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Colonial Parkway Murders - Part I · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: The Colonial Parkway murders refer to a series of serial
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  killings involving at least eight individuals in Virginia from nineteen
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  eighty six to nineteen eighty nine. These crimes are connected
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  to the Colonial Parkway, a twenty two mile roadway that
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  traverses the Colonial National Historical Park, linking the historic sites
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  of Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown. The parkway features long stretches
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  without street lights and is notably secluded, making it a
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  favored spot for young couples. In each case, a young
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  couple parked in a vehicle was targeted, resulting in the
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  deaths of both individuals. Three pairs of victims were found,
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  while another couple remains unaccounted for and is presumed deceased. Additionally,
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  several other homicides have been tentatively associated with the confirmed cases.
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  The victims suffered various causes of death, including strangulation, gunshot wounds,
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  and stabbing. Notably, there was no indication of burglary or
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  sexual assault in any of the incidents. The perpetrator also
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  moved the victim's vehicles away from the crime scenes. The
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  connections among the four confirmed cases are primarily circumstantial. In
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  January twenty twenty four, law enforcement officials revealed that at
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  least two of the murders, those of David Nobling and
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  Robin Edwards, had been definitively linked to a primary suspect,
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  Alan W. Wilmer Senior, a local fisherman who passed away
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  in twenty seventeen. DNA evidence also connected Wilma to the
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  previously unrelated murder of Teresa Lynne's Spoor Howell. He has
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  been identified as suspect number one in the suspected murders
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  of Cassandra Haley and Keith call, although he was released
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  following an FBI administersted polygraph examination confirmed and suspected victims
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  Rebecca Dowski and Kathy Thomas. Location of the Dowski Thomas
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  homicides on the Colonial Parkway. The initial known victims were
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  Kathleen Marion Kathy Thomas, age twenty seven, a graduate of
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  the United States Naval Academy, and Rebecca Anne Becky Dowski,
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  age twenty one, a senior at the College of William
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  and Mary, majoring in business management and employed as a
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  stockbroker at the time of her death. On the morning
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  of Sunday, October twelfth, nineteen eighty six, between five point
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  thirty and five forty five am, a jogger noticed a
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  white nineteen eighty Honda Civic down an embankment at the
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  Cheatham Annex overlook on the Colonial Parkway, approximately seven miles
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  east of Williamsburg. The vehicle had gone off the road
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  and into thick shrubbery, perilously close to a fifteen foot
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  drop into the York River. A highway patrol officer was
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  dispatched to the scene and discovered the bodies of Thomas
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  and Dawski inside the civic. The couple had been reported
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  missing after leaving a computer lab at William and Mary
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  on October ninth at around six thirty pm. Thomas had
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  previously visited the Parkway to spend time alone with a
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  romantic partner. An autopsy revealed rope burns on both women's
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  necks and wrists, along with indications of strangulation. Their throats
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  had been cut so deeply that they were nearly decapitated,
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  and the perpetrator had doused the bodies and the vehicle
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  with diesel fuel, although they did not ignite it. More
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  than one hundred latent and complete fingerprints were recovered. From
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  both the interior and exterior of the car, but none
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  matched individuals in police database. Dowski's body was located in
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  the back seat, while Thomas's was found crammed into the hatchback.
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  Evidence suggested that Thomas had fought with her assailant, as
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  a clump of her hair was discovered in her grasp.
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  Both women were fully clothed, and there was no indication
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  of sexual assault. Authorities dismissed robbery as a motive as
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  both women's purses were found inside the vehicle and no
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  money or jewelry was missing. At that time, investigators believed
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  the murders occurred elsewhere, given the minimal amount of blood
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  present in the car. David Nobling and Robin Edwards Rebecca
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  Dowski and Kathy Thomas. Location of the Dowski Thomas homicides
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  on the Colonial Parkway. The initial known victims were Kathleen
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  Marion Kathy Thomas, aged twenty seven, a graduate of the
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  United States Naval Academy. Rebecca Anne Becky Dowski, age twenty one,
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  a senior at the College of William and Mary, majoring
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  in business management and employed as a stockbroker at the
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  time of her death. On the morning of Sunday, October twelfth,
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  nineteen eighty six, between five thirty and five forty five
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  a m. A jogger noticed a white nineteen eighty Honda
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  Civic down an embankment at the Cheatham Annex overlook on
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  the Colonial Parkway, approximately seven miles east of Williamsburg. The
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  vehicle had gone off the road and into thick shrubbery,
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  perilously close to a fifteen foot drop into the York River.
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  A highway patrol officer was dispatched to the scene and
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  discovered the bodies of Thomas and Dowski inside the civic.
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  The couple had been reported missing after leaving a computer
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  lab at William and Mary on October ninth at around
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  six thirty p m. Thomas had previously visited the Parkway
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  to spend time alone with a romantic partner. An autopsy
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  revealed rope burns on both women's necks and wrists, along
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  with indications of strangulation. Their throats had been cut so
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  deeply that they were nearly decapitated, and the perpetrator