Colonial Parkway murders

The Colonial Parkway murders were the serial murders of at least eight people in the U.S. state of Virginia between 1986 and 1989. The killings were associated with the Colonial Parkway, a 22-mile long thoroughfare that cuts through the Colonial National Historical Park and connects Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown. Long stretches of the road are devoid of any streetlights and are extremely isolated, making it a popular lovers' lane location frequented by young adults.

Colonial Parkway Murders
Wilmer in 1988
Born	November 18, 1954
Died	December 15, 2017
Occupation	Fisherman
Spouse	1
Relatives	Two brothers (both deceased)
Details
Victims	10+
Span of crimes	October 12, 1986 – September 5, 1989
Country	United States
State(s)	Virginia

In each incident, a young couple sitting in a vehicle was targeted and both were killed. Three pairs of victims were recovered, and another couple remains missing and presumed dead. Several additional homicides have also been tentatively linked to the four confirmed cases. The causes of death included strangulation, gunshot and stabbing. There was no evidence of burglary or sexual assault in any of the cases. The killer drove his victims’ vehicles away from the murder sites. The linking of the four crimes is circumstantial.

In January 2024, authorities announced that at least two of the murders (David Knobling and Robin Edwards) had been conclusively linked to an official suspect, Alan Wilmer Sr., a local fisherman who died in 2017. Wilmer was also linked through DNA evidence to the previously unrelated murder of Teresa Lynn Spaw Howell. Wilmer has been described as "suspect number one" in the presumed murders of Cassandra Hailey and Keith Call but was freed after an FBI polygraph.

Confirmed and suspected victims

The Colonial Parkway (green) was the site of the Dowski-Thomas and the Hailey-Call vehicle recoveries. Hailey and Call were last seen near Route 17 (black), the thoroughfare adjacent to site of the Knobling-Edwards murder and vehicle recovery. Two victims, first Pettinger and later Howell, were last seen on Mercury Boulevard (blue). A rest area on Interstate 64 (red) was the site of Phelps-Lauer vehicle recovery; their bodies were found nearby.

Rebecca Dowski and Cathy Thomas

Site of the Dowski-Thomas murders on the Colonial Parkway

The first two known victims were Cathleen Marian "Cathy" Thomas (27), a United States Naval Academy graduate, and College of William & Mary senior Rebecca Ann “Becky” Dowski (21), a business management major working as a stockbroker at the time of the murder. Between 5:30 and 5:45 a.m. on October 12, 1986, a pedestrian jogger saw a car, a white 1980 Honda Civic, down an embankment at the Cheatham Annex Overlook on the Colonial Parkway, seven miles east of Williamsburg. The vehicle had veered off the road and into thick, dense shrubbery, only a few feet from a 15-foot drop into the York River. A highway patrolman was called to the scene and discovered Thomas and Dowski's bodies inside Thomas's Civic. The lesbian couple had disappeared after leaving a computer lab at William & Mary on October 9 at around 6:30 p.m. Thomas had gone to the parkway in the past to be alone with a romantic partner.

An autopsy found rope burns on both women's necks and wrists as well as signs of strangulation. Their throats had been slashed so deeply that they were nearly decapitated, and the killer had covered the bodies and vehicle with diesel fuel but had not lit them on fire. Over 100 latent and full prints were found on the interior and exterior of the car, but they matched no one in police records. Dowski's body was found in the backseat of the car, while Thomas' was found stuffed into the hatchback. Thomas apparently struggled with her attacker as a clump of hair was later found between her fingers. Both women were fully clothed and there was no evidence of sexual assault. Authorities ruled out robbery as a motive, since both women's purses were located within the vehicle, and no money or jewelry had been taken. At that time the police believed that the murders happened elsewhere, as there was not much blood in the car itself. In November 1986, just weeks after the murder, press reported that FBI profilers at Quantico, who had studied serial killers, were constructing a profile of the person or persons responsible for murder. In 2024, Bill Thomas recalled that four days after his sister Cathy's death, the FBI suggested to him that the perpetrator may have been a member of law enforcement.

