Writing Nightmare Nextdoor Inmates: Murder in Paradise Thomas Jabin Berry

Murder in Paradise Discovery ID describes this episode as when pretty Nags Head tourist Janet Siclari turns up dead on the beach outside her hotel, the fun comes to an end. When a hurricane blows leads out of town, police wonder if the killer escaped too. Only time can help detectives catch the culprit.

Thomas Jabin Berry was caught when after violating probation his DNA was entered into the statewide system, where it was a much to this murder.

On Friday, 27 August 1993, the group checked out of their cottage in Southern Shores and checked into the Carolinian Hotel located in Nags Head, North Carolina for one final day and night of vacation. Janet and Robert shared “the most expensive room” at the Carolinian. The group spent the day together relaxing, swimming, and playing on the beach. The group ate dinner together at a local restaurant. Afterwards, they went to a comedy club. Robert, fatigued from the day's activities, returned to the hotel room after leaving the comedy club. Janet and her friends, however, continued on to a local bar. Later that night, Janet left the bar and returned to the Carolinian Hotel. Janet walked into her room and saw Robert already asleep. Robert awoke briefly. Janet stated to him “it's only me,” lit a cigarette, removed her sandals, and left the room.

On the morning of 28 August 1993, a sanitation worker found Janet lying on the beach in a “puddle of blood” near the steps leading to the deck of the Carolinian. Janet had suffered small stab wounds on the side of her neck, a deep cut around her throat, lacerations on the side of her face and jaw, and cuts on her hands. Authorities located a pair of gray socks and worn, size nine, Spaulding high-top tennis shoes (“Spaulding shoes”) near her body. Janet's shorts and belt laid next to her throat soaked in blood.

In 1996, Thomas Jabin Berry (“defendant”) was incarcerated as a result of a probation revocation from an earlier offense. During defendant's incarceration, authorities took a sample of defendant's blood and entered it into the State's Deoxyribonucleic Acid (“DNA”) data bank. In April 1997, a computer search matched defendant's DNA with the DNA profile of the semen taken from Janet's body three years earlier. Police subsequently arrested and charged defendant with the rape and murder of Janet.