Louisiana investigators say a true-crime podcast helped generate new leads that led to arrests in the 1982 killing of Roxanne Sharp, who was 16 when she was raped and murdered in Covington, north of New Orleans. Authorities announced this month that four men were charged in the case after more than four decades without an arrest.
Sharp was found dead on Feb. 12, 1982, in a wooded area near the St. Tammany Parish Fairgrounds. Police said the original investigation established that she had been sexually assaulted and killed, but the case went cold for years because investigators had little physical evidence and limited cooperation from witnesses.
Louisiana State Police reopened the case in 2023 and reviewed the original files, evidence, and witness statements. Investigators also submitted physical evidence for DNA testing, which helped strengthen the case as new information surfaced, according to CBS News.
The breakthrough came after investigators partnered in 2025 with local radio host Charles Dowdy and Northshore Media Group on the podcast "Who Killed Roxanne Sharp?" Police said the six-part series prompted people to come forward with information they had not shared before and helped detectives re-examine the timeline of Sharp's final hours.
Dowdy also took part in a reenactment of the crime scene, using tape measures to mark where Sharp's body and other evidence were found. He said the exercise helped show that she appeared to have been seized on the street and dragged into the woods.
Authorities identified the suspects as Perry Wayne Taylor, Darrell Dean Spell, Carlos Cooper and Billy Williams Jr., all from Covington. Police said the men were charged with aggravated rape and second-degree murder, LSP reported.
State police said Williams was arrested at his home in Covington on April 21 and booked into the St. Tammany Parish Jail. Spell was arrested the same day in Dayton, Ohio, and is awaiting extradition to Louisiana. Taylor and Cooper were already in custody on unrelated matters when detectives contacted them, as per NBC News.
Investigators previously considered whether serial killer Henry Lee Lucas was responsible after he claimed credit for Sharp's killing, but that theory was later discarded when Lucas withdrew the confession, and other evidence did not support his involvement.
