In November 1981, 23-year-old Janice Starr, a cadet in the Old Dominion University ROTC program, was murdered in her Chesapeake apartment by her instructor, Dwight Beddingfield.

But before investigators could confirm Beddingfield who was married with kids committed the crime, he intentionally crashed a plane near an airport in Chesapeake, killing himself.

And while the murder mystery was solved in the wake of Beddingfield's suicide, the how and why were much bigger questions that police detective Kay Shucker sought to answer through her months-long investigation.

Local true crime author Ron Peterson published the 2024 book In the Wind about the investigation of Starr's murder. Watch the video above to see the story complete with contemporaneous news articles, photos from the crime scene, and much more.

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True Crime 757 is sponsored by Korslund Law

In a bond hearing Thursday for David Varela, the Navy reservist accused of murdering his wife earlier this year before fleeing the U.S., prosecutors outlined disturbing new details about the alleged crime as they punctuated their argument for keeping him behind bars while he awaits trial.

News 3 and True Crime 757 have reported extensively on the conditions around 39-year-old Lina Guerra's murder: that she was found in a trash bag in the freezer of the couple's apartment in the Icon building, frozen solid to the point where it took the medical examiner several days to thaw her body before they performed the autopsy.

Watch previous coverage from True Crime 757 on Varela's arrest in Hong Kong

Her official cause of death was ruled blunt force trauma and asphyxiation. But now, prosecutors are saying that Guerra's head was wrapped around seven times with plastic and that she may have still been alive when she was stuffed in the freezer.

Shortly before police discovered Guerra's body, Varela drove to New York with her three dogs and dropped them off with a friend before flying to Hong Kong. He remained in Hong Kong for more than two months living at a hostel until he was exposed through a News 3 investigation and attempted to fly to Russia to avoid extradition, prosecutors say.

He was captured at the airport trying to board that flight days after News 3 contacted him and asked him about Lina's death.

Varela's defense argued he has no criminal history and maintains his innocence in an attempt to send him to Florida to stay with his mother before the trial. The judge ultimately said he's a danger to the community and a flight risk.

True Crime 757 is sponsored by Korslund Law

After just two days of testimony, the long anticipated trial of Ebony Parker, the former assistant principal at Richneck Elementary the day Abby Zwerner was shot by a student, concluded with a bit of a twist ending.

The commonwealth closed its case at the end of the third day, and early on the fourth day, Judge Rebecca Robinson heard a motion from Parker's defense team to strike the felony child neglect charges and ultimately dismiss the case. She agreed.

Parker, who had appeared stoic and unemotional throughout the civil and criminal trials, broke down sobbing in the courtroom.

WTKR Newport News reporter Brendan Ponton, who covered the case all week, and legal analyst Eric Korslund join host Jon Sham for this episode of the True Crime 757 podcast, where they break down what happened in the courtroom and why the judge granted an unusual motion to strike.

What does the outcome of this case mean for administrator responsibility in future school shootings? How will it impact Abby Zwerner's civil trial? What about other pending litigation against Parker and the Newport News School Division? Those questions and more answered in this episode.

Listen on Spotify

True Crime 757 is sponsored by Korslund Law

As a jury handed down a verdict last November in Abby Zwerner's lawsuit against Ebony Parker, the former Richneck Elementary assistant principal who prosecutors say ignored warnings that the 6-year-old student had a gun and threatened to use it appeared stoic and did not react.

Zwerner had waited nearly three years for the verdict that found Parker grossly negligent on Jan. 6, 2023, the Zwerner's first-grade student pulled out a gun and shot her in the chest, nearly killing her. The jury recommended an award of $10 million for Zwerner a large sum, but a quarter of what her attorneys had asked for.

Watch related: Abby Zwerner gives emotional testimony in lawsuit

But Parker's day time court did not end with the civil trial: criminal charges awaited in another trial initially meant to start later in November; it was ultimately pushed out to mid-May to give her team more time to prepare.

