Dateline: The Call — 5 harrowing details about the 2008 murder, explored

Dateline: The Call is based on the brutal murder of a 16-year-old dancer, Meghan Landowski, in April 2008. The episode that aired on May 10, 2019, portrayed how a young life was lost due to a teenage infatuation.

Meghan was repeatedly stabbed and s*xually assaulted while her body was duct-taped to constrict her movements. Her stepfather Christopher Shorrt found her lifeless body near the kitchen and called 911. It took six months for the investigators to find out the culprit of Meghan's murder. Initially, thought to be the work of an intruder, a tip from the school bus driver and a shocking DNA sample revelation helped the investigators nab the real murderer.

Robert Lee Barnes, Meghan's schoolmate and a talented violinist, was responsible for the murder of Meghan Landowski in her Portsmouth home. He had a crush on Meghan and often visited her house, and they even went for short walks together in the evening.

---

5 harrowing details of the 2008 murder of Meghan Landowski as shown in Dateline: The Call

Here are 5 harrowing details of the 2008 murder of Meghan Landowski that shook the Portsmouth community.

1) Meghan Landowski's dead body was found in a pool of blood by her stepfather — Dateline: The Call

Meghan Landowski was a 16-year-old girl from Virginia who was quite popular among her friends for her funny and easygoing nature. She was a trained ballet dancer and dreamed of pursuing dance professionally.

On April 10, 2008, Meghan returned from school and left a voicemail for her mother, who worked at a construction site, stating that she was home. Later, Meghan proceeded to the kitchen to make some lunch. Around 4 p.m. Meghan's stepfather found Meghan's lifeless body on the kitchen floor in a pool of blood. Her arms were duct-taped and she had no clothes waist down.

---

2) Meghan Landowski was brutally stabbed 40 times and s*xually assaulted — Dateline: The Call

After the investigators reached the location, they found out Meghan's body was brutally stabbed with a sharp object. She was duct-taped to restrict her movements and was naked below the waist suggesting s*xual violence.

There were blood stains that covered the bedroom and kitchen area. The investigators figured out that she was dragged from her bedroom to the kitchen and then stabbed to death. As per the autopsy report, she was stabbed 40 times of which 11 were fatal strikes.

---

3) Meghan Landowski was previously s*xually assaulted by Robert Hicke

Meghan's stepfather alerted the investigators about Robert Hicke, who had previously assaulted Meghan. Robert Hicke was Christopher Shorrt's colleague and a family friend.

Just a few months before her death, Meghan's grades were drastically dropping and her parents confronted her about changes in her behavior. Meghan confided in her parents that Robert Hicke, who served in the Navy, touched her inappropriately on numerous occasions. the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) launched an investigation on Robert Hicke regarding the alleged s*xual assault.

When Christopher Shorrt found her daughter dead he was pretty sure that it was Robert Hicke who did it. He called the NCIS agent and claimed about Hicke:

"The b**tard killed her."

The investigators searched Robert Hicke's house thoroughly, set a GPS on his car to track him, and even interviewed his colleagues at the naval hospital.

When the forensic reports came in, it was found that Robert Hicke's DNA did not match with the ones procured from the crime scene. As the DNA was sent to a lab in Florida for some further ancestral analysis, it was found that the culrpit was someone of African American descent.

---

4) Robert Lee Barnes confession — Dateline: The Call

When the investigators got the DNA results, they began to take into consideration people that Meghan knew. Initially, it was thought to be the counselor at the youth center at the Navy shipyard, who was grooming Meghan. However, his DNA test results came as negative.

Soon the investigators interviewed the school bus driver of Churchland High School, who gave an important tip that helped solve the case. He pointed out that Robert Barnes had a crush on Meghan, though he felt that she did not reciprocate to the feeling. Although Meghan was in Woodrow Wilson High School, she was accepted into a program for one year at Churchland High School.

Robert Barnes initially seemed quite innocent and willing to cooperate with the investigation. However, the investigators were alarmed when he sent a fake DNA sample via chewing gum. When the interrogation began, Robert Barnes said that he went to Meghan's place and knocked at the door and when she did not open the door, he climbed up to her bedroom.

He narrated a fake story that Meghan was held captive by a masked man. When the investogators showed him evidence such as his DNA sample results and bloody footprints of his Nike shoes, Robert Barnes confessed to the murder of Meghan and was arrested.

---

5) Robert Barnes sentenced to 42 Years in Prison — Dateline: The Call

In 2009, Robert Barnes pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of Meghan Landowski. Even though he did not utter anything about his motive, the detectives stated that it might be Robert couldn't handle Meghan's rejection and hence r*ped and murdered her. He was sentenced to a total of 42 years in prison (38 years for first-degree murder, two years for s*xual assault, and two for burglary).

At present, he is locked in the Pocahontas State Correctional Center and will not be released before 2045. He tried to file a writ of habeas corpus in 2012 but was denied.

Read More:

1. Dateline: The Accused - What happened to Garrett Phillips? Details of 12-year-old's murder explored

2. 5 harrowing details about the murder of Rob Limon on Dateline, explored

Tune in to SoapCentral for more updates.