A suspect has been arrested in connection with the 2008 “Sun Drop Murders” in Concord, North Carolina, police said. Johnny Steven Talbert, 43, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon and is being held without bail
A nearly 18-year-old Concord murder case that shocked a North Carolina community is moving again—this time with a suspect in custody.
The Concord Police Department announced that 43-year-old Johnny Steven Talbert. of Port Angeles. Washington. was arrested on May 21 and charged in the 2008 killings of Donna Barnhardt and Darrell Noles. Talbert faces two counts of first-degree murder and one count of robbery with a dangerous weapon, Concord police said.
Police said Talbert was taken into custody without incident by the Port Angeles Police Department. He is being held without bail in the Clallam County Jail while awaiting extradition to North Carolina, according to a May 25 news release.
The case is often called the “Sun Drop Murders” because it occurred at the Sun Drop Bottling Company in Concord. located northeast of Charlotte. Authorities said officers responded to the facility around 10 a.m. on June 13, 2008. Inside the business, they found two victims suffering from gunshot wounds.
Investigators identified the victims as 59-year-old Donna Barnhardt, the company’s longtime office manager, and 44-year-old Darrell Noles, who police said was at the business to apply for a job. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said witnesses reported seeing a man with a slender build leaving the area on foot shortly after the shooting. Detectives believe Barnhardt and Noles were fatally shot before money was stolen from the front office and the suspect fled.
As the investigation unfolded, authorities released a composite sketch based on witness descriptions in September 2008 and said they received hundreds of tips from the public over the years.
The breakthrough came after detectives revisited the case as forensic technology advanced. Concord police said that in late 2025, investigators reexamined evidence and pursued what they called previously undeveloped leads, ultimately identifying Talbert as a suspect.
Concord detectives contacted the Port Angeles Police Department on Dec. 19, 2025, and later traveled to Washington state in May 2026 as part of the investigation. Police said Talbert was arrested days later, and the families of Barnhardt and Noles have been informed of the charges.
What brought the case forward appears to be a mix of persistence and changing investigative tools: a sketch and hundreds of tips in 2008, and then a return to the evidence in 2025 as investigators pursued leads they previously hadn’t been able to develop.
Concord police have not publicly said whether Talbert has obtained an attorney. The Concord Police Department did not provide additional details beyond the charging and custody information in the release. The case now shifts to the next steps—extradition to North Carolina and the legal process that will follow.
Sun Drop Murders Johnny Steven Talbert Concord Police Department cold case first-degree murder robbery with dangerous weapon extradition Port Angeles DNA technology
So he’s in Washington now? Wild.
18 years later and they just get him… how does nobody catch that guy sooner? I saw “Sun Drop” and thought it was like a cold case because of the soda place or something, but man murder is murder.
Held without bail and waiting on extradition… so he could be out like visiting until they ship him back right? (Sorry, I don’t fully get the whole process.) Either way, the fact it says slender build leaving on foot makes me feel like witnesses weren’t sure.
Port Angeles getting him sounds like a TV plot. Also “robbery with a dangerous weapon” like that’s the whole story, but two counts of first-degree murder like cmon. I remember these cases from forever ago and I’m shocked it’s actually moving, but I’m also like… does the suspect have anything to do with the bottle company job thing? Kinda weird how they were applying for a job. I hope they nail him and stop the runaround.