Man Sentenced to 48 Years for Virginia Police Officer's Murder

LOVINGSTON, Virginia — A Maryland man convicted of murdering a Wintergreen police officer in a drug-induced psychotic break from reality, a June 2023 shooting that shocked Nelson County, was sentenced to 48 years in prison Monday.

Daniel Adam Barmak, 25, pleaded guilty in February to second-degree murder, two counts of malicious wounding and use of a firearm in commission of a murder in the June 16, 2023, series of events that killed Mark Christopher “Chris” Wagner II, the first officer to arrive at the scene that night at 80 Arrowwood Lane in the Nelson resort community.

Wagner, 31, encountered a fully nude Barmak in the woods outside the home and during the struggle over the officer’s gun, Wagner was shot in the back of the head five times and once in the abdomen, killing him in the wooded area close to the resort cabin, Nelson County Commonwealth’s Attorney Daniel Rutherford said.

Nelson Judge Michael Doucette remarks in Daniel Barmak's sentencing

Two friends of Barmak, Ryan Warshaw and William Spiller, were at the resort for a weekend golfing trip to relax that took a grisly turn when he attacked them with a knife and an object, according to their testimony at a January 2024 preliminary hearing in Nelson General District Court.

Barmak apologized at his sentencing hearing Monday before Nelson Circuit Court Judge Michael Doucett for his actions that night he said changed the course of several people’s lives.

Nelson Judge Michael Doucette remarks in Daniel Barmak's sentencing

“That’s the reality I’m going to have to live with for the rest of my life,” Barmak said. “I really can’t put into words the guilt, remorse and shame I feel for the immense hurt I put into this world — every person I hurt that night was only trying to help save me from myself, which makes it all the more painful to cope with. I thank God each and every day the sacrifice Officer Wagner made, the mercy he showed me, he spared my life when he had every right and opportunity to end it.”

Attorneys react to Daniel Barmak sentencing

Barmak said Wagner’s sacrifice is something he may never live up to, but every day he will try to atone for his actions, and he vows never to take an illicit substance again. He ingested Ketamine and psilocybin-containing “magic” mushrooms, a cocktail that Rutherford said gave him “superhero” abilities that night and couldn’t be stopped.

“My decision to use mind-altering substances cost a great man his life, physically harmed two people and emotionally scarred countless others,” Barmak said. “It’s inexcusable. It’s something that will never happen again.”

Barmak said he has frequent nightmares that serve as a constant reminder of the terrible pain he inflicted on all parties, and he takes responsibility.

“I wish down to the very core of my being I could take back my actions that night,” Barmak said. “I see now that every person that night was trying to help me. I wish that I took that help.”

He said reacting with violence brings him immense shame.

“I’ve never been a violent person and would never have been violent towards Ryan, Will and Officer Wagner if I had been in my right mind that night. It’s my fault, I took those drugs that caused me to lose my mind. I’ll always regret that,” Barmak said.

Doucette said the facts of the crime are “horrific,” and he had never experienced anything as terrifying in his career of more than 40 years as watching Wagner’s body camera footage that showed Barmak charging at him, roaring and growling.

“Each time I watched that, literally chills have been running up and down my spine,” Doucette said. “It is the most mind-numbing thing I’ve ever seen.”

Booking information at the jail showed Barmak is 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighs 225 pounds, while the autopsy shows Barmak was 5’7 and weighed 162 pounds, Doucette said.

“Had Officer Wagner pulled his pistol and shot you dead on the spot, it would have been a justifiable shot,” the judge told Barmak.

He said Wagner repeatedly used non-lethal means of force to subdue Wagner and told Barmak he had to know that constantly putting poison in his body would result in himself or someone else receiving significant harm.

“Not only did you take Chris Wagner’s life, but you threw away your own life,” Doucette told Barmak. “... A young man who instead of choosing to ingest drugs, chose to become a police officer charged with protecting persons and property and serving the public, and he was brutally murdered by you.”

Doucette sentenced him to 83 years on the combined charges and suspended 35 years, resulting in the 48-year sentence. Doug Ramseur, Barmak’s attorney, requested that his client receive 10 years; the sentencing guidelines recommended a range of 15 to 25 years.

Barmak was ordered to pay roughly $4,000 in restitution and was given credit for time served since his arrest to go toward the sentence.

