Justice Delayed, But Not Denied: The 40 Year Wait for Answers in Roberta Walls' Murder The arrest of Charles Berry, a 66 year old Connecticut man, has brought closure to Roberta Walls' family and community nearly four decades after her brutal murder in Virginia Beach on May 15, 1986.
However, the case also highlights systemic failures that allowed it to languish for so long. Walls was just 22 years old when she was murdered.
The crime scene yielded DNA evidence, but investigators were unable to identify a suspect until 2023, thanks to a grant funded forensic genealogy program.