On May 6, 1991, 61-year-old Black woman Robinette Mickleberry was found murdered in her Richmond, Virginia, home. An autopsy determined she had been stabbed to death, making her one of the earlier victims in a series later dubbed the Golden Years Murders that targeted older women beginning in 1990.

The killings provoked widespread fear in Richmond’s elderly community; early victims were older Black women stabbed in their homes, while later victims after 1992 were predominantly white and were strangled. Investigators formed a task force, and over six years at least thirteen women were killed, but many cases, including Mickleberry’s, grew cold.

A man named Leslie Leon Burchart later confessed to four of the 1996 strangulation victims, but there is no evidence linking him to the earlier stabbings or to Mickleberry. Her killer remains unknown.

If anyone knew Robinette Mickleberry or has information about that May 1991 case, please share what you can.