David Knobling and Robin Edwards

Site of the Knobling-Edwards murders on Ragged Island, near Route 17

In 1988, salesman David Lee Knobling (20) and eighth-grade student Robin Margaret Edwards (14) were murdered. Edwards and Knobling first met on September 19 when David agreed to drive his younger cousin on a date with Robin Edwards to see the comedy Dragnet. David left his home around midnight, while Robin left hers half an hour later. A group of teenagers partying on Ragged Island until 2:00 a.m. reported no sign of Knobling's truck. Knobling's vehicle, a black Ford Ranger, had previously been discovered on September 21 by a patrolman at the Ragged Island Wildlife Refuge's parking area, with the wipers, engine and radio still running and some articles of clothing inside. Both doors were left open, and the driver's side window was partially rolled down, which caused police to speculate that the perpetrator either was or had been posing as a uniformed officer. Knobling's wallet was found inside the pickup, which ruled robbery out as a probable motive.

On September 23, the bodies of Knobling and Edwards were found after being washed ashore with the tide about 100 feet apart on the bank of the James River. Both victims had been shot; Edwards in the back of the head execution-style, and Knobling twice, once in the head and once in the shoulder. Both were partially clothed; Edwards was found with her jeans unfastened and her bra around her neck. Investigators were unsure if a sexual assault had taken place since, despite Edwards being underage, it was presumed that she and Knobling had a sexual relationship. The state police later said she was assaulted. Authorities suspected a connection between the double-murder of Knobling and Edwards to that of Dowski and Thomas. Although the former deaths did not occur on the Colonial Parkway, both sets of victims were couples who had been killed at or around lovers' lane areas, and the two locations were only about a thirty-minute drive apart. On January 8, 2024, the police announced that DNA evidence revealed the identity of Knobling and Edwards' killer as Alan Wilmer Sr., a hunter and fisherman. Via DNA evidence, he was also linked to the otherwise unrelated 1989 murder of Teresa Lynn Howell.

Brian Pettinger

Site of Brian Pettinger disappearance and vehicle recovery on Mercury Boulevard

Brian Craig Pettinger, 25, a heavy equipment operator employed as maintenance man for a local apartment complex, was last seen at a Hampton, Virginia ballroom dance studio on December 4, 1987, at 11:30 p.m. Pettinger was training to become a ballroom dance instructor. Two days after reporting him missing, Pettinger's wife discovered his vehicle in the parking lot of the Newmarket North mall.

Two months later on February 3, 1988, fishermen found Pettinger's body floating in a marshy area of the James River in Suffolk, Virginia, near the mouth of the Chuckatuck Creek that flows into the James River. His wrists and ankles were tied, and a rope was around his neck. The lead investigator in the case believed that Pettinger had likely been hog-tied. The autopsy showed that Pettinger had blunt force blows to the back of the head. He was found to have been thrown alive into the river, and drowned, unable to swim. Pettinger's murder remains unsolved. It occurred during the period and near the area where the murders took place.

Pettinger worked as a security guard and loss prevention officer for the same security services company as the mother of Robin Edwards at the time of Robin's murder. Bonnie Edwards worked as a receptionist there. Suspect Wayne Elliot Mack, a fellow dance instructor, later acknowledged having left the studio with Pettinger; Mack died by suicide a few months later.

Cassandra Hailey and Keith Call

Site of the Hailey-Call disappearance and vehicle recovery on the Colonial Parkway near Route 17

On April 10, 1988, Christopher Newport College students Cassandra Lee Hailey (18) and Richard Keith Call (20) were reported missing. Call, who was on a two-week break from serious girlfriend Selina, asked out Hailey, a business classmate, to see a movie on Saturday night and then go to a party. Call's brother purchased beer for him. Call picked up Hailey at her family's residence in Grafton for their first date. The couple traveled in Call's red 1982 Toyota Celica. The pair attended a party in the University Square area, where they were seen socializing separately. They were last seen leaving the party sometime between 11:30 p.m. and 2:25 a.m.

