{"id":183179,"date":"2026-03-08T13:34:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T13:34:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/183179\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T13:34:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T13:34:32","slug":"man-charged-with-1980-tampa-murder-after-decades-old-evidence-leads-to-arrest-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/183179\/","title":{"rendered":"Man charged with 1980 Tampa murder after decades-old evidence leads to arrest"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brief<\/p>\n

A man accused in a 1980 Tampa murder appeared in court Thursday, more than 45 years after the killing.<\/p>\n

Investigators say fingerprints and DNA collected in 1980 eventually led them to suspect Robert Bear.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors say new forensic testing tied Bear to evidence at the scene, including DNA found under the victim\u2019s fingernails and on a towel.<\/p>\n

TAMPA, Fla. – More than four decades after a brutal Tampa<\/a> killing, the man detectives say is responsible appeared in court.<\/p>\n

Robert Paul Bear, of Madeira Beach, appeared in a Tampa courtroom Thursday after being indicted in connection with the 1980 murder of Charles Barnes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

During the hearing, a judge informed Bear he faces charges of first-degree murder with a weapon while engaged in a burglary and armed burglary. He was ordered held without bond.<\/p>\n

Big picture view<\/p>\n

Investigators say the case centers on the killing of Barnes at his home on East Okaloosa Avenue in Tampa.<\/p>\n

According to investigators and court records, Barnes failed to show up for work in October 1980, prompting a welfare check at his home.<\/p>\n

READ: Family of 1994 Tampa homicide victim renews push to solve case with billboard campaign<\/a><\/p>\n

Police<\/a> say they found Barnes stabbed to death inside the house, in what investigators believe was an attack that began in the master bedroom.<\/p>\n

Detectives reported finding blood-soaked bedding, beer cans, and signs that someone had rummaged through drawers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Two months later, Barnes\u2019 car was discovered abandoned in the parking lot of the Tahitian Inn on South Dale Mabry Highway.<\/p>\n

Hotel employees told investigators the vehicle had been sitting there for about two months. Detectives said they found blood inside the car.<\/p>\n

Despite the evidence, the case eventually went cold.<\/p>\n

What we know<\/p>\n

Nearly three decades later, investigators reexamined evidence from the crime scene using modern forensic technology.<\/p>\n

In 2009, detectives re-ran fingerprints collected from beer cans found inside Barnes\u2019 home. The prints matched Robert Bear, according to investigators.<\/p>\n

When detectives interviewed Bear, he denied knowing Barnes or ever being inside the home.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Investigators say additional testing later revealed DNA found under Barnes\u2019 fingernails also matched Bear.<\/p>\n

More recently, testing on a towel recovered from the crime scene also identified Bear\u2019s DNA. Detectives believe the towel may have been handled by the killer.<\/p>\n

READ: St. Pete\u2019s last \u2018John Doe\u2019 homicide victim identified after 46 years through DNA technology<\/a><\/p>\n

According to court documents, a witness who has children with Bear said he recently spoke with her about the murder investigation in a way that made her believe he did it.<\/p>\n

What’s next<\/p>\n

Bear\u2019s appearance in court Thursday lasted only a short time, but the case itself took decades to build.<\/p>\n

He is scheduled to return to court next week as the case moves forward.<\/p>\n

The Source<\/p>\n

FOX 13’s Genevieve Curtis gathered information for this report from proceedings in Hillsborough County Court, court documents and a grand jury indictment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brief A man accused in a 1980 Tampa murder appeared in court Thursday, more than 45 years…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183180,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[85724,2026,86299,85725,135,137,136],"class_list":["post-183179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-charles-barnes","tag-investigators","tag-robert-bear","tag-robert-paul-bear","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}