Court Records Trace Decades-Long Path of Homicide Suspect Johnny Talbert to Clallam County
Johnny Steven Talbert, the 43-year-old unhoused man arrested in Port Angeles in connection with a 2008 North Carolina cold-case double murder, is scheduled for an extradition review hearing on June 12, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. in Clallam County Superior Court.
The upcoming status conference will mark the next formal step in the legal process to return Talbert to Cabarrus County, North Carolina, where he faces allegations of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of robbery with a firearm or other dangerous weapon.
The Extradition Process
Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols recently outlined the legal avenues for Talbert’s transfer, explaining that the extradition can proceed under two distinct paths. “There are two ways through which extradition can occur,” Nichols told me.
“On the one hand, Mr. Talbert could waive extradition and voluntarily agree to return to North Carolina. On the other hand, North Carolina could obtain a Governor’s Warrant.”
Nichols confirmed that the District Attorney’s Office in North Carolina has already initiated the Governor’s Warrant process.
“Provided the North Carolina Governor’s Office approves the request, it will transmit the warrant to the Washington State Governor’s Office with a request to honor the warrant,” Nichols said, noting that “that process generally takes anywhere from 30-90 days.”
Once the Washington State Governor’s Office issues the warrant, Nichols added that “North Carolina will then make arrangements with our jail to transport Mr. Talbert back to North Carolina.”
The May Arrest
Talbert is currently held without bail at the Clallam County Correction Facility.
He was taken into custody without incident on May 21, 2026, in the 2300 block of West 18th Street in Port Angeles by local police and detectives from the Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team.
Concord, North Carolina police seek Talbert for the July 2008 shooting deaths of Donna Barnhardt, an office manager, and Darrell Noles, a church choir leader, during an armed robbery at the Sun Drop bottling plant in which nearly $10,000 was stolen.
Fifteen Years in Port Angeles
As we previously reported, a check of Port Angeles Police Department records showed approximately 288 documented police contacts with Talbert since November 2011, including 14 arrests—two of which were felonies.
Over nearly 15 years, Talbert cycled repeatedly through local unhoused shelters, behavioral health programs, and jail bookings without his fugitive status ever being flagged by local systems.
A deep dive into North Carolina court records reveals that Talbert’s path of legal instability was firmly established in Cabarrus County years before the 2008 Sun Drop Murders.
In March 2002, Talbert was arrested in Cabarrus County for driving while impaired. The charge was dismissed on September 30, 2002, when the court allowed a defense motion to dismiss at the close of the state’s evidence.
In April 2004, the Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office charged him with possession of marijuana up to one-half ounce. He pled guilty in May 2004, receiving a suspended 10-day jail term and 12 months of unsupervised probation.
By June 2006, Talbert was actively unhoused. A citation for second-degree trespass from June 28, 2006, lists his address as the “streets of Concord, NC.”
Although he pled not guilty, a district court judge convicted him, sentencing him to a 10-day active jail term. He spent 17 days in confinement awaiting trial.
In September 2006, Concord police arrested him again for simple possession of a Schedule IV controlled substance. He pled guilty in December 2006, resulting in a suspended 45-day jail sentence and a year of unsupervised probation.
Flight to Seattle and the Transition to Clallam County
Following the July 2008 double homicide in Concord, Talbert fled North Carolina and crossed the country to King County, Washington.
On September 24, 2011, Seattle police arrested Talbert for misdemeanor assault.
On September 26, 2011, Seattle Municipal Court records show he entered into a dispositional continuance agreement and was released on personal recognizance, on the condition that he comply with probation and complete Mental Health Drug Treatment.
He immediately violated the agreement. A bench warrant of $2,500 was issued on October 4, 2011, and though booked and released on personal recognizance on October 18, he quickly slipped away to the Olympic Peninsula.
Port Angeles police recorded their first official contact with Talbert in November 2011.
As Seattle probation officials attempted to track Talbert down, they left a critical paper trail.
After Talbert failed to appear for multiple court reviews, a Seattle Municipal Court bench warrant notice was returned to the court as undeliverable on June 2, 2012.
The official envelope was marked “Undeliverable” and returned from “General Delivery, Port Angeles, WA 98362.”
Talbert was eventually arrested on the Seattle warrant on June 29, 2012.
On July 3, 2012, the Seattle Municipal Court revoked his continuance, reviewed the police report, entered a finding of guilty on the assault charge, and sentenced him to credit for time served.
The court’s jurisdiction expired in July 2013, leaving Talbert to remain in Port Angeles unmonitored for the next 13 years.
OPNET and local police have emphasized that the charges against Talbert are strictly allegations, and he is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Authorities encourage anyone with further information regarding Talbert or the 2008 murders to contact the Concord Police Department at 704-920-5000 or Cabarrus County Crime Stoppers at 704-93-CRIME.