Call's unoccupied vehicle was found at the York River Overlook in Yorktown on the day of the disappearance. The keys were on the driver's seat, and a watch and eyeglasses were left on the dashboard. Nearly all of the clothing Call was wearing, including his underwear, was also found in the back of the car, as were some of Hailey's. Police later confirmed that it was the same clothing the couple had worn the night they disappeared. Bailey's purse and Call's wallet, however, were missing. Police dogs tracked the two students’ scent, past the site of the Dowski-Thomas vehicle recovery to the Indian Creek shoreline where dogs tried to enter the water. Park authorities initially suggested they had gone swimming and drowned, but a claim that was met with great skepticism given the water temperature and the steep, 20-ft embankment.

The Colonial Parkway

In the days after the Call-Hailey disappearance, the FBI became aware of a fisherman in a pickup who had approached at least one other couple on the parkway around that same time. The suspect, identified decades later as Alan Wade Wilmer, was placed under surveillance, and police observed him cleaning and spraypainting his pickup. The FBI executed a search warrant of Wilmer's home, finding handcuffs and a gun. An FBI polygraph examiner cleared Wilmer, who was freed. In May 1988, the FBI offered a $10,000 reward. By June, the moniker "Colonial Parkway Murders" was being applied to the killings.

Teresa Howell

Teresa Howell was last seen at the Zodiac Club on Mercury Boulevard

On July 1, 1989, Teresa Lynn Howell (29) was seen leaving popular Hampton nightspot the Zodiac Club at around 2:30 am. Seven hours later, her body was found by a construction worker in a nearby wooded area. Howell had been sexually assaulted and strangled. The Howell murder was not connected to the Colonial Parkway murders until 2022, when DNA from the case was matched to DNA from the Knobling-Edwards slaying. The DNA was later identified as belonging to Alan Wade Wilmer.

Annamaria Phelps and Daniel Lauer

Site of the Phelps-Lauer murder and vehicle recovery on Interstate 64

On September 5, 1989, Annamaria Phelps (18) and her boyfriend's brother, Daniel Lauer (21), vanished en route to Virginia Beach. Lauer's car, a gold 1972 Chevrolet Nova, was later found abandoned at the Interstate 64 rest stop in New Kent County. It is unclear whether Phelps and Lauer were killed at the rest stop or elsewhere. Both the driver and passenger side doors were unlocked, and the keys still in the ignition. Police found dirt and grass stains on the vehicle's underside, suggesting the car had recently been driven through the woods. Phelps' purse was found inside the car, so again robbery was ruled out as a motive.

On October 19, the skeletonized bodies of Phelps and Lauer were found in a wooded area by hunters along Interstate 64 between Williamsburg and Richmond. They were covered in an electric blanket from Lauer's car and were badly decomposed. This made it impossible to determine either the cause of death or whether there had been a sexual assault. The hunters discovered the bodies on a logging road about a quarter-of-a-mile from Courthouse Road, a location about a mile from the rest stop where Lauer's car was found. In 2010, a note was discovered in a box taken years earlier from Phelps' apartment. The note, which was undated and purportedly written by Phelps, indicated that she was to meet someone in a blue van at a rest stop. The note named an individual and provided a phone number.

Possible additional victims

Mike Margaret and Donna Hall

On August 21, 1984, the bodies of Michael Sturgis “Mike” Margaret (21) and Donna Lynn Hall (18) were found in a wooded area approximately 300 yards southwest of the Kings Crossing Apartment Complex in Henrico. Margaret and Hall had been dating for four years and were engaged to be married. On August 17, the couple had told their respective families they planned to go on a camping trip together. This was the last time they were seen alive.

Three days later, a retired dentist walking his dog discovered Margaret's Jeep backed into a depression off the trail with the passenger door open, keys in the ignition and ashtray open. One red bandana was hanging from the rear-view mirror, and another loosely tied around the clutch. The canvas top of the jeep had been rolled up and pinned back even though it had rained over the weekend. Inside the back end there were two suitcases and a paper bag filled with clothes. A trail of blood led to the bodies of Hall and Margaret underneath a checkered red and blue blanket about twenty feet away.

