Charlotte serial rapist sentenced to life after victims ‘courageously’ take the stand
A Charlotte man that prosecutors identified as a serial rapist was sentenced to life in prison this week after three victims recounted their decades-old attacks.
L.J. Bertha, now 64, was found guilty in Mecklenburg County Superior Court on Monday of first-degree rape, second-degree rape, first-degree kidnapping, second-degree kidnapping, attempted second-degree sex offense and common law robbery.
The jury found Bertha not guilty of one count each of first-degree rape and attempted first-degree sex offense, prosecutors said.
“Three brave survivors courageously took the stand, and their testimonies ... helped prosecutors ensure justice and protect the community,” according to a statement Tuesday by the Mecklenburg County D.A.’s office.
That included testimony from one victim, who testified that Bertha kicked in her driver’s side window while she was parked at a shopping center off Freedom Drive in 1993, according to a news release Tuesday by the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office. The assailant made her move over, drove to a dead-end road and raped her, prosecutors said.
Judge Peter Knight sentenced Bertha under laws in place at the time of the offenses, including life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years for the first-degree rape conviction. Bertha got 33 more years in prison for the remaining convictions.
DNA linked to suspect, police say
Soon after the 1993 rape, police arrested Bertha after he drove the victim back to the shopping center parking lot and she called for help, prosecutors said.
“Serological testing was done at the time to confirm the presence of semen, but DNA testing conducted in 2023 confirmed Bertha as the suspect,” prosecutors said in the news release.
On July 30, 1994, another of Bertha’s victims was walking on Beatties Ford Road when he approached her and forced her to a dead-end road, prosecutors said. He raped the victim while armed with a box cutter, according to the D.A.’s office.
“The victim escaped and ran to a nearby convenience store, where the clerk called police,” prosecutors said in the release.
DNA testing in 2023 also identified Bertha as the suspect.
Rape near present-day BofA Stadium
The third victim who testified against Bertha was raped in November 1996, court records show.
Bertha was convicted of that crime in 1997 and served 20 years in prison, police said.
Police also charged Bertha in the 1995 rape of a 16-year-old near present-day Bank of America Stadium in uptown Charlotte, The Charlotte Observer reported in 2019, when newly tested DNA evidence linked Bertha to the assault.
The teen was raped and robbed while walking toward a pay phone on nearby Dunbar Street to call her mother, according to a 2019 police news release.
The home of the NFL Carolina Panthers was still months from opening when police said a stranger approached the victim and offered to show her to the pay phone, police said.
The status of that case was not available Tuesday.
This story was originally published June 12, 2024 at 6:00 AM.