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Colonial Parkway Murders - Part III · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: Despite these findings, an FBI polygraph examiner determined that Wilma
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  was not a suspect, leading to his release. In May
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  nineteen eighty eight, the FBI announced a reward of ten
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  thousand dollars for information related to the case. By June,
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  the term Colonial Parkway murders had begun to be used
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  to describe the series of killings. On July one, nineteen
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  eighty nine, Teresalin Howell was observed departing the well known
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  Zodiac Club in Hampton at approximately two thirty a m.
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  Seven hours later, a construction worker discovered her body in
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  a nearby wooded region. Howell had suffered sexual assault and strangulation.
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  The murder of Howell was not linked to the Colonial
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  Parkway murders until twenty twenty two, when DNA evidence from
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  her case was matched to that from the Nobling Edward's homicide.
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  This DNA was subsequently identified as belonging to Alan Wade
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  Wilmer Senior. On September fifth, nineteen eighty nine, Anna Mariah Phelps,
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  aged eighteen, and her boyfriend's brother, Daniel Lauer, age twenty one,
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  disappeared while traveling to Virginia Beach Laoer's vehicle, a gold
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  nineteen seventy two Chevrolet Nova, was subsequently discovered abandoned at
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  a rest area along Interstate sixty four in New Kent County.
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  The circumstances surrounding their disappearance remain uncertain, as it is
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  unknown whether Phelps and Lower were harmed at the rest
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  area or at another location. Both the driver and passenger
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  doors of the vehicle were found unlocked, with the keys
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  still in the ignition. Authorities noted the presence of dirt
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  and grass stains on the underside of the car, indicating
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  it had likely been driven through a wooded area recently.
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  Phelps's purse was located inside the vehicle, leading investigators to
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  rule out robbery as a motive. On October nineteenth, hunters
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  discovered the skeletal remains of Phelps and Lower in a
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  forested area along Interstate sixty four, situated between Williamsburg and Richmond.
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  The bodies were covered with an electric blanket from Lawer's
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  vehicle and were in an advanced state of decomposition, making
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  it impossible to ascertain the cause of death or to
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  determine if a sexual assault had occurred. The remains were
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  found on a logging road approximately a quarter of a
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  mile from Courthouse Road, about a mile from the rest
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  area where Laour's car had been located. Although the cause
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  of death could not be established, there appeared to be
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  stab wounds on Phelps's bones and abdomen. In twenty ten,
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  a note was uncovered in a box that had been
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  removed from Phelps's apartment years prior. The undated note, allegedly
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  written by Phelps, mentioned a meeting with an individual in
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  a blue van at a rest stop and included a
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  name and phone number. While the Virginia State Police stated
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  that the information in the note had been previously investigated,
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  one of the original detectives informed a reporter from Wavy
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  TV that he was not aware of the note's existence.
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  On August twenty first, nineteen eighty four, the remains of
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  Michael Sturgis, Mike Margaret, aged twenty one, and DONELLN Hall,
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  aged eighteen, were discovered in a wooded area located approximately
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  three hundred yards southwest of the King's Crossing Apartment complex
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  in Henrico. The couple had been in a relationship for
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  four years and were engaged to marry on August seventeen.
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  They informed their families of their intention to to embark
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  on a camping trip together, which marked the last occasion
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  they were seen alive. Three days later, a retired dentist
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  walking his dog stumbled upon Margaret's jeep, which was backed
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  into a depression off the trail. The passenger door was ajar,
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  the keys were in the ignition, and the ashtray was open.
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  A red bandanna was hanging from the rear view mirror,
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  while another was loosely tied around the clutch. Notably, the
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  canvas top of the jeep had been rolled up and secured,
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  despite the fact that it had rained over the week end.
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  Inside the vehicle, two suitcases and a paper bag containing
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  clothes were found. A trail of blood led to the
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  bodies of Hall and Margaret, which were located beneath a
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  checkered red and blue blanket approximately twenty feet away. Both
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  individuals had suffered stab wounds and had their throats cut.
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  The state Coroner de determined that they had died at
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  two a m. On August eighteenth, just hours after their
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  last sighting. Toxicology reports indicated the presence of the sedative
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  demarole in both victim systems. Hall's body was discovered without shoes,
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  showing no signs of defensive wounds, and she was found
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  clutching pine needles, leading investigators to conclude that the murders
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  occurred at the site where the bodies were located. In contrast,
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  Mike exhibited defensive wounds and had a lower concentration of
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  demarol in his system. Some detectives speculate that Hall and
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  Margaret may have been the initial victims of the Colonial
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  Parkway Killer, citing similarities in the modus operandi. In twenty
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  twenty four, after DNA identified Alan Wade Wilma, it was
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  revealed that Allan's brother, Keith Wilmer, was a suspect in
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  the nineteen eighty five death of Mary Kaiser Harding. Keith's
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  wife worked at the same bank as Harding. Keith had
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  been banned from the bank and its parking lot for
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  sexually harassing customers and employees, including Mary Lorie Powell.