True Crime Podcast Helps Detectives Solve 44-Year-Old Louisiana Murder Mystery
For 44 years, the murder of 16-year-old Roxanne Sharp went unsolved — until a six-part true crime podcast called Who Killed Roxanne? started recording in the woods where her body had been found.
Now four men face charges of aggravated rape and second-degree murder in connection with the 1982 killing in Covington, Louisiana, about 30 miles north of New Orleans.
The breakthrough came after Louisiana State Police detectives partnered with Northshore Media Group and Lake 94.7 radio host Charles Dowdy in 2025 to launch the Who Killed Roxanne? podcast.
Dowdy, who serves as vice president of Northshore Media, recorded audio while investigators recreated the crime scene, using measuring tapes to mark exactly where Sharp’s body and other evidence were found.
The recreation revealed something investigators hadn’t pieced together before: Sharp had been grabbed from the street and dragged into the woods.
“When we started the podcast, we kind of thought nobody cared — we were quickly corrected,” Dowdy told The Associated Press. “A lot of people stepped up and said they knew Roxanne, they remembered her, they were friends with her.”
Louisiana State Police Arrest Four Men
On April 21, 2026, Billy Williams Jr., 62, was arrested at his Covington home and booked into St. Tammany Parish Jail. The operation involved Covington Field Office detectives, Louisiana State Police Troop L, LSP SWAT and Covington Police.
The same day, 64-year-old Darrell Dean Spell was picked up in Dayton, Ohio, by the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation. He’s being held at Montgomery County Jail awaiting extradition to Louisiana.
A day later, detectives contacted the other two suspects — Perry Wayne Taylor, 64, and Carlos Cooper, 64, both of Covington — who were already in Louisiana Department of Corrections custody on unrelated charges.
Sharp knew all four men and frequently spent time in the neighborhood, investigators told The Associated Press.
The Cold Case Was Almost Fooled by a False Lead
The cold case had a notorious false lead. At one point, authorities believed it was solved when serial killer Henry Lucas confessed to the murder.
Lucas — infamous for fabricating confessions to crimes he didn’t commit — later retracted his claim, and additional evidence ruled him out entirely.
Sharp was found on February 12, 1982, in a wooded area near the St. Tammany Parish Fairgrounds. Investigators determined she’d been raped and murdered.
The Covington Police Department led the original investigation, but the case stalled due to insufficient physical evidence and witnesses who weren’t willing to cooperate.
In 2023, the Louisiana State Police Covington Field Office took over. Detectives reviewed the original file, resubmitted physical evidence for modern DNA testing, gathered new evidence and re-interviewed witnesses and possible suspects.
The True Crime Podcast Proved Pivotal
Louisiana State Police spokesperson Marc Gremillion told The AP the true crime podcast was the turning point.
“It helped our investigators piece together where Roxanne was days before to the time she died, to where we’re at now,” Gremillion told the AP. “It was a very large help with getting that message out to the public, and then, therefore, those witnesses getting back to us.”
District Attorney Collin Sims called the case “a powerful example of what persistence, collaboration and advancements in investigative technology can accomplish.”
“For more than four decades, this victim and her family have waited for answers,” Sims said. “Today’s arrests reflect our unwavering commitment to pursue justice — no matter how much time has passed — and to hold those responsible fully accountable.”
Covington Police Chief Michael Ferrell put it more bluntly: “Cold cases don’t close themselves. They close because people show up, year after year, and refuse to quit.”
Justin Joiner, a St. Tammany Parish resident whose father was one of the first police officers to arrive at the scene in 1982, was happy to learn of the breakthrough.
Joiner told the AP that his father “kept a briefcase full of his notes on the case until he passed away last year.”
For Sharp’s family, the news ends a 44-year wait.
“We appreciate the hard work and love that has been shown to Roxanne Sharp’s case,” her niece Michele Lappin said in a statement shared by The AP. “We hope that with justice will come healing and closure for our family, her loved ones and the community.”
This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.
