This week, the key suspect in three cold-case homicides in Virginia was recognized as a fisherman who passed away more than six years ago. Two of these crimes were previously associated with a notorious killing spree called the “Colonial Parkway Murders.”
On Monday, the Virginia State Police reported that DNA evidence had connected Alan W. Wilmer Sr. to three separate murders: David L. Knobling and Robin M. Edwards, who were both shot and killed in 1987, and Teresa Lynn Spaw Howell, who was strangled in 1989.
The state police said that Wilmer passed away in December 2017 at the age of 63.
The three killings would have resulted in charges being brought against Wilmer if he were alive today, according to the Virginia State Police.
On September 23, 1987, officials in Isle of Wight County discovered the remains of Knobling, 20, and Edwards, 14, on the south bank of the James River.
In addition to the molestation of Edwards, both victims had been shot to death.
The tragic double murder became a part of the “Colonial Parkway Murders.” These murders, which took place between 1986 and 1989 along the picturesque parkway that connects Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown, remain unsolved.
At Monday’s press conference, Virginia State Police spokesperson Corinne Geller stated that while the killings of Knobling and Edwards are now considered solved, there is no physical or forensic evidence linking their murders to the other Colonial Parkway cases. Geller added that those investigations are still ongoing.
The police alleged that 29-year-old Howell was last seen outside a prominent Hampton nightclub in the early hours of July 1, 1989 and that Wilmer was also linked to the murder of Howell by DNA.
Her remains were discovered on a building site about eleven miles away from the locations of Knobling and Edwards at around ten in the morning on that day.
The state police also said the suspect was around 165 pounds and 5 feet 5 inches tall. A close-cut beard complemented his sandy hair and blue eyes.
One of Wilmer’s pickup trucks, a blue 1966 Dodge Fargo with the Virginia license plate “EM-RAW,” was among the vehicles seized by officials during the killings.
