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Robert
W. WHITE Jr.
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: Serial
rapist
Number of victims: 1
Date of murder:
November 1,
1978
Date
of arrest:
March 18,
2008 (30 years later)
Date of birth: 1957
Victim profile: Virginia
Morrell, 21
Method of murder:
Suffocation
Location: Northampton County, Pennsylvania, USA
Status: Pleaded guilty.
Sentenced to life in prison on March 18, 2009
Robert W. White Jr. pleads guilty,
sentenced to life in prison for 1978 murder of Virginia Morrell
LehighValleyLive.com
March 18, 2009
Two and a half days into his murder trial, Robert
W. White Jr., pleaded guilty to the 1978 murder of Virginia Morrell.
Morrell told the judge his plea to first-degree
murder, in part, was made so he could avoid the death penalty. A first-degree
murder conviction carries a mandatory life sentence.
Before sentencing, Morrell's sister, Marilyn
Belmonte, read a prepared statement to Northampton County Judge Stephen
Baratta.
"We can only hope, this man, not man --
animal," she said, "gets the maximum sentence you can
give him."
"Robert White should rot in hell,"
she said.
A call of "Here, here" and "amen" came from Morrell's
family and friends in the courtroom. They clapped when White was led
from the courtroom with his arms shackled.
The plea came after earlier testimony in which three
women said White attacked them between 1978 and 1982. White killed
Morrell on Halloween in 1978.
A woman from Richmond, Va., said White raped her
while her baby cried in a crib. Another woman from Richmond said she
fought off what she believe would be a rape by White.
A Forks Township woman said White pinned her in a
bathroom stall at a township restaurant and sexually assaulted her.
Jason Gerlach, a juror from Palmer Township, said the
women's testimony was convincing.
"It was very powerful," he said.
"They were sharp. They were emotional. They stared him down
... I think (White) realized we were paying attention. I think they
ultimately understood what they were doing" to his case.
White pleaded at 1:37 this afternoon. Defense
attorneys said White asked for the plea during a recess that followed
the women's testimony.
Prosecutors spent the first two days of testimony
questioning Morrell's sister, the medical examiner who conducted the
autopsy on Morrell and White's ex-wife, who remembered a laundry rope,
mask and knife disappeared from her home the day Morrell was killed.
Officials: 30-year murder case
cracked
Express-Times
March 20, 2008
A 50-year-old man was arrested
Tuesday in Virginia on charges he murdered a 21-year-old
woman in Easton 30 years ago, officials said this
afternoon.
Robert W. White Jr., who spent
several years living in Easton before returning to
his home state of Virginia, will be charged with
with the 1978 murder of Virginia Morrell when he is
extradited to Pennsylvania, Northampton County
District Attorney John Morganelli said. White
currently is being held in Roanoke, Va., city jail
charged with being a fugitive, police said.
On Feb. 28, Easton police served
a search warrant in Roanoke seeking a DNA sample
from White, a convicted sex offender, in connection
with Morrell's killing. A preliminary test matched
White with evidence recovered from the murder of the
1975 Phillipsburg High School graduate. She was
found dead of asphyxiation Nov. 1, 1978, in her Ann
Street apartment.
White lived with his wife in an
apartment across the hall from Morrell at the time
of her murder, police said. He served prison time
for an attempted rape in 1979 and was convicted in
another rape and abduction that occurred less than a
year after he was paroled. He was sentenced in 1982
to 40 years in state prison and has been free since
2006.
White will
face a single count of criminal
homicide, according to court
records.
Easton police
Det. Daniel Regan began
investigating the cold case last
March. According to an affidavit
of probable cause, DNA found on
a nightgown found under
Morrell's body and tested last
year matched White's DNA.
Morrell's
nude body was found on her
apartment floor with her hands
bound behind her back.
Authorities said she died of
asphyxia; her nose and mouth had
been covered with masking tape.
In an
interview with White's ex-wife
last month, Regan said in court
records that she identified a
picture of the rope used to bind
Morrell's hands as the type of
clothesline missing from her
apartment bathroom around the
time of the killing. She
remembered that because the
night before the killing was
discovered was her son's first
Halloween -- Oct. 31, 1978,
according to the affidavit.
Charges
held for court in 30-year-old
murder
April 29,
2008
Charges
against a
man who is
accused of
murdering an
Easton woman
30 years ago
were held
for court
this
afternoon at
a hearing
before
District
Judge Daniel
Corpora.
Robert W.
White Jr.,
50, formerly
of Easton,
is charged
with slaying
21-year-old
Virginia
Morrell in
her
apartment in
the city's
South Side.
The naked
body of the
1975
Phillipsburg
High School
graduate was
found by
police lying
face-down on
the floor
with her
hands bound
behind her
back Nov. 1,
1978, in her
Ann Street
apartment.
Easton
police
Detective
Daniel
Reagan said
Morrell's
case was
dusted off
about 18
months ago
and re-opened
during a
routine look
into
unsolved
murders.
After
reviewing
the evidence,
Reagan said
he was
hopeful
modern
technology
would be
able to shed
new light on
the murder.
White was
arrested
March 25 in
Roanoke,
Va., after
police had
DNA evidence
linking him
to the crime.
He is
charged with
a single
count of
criminal
homicide. He
is being
held in
Northampton
County
Prison
without bail.