Ebony Parker faces eight counts of felony child neglect one for each bullet in the gun brought by the child into the classroom on that day. (Note: None of the students in the classroom were harmed, and the child's mother was previously convicted of the same charge for allowing the child access to the gun.)

When her trial begins on May 18, prosecutors will try to prove to a new jury, with a higher legal burden, that Parker's "willful act or omission in the care of [children] was so gross, wanton, and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life."

Watch previous coverage: Parker appears in court for pre-trial motions

Parker's defense team will seek to convince the jury otherwise.

On this episode of the True Crime 757 podcast, Jon talks with Norfolk-based criminal defense and personal injury attorney Eric Korslund about the facts of the case, what to expect in jury selection, how each side may argue it's key points, and the impact of the lawsuit outcome on the criminal case.

Watch the full episode in the player above, or stream on Apple/Spotify Podcasts & YouTube. True Crime 757 is sponsored by Korslund Law.

More than two months after Norfolk Navy reservist David Varela fled the U.S., he was arrested in Hong Kong and extradited to the U.S. to face charges in the murder of his wife, 39-year-old Lina Guerra.

Guerra's body was found in the freezer of their apartment in the Icon building in early February around the same time Varela, 38, was on a plane halfway across the world. Varela's arrest was confirmed first by WTKR News 3 on Wednesday, April 15 about 10 weeks after he reportedly fled.

His arrest was made a day after WTKR ran a report about how we reached him by phone in a video call days the previous Friday. We received a tip about Varela's apparent whereabouts after two Russian women had met him at a tourist attraction in Hong Kong. Investigative reporter Margaret Kavanagh then called a number for Varela provided by the women, who said he was romantically interested in one of them.

Watch our previous episode about how we found Varela and called him in Hong Kong

But then they had a suspicion about him and looked him up online, discovering the accusations from WTKR's reporting, and reached out to us.

While the exact circumstances of Varela's arrest are not yet known  given the shaky relationship between the U.S. and China and the lack of an extradition treaty we believe the bravery of these women played a critical role.

After his arrest, Varela was flown to San Francisco to face a federal charge of fleeing to avoid prosecution. He's then expected back in Norfolk this week before hearings begin in Lina's murder trial. By then, it had made international headlines including in major U.S. outlets and Hong Kong media.

In this episode of True Crime 757, Margaret and Jon discuss the arrest, the role of our reporting, and what to expect next as the case unfolds.

Watch our previous episode about the investigation into Lina's murder

True Crime 757 is sponsored by Korslund Law

After getting a tip via Instagram DM that two Russian women had interacted with David Varela the Norfolk man who authorities believe murdered his Colombian-American wife, Lina Guerra before fleeing the country in a chance encounter that included photos, the WTKR investigative team had some questions.

Court documents indicate that Varela may have fled the country to Hong Kong after Lina's murder. After being reported missing, the 39-year-old woman was found dead in an apartment freezer in the Icon building in downtown Norfolk. The cause: asphyxiation and blunt force trauma.

When we saw the messages from the Russian women, we sought to prove the veracity through various means. Without directly sharing the images, we asked Lina's family to identify Varela's tattoos  tattoos that were not visible on images publicly shared as part of our coverage on the story. They verified that his left arm bares a tattoo with the Latin phrase, "Veni, vidi, vici," or "I came, I saw, I conquered."

Watch the full investigation

The women, who WTKR will not identify for their safety, said one of them went on a date with Varela in Hong Kong, who used his real name and told her about his military background. They also gave us two phone numbers for Varela.

So, Margaret Kavanagh video called one of them, and a man who answered to "David," who looks just like the man in the photos, answered.

"Did you have any comment about the accusations regarding Lina?" Margaret asked. The man covers the camera lens, hangs up, and then blocks her.

