Man Arrested in Connection with 2008 Sun Drop Killings Cold Case in N.C.
Investigators say reexamined evidence and new leads linked Johnny Steven Talbert to the 2008 double homicide and robbery, leading to his arrest.
- Johnny Steven Talbert, 43, was arrested Thursday in Port Angeles, Washington, just hours after Concord Police Department obtained a warrant charging him with two counts of first-degree murder and robbery with a firearm stemming from a June 13, 2008 shooting.
- A breakthrough in late 2025 reignited the nearly two-decade investigation when detectives reexamined evidence and pursued previously undeveloped leads, prompting Concord police to contact Port Angeles authorities on December 19, 2025.
- On June 13, 2008, around 10 a.m., officers responded to the Sun Drop Bottling Company at 360 Old Salisbury-Concord Road after a reported shooting, finding office manager Donna Barnhardt, 59, and job applicant Darrell Noles, 44, dead from gunshot wounds; an $85,000 reward was eventually offered.
- Talbert is being held without bail in Clallam County Jail in Washington state, with Judge Elizabeth Stanley ordering him held for 30 days pending extradition to North Carolina; a status hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. on June 12.
- The families of Barnhardt and Noles have been notified of Talbert's arrest, with the Barnhardt family expressing gratitude for detectives' "persistence, integrity, and tireless efforts," while Concord police described the arrest as "a major cold case breakthrough" but noted the investigation remains active.
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19 Articles
Closure in sight after arrest made in 2008 'Sun Drop Murders' in Concord
CONCORD, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — An arrest has been made in a double homicide that has lingered without answers in Concord for nearly two decades, authorities said. Johnny Talbert, 43, of Port Angeles, Washington, was arrested May 21 and charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of robbery with a dangerous [...]
U.S. Nearly 2 decades after double murder in North Carolina, suspect arrested 3,000 miles away
The suspect in an infamous North Carolina double murder has been arrested after nearly two decades, some 3,000 miles from where the killings took place, authorities said. Johnny Steven Talbert, 43, was taken into custody Thursday in Port Angeles, Washington, according to the Concord Police Department. Talbert faces two charges of first-degree murder and another for armed robbery, police said. He is currently jailed without bond in Washington and…
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