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HAMPTON — Since 2011, Hampton police detective Randy Mayer has been investigating the 1981 cold-case homicide of a Hampton teacher.

“I took the case home over the weekend, had a large cup of coffee and read the case cover to cover three times, making notes to determine if I had anything to investigate,” Mayer said. “You are limited to what is left with the case.”

He spoke with witnesses and looked through microfilm of other cases with similar circumstances. And after four years of working on the cold case, he determined that Ruben Edward Moore, 65, had killed Olivia Dare Christian on Sept. 4, 1981.

Moore, of Hampton, was arrested Friday and charged in connection with her death. He was indicted on one count of first-degree murder, according to the online court records.

Mayer declined to say what other evidence connected Moore to the crime.

Christian was 32 and a teacher at Captain John Smith Elementary School at the time of her death in 1981. Known by the nickname “Div,” she was a 1970 graduate of Elon College in North Carolina. She was a member of First Presbyterian Church of Hampton, where she sang in the choir and taught Sunday school.

Her body was discovered by her father, Thomas Christian. After his daughter’s death, he told the Times-Herald that when he went into her apartment, “The TV was on. The lights were on. Vases were broken. It was not pleasant. I’m hurt, and I’m angry.”

A glass of milk and a half-eaten piece of toast sat on the table. There were no signs of forced entry, but it was evident that a struggle had taken place inside the home. Christian was beaten and strangled to death.

Mayer said the homicide was sexually motivated.

During the preliminary investigation, police estimated that she was killed between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. A neighbor told the Times-Herald that a fight was heard inside the apartment that morning, but it wasn’t considered serious.

Olivia Christian’s parents died before someone could be charged in connection to her death.

In a 2010 interview with the Daily Press, Christian’s brother, Thomas Christian III, said his sister enjoyed skiing in Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia.

“I just want someone to get off the street for doing this,” he said during the interview.

Thomas Christian has since died. Mayer said he kept him updated on what was going on with the case.

“I felt he deserved to know where I was with the investigation,” Mayer said. “I kept him up to date. He was aware before he passed that I had a suspect, and I was going to stay on it until he was arrested.”

Speed can be reached by phone by 247-4778.