(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Years before he allegedly went on a mission to assassinate President Donald Trump, Ryan Routh ran a criminal enterprise involving the theft of thousands of dollars’ worth of property from construction sites in the Greensboro, North Carolina area, according to previously unpublicized records reviewed by Headline USA.
The previously unpublicized records come from Greensboro Police Department’s 2010 investigation into Routh, which led to him being convicted for possessing stolen goods. Those convictions have been widely reported, but most of the details about the case haven’t—until now.
According to the records, a confidential informant told police that Routh would steal tools and building materials from the sites where he and his company, United Roofing, were hired to do work. Routh allegedly kept those stolen goods in three 50-foot trailers, as well as a warehouse in the Greensboro area, the records state.
🚨NEW: Previously unpublicized records show that about 15 years ago, alleged would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh ran a criminal enterprise involving the theft of thousands of dollars' worth of property from construction sites where he worked in the Greensboro, North Carolina area.… pic.twitter.com/BpGxlFZ9Su
— Headline USA (@HeadlineUSA) May 16, 2025
Greensboro police were tipped off about Routh—who was already on probation for a felony explosives conviction in 2002—by a confidential informant in January 2010, amidst an investigation into a rash of burglaries involving the theft of flat-screen televisions. Police also received information from someone arrested in the scheme, whose identity was kept confidential.
According to the informant, a man named “Marty” had recently broken into a home under construction. Marty allegedly stole a washer and dryer from there, sold those items to Routh, and then used the proceeds to buy crack-cocaine.
Police arrested Marty—who was later identified as Marshall Hinshaw—and then received another tip from their informant: that Routh was moving the stolen merchandise to a new location because he was worried he would be caught. The informant further told police that Routh was driving a stolen “black/broken dually pickup truck.”
On Jan. 27, 2010, police executed a search warrant on one of Routh’s trailers—seizing items such as “new marble white sinks” that belonged to another company called H Brown Inc., according to police records. A day after that search, the informant said Routh began hurriedly moving other stolen property that was located in his two remaining trailers.
Police searched another one of the trailers on Feb. 4, 2010, finding more stolen items—including more than $1,500 of welding torches owned by the company Hammaker East. The owner of the land where Routh’s trailer was sitting also told police that he asked someone to move the trailer, and that “a male had pulled a knife on him and told him to leave the property.”
After searching the first two trailers, police made contact with Routh and asked him to search the third trailer, which was on land that he owned. Routh denied officers’ request to search, and so they obtained another search warrant on Feb. 4, 2010—finding yet more stolen goods.
Additionally, the search warrant indicated that accomplices may have been involved in Routh’s scheme. A man named Cornelius Chisholm was initially listed as a co-defendant of Routh’s, but the charges against him were later dropped. Headline USA was unable to find many additional details about Chisholm, other than the fact that he, too, has a lengthy criminal record.
Routh was arrested, and convicted of three felony counts of possessing stolen goods in July 2010. However, similar to his 2002 weapons conviction, he was given a suspended sentence of two days in jail plus time served. He was also initially charged upon arrest with possessing a stolen vehicle, but that charge was dropped. Moreover, he was initially charged with violating the terms of his probation from the 2002 conviction—but that charge was later dropped—with records only stating that it was “filed in error.”
Routh went on to commit crimes for over the next decade, including in the days leading up to his alleged attempt on Trump’s life, when he was communicating with a human smuggler and attempting to buy a rocket launcher.
The man who allegedly sold Routh a stolen washer and dryer, Marshall Hinshaw, also continued a life of crime. According to the North Carolina Department of Corrections’ website, he’s serving an eight-year jail sentence for a 2021 felony breaking-and-entering conviction.
🚨REVEALED: The identify of one of alleged would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh's old accomplices in a scheme to steal goods from construction sites: His name is "Marty" aka Marshall Hinshaw, and a LinkedIn page matching his description says that he was in the US Army for over 20… pic.twitter.com/ZtHS2RmAw7
— Headline USA (@HeadlineUSA) May 16, 2025
A LinkedIn page that matches Hinshaw’s profile states that he worked for the U.S. Army from 1992 to 2014—working in “fire support and air defense.” His bio states that he’s “skilled in U.S. Department of Defense, Military Operations, Army, Command, and Military.”
Headline USA wrote a letter to Hinshaw, seeking details about his dealings with Routh—but he’s yet to respond.
Routh’s trial is set for September.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
