Smoronk denied bond reduction; probable cause hearing set for Nov.

Lawmen swarm during a July search for evidence at the Farmington residence where two women were killed in January; inset Dean Smoronk in a booking mugshot after his arrest by Virginia State Police in June. (Rochester Voice file photo)

The Farmington man arrested on drug charges in Virginia and owns the Farmington house where two women, including his longtime girlfriend were viciously stabbed to death in January, was denied any change in bail during a Wednesday bond hearing in Hanover General District (Va.) Court, a court spokesman said today.

Dean Smoronk, 55, of 979 Meaderboro Road, Farmington, and 6081 Silver King Blvd., Cape Coral, Fla., will remain at Pamunkey Regional Jail on $10,000 bond pending a probable cause hearing scheduled for Nov. 16.

Smoronk's residence at 979 Meaderboro Road, Farmington, was the site of a grisly double murder in January in which Smoronk's girlfriend, Christine Sullivan, 48, along with Jenna Pellegrini, 32, of Barrington, were brutally stabbed to death on the property.

Smoronk, who discovered the bodies upon his return from Florida on Jan. 28, has not been implicated in the killings, however, he does have a record of drug involvement dating back to his arrest in South Carolina with his now-deceased girlfriend in 2014. That case has yet to go to trial.

Smoronk shared his time between Farmington and Cape Coral prior to his arrest by Virginia State Police on June 11 after a traffic stop on Interstate 95 yielded a huge cache of drugs. The car was stopped while speeding through a work zone, according to police.

Charges for which he will answer in November include four felonies: manufacturing and distribution of ephedrine (steroids), manufacturing controlled substance and two counts of possession of controlled substance; and four misdemeanors including possession of drug paraphernalia, two counts of drug possession and obstruction of justice.

The drugs and drug paraphernalia seized during the stop included ecstasy, crystal methamphetamine, two forms of anabolic steroids, needles, glass meth pipes, packaging materials and digital scales, officials said.

Timothy Verrill, 34, of Dover, was arrested in the two women's deaths in February in Massachusetts and is being held without bail at Carroll County Jail.

Meanwhile, Assistant Attorney General Geoffrey Ward has been granted a fourth extension for more time to indict Verrill, who was denied bail by a Strafford County Superior Court judge last month.

During an evidentiary hearing in September Verrill's public defender suggested that Sullivan and Smoronk were on the skids as far as their relationship and Sullivan wanted out.

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.

Ward told The Rochester Voice on Tuesday that the investigation into the killings continues and could continue for some time.

"We have to go where the evidence takes us," he said.

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

During that 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. Cuozzo was later identified by law enforcement officials as an alias for Sullivan.

The New Hampshire attorney general's office filed for a civil forfeiture petition against Smoronk several months ago, alleging some $14,000 found at his home last spring was likely the result of his drug trafficking.

Smoronk's Nov. 16 probable cause hearing begins at 9 a.m. in Hanover General District Court.