CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Three sexual assault survivors took the stand in the trial of LJ Bertha, a serial rapist, and gave their testimonies, resulting in his conviction.
The trial began on May 20, 2024 and tried Bertha for:
- Three counts of first-degree rape.
- Two counts of first-degree kidnapping.
- Two counts of attempted first-degree sex offense.
- Common law robbery
Bertha was found guilty for:
- One count of first-degree rape.
- One count of lesser-included offense of second-degree rape.
- One count of first-degree kidnapping.
- One count of the lesser-included offense of second-degree kidnapping.
- The lesser-included offense of attempted second-degree sex offense
- Common law robbery.
The jury found Bertha not guilty for:
- One count of first-degree rape.
- One count of attempted first-degree sex offense.
Bertha was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years for the first degree rape conviction and an additional 33 years in prison for the remaining charges to run consecutive to the first-degree rape sentence.
On October 12, 1993, Bertha tracked down a victim in a parking lot off Freedom Driver and kicked in the driver’s side window, forcing himself into the driver’s seat of the car. He proceeded to rape her after driving to a dead end road and threatening to kill her before driving her back to the parking lot. The victim called the police and they were able to locate Bertha and did testing to confirm the presence of semen. DNA testing done in 2023 confirmed Bertha as the suspect.
One July 30, 1994, another victim was forced by Bertha to a dead end road on Beatties Ford Road and raped her while armed with a box cutter. The victim escaped and ran into a store where police were called. Testing was done once again and confirmed in 2023 that Bertha is the suspect.
A third survivor was raped by Bertha in November of 1996 and he served 20 years in prison for the crime. All three survivors testified in the latest trial.
