Nearly four decades after the brutal murder of Roberta Walls, authorities have finally made an arrest. Charles Berry, 66, was taken into custody this week in connection with the 1986 crime, which has haunted investigators and the community for years.
The Arrest
The Newington Police Department, working alongside the Virginia Beach Police Department (VBPD), arrested Berry on May 18, 2026, as a fugitive from justice. He is being held on a $2 million bond and is awaiting extradition to Virginia. The arrest warrant stems from charges related to a 1986 homicide in Virginia Beach.
According to a statement from Newington police, Berry was processed at their station and transported to New Britain Superior Court on May 19. The extradition order is pending approval by Connecticut's district court.
The Crime
Roberta Walls, 22, was last seen alive on the night of May 14, 1986, at the Bayside Public Library in Virginia Beach, where she worked. The following day, her body was discovered in a field behind a primary school, across the street from the library. She had been raped and stabbed multiple times, showing clear signs of a violent assault. Her death was ruled a homicide.
Despite extensive investigations, the case went cold for decades. In 2017, VBPD obtained funding to send DNA evidence from the crime scene to a lab in Northern Virginia, which generated a composite image of the suspect. It remains unclear if this DNA evidence directly led to Berry's arrest.
Community Impact
The murder sent shockwaves through the community in 1986. Walls was known to frequent the Aragona area of Virginia Beach and the Ocean View area of Norfolk. She had tattoos on her arm and abdomen, which were noted in the case file. The arrest brings a measure of closure to a case that has remained unresolved for nearly 40 years.
Authorities have not released further details about the evidence linking Berry to the crime, but the arrest marks a significant breakthrough in one of Virginia Beach's oldest cold cases.
