It took nearly 22 years, but North Carolina investigators arrested a woman in Augusta this week in an old murder case.

On Wednesday, authorities arrested 76-year-old Betty Neumar, of the 600 block of Cambridge Court, accusing her of soliciting help to kill her husband. Ms. Neumar faces a charge of solicitation to commit murder, according to Stanley County Sheriff Rick Burris and Richmond County jail officials.

Ms. Neumar lived in Albemarle, N.C., at the time of her husband's death. The case has been under investigation since July 1986, Sheriff Burris told The Chronicle in a telephone interview. Investigators from his department were aided by Richmond County sheriff's authorities in apprehending Ms. Neumar.

"We recently saw some information, and we felt we should reopen the case and take a look," Sheriff Burris said.

According to a 1986 story in the Charlotte Observer , Ms. Neumar's husband at the time, Thomas Harold Gentry, 48, was found dead in his Norwood, N.C., home from several gunshot wounds. His wife was out of town at the time and relatives discovered the body, according to the article.

On Thursday, Ms. Neumar was awaiting extradition to North Carolina.