In September 1981, a respected educator called Olivia Dare Christian was found murdered and killed in her residence on Ivy Home Road, Hampton, in September 1981. 34 years later, in 2015, the offender was apprehended. The terrible murder is explored in “On the Case with Paula Zahn: A Face and a Voice” on Investigation Discovery, which also reveals the case’s many facets. If you’re interested in learning more about the case, the perpetrator’s name, or where they are right now, we can help. Let’s start now without further ado.
How Was Olivia Dare Christian’s Death Caused?
Olivia Dare Christian, who was born on November 16, 1948, received her degree from Elon College in North Carolina. Prior to working as a teacher at Captain John Smith Elementary School, she taught kindergarten at John D. Cary Elementary School. Olivia was a devout woman who belonged to the First Presbyterian Church of Hampton. She sang in the church choir and taught Sunday school. Thomas Christian III, her older brother, recalled how much she cherished skiing in Maryland and Virginia.
Olivia was scheduled to attend multiple workshops at her school on September 4 and complete classroom preparation for the start of school on September 5. When she failed to show up for work, a coworker called her father in the late afternoon, and Thomas J. Christian Jr. went to his daughter’s Hampton, Long Island, apartment on the first floor to see how she was doing. The 32-year-old was found lying on her bedroom floor, an alarm clock’s rope wrapped around her neck.
According to sources, Olivia was involved in a fierce battle with the attacker, as evidenced by the several shattered things in the living room and kitchen and the nearby clock radio that read 7:30 am. Olivia’s untouched pocketbook was found under a living room chair, and Hampton police decided that robbery was not the cause because there was no sign of forced entry at the apartment door. A glass of milk and a half-eaten piece of bread were also found on the table by the cops. The TV was on that fateful day, Olivia’s father recalled. Lights were present. Vases were shattered. It wasn’t enjoyable. I’m both wounded and enraged.
Olivia had been killed by being battered and strangled. Later, the prosecution would claim that she had been strangled after receiving at least six blows to the head from an alarm clock with the rope wrapped around her neck. According to the autopsy report, she passed away around 7:30 am on September 4, 1981, and “acute head damage from strikes to the head” was stated as her cause of death. The only indication of a sexual assault was that her “shirt was pulled up to expose her bra,” according to the investigators.
Who was Olivia Dare Christian’s murderer?
The former lover of Olivia was initially accused by the authorities, but he was later exonerated. Anita Purcells Michaels, then 16 years old, who resided in a home next to Olivia’s with her sister and mother, turned out to be a key witness for the detectives. She reported seeing someone arrive at Christian’s apartment in a 1965 Ford Galaxy that was “distinctively aqua green.” Anita said, “I observed the man stroll up to Christian’s apartment and peer through her window.”
Anita had earlier observed Olivia walking her kitten close to the elaborate background. She added that she had seen the man again later that morning as he was leaving in his car. When Anita testified in court decades later, she claimed to have “locked” eyes with him and said, “I will never forget those eyes.” The suspect allegedly broke into Olivia’s flat while she was out and waited for her return, according to a police theory.
However, the police were unable to identify any suspects to detain, and the case became cold. The Hampton Police Division, the FBI, the state, and the Hampton Commonwealth’s Attorney offices all worked together to reopen the investigation after more than three decades. An officer reportedly discovered similarities between Olivia’s murder’s method of execution and another murder, whose culprit had been apprehended a few months before to the school teacher’s death, in December 2015.
Since he was a teenager, Ruben Edward Moore has been found guilty of a number of offences, including sexual assault and breaking and entering. Around 10 months after Olivia’s murder, on June 10, 1982, Ruben was detained and accused of raping a lady on Keith Road in Hampton. He was found guilty and given a 30-year prison term on November 5, 1982. On December 11, 2015, he was taken into custody once more after Anita and other witnesses recognised Ruben as the man they had seen walking around Olivia’s apartment the morning she was killed by a strangulation.
Today, where is Ruben Edward Moore?
In March 2018, a Hampton Circuit Court jury found Ruben Edward Moore guilty of second-degree murder and recommended 40 years in prison as the appropriate sentence. Ruben, now 72, was sentenced to 40 years in jail by Circuit Court Judge William H. Shaw III in June, two months later. According to official court documents, Ruben could be released on April 21, 2036, and is currently detained in a cell at the Augusta Correctional Center in Virginia.