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Suspect Identified in Connection with Infamous Colonial Parkway Murders · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: Authorities have identified a suspect in connection with three homicides
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  in southeastern Virginia, two of which are linked to the
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  notorious Colonial Parkway murders. On January eighth, twenty twenty four,
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  Virginia State Police, along with various law enforcement agencies, announced
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  a suspect in the nineteen eighty seven double homicide of
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  David L. Knobbling, age twenty, and Robin M. Edwards, aged fourteen.
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  Both individuals were tragically shot near a wildlife refuge in
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  Isle of Wight County. The murders of Nobling and Edwards
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  are believed to be part of a series of double
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  homicides that occurred between nineteen eighty six and nineteen eighty nine,
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  collectively referred to as the Colonial Parkway Murders, which were
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  previously examined in the four part Oxygen series titled Lover's Lane.
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  Murders have indicated that DNA evidence has led them to
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  focus on Alan W. Wilmers Sor from Northern Neck, Virginia,
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  not only for the Nobling Edward's case, but also for
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  the nineteen eighty nine rape and strangulation murder of twenty
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  nine year old Teresa Terry Lynn Spaw Howell. Lieutenant Column
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  Tim Lyon, director of the Virginia State Police Bureau of
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  Criminal Investigation, expressed gratitude to the families of the victims
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  for their enduring patience and understanding over the years. Only
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  those who have suffered the loss of a child in
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  this way can truly understand the depth of their sorrow
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  and the frustration over not knowing who was responsible for
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  taking their loved one's life in such a violent and
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  cruel way. Lion stated, I do hope the identification of
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  the killer brings some sense of closure and peace for them.
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  Wilma died in two thoy seventeen, meaning he won't face
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  prosecution for the crimes. Who were David Nobling and Robin Edwards.
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  The nature of the relationship between Nobling and Edwards remains ambiguous, However,
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  as detailed in Oxygen's Lover's Lane Murders, they were together
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  on September nineteenth, nineteen eighty seven, alongside Nobling's younger brother
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  and cousin. That evening, it is alleged that Edwards left
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  discreetly to meet Nobling, who was an expectant father employed
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  at his father's landscaping business in Hampton Virginia. According to
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  a statement from the State Police, Nobling's pickup truck was
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  discovered abandoned in a parking lot at the Ragged Island
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  Wildlife Management and Refuge Area, a marsh land with numerous
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  creeks located approximately twenty miles northeast of Norfolk the following day.
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  Three days later, the bodies of Nobling and Edwards were located,
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  both having been shot to death along a nearby shoreline.
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  Both individuals had been shot execution style in the head,
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  and it was determined that Edwards had also been sexually assaulted.
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  The families of the victims issued a collective statement following
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  the identification of Alan Wilmer Senior as a suspect by
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  the Virginia State Police, the FBI, and Hampton Police. For
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  thirty six years, our families have lived in a vacuum
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  of the unknown. The statement read, in part, we have
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  lived with the fear of worrying that a person capable
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  of deliberately killing Robin and David could attack and claim
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  another victim. Now we have a sense of relief and justice,
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  knowing that he can no longer victimize another. Genetic genealogy
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  played a crucial role in identifying Wilma as a suspect,
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  leading the Virginia Department of Forensic Science to issue a
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  certificate of analysis in twenty twenty three which confirmed that
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  Wilma's DNA corresponded with that of the suspect found at
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  the crime scenes of Nobling, Edwards and Howell. Commonwealth attorneys
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  from both Isle of Wight County and the City of
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  Hampton have also indicated their conviction that Wilma is responsible
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  for the crimes. In light of this new evidence, FBI
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  Norfolk Special Agent in Charge Brian Dugan is optimistic that
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  potential witnesses will step forward. Wilma possessed no criminal record
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  and resided in Northern Neck, located on the western shores
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  of the Chesapeake Bay. Throughout the nineteen eighties and nineteen nineties,
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  he often visited the region aboard a small commercial fishing
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  vessel named the Denny Wade, frequently docking in Northern Neck
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  as well as in Gloucester and Middlesex Counties. In addition
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  to his fishing activities, which included oyster and clam farming,
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  Wilma operated the Better Tree Service Company and was a
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  member of at least one local hunt club in the
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  Middle Peninsula area. Characterized as a muscular man with sandy
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  hair and blue eyes, standing approximately five feet five inches
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  tall and weighing around one hundred sixty five pounds, Wilma
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  drove several pickup trucks during that period, notably a distinctive
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  blue nineteen sixty six Dodge Fargo pickup bearing the Virginia
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  license plate em RAW. The individual passed away at his
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  residence in Lancaster County, Virginia, in December twenty seventeen, at
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  the age of sixty three. Images of both his pickup
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  truck and boat are available on the Virginia State Police's Facebook.
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  Authorities encourage anyone who may have fished or hunted with
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  Wilma to reach out to the FBI at one eight
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  hundred call FBI, or contact the Virginia State Police at
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  questions at vsp dot Virginia dot gov. Informants may choose
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  to remain anonymous.