December 1964 was a period of change. Cavalier Square was between being a concept on paper and reality. Although the ground had been cleared, the uncertainty of when work would begin most likely made it seem like an elaborate rumor. Soil samples raised the question of how the new bridge across the Appomattox River would be built. Charles Hardaway Marks was only two years into the General Assembly. The question of if the Vietnam War would ever end continued to rise. President Lyndon B. Johnson expanded the battle and it would be 10 more years before it would end.

Back in Hopewell, 30-year-old Naomi Fulcher Long was in a period of change as well. She was separated from her husband, Donald James Long and, on Dec. 14, settled into an two-room apartment in the City Point Inn apartment building.

Exactly two weeks later, she was slain in her apartment. On Friday, over 45 years from the day of Hopewell's first Homicide of 1964, police arrested Donald Long and charged him in her death.

One of the top songs of 1964 was "Where Did Our Love Go" by the Supremes. undoubtedly, it was one of the songs a neighbor heard blasting from the radio in Long's apartment at around 2 p.m. that Dec. 28. The Dec. 29, 1964 issue of The Hopewell News states that the neighbor went over to ask if the music could be turned down after hearing it since 10 a.m. There was no answer to the knock and it was later discovered that the door was slightly ajar.

When the door was opened, Naomi Fulcher Long, clad in a pajama top, was found strangled to death on the bed. A jewelry box had been rifled through but there was no sign that anything had been stolen. Otherwise, the room was neat. The medical examiner's office determined that she was killed between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m.

She was last seen alive at about 2 a.m. when she was with a girl friend at the Fort Lee NCO Club. Her obituary said she had been a lifelong resident of Prince George. She was one of eight children. Of them all at the time, Harold Fulcher lived the farthest away in Chester. By the close of the year, Hopewell Police Captain W.W. Hutzel announced that there were several suspects but, eventually, the leads dried up and the case grew cold.

If I die young bury me in satin
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song
— "If I Die Young" by the Band Perry, 2010

As the case became stagnant, time marched on. Cavalier Square rose and rumors of its redevelopment thus far have proved to be just rumors. The bridges were built, Marks served for decades but did not live to see the bridges he crossed to leave Hopewell on the way to Richmond bear his name. The City Point Inn was torn down and became the site of the Heritage Gardens. The decried war in Vietnam finally concluded and protesters, though not as vocal as those in the '60s and '70s are questioning the nation's presence in other Asian nations. New bands, such as the Band Perry, became the ones on Billboard's Top 100 charts.

Donald Long moved on with his life and settled in Las Vegas, Nev.

Back in Hopewell, Naomi Fulcher Long's case was no longer cold. Over the past few weeks, information came to the attention of the Hopewell Police Department that pointed to Donald Long. Detectives presented that information to Commonwealth's Attorney Rick Newman who had the case presented to a grand jury.

Donald Long was then indicted for the first degree murder of his then estranged wife. Members of the U.S. Marshal's Fugitive Task Force, the Las Vegas Police Department and the Hopewell Police Detectives arrested Donald Long in Las Vegas Friday without incident. He will be held in Nevada pending extradition proceedings.

Hopewell Police held a press conference on this case after press time Monday and said they would not release any further information until that time. Check our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/TheHopewell News, for developments before Friday's edition.