LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA – A Loudoun County Sheriff's Office detective has been named Investigator of the Year by the Virginia Homicide Investigators Association, LCSO announced Monday.
Master Detective Tonmy Rodriguez was given the 2026 Homicide Investigator of the Year Award during the organization's annual conference in Virginia Beach on Sept. 30, LCSO announced. Rodriguez has been with LCSO since 2010. The department commended his dedication, professionalism and leadership in a release on the award.
LSCO tells Patch that Rodriguez was recognized for his work as lead detective on the Jacob Bogatin murder and arson case. Bogatin, 78, was found guilty in September of setting a fire that killed his 36-year-old Sterling neighbor in 2025. Loudoun County Commonwealth's Attorney Bob Anderson called Bogatin's trial very complex, as it involved dozens of witnesses and a volume of circumstantial evidence.
Rodriguez earned the same recognition in 2022 for his work on the case of the murder of Najat Chemlali Goode. He also earned a Public Service Award from the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of Virginia in 2019
The Virginia Homicide Investigators Association is a nonprofit association that provides a forum for discussion and information exchange among professional investigators, as well as seminars, conferences and instructional courses, according to its website. VHIA is a member of the International Homicide Investigators Association and a partner of the Southeast Homicide Investigators Association and the Mid-Atlantic Cold Case Homicide Investigators Association. The association was founded in 1993.
This year's convention included panels on how to avoid false confessions, advancements in DNA analysis and investigations of homicides without bodies, case studies and more.
Prince William County investigators won the award last year.
According to LCSO's crime dashboard, the county saw five homicides in 2025 and has seen two so far in 2026.
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