Connecticut man arrested for the crime of a young woman that occurred 40 years ago
Charles Berry is suspected of the murder of Roberta Walls, whose body was found in Virginia Beach in 1986
Almost 40 years after the murder of a 22-year-old girl, her alleged killer was arrested.
The Newington Police Department announced the arrest of Charles Berry, 66, of Newington, Connecticut, for being a fugitive from justice.
The arrest was made in coordination with the Virginia Beach Police Department (VBPD), which has a warrant for his arrest on charges related to a 1986 homicide in Virginia Beach, Newington police said in a news release.
Berry was processed at the Newington Police Department and transported to New Britain Superior Court on Tuesday.
A grand jury indicted Berry in connection with the murder of Roberta Walls, and his bond was set at $2 million in Connecticut, according to FOX 61, citing Virginia Beach police.
His extradition to Virginia is pending approval by the Connecticut district court, according to The Virginian-Pilot.
On Wednesday, May 15, 1986, at 6:30 a.m. m., Walls' body was found in the field behind Old Donation Elementary School, located at 1000 Ferry Plantation Drive, according to the Virginia Beach Police Department (VBPD) website.
Walls was found with “obvious signs of trauma due to a violent assault,” Virginia Beach police reported.
She had multiple stab wounds and had been raped. Walls was last seen alive the night before at the Bayside Public Library, directly across the street from where she was murdered, according to police.
Walls worked at the library and was on his way to meet friends, WAVY-TV reported.
In 2017, detectives used DNA samples preserved from Walls' body and the area where she was found to create a profile of a person of interest, according to The Virginian-Pilot.
The analysis helped reconstruct the suspect's appearance more than 30 years after the incident and ruled out the possibility that it was a group of people involved in the case.

