Law enforcement in Virginia revealed a “significant breakthrough” in the identification of the suspect linked to three cold case homicides from the late 1980s, including two cases associated with the “Colonial Parkway Murders.”
According to WAVY News, Alan Wade Wilmer Sr., who passed away in 2017, is accused of killing a young couple in 1987 and then in 1989, a 29-year-old woman.
In September 1987, police discovered two bodies along the shoreline at Ragged Island in Isle of Wight County, identified as Knobling and 14-year-old Robin Margaret Edwards. Both victims had been shot in the back of the head, and Edwards had been subjected to sexual assault.
The double homicide is part of a set of four double homicides that unfolded between 1986 and 1989, known as the “Colonial Parkway Murders,” as CrimeOnline previously reported.
“While acknowledging the shared characteristics in these double homicides spread over a three-year span, there is currently no forensic or physical evidence connecting the Isle of Wight County homicides to the other instances of double murders,” Corinne Geller with Virginia State Police said.
Wilmer Sr. has also been identified as the person responsible for the deaths of Teresa Lynn Spaw Howell, in the City of Hampton, officials said during a press conference this week. Howell was last seen on July 1, 1989, outside of the Zodiac Club at 207 E. Mercury Blvd. in the City of Hampton.
On the same day, a construction crew operating in the 500 block of Butler Farm Road discovered women’s clothing near their work site. Police later found Howell in a nearby wood line.
Howell had been sexually assaulted and strangled.
State police said the DNA profile of Wilmer was legally acquired posthumously, given that he had never been convicted of a felony. After comparing his profile with DNA samples collected from the victims, investigators established a connection to the homicides of Knobling, Edwards, and Howell.
Watch the full press conference below.
The remaining Colonial Parkway murders involve two incidents on Colonial Parkway in York County and another in New Kent County, all of which are under active investigation.
Anyone with additional information on Wilmer Sr. is urged to contact the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALLFBI (1-800-225-5324) or submit a tip online.
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[Feature Photo: School photos of David Lee Knobling and Robin Margaret Edwards]