We also shared this information with authorities, who said any bit helps in their efforts to bring Varela back to the U.S. to face justice for Lina's brutal murder.

In this episode of True Crime 757, Margaret discusses the investigation into Varela's whereabouts and what we learned from the women who met him in Hong Kong.

Watch our previous episode about the investigation into Lina Guerra's murder

True Crime 757 is sponsored by Korslund Law

On Thursday, March 12, 2026 at 10:48 a.m, the Old Dominion University campus community received an emergency text about an active shooter on campus. Follow run-hide-fight protocols, it read.

Less than 90 minutes later, another text followed announcing the threat had been neutralized.

Over the next hours, days, and weeks more information would trickle out about the shooter, 36-year-old Mohamed Bailor Jalloh a convicted felon and current ODU student at the time of the shooting the hero whose life he cut short, the man accused of illegally selling him the gun, and just this week, full accounts from the cadets who witnessed the horrors of the moment and killed Jalloh before he could do further damage.

Watch related: The cadets who witnessed the ODU shooting tell their story for the first time

Jalloh, who reportedly shouted "Allahu akhbar" before opening fire on the classroom in Constant Hall, had spent nearly a decade in prison for attempts to support ISIS. His early release and his re-enrollment at ODU have prompted many to ask, "how could this have happened?"

The tragedy also forced lingering issues between the faculty and university leadership to boil over, as emails from 2024 about safety concerns in Constant Hall resurfaced. While the Faculty Senate continued to question President Brian Hemphill's leadership, the Board of Visitors publicly rebuked them for what they called an effort to use an act of terrorism to further a political motive.

ODU students left for spring break a day early with heavy hearts, and as they returned to finish the school year, much work remains about the university's plans to address campus security through an independent outside review and how students are moving on from the experience.

In this episode of True Crime 757, we break down everything we know about the day of the shooting, the investigations that followed, and the aftermath for the campus community. Watch the full podcast in the player above and on YouTube, or stream on Spotify/Apple podcasts.

True Crime 757 is sponsored by Korslund Law

More than a month since Lina Guerra's body was found in the freezer of an apartment in the Icon building in downtown Norfolk, her husband, David Varela, remains on the run.

Varela was charged with first-degree murder in her death, and several investigating authorities fear he has fled to China, where he may be outside of their grasp.

It's still not clear to authorities when Guerra died. But before the body of the 39-year-old woman, whose family comes from Colombia, South America, was discovered, Varela, facing questions about her whereabouts, told them his wife had been arrested for shoplifting and was sentenced to five years in jail.

Watch previous coverage: Lina Guerra's body was found in the kitchen freezer as husband flew to Hong Kong

Guerra was reported missing at the end of January, and her body was discovered several days later. But by then, Varela was gone.

Guerra's sister-in-law, Paola Ramirez, spoke to WTKR News 3 through a translator in February, and told us there had been abuse in the relationship. Guerra was not allowed to work, not allowed to have friends, not allowed to do much at all without Varela's permission, Ramirez said. She said the family further believes Guerra was killed by Varela in what's known as a femicide or a killing motivated by gender.

Now an international manhunt involving Varela continues as Interpol, or the International Criminal Police Organization, has been informed about efforts to bring him back to the U.S. to face justice.

Watch related: Husband charged with murder in death of 39-year-old Norfolk woman

The FBI, NCIS, Norfolk Police, and other organizations are involved in the pursuit on behalf of Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney Ramin Fatehi, who also shares details of his investigation on the podcast.

Watch the full episode in the player above and on YouTube, or stream on Apple and Spotify Podcasts.

True Crime 757 is sponsored by Korslund Law

The families of Becky Dowski and Cathy Thomas waited nearly 40 years for this news. The young couple are the first two known murders committed by Alan Wade Wilmer Sr. the dead man now believed to be a serial killer behind one of the most infamous killing sprees in Virginia history: the Colonial Parkway Murders.

