Buckingham resident hears verdict in Amherst murder case

We now know how much time Joseph Frank Cunningham will spend behind bars. The 45-year-old Buckingham resident was sentenced Monday after being found guilty of second-degree murder in a January 2023 shooting.

Back in May, a jury found him guilty of both second-degree murder and using a firearm in the commission of a felony. Three additional charges were filed against him, including aggravated murder during a kidnapping and two counts of kidnapping, but Amherst County Judge Jeffrey Bennett dismissed each of those charges. At that time, the jury recommended a 16-year prison sentence. Based on sentencing guidelines, they could have recommended as little as eight or as much as 43 years in prison for both charges.

And that's where Bennett came into play on Monday. He had the option to reduce the sentence if he wanted. However, he was not allowed to impose a sentence higher than the recommended one. Instead of making a change, Bennett agreed with the jury and sentenced Joseph to 16 years in prison. That's 13 years for second-degree murder and three years for the firearms charge.

However, Bennett made an adjustment. He allowed Joseph to receive credit for time already served because he had spent more than a year in prison since the original incident.

Before making this decision, the judge heard both sides of the case. As a prosecution witness, the niece of shooting victim Kevin Hartless said her family suffered.

“My family, no family, should have to go through this,” Hannah Hartless said. She had asked the judge to take the family into account when announcing the final sentence.

Joseph's attorney, Ronnie West, argued that his client acted appropriately in a bad situation. A gun was pointed in his direction and fired, West said. He argued that Joseph was within the law and had the right to shoot back.

“Did he want it to happen? No,” West said.

Details of the background to the murder case

Joseph wanted to prove that his wife Jennifer was having an affair with Hartless in order to obtain evidence in his divorce and subsequent custody battle for their younger child. The affair is beyond question. Both sides acknowledge the relationship between Hartless and Joseph's wife.
On January 19, 2023, Joseph was riding in Christian's vehicle with his 19-year-old daughter Summer and her boyfriend David Chester Christian when they spotted Jennifer and Kevin Hartless at a store in Nelson County. They began following the pair and followed them to the George Washington National Forest. At that point, the prosecution argued that Christian Hartless blocked his vehicle with the plan to take a photo of Jennifer and Kevin together. Kevin and Joseph had an argument and then a fight.

Joseph and his legal team argue that that's when Kevin Hartless grabbed his gun and fired it at Joseph. Joseph, in turn, grabbed Christian's gun from the truck and fired back, killing Kevin. Summer Cunningham and Christian were later arrested and charged in connection with the crime.

However, neither of these two cases lasted long. At a hearing in February, Christian dropped all charges, while Summer faced a similar decision in August.