A Louisiana cold case spanning more than 40 years saw four arrests after DNA testing and a Roxanne Sharp podcast helped bring new leads.
Herbert Joiner spent decades carrying a case most people in Covington wanted to keep buried. Now, the Sharp murder has finally produced arrests.
For more than 40 years. former Covington police officer Herbert Joiner kept records—clippings. notes and investigative materials—inside a brown leather briefcase. methodically revisiting the 1982 killing of 16-year-old Roxanne Sharp.. Joiner died in October. a few months before Louisiana State Police cold case detectives announced that four men long under suspicion had been arrested.. The timing landed as a rare moment of closure for a community that had lived with the case like “a big black cloud” hovering over everyday life.
On Friday. Louisiana State Police said the arrests were tied to the Sharp murder. a case that shook Covington. a small city of roughly 11. 000 residents across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans.. Investigators said the breakthrough came through a combination of persistence. renewed witness work. and the kind of forensic capability that simply didn’t exist when Sharp was killed.. Authorities also said DNA technology—unavailable at the time—played a key role in connecting evidence to the men arrested.
Joiner. whose son described him as rarely speaking about what he saw when he was among the first officers to arrive at Sharp’s wooded-area scene. became a symbol of long-term dedication.. His family said he knew Roxanne and struggled with the years passing without meaningful accountability.. According to family accounts. Joiner’s frustration grew as other leads failed to produce arrests. leaving the community in a cycle of silence—people reportedly reluctant to talk. especially outside local circles.
At the center of the renewed push was a Cold Case process that became both technological and public-facing.. Louisiana State Police partnered with Northshore radio host Charles Dowdy to produce a podcast titled “Who Killed Roxanne?” in 2025.. Investigators said the series generated new information. leads and witnesses that had been unknown or unavailable to authorities earlier in the investigation.. For many residents. the podcast wasn’t just entertainment; it was a kind of communal pressure—an attempt to reopen a closed door without letting the case fade completely.
The arrest list includes Billy Williams Jr., 62; Darrell Dean Spell, 64; Perry Wayne Taylor, 64; and Carlos Cooper, 64.. Officials said DNA evidence tied those names to the case. underscoring how advances in forensic science can transform decades-old material into actionable proof.. District Attorney Collin Sims characterized the outcome as evidence that “persistence. collaboration. and advancements in investigative technology” can lead to accountability. even when time has narrowed investigative options.
One reason the renewed investigation gained momentum is that state detectives began revisiting the file years after the case went cold.. In 2023. Louisiana State Police said they began re-interviewing witnesses and potential suspects. reviewing what had already been collected and resubmitting original evidence for DNA analysis.. That approach matters because it reflects a broader shift in how cold cases are treated across the country: investigators increasingly look for ways to “re-anchor” old narratives to new scientific methods. rather than relying only on the information available at the time of the original investigation.
For Joiner’s family, the breakthrough also carries a more personal weight.. His son, Justin Joiner, said his father had shared what was inside the briefcase with a lead investigator, Stefan Montgomery.. The family described Montgomery as someone closely connected to the case over time. with Joiner speaking frequently with him and returning home visibly weighed down until progress accelerated.. Prior to making arrests. investigators said they had been in contact with Joiner; a spokesperson also said that. given the current prosecution. authorities are limited in what they can confirm about specific evidence collected.
People in Covington say the case became a private wound for many households. not something that could easily be discussed publicly.. In the aftermath of Sharp’s death. a convicted killer—Henry Lucas—claimed responsibility before later recanting. a development that likely compounded confusion during an era when witness accounts and forensic methods offered fewer ways to verify claims.. Over the years. the community’s instinct to keep quiet may have been rooted in trauma as much as in fear of what new information might bring.
Still, the podcast changed the tone.. Dowdy said he was surprised by how deeply people in the community connected to Sharp’s story. and he pointed to Sharp’s niece. Michele Lappin. as someone who “did not let this go.” For Lappin and others. the arrest announcement represents more than legal procedure; it’s a long-delayed acknowledgment that the questions surrounding a teenager’s disappearance and death did not disappear with the passing of time.
As investigators proceed with the prosecution. what happens next will be closely watched—not only because the case finally moved toward arrests. but because the path to those arrests illustrates how cold cases can reawaken.. DNA testing, renewed witness outreach, and media-driven attention combined to bring old evidence back into focus.. For Covington. the case is no longer just history sitting in a file; it is an active legal fight. and the community that once went silent is now left deciding what closure looks like when justice arrives late.
What Rogers. detectives and families share across decades is the same lesson: time can be a wall. but it can also become a tool.. When new technology and sustained attention meet. the past can return with enough force to demand answers—finally putting names behind a mystery that had outlasted nearly everyone who remembered Roxanne Sharp as more than a case number.