From 1986-1989, four double murders were committed in the same region, and through DNA evidence decades later, were posthumously linked to Wilmer.

Watch related: FBI closes case on Colonial Parkway double murder

Dowski and Thomas's case was the first known to be committed by Wilmer, according to new information released by the FBI in January 2026. Wilmer had previously been tied to the double murder of David Knobling, 20, and Robin Edwards, 14, as well as 18-year-old Laurie Powell and 29-year-old Theresa Howell though the latter two are not officially considered part of the Colonial Parkway Murders due to specific circumstances.

In this episode of True Crime 757, we speak with reporter Brendan Ponton, who has been covering the Colonial Parkway cases at WTKR for a decade and has spoken with family members of several victims.

We discuss the resolution of the Thomas/Dowski case, the other cases tied to Wilmer, and which cases connected to the Colonial Parkway Murders are still left unsolved.

Watch a previous episode of True Crime 757 on the case of Angelina Resendiz

True Crime 757 is sponsored by Korslund Law

Joseph Molineaux, the former Kempsville High School gym teacher who was convicted last fall on charges related to him trespassing on school grounds with weapons, and sending violent threats via text, was released from jail in December.

A spokesperson from the Virginia Beach Commonwealth's Attorney's Office verified he was released from custody in December.

News 3 investigative reporter Margaret Kavanagh has been following Molineaux's case since he was arrested at Kempsville in April with weapons in his car. He had sent text messages to family members in York County stating that his dog keeps him from going to Kempsville with an AK-47 and "mowing down the administration."

This prompted a search of his home where such weapons were found and confiscated.

We covered his case extensively in the first edition of this podcast summer in 2025

Molineaux's issue with the administration at Kempsville is not directly known. Through Freedom of Information Act requests with the Virginia Department of Education, News 3 learned of his extensively documented code violations while employed at six different schools in Virginia Beach over more than two decades.

The final straw that led Molineaux to "resign in lieu of dismissal" in February 2023, according to VDOE records, was an incident where he inadvertently showed a student a picture of his genitals on his phone.

Between his convictions in York County and Virginia Beach, Molineaux was sentenced to more than 20 years; however, most of that time was suspended, leaving him with two six month sentences.

Ultimately, due to time served and the misdemeanor conviction, Molineaux was released after about eight total months in jail on good behavior.

In this follow-up episode of True Crime 757, we discuss the charges against him, his convictions, and why the sentencing was reduced.

Watch in the player above or steam on Apple/Spotify Podcasts.

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It was possibly the biggest story of 2025 for many in the Hampton Roads region. The disappearance of Norfolk-based sailor Angelina Resendiz, who was tragically found dead behind a school miles from Naval Station Norfolk and the push from her mother for greater accountability after another sailor was charged with her murder.

Resendiz was reported missing days after she was last seen in her barracks in late May 2025. They were frantic days for her mother, Esmeralda Castle, who reported at first getting very little information from the Navy and NCIS investigators.

It wasn't another week until Resendiz's body was found in a wooded area behind Richard Bowling Elementary School. The next day, the Navy confirmed her identity and stated that another sailor was being held in connection with her death.

That sailor, Jermiah Copeland, who was a culinary specialist with Resendiz assigned to the USS James E. Williams, was officially charged in her murder.

In court documents from the Navy, Copeland's history of alleged violent, sexual abuse of other fellow sailors was heavily outlined. There had been several instances in Copeland's record of alleged sexual assault, including an alleged case where he sexually assaulted a sailor who was drunk and incapacitated.

After litigating more than a dozen points at a December hearing at Naval Station Norfolk, the court announced the matter will head to trial in June 2026.

WTKR News 3 Norfolk reporter Jay Greene has followed this case closely, and in this episode of the True Crime 757 podcast, breaks down everything we've learned so far and what we can expect to see when Copeland's trial commences.

Watch the full episode at the player above or download on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Just search True Crime 757.

