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The 2008 murder of Meghan Landowski in Portsmouth led to a complicated investigation resulting in the conviction of 16-year-old violin player Robert Barnes. The junior at Churchland High School was friends with the 16-year-old Landowski through a shared performing arts program.
A tip from a bus driver led the investigators from the Portsmouth Police Department to Robert Lee Barnes - the only suspect who matched the DNA profile rendered from the crime scene. Barnes was sentenced to 42 years in prison and is now incarcerated at the Pocahontas State Correctional Center.
The Dateline: Secrets Uncovered episode titled The Call chronicles Meghan Landowski's murder. Episode 16 of Season 12 aired on April 24, 2024, at 8 p.m. EST on Oxygen. The official synopsis of the episode reads:
"A dancer is murdered in her Virginia home; after interviewing a series of suspects, detectives realize the case is much more complicated than previously thought."
The latest Dateline: Secrets Uncovered episode is presently streaming on Apple TV, YouTube TV, and NBC.
What was Robert Barnes convicted of?
On April 10, 2008, Christopher Shortt returned home from work to find the body of his stepdaughter, Meghan Landowski, lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor. According to a report by The Virginian-Pilot, Landowski had been s*xually assaulted and stabbed over 40 times with over 12 stabs inflicted post-mortem.
The perpetrator had taped Landowski's mouth and her hands behind her back while she was found naked waist-down. There were no signs of forced entry, which made Chris suspect his fellow Navy Corps friend, Robert Hicke, to be behind the crime.
At the time, Meghan Landowski's parents had requested an NCIS investigation, as their daughter had been a survivor of s*x assault by Hicke. However, the DNA evidence from the crime scene didn't match Hicke's profile.
The Portsmouth Police Department struggled to find leads in the case for six months until Meghan's mother, Angie Shortt, received a tip from a bus driver. Shortt shared with CBS News:
"So they were both in the performing arts program. …He played the violin in the orchestra and she was a dancer. …Robert Barnes … would come over two, three times a week to catch the bus with Meghan. …They didn't hang out together, anything like that. It was just friends. …I thought to myself, "He's harmless."
With a new suspect, the investigators found a match in the DNA evidence with Barnes, and their theory of an African-American suspect was proven which they had made using an expensive biogeographical ancestry DNA analysis test.
According to WTKR, Barnes pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree murder, attempted rape, aggravated sexual battery, abduction and statutory burglary.
Robert Barnes had attempted to falsify his DNA test results by swapping his chewing gun with another female. Additionally, the footprints found at the crime scene matched his pair of Nike tennis shoes.
Where is Robert Barnes now?
Robert Barnes received 38 years for the murder of Meghan Landowski, two years for statutory burglary, and two years for s*xual battery, according to 13 News Now. He entered a special plea deal and didn't face trial as an adult.
The report quoted Barnes as he shared before his sentencing:
"I wish I could bring her back. Remorse, regretful are only words to describe how I feel. I take full responsibility for my actions. The time I spent in jail made me realize how destructive my actions were."
Per the Virginia Department of Corrections, he's presently incarcerated at the Pocahontas State Correctional Center and will be released earliest in 2045. He never disclosed the motive behind the murder.
Catch the Dateline: Secrets Uncovered episode streaming on Apple TV and NBC now.