‘No forgiveness to be had’

Mark Christopher Wagner, the slain officer’s father, testified Monday of the murder’s effect on him and the family. He said his son used his Taser and means of non-lethal force, and Barmak would be a corpse if he shot first, adding Chris Wagner went there that night to help people and not hurt anyone.

“There is no forgiveness to be had here,” Wagner said.

Timothy Smith, a Wintergreen police officer who was second to arrive on the scene that night, testified about the two responding to a call of a man with a knife. Video of his body camera footage was played in court of him speeding to the residence, going into the home and the nearby wooded area and encountering Barmak.

Smith and two other officers arrested Barmak after a struggle. In the distance, Smith saw Wagner’s lifeless body and immediately checked on him, a gruesome scene the officer’s body camera footage played in court showed.

Smith said Barmak was covered in blood, sweat and grime when Smith encountered him, and the defendant yelled and moaned while officers subdued him. Driving to the scene that night, the fastest he said he ever drove in his life, Smith anticipated the prospect of having to shoot someone.

“I could tell there was something drastically wrong,” Smith said.

He said he still undergoes therapy from the trauma that night and now works as a part-time officer while working more in fire and rescue service at Wintergreen.

Wintergreen Police Chief Dennis Russell, who hired Wagner in 2020, testified he was in Richmond when he received the shocking news that one of his officers had been killed in the line of duty, causing him to speed back to Nelson in just less than an hour.

“We’re much more solemn,” Russell said of the murder’s effect on his department of 20 employees. “We used to kid that the only thing that happened at Wintergreen was bear claws and house checks. This could not happen at Wintergreen — I even say this today, this could not happen … but it did.”

Russell said Wagner was a respectful, confident and capable officer who never turned down an assignment and could always be counted on.

Defendant saw ‘demons’

Eileen Ryan, a forensic psychiatrist who interviewed Barmak on two occasions for more than five hours, testified her expert opinion is he suffered a break from reality after taking drugs.

“He thought he was fighting for his life,” Ryan said.

Ryan said he was suffering from delusions and hallucinations and believed he was in an alternate reality where his body and soul were separated. Barmak thought his friends and Wagner were “demons,” and he was in such a psychotic state he didn’t feel the pain of walking on broken glass, a stab mark to the abdomen and being shot in the leg by Barmak.

She testified about the substance abuse Barmak engaged in since age 9 to self-medicate in dealing with chronic depression and trauma in his life.

At one point in custody, Barmak ate gravel and his own flesh, which Ryan testified was a result of his drug-induced psychotic break. “By harming himself, he would harm the demons,” she said.

Rutherford said Barmak’s voluntary drug use was like someone playing with bombs, and one went off, badly injuring two of his friends and murdering a respected officer.

Barmak, for much of the sentencing hearing, held his hands to his face and looked down, sobbing at one point while Rutherford played video footage from Wagner’s camera of the violent attack that caused the murder. Wagner repeatedly yelled “Back off!” in the video and screamed, “He’s trying to get my gun!”

Coming toward Wagner, Barmak said, “It’s not [expletive] real,” the video showed.

Rutherford said Barmak went on an “absolute tirade” and Barmak “snuffed out” Wagner’s life, adding the shooting was no accident.

“This case is the poster child of drugs are not harmless — people will die if you use them,” Rutherford said.

Ramseur said Barmak’s behavior that night was destructive, but it was only meant to be self-destructive, and his actions are not reflective of the person he truly is.

“He believed he was under attack and had to protect himself from a demon who didn’t exist in that way,” Ramseur said.

‘A hero that night’

Rutherford said the murder was heinous and Wagner should be remembered for how he lived, supporting his family, caring for others and putting his life on the line for his community.

“It cost him his life, and that’s something that can’t be said enough about who Officer Wagner was,” Rutherford said.

Ramseur said Wagner’s actions were heroic, and he sacrificed his life to not kill Barmak.

“He’s a hero, and he died a hero that night,” Ramseur said.

Barmak never intended violence, and it’s not who he is or wants to be, Ramseur said.

“He didn’t want it to happen, and once it started, he couldn’t stop it,” Ramseur said of the evidence.

Barmak has converted to Christianity during his incarceration and feels sorrow, guilt, shame and remorse, according to family members’ testimony and his statement to Doucette.

“Christ tells us that ‘there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for another’ and I believe that Officer Wagner and his actions are the very embodiment of this love,” Barmak said. “I’ll strive each and every day to try and live up to this love and mercy that Officer Wagner bestowed upon me.”

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