Both victims had been stabbed and their throats slit. The state coroner stated they died at 2:00 a.m. on August 18, only hours after they were last seen. Both had the sedative Demerol in their systems. Hall's body was found without shoes, no defensive wounds and clutching pine needles leading investigators to believe that she and Margaret were actually killed where their bodies were found. Margaret also had defensive wounds and a comparatively lower dosage of Demerol in his system. Some detectives believe that Hall and Margaret were the first victims of the Colonial Parkway Killer due to similarities in modus operandi.

Mary Harding

In 2024, after DNA identified Alan Wade Wilmer, it was revealed that Alan's brother Keith Wilmer was a suspect in the 1985 death of Mary Keyser Harding (24). Keith's wife worked at the same bank as Harding. Keith had been banned from the bank and its parking lot for sexually harassing customers and employees including Mary.

Laurie Powell

Laurie Ann Powell Compton (18), a Gloucester High School graduate, went missing on March 8, 1988, after having an argument with her boyfriend which ended with Laurie getting out of his car. She was last seen by him at 11:30 p.m. walking on the Route 614 towards Route 17 in the White Marsh area in Gloucester County, Virginia. On April 2, 1988, Laurie's body was spotted floating in the James River off Craney Island near Ragged Island. Her body was found nude and with multiple stab wounds to her back. Compton worked for the same security company where Pettinger and Edwards' mother worked at the time of her murder. Powell's boyfriend, Chris Cutler (1967–2016), was a suspect in the murder.

Shenandoah National Park killings

The bodies of Julianne Marie Williams (24) and Laura Salisbury Winans (26) were found by Park Rangers at the Shenandoah National Park on June 1, 1996, after Lollie's golden retriever Taj was located wandering near the Whiteoak Canyon Trail. The two young women were in a relationship, and on May 19, 1996, went on a camping trip in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Julianne and Laura were last seen alive on May 24 in the park. On May 31, their families reported them missing. Their bodies were found at a remote campsite in the park about a quarter-mile from Skyline Drive off the Appalachian Trail. Laura was found inside the tent. Julianne was found in her sleeping bag about forty feet away, down an embankment. Their hands were bound, their mouths were gagged, and their throats were slit. Both were partially undressed, but neither was sexually assaulted.

The FBI investigated whether Julianne and Laura's murders were related to the 1986 murders of Cathleen Thomas and Rebecca Ann Dowski. In that case, the victims were similarly bound and stabbed. They had also not been sexually molested. Both double murders occurred on National Park property – the historic Colonial Parkway and the Shenandoah – which were connected by Interstate 64. Detective Steve Spingola who was asked to investigate the Colonial Parkway murders as a private investigator believed that the murders of Cathy and Rebecca were not related to the other Colonial Parkway murders at all and were, instead, connected to Williams and Winans’s murders.

In 2001, the Department of Justice indicted Darrell David Rice for the murders, but charges were dropped after DNA found at the scene matched neither Rice nor the victims. In 2024, fifteen days after his exoneration, Rice was killed in an car accident. In June 2024, the FBI announced new DNA evidence linking the killing to serial rapist Walter “Leo” Jackson, with a 2.6 trillion to one match between DNA from Jackson and DNA found at the scene of the crime. Jackson died in 2018 while incarcerated for other crimes.

Theories

Law enforcement

At the first crime scene, Thomas's wallet had been removed from her purse, as if she was preparing to show her identificiation. Just days after the first murder, the FBI privately suggested to family that that the perpetrator might be a member of law enforcement or other authority figure.

