Police name dead suspect in 3 Virginia cold cases, including 2 of the 'Colonial Parkway Murders'
Crime
Police name dead suspect in 3 Virginia cold cases, including 2 of the ‘Colonial Parkway Murders’
NEW YORK (AP) A smalltime fisherman who died in 2017 has been linked to three cold-case homicides in Virginia from the 1980s, including two that were among a series of unsolved slayings of couples known as the “Colonial Parkway Murders,” law enforcement officials announced Monday.
Virginia State Police identified the suspect as Alan W. Wilmer Sr., but offered few details about how he’s tied to the killings, which occurred in 1987 and 1989, or when he became a suspect. However, authorities said Wilmer would be charged if he were alive.
“Part of the cold case philosophy is to go back over and start re-looking and going back through all the witness statements, all the evidence,” Corinne Geller, a Virginia State Police spokeswoman, said at a news conference. “And it’s a very time consuming, very complex, but a very effective way.”
Investigators said they legally obtained Wilmer’s DNA after his death. Wilmer was not a convicted felon, which meant his DNA was not in any law enforcement databases. Two of the three victims were sexually assaulted.
The “Colonial Parkway Murders” involved the deaths of three couples and the suspected death of a fourth couple whose bodies were never recovered. The killings occurred between 1986 and 1989 on or near a scenic drive that connects Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown in southeastern Virginia.
In 1987, David Knobling, 20, and Robin Edwards, 14, were found fatally shot near the south bank of the James River in Isle of Wight County.
Geller said no forensic or physical evidence currently links that double homicide to the others, although the other cases remain active.
Geller read aloud a joint statement from the Knobling and Edwards families, which thanked the investigating law enforcement agencies.
