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Dateline: The Call aired originally on May 10, 2019, on NBC. The episode deals with the gruesome murder of a Virginia-based dancer Meghan Landowski who was found dead in her Portsmouth home on April 10, 2008.
Megan Landowski's death shook the community of Portsmouth. She was s*xually assaulted and brutally stabbed over 40 times, apparently by an intruder. Her stepfather, Christopher Shortt, found her lifeless body on the kitchen floor and informed the police. According to IMDb, the synopsis of the episode reads:
"When a dancer is murdered in her Virginia home, investigators are hopeful they can crack the case; but, after interviewing a series of suspects, detectives realize the case is much more complicated than previously thought."
It took six months, several interrogations, and a thorough investigation, to find the culprit for Meghan's murder, who was not an intruder but someone close to her. A teenage infatuation had turned brutal for the 16-year-old Meghan Landowski.
What happened to Meghan Landowski as shown in Dateline?
Meghan Landowski was a popular 16-year-old girl from Virginia. She started dancing at the age of 13 and loved to do ballet. As per her friends, Meghan was quite approachable and loved her friends. Meghan and her family lived right across the Elizabeth River, north of Virginia.
On the unfateful day, April 10, 2008, Meghan Nicole Landowski returned home from school and left a voicemail for her mother to inform that she had come back from school.
However, in a shocking twist, as presented in the Dateline episode, her stepfather Christopher Shortt found her lifeless body in a pool of blood in their kitchen. He called 911 and informed the police of the brutal murder of Meghan. When the investigators arrived they found Meghan's arms were duct taped and she was naked below the waist, suggesting a possibility of s*xual violence.
The autopsy report and medical examination revealed that Meghan was stabbed around 40 times with a knife and was also s*xually assaulted. Further evidence showed that Meghan did try to escape the murderer and that she was dragged across the house.
Christopher Shorrt was informed about the autopsy report, and he was quick to point at an ex-family friend and Chris' colleague, Robert Hicke. Previously Meghan had accused Robert of s*xually abusing her. Upon investigation, the investigators found child p****graphy videos among Robert's belongings. However, Robert's DNA did not match with that of the victim.
The pieces of evidence collected from the crime scene included 121 fingerprints, footprints of a Nike shoe, blood from door knobs, and the edge of the tape dispenser. A murder weapon was found in the sink and another from a drain nearby.
How did the investigators solve Meghan Landowski's case as shown in Dateline?
As shown in Dateline, the investigators soon established it was not Robert Hicke who killed Meghan, and began questioning Meghan's peers. The DNA report revealed that it belonged to someone of African American origin. It is here that the investigators turned to a friend of Meghan, Robert Barnes.
A 17-year-old boy, Robert Barnes was a violinist and was enrolled at the Governer School of Arts. He went to Churchland High School. The school bus driver gave a useful tip to investigators, saying Robert had a crush on Meghan but Meghan did not seem to have feelings for him.
Robert Barnes seemed quite cooperative throughout the investigations. However, when the investigators tried to get his DNA from chewing gum, they found out that he swapped it with that of a female. The detectives realized Robert was trying to hide something.
When the detectives interrogated him, Robert Barnes finally confessed to killing Meghan Landowski. Although he mentioned he was aided by someone, the police found no evidence supporting the claim.
Robert Barnes' conviction in Dateline: The Call
In 2009, Robert Lee Barnes pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of the 16-year-old Meghan Landowski. He was also charged with abduction, attempted r*pe, burglary and s*xual battery. He was sentenced to 38 years in prison for first-degree murder and four more years for s*xual assault and burglary.
In 2012, when Robert was locked in Buckingham Correctional Centre in Dilwyn, he exhausted his appeal limits when he filed for a writ of Habeas Corpus, attempting to take down the guilty plea, but he was denied.
Currently, he is incarcerated at the Pocahontas State Correctional Center, and as per records, he will be released in 2045. Meghan's family never returned to their Portsmouth house after her death.
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