police Colonel Christopher J. Wagner announced that a search is currently being executed at the property located at 979 Meaderboro Road in Farmington. This is the residence where the bodies of Christine Sullivan and Jenna Pellegrini were discovered on Jan. 29. Despite the timing there is no connection between this story's release and the latest development announced within the hour. This newest development will be updated. Today's original story follows.

The boyfriend of one of the two women stabbed to death at a Farmington residence in January remains in a Virginia jail awaiting his second bond hearing later this month after he was arrested in June on drug charges during a traffic stop on Interstate 95.

Dean Smoronk, 55, of Meaderboro Road, Farmington, along with two individuals from Rochester were taken into custody by Virginia State Police June 11 after police stopped them for speeding in a work zone on the southbound side of the highway around 5 a.m., safety officials said.

Charges filed included manufacturing and selling steroids, possession of needles, capsules and a pipe; four counts of possession of controlled substances and obstructing justice.
Dusty Cousens, 40, of Berwick, Maine, but formerly of 5 Maple St., Rochester, who was the original driver, switched seats with Smoronk as they were coming to a stop on the right shoulder because she did not have a valid license, police say.

Timothy Verrill of Dover is accused in the murders of Christine Sullivan, left, and Jenna Pellegrini

During a search of the vehicle police found illegal narcotics and paraphernalia in the van as well as on another passenger Nicholas Batista, 20, also of Rochester.
The drugs seized included ecstasy, crystal methamphetamine, two forms of anabolic steroids, needles, glass meth pipes, packaging materials and digital scales, officials said.

Smoronk was charged with four felonies as well as several misdemeanors, while Cousens was charged with one felony and several misdemeanors, including drug possession, identity theft and providing false information to law enforcement. Batista was charged with one felony and two misdemeanors for possessing drugs and paraphernalia, as well as obstructing justice.
Smoronk and Batista remain at Pamunkey Regional Jail in Hanover, Va., on high bond today, a jail spokesman said.

Cousens, who has a plea and sentencing at Strafford County Superior Court on a local forgery charge later this month, was released from Pamunkey Jail on $5,000 bond on July 1, according to the spokesman.

Smoronk's second hearing in an attempt to get a bond amount is set for July 28 in Hanover County Superior Court.

Smoronk, meanwhile, was to have been arraigned on July 5 in Rochester District Court on a Class A misdemeanor charge stemming from an alleged May 31 altercation with a Rochester man outside Smoronk's Farmington home. A spokesperson at Rochester District Court today said no hearing information was available on what took place July 5 and that no continuance had been filed.

The criminal mischief complaint alleges Smoronk hit the windshield of a 1998 Chevrolet van belonging to the man with a baseball bat. Smoronk was released on personal recognizance bail pending what was supposed to have been his arraignment on July 5.

It was Smoronk who told police he found the bodies of his girlfriend, Christine Sullivan, 48, who split her time between southwest Florida and Farmington; and Jenna Pellegrini, 32, of Barrington after returning home late Jan. 28 on a flight from Florida, where he and Sullivan also spent time.

Their bodies were discovered around 3 a.m. on Jan. 29 when Farmington Police responded to a 911 call at 979 Meaderboro Road, however court documents allege the crime actually occurred on Jan. 27, the previous Friday.

Timothy Verrill, 34, of Dover, was arrested in their deaths in February and is being held without bail. A grand jury indictment was expected by this month. Verrill is currently housed at Merrimack County Jail.

Evidence in the double murder case is expected to include thousands of pages of documents as well as dozens of CDs containing audio recordings and photographs.

Smoronk also faces trial this year in a 2014 South Carolina case in which Smoronk and Christina Marie Cuozzo, then 45, of 979 Meaderboro Road, Farmington, were stopped in South Carolina on I-95 after their car pulled into the lane of a Sumter County deputy and almost sideswiped the cruiser in 2014, according to police.

During the stop, a K-9 unit was called and suspected methamphetamine was found in Cuozzo's purse and a large quantity of suspected methamphetamine was found inside a fake energy drink along with a small amount of marijuana, pills and an unknown white powder inside a black computer bag, according to the report. Marie Cuozzo was later identified by law enforcement officials as an alias for the late Christine Sullivan.

In March Sumter County Assistant Prosecutor Scott Matthews said a trafficking of meth conviction could land Smoronk in prison for up to 10 years, however he had no idea when that trial might proceed.

In a related development, the state attorney general's earlier this spring filed for a civil forfeiture petition against Smoronk, alleging some $14,000 found at his home was likely the result of his drug trafficking.