Virginia Beach Police Department arrested a suspect in connection with the murder of Roberta Walls, nearly 40 years to the day after she was found dead in a primary school field11:56, 20 May 2026The suspected killer of a woman whose body was found dumped in a field after she was raped and murdered has been arrested more than 40 years after the horror crime.‌Roberta Walls, 22, was found dead on May 15, 1986, on Virginia Beach in Newington, Connecticut in the US having been the victim of rape and a brutal stabbing. Investigators found the young woman was stabbed multiple times, and that she had last been seen the previous night at the Bayside Public Library, where she worked, but were never able to identify a suspected killer and the case went cold.‌Police revealed this week that they had arrested 66-year-old Charles Berry in coordination with the Virginia Beach Police Department (VBPD) after he was indicted by a jury in relation to Roberta's murder.‌READ MORE: Lorry driver on video call when he smashed into stationary traffic killing dad-of-two jailedREAD MORE: Influencer, 21, shot dead in street three years after partner met same fateNewington Police Department announced in a media release on Tuesday that Berry was arrested as a fugitive from justice with VBPD, which holds an arrest warrant for charges related to a 1986 Virginia Beach homicide. The department said his bail was set at $2 million (£1.49 million) in Connecticut, and that he was transported to court.A department spokesperson said: "On May 18, 2026, at approximately 4.17 pm, the Newington Police Department arrested Charles Berry, age 66, of Newington, Connecticut, for being a Fugitive from Justice.‌"The arrest was made in coordination with the Virginia Beach Police Department, which holds a valid arrest warrant for charges related to a 1986 homicide in Virginia Beach. Berry was processed at the Newington Police Department and transported to the New Britain Superior Court on May 19."Berry is now awaiting extradition to Virginia, with the order greenlighting his transfer still awaiting approval by Connecticut's district court.The arrest comes after cold case investigators continued to probe Roberta's shock death, taking advantage of technological advancements. In 2017, Virginia Beach Police obtained the funding to send DNA from the original crime scene to a lab in Northern Virginia, which then created a composite photo of the killer.Article continues belowThe department did not mention whether the DNA played a part in the arrest this week. The circumstances of Roberta's murder caused horror in 1986, with her body recovered from a field behind a Virginia primary school near the library where she worked.According to VBPD's cold case page, she was found having sustained "obvious signs of trauma due to a violent assault", and her death was quickly ruled a result of homicide. The case description reads: "She was found with obvious signs of trauma due to a violent assault."Her death was the result of homicide. Investigators determined Roberta had last been seen alive the night before at the Bayside Public Library located across the street from the location of Roberta’s murder. She was known to frequent the Aragona area of Virginia Beach and the Ocean View area of Norfolk. Roberta had tattoos on her arm and abdomen."