HAMPTON, Va. - A man will serve 40 years behind bars for the murder of woman in 1981, according to the Hampton prosecutor.
Ruben Moore, 67, was sentenced Wednesday for the killing of Olivia Christian.
Thirty-seven years ago, the 32-year-old Hampton Elementary School teacher was found brutally attacked in her Hampton apartment. Police received a call from a family member about Christian, who lived in the 200 block of Ivy Home Road. When officers arrived, they found her dead inside of the home.
Olivia Christian
High school friends describe Christian as loving, kind and extremely caring.
Ruben Moore
Moore was taken into custody in December of 2015. Several turned out to testify at his trial. He was found guilty of second degree murder Tuesday and sentenced Wednesday. He received the maximum sentence, according to court officials.
The case went cold until Senior Corporal Randal Mayer took the file home six years ago. He spent his weekends reviewing the unsolved case.
“I believed there was enough in there to look into it a little bit further,” said Mayer.
In 2016, he was selected for the ‘Top Cop’ award after his work led to Moore's arrest.
“I just can’t imagine what families go through, not knowing, not having those answers and that motivates me to look into them more,” Mayer said.
Iva and Tim Miller attended the trial this week. They went to Hampton High School with Olivia and hadn't seen her since then, but felt terrible when they heard she was murdered. They wanted to show the judge that people still care about her. They said other friends were also at the trial but most of family members had passed away.
They were glad Moore received the maximum sentence.
