Las Vegas man, 77, arrested in Virginia in 1964 murder case

A 77-year-old local man was arrested Friday for the slaying 45 years ago of his then-wife in Virginia, authorities in Virginia and Las Vegas confirmed Saturday.

According to a written statement by police in Hopewell, Va., Donald James Long was apprehended by several law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Marshal's Fugitive Task Force, Las Vegas police and detectives from Hopewell.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that Long and his then-wife, Naomi Fulcher Long, were separated when her body was found in her apartment in Hopewell on Dec., 28, 1964. She had been strangled.

Auhorities in Hopewell, a town of fewer than 25,000 population about 25 miles from Richmond, said investigators received information in the past four weeks that "led to a viable suspect" in the killing, and that a grand jury returned an indictment for first-degree murder naming Long.

Javier Jimenez, with the U.S. Marshals Las Vegas, confirmed Long's arrest Saturday but neither he nor officials in Virginia would comment on the arrest.

Public records indicate that Long has lived in Las Vegas since the early 1990s. A woman who answered the telephone at his home near the North Las Vegas Airport on Saturday declined comment.

According to the Times-Dispatch, Long had just finished getting a haircut and was singing as he walked out of the Gerardo's Classic Barber Shop near his home when he was nabbed by plainclothes officers. The newspaper reported Long spoke with an employee of the barbershop prior to his arrest and told her he been married four times. Long told the employee that one wife died, one left him, he left another, and now he's with wife number four.

Kevin Connolly, a supervisory inspector for the Richmond area's U.S. Marshal Service fugitive task force quipped that Friday wasn't Long's day.

"It's not a great Friday the 13th for Mr. Long," Connolly told the Times Dispatch.

Long was being held as a fugitive on no bond in the Clark County Detention Center Saturday. He is scheduled to make his initial court appearance Tuesday. He faces extradition to Virginia.

Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@review journal.com or 702-383-4638.