True Crime 757 is sponsored by Korslund Law

Christina Wang is alleged to have shot and killed her husband, Navy sailor Calvin Wang, in Virginia Beach in the summer of 2023. Court documents say the two were having marital problems and that on July 15, after an argument, Christina allegedly pulled out a gun and shot Calvin in the chest and head. She admitted to the killing, according to court records, and said it was caught on camera.

The case drew added attention in Virginia Beach and beyond after an apparent Facebook post by Christina Wang in a local group called Are We Dating the Same Guy? In the post, Christina shared a picture of her husband and said anyone dating him should know he was married.

Watch related: Court docs shed light on issues that led up to Calvin Wang's killing

The couple had a young son, who now lives with Calvins mother in Virginia. In her first interview with the media since her sons death, Calvins mother who asked to remain anonymous told investigative reporter Margaret Kavanagh how diligent her son was and how much he loved his boy. She also gave a warning about domestic violence and spoke about the life she hopes her grandson will lead as he grows up and learns what happened to his parents.

In this episode of True Crime 757, we take a deep dive into what led up to Calvin's killing, the case against Christina, and how a mother who lost her son to gun violence is trying to move on.

Christina Wang is scheduled to stand trial in the spring of 2026. WTKR will be in court to cover the proceedings.

Watch our last episode on the parking lot scam targeting Navy Federal Credit Union customers.

True Crime 757 is sponsored by Korslund Law

The scammers approach their victims in various ways. Some say they've lost their phone and need to make a bank transfer. Sometimes, the con is more complex. One victim reported that a man with a baby in the backseat of his car claimed he couldn't find his wife and begged to use her phone.

But the result has been the same for hundreds of people in the Hampton Roads region: Navy Federal Credit Union customers are scammed out of thousands of dollars by perpetrators who take out loans under their name. The victims are then left to repay the loans with interest or face penalties and a worsening credit score. In all, the scam has cost local victims many of them young men in the military more than $2 million.

Investigative reporter Margaret Kavanagh has been following the case what federal prosecutors are calling the "parking lot scam" for over a year and has spoken with several victims. But there are many, many more, some afraid to speak publicly about the scam.

Just this week, Kavanagh reported on a Norfolk police recruit allegedly caught up in the scheme. Catch her story on that in the player below.

Navy Federal has issued warnings to customers about safe digital practices and not handing your phone to strangers. But they have also been requiring victims to repay these loans, despite fraud claim filings.

The victims, however, now have a new person in their corner advocating for them: a local attorney who has taken on more than 50 victims as of November.

Prosecutors continue to make arrests in this case the latest episode of our podcast, True Crime 757.

Watch our previous episode about the crimes of convicted OBGYN Javaid Perwaiz

It's been five years this month since Javaid Perwaiz, a former OBGYN who practiced at various hospitals in the Hampton Roads region over multiple decades, was convicted on more than 50 counts of healthcare fraud and making false statements.

But that conviction doesn't quite convey the harm he inflicted on vulnerable patients in his care and ostensibly, for money.

Perwaiz performed unnecessary surgeries on women like hysterectomies, sterilizations, removing ovaries, and C-sections for women and mothers who didn't need them. He would often conduct these surgeries on Saturdays when there was less oversight from hospital administration, and caused more than $20 million in losses to private and government health insurers.

Watch previous coverage: Perwaiz sentenced to 59 years in prison

Some of the women victimized by Perwaiz's were irreparably harmed by the surgeries performed on them, which were often not the surgeries they were expecting.

But the story didn't end with Perwaiz's 59-year sentence, handed down in 2021. In early 2025, a federal grand jury indicted Chesapeake Regional Medical Center, where Perwaiz practiced for many years, on charges of healthcare fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States and interference with government functions.

