Police arrest suspect in Sun Drop Murders cold case, 18 years later
After 18 years, Concord police arrested a Port Angeles man in the Sun Drop murders, finally breaking a case that never left local memory.
For 18 years, the Sun Drop Murders haunted Concord as one of the city’s most stubborn cold cases. On Thursday, May 21, 2026, police said the case finally cracked wide open with the arrest of 43-year-old Johnny Steven Talbert of Port Angeles, Washington.
Concord police said the arrest warrant came after detectives reexamined evidence in late 2025 and chased previously undeveloped leads that produced critical information tying Talbert to the 2008 killings. Investigators contacted the Port Angeles Police Department on December 19, 2025, then traveled to Port Angeles on May 18, 2026, for further investigation before securing the warrant three days later. Talbert was arrested the same day without incident and is being held without bail in the Clallam County Jail while awaiting extradition to North Carolina.
Talbert faces two counts of first-degree murder and one count of robbery with a firearm or other dangerous weapon. The warrant also states that $9,905.42 was taken from the bottling plant during the crime.
The killings happened around 10 a.m. on June 13, 2008, inside the Sun Drop Bottling Company at 360 Old Salisbury-Concord Road near Branchview Drive and Cabarrus Avenue. Police said the victims were Donna Barnhardt, 59, the longtime office manager, and Darrell Noles, 44, who was at the plant to apply for a job. Investigators believe the shooter killed both victims, stole money from the front office and fled on foot.
Witnesses described a slender Black man, about 5-foot-7 to 6 feet tall and weighing roughly 170 to 180 pounds, wearing a white shirt and blue jeans and heading toward Cabarrus Avenue. A composite sketch was released in September 2008, but the case remained unsolved for nearly 18 years despite hundreds of tips, continued lab testing and national attention, including a 2009 appearance on America’s Most Wanted. At one point, the reward for information reportedly climbed to $85,000.
Concord police said the families of Barnhardt and Noles have been informed and asked for privacy as the case moves forward. The investigation remains active, and detectives are still asking anyone with information to call Concord Police at 704-920-5000 or CrimeStoppers anonymously at 704-93-CRIME, because the arrest may be the turning point, but the story is still not finished.
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