Watch related: Chesapeake Regional pleads not guilty to charges in healthcare fraud case

The U.S. attorney claims CRMC was reimbursed for $18.5 million for Perwaiz's surgeries, and alleges that hospital administrators were aware of his crimes.

As alleged in the indictment, Dr. Perwaiz did not act alone in this conspiracy to needlessly sterilize and otherwise harm women. The Grand Jury found today that CRMC was complicit in this horrifying scheme to place profits over patient care, said Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

In response, CRMC attorneys said:

"With great disappointment, we learned today that charges were returned against Chesapeake Regional Healthcare. We look forward to an opportunity to rebut these unfounded charges in court and are confident that the legal process will result in Chesapeakes exoneration."

In the latest episode of True Crime 757, Margaret Kavanagh, who covered Perwaiz's trial and spoke to his victims, unpacks the case against Perwaiz and upcoming trial of Chesapeake Regional.

True Crime 757 is sponsored by Korslund Law

It was a gunshot heard around the world: On the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2023, a 6-year-old student at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News took out a gun he stole from his mother and shot his first grade teacher, Abby Zwerner.

The bullet went through her hand and into her chest. Within hours, the news had been picked up by U.S. news outlets, in addition to European and Asian sources. Zwerner, then a 25-year-old graduate of James Madison University, became a household name.

Over the next two-plus years, Zwerner's legal team would successfully argue that she has the right to pursue a $40 million lawsuit against the Newport News School Division, alleging that school leaders a group that was eventually whittled down to former Assistant Principal Ebony Parker, the lone defendant  ignored multiple warnings that the child had a gun and intended to use it.

But Parker's legal woes won't end when the civil trial concludes: she is also facing criminal charges of felony child neglect eight, to be exact, one for each bullet in the gun.

Parker was not the only one held criminally liable for the actions of the child, who has not been publicly named due to his age. Deja Taylor, the boy's mother, also 25 at the time of the shooting, faced state criminal charges for allowing her son to get a hold of the gun, and federal charges for lying on the form to buy her gun.

Taylor pleaded guilty and is serving out her two sentences, nearly four years combined.

Meanwhile, in Newport News, Zwerner's fight nears its conclusion.

On this episode of True Crime 757, local defense attorney Eric Korslund lends his legal expertise to our conversation about the trials of Taylor and Parker, with the civil suit set to start on Monday, Oct. 27.

Watch the full episode above or download on Spotify/Apple Podcasts. Just search "True Crime 757."

Watch our extended interview with Zwerner on the one-year anniversary of the shooting

True Crime 757 is sponsored by Korslund Law

In the late 1980s, James King attended a wedding in Ohio, and later that night, he brutally murdered the mother of the bride. He served 20 years for that murder, after which, he moved to Virginia.

King didn't stay out of trouble for long: he was arrested for the violent assault of a woman in Virginia Beach in 2018. But in that trial, the previous murder from Ohio was not allowed to be used in court, and served a 12-month sentence for assault and battery.

Less than two years later, King killed again. This time, the victim was Lexie Walters, where the violent rape and murder at a Virginia Beach Days Inn was eerily similar to the Ohio murder from the 1980s. He was convicted and given two life sentences.

But due to a Virginia law, called the conditional release for geriatric prisoners, offered the potential in 2025 five years after Lexie's murder for King to get parole.

Connor Land first made local headlines in summer 2023 when he was working as a cashier at the Virginia Beach Wegmans.

While helping a woman check out from the store, Land gave the woman's 7-year-old daughter a pack of stickers. It seemed innocuous to the mother at the time, but when she got home, she realized he had slipped an Apple AirTag tracking device in the stickers.

Land, who has autism, admitted to the allegations. However, under a 2020 Virginia law that allows a deferred finding for individuals with developmental disabilities who commit nonviolent crimes, he was able to avoid prison.

Watch related: Connor Land convicted of stalking woman

The deferred finding put Land on probation for a year, during which he was required to check in with the judge on his progress. He completed those check-ins successfully and was taken off probation.

But just a few weeks later in April 2025, Land was arrested and charged with stalking after he followed a woman to a Dollar General, and then to her home.

This time, Land was convicted, and the judge would not allow him a deferred finding. He was sentenced to serve about nine months in prison.

In this episode of the True Crime 757 podcast, Maddie and Margaret discuss the intricacies of the case, Land's history, and why this story which has gotten a lot more attention than typical stalking cases sparked such interest in the Hampton Roads community.

Watch our previous episode: The $31 million Virginia Beach coupon scheme

Out of their Virginia Beach home, Lori Anne Talens and her husband Pacifico Talens ran a fake coupon scheme that amounted to $31 million in fraud to businesses across the United States.

Using graphic design skills, knowledge of the bar code system, along with social media to connect with potential buyers, Lori Talens, who used the code name Master Chef, was the head of this criminal enterprise that earned her a 12-year prison sentence, and a 7-year sentence for her husband. An expert from the Coupon Information Corporation called Talens the "industry's worst nightmare."

Five of Talens' biggest buyers women from around the country have also pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme.

In this episode of True Crime 757, Maddie and Margaret discuss why this case was so unique, why it rose to such prominence, and how Talens is now actually working with authorities to help identify other coupon crimes.

Watch related: Five women plead guilty in $31 million Virginia Beach coupon scheme

Retired Virginia Beach gym teacher Joseph Molineaux was arrested on the grounds of Kempsville High School earlier this year, allegedly with weapons in his car, and after police say he sent disturbing text messages to his mother about "mowing down the administration" at the school with an AK-47. But that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Police say they later found stores of child pornography in his home and loaded AK-style weapons. And a WTKR investigation uncovered that he retired in lieu of dismissal, after 24 years in the district, due to an incident where a student inadvertently saw a photo of Molineaux's genitals on the teacher's phone.

Further looks into his record with Virginia Beach City Public Schools shows decades of reprimands documented in letters in his file that indicate a history of concerns raised by administrators in the various schools he worked at in the district.

Now, he awaits trial on the trespassing and child pornography charges later this year.

Watch True Crime 757 Episode 2: The Virginia Port is a hotspot for stolen cars shipped around the world

The Port of Virginia is one of the largest container ports in the United States. It's also a hotspot for people trying to illegally ship cars in and out of the county sometimes in parts in several containers, later reassembled with the second-most vehicles recovered here in Hampton Roads (next to New York).

High-end cars like BMWs, Range Rovers, Mercedes, Ram trucks, and even a Rolls Royce worth nearly $467k have all been recovered in Norfolk, and bound for places like Turkey, Ghana, Nigeria, Togo and the United Arab Emirates. Even cars like Toyotas have shown up in containers bound for other continents, so it's not just high-end cars; anyone could be susceptible.

Officials say tracking these transnational criminal organizations is extremely challenging due to the large, organized networks they employ, involving fraudulent documents and fake IDs.

Often cars are stolen off the streets of Hampton Roads, disassembled into parts, and shipped around the world.

Watch Episode 1 of True Crime 757 below

Tia Johnson had a lot at stake when she was on trial for first-degree murder in January of 2025. The mother of four can be seen on Ring camera footage shooting and killing her boyfriend outside her Chesapeake home. She doesn't deny this, but she says she feared for the lives of her and her children. She claims her boyfriend would get violent when they foughtan argument she and her legal team planned to support in court by showing records of 911 calls she had made. But when her defense attorney asked prosecutors to hand over those records, he was told they didn't exist. It wasn't until after she was convicted of murder that News 3 investigator Margaret Kavanagh uncovered evidence showing those 911 calls did exist after all.

On Episode 1 of True Crime 757, we talk about how a string of News 3 Investigations ultimately led to a new murder trial for Tia Johnson.

Watch the episode in the player above, or listen on Spotify Podcasts!