Fisherman

In the first murders, of Dowski and Thomas, a piece of nautical line had been found in Thomas's hair. The killer attempted to use diesel fuel to set fire to the victims' vehicle, suggesting the perpetrators purchased fuel at a gas station for use in a boat rather than purchasing it directly from a marina – a practice common to local fishermen. The sharpness of the knife, which nearly decapitated Thomas, also suggested a fisherman. Knobling and Edwards were found on the banks of the James River. In the Hailey-Call case, police dogs traced a scent from the car to the nearby edge of the York river, suggesting the involvement of a boat.

Vehicle staging

Cathy Thomas's vehicle was found with the driver's seat adjusted for someone taller than her, suggesting the killer may had driven it before it was pushed off the embankment. A search of the area failed to find any pools of blood; the murders had happened elsewhere, potentially somewhere not even on the Parkway.

David Knobling's truck was found with doors open, keys in the ignition, and the radio playing. Knobling, an automotive enthusiast, never left his truck unlocked. Knobling consistently parked by backing in, yet the truck was found parked by driving forward. Knobling had wired his car's radio directly to the battery so that the ignition did not need to be set to Accessories, as it was when the truck was discovered. This suggested someone other than Knobling had been the last to operate the vehicle.

When Keith Call's vehicle was found on the Parkway, families quickly disputed that the victims would have intentionally parked there. Both families reported their loved ones had a fear of the dark, isolated Parkway at nighttime. Call's keys were in the ignition and his gold wristwatch was left in the seat, something family insisted he would never do. Daniel Lauer's vehicle was found near a westbound interstate rest area, but Lauer and Phelps were known to be traveling eastward to Virginia Beach. A feathered roach clip, which Lauer kept attached to the rear-view mirror, had been transferred to the driver's side mirror.

Multiple offenders working together

Larry McCann, head of the Virginia State Police's Behavioral Science Unit, argued that two individuals were working together in the murders. He felt the level of control demonstrated over victims suggested two perpetrators. Irvin Wells, of the FBI, also suspected a pair of offenders.

Liberty Security Services

On April 19, 1988, press reported that local private detective Ronald Little, then under arrest for immigration charges, alleged he was a suspect in the Parkway Murders. Robin Edwards's mother Bonney had been employed by the company, while Brian Pettinger had worked as a security guard and loss prevention officer for the firm. Laurie Ann Powell Compton, who had gone missing on March 8, 1988, was also an employee of the company. The FBI denied that Little was a suspect in the murders.

Suspect identified

Alan Wade Wilmer, nickname "Pokey", worked as a fisherman on his own boat, the Denni Wade, primarily harvesting clams and oysters. He later started a tree-cutting company. He was an avid hunter, a member of a local hunting club, and won archery competitions. He was married on February 22, 1975; he later divorced. Wilmer had two children, both adults at the time of his death.

Wilmer was known to confront couples on the Colonial Parkway. In one instance, Wilmer had confronted a girl and a long-haired boyfriend, mistaking the pair for a same-sex couple. Upon seeing the couple was heterosexual, he laughed. Wilmer placed himself near the site of the Keith Call-Cassandra Hailey recovered vehicle. Despite public protest, Wilmer's DNA was not entered into the CODIS, the US's national DNA database.

Media coverage

In 2007, the case of Hailey and Call was featured in the Investigation Discovery program Sensing Murder. In 2008, E! Entertainment Television presented a full-length documentary, THS Investigates Serial Killers on the Loose, which features a segment on the Colonial Parkway murders.

In September 2009, it was discovered by CBS News affiliate WTKR that nearly 80 highly graphic crime scene photographs of Colonial Parkway murders victims were used to instruct a class by a retired and now deceased former FBI photographer.

In 2011, author Michelle McNamara published a two-part exploration of the Colonial Parkway murders in her True Crime Diary.

In October 2016, there was extensive coverage of the 30th anniversary of the Colonial Parkway murders, including an eight-part multimedia presentation by the Daily Press newspaper.

On October 8, 2016, the Richmond Times Dispatch ran an in-depth article on the 30th anniversary of the Colonial Parkway murders case: After 30 Years, Relatives in Parkway Murders Hope for a Break in Cases

On May 4, 2018, the Colonial Parkway murders were covered in featured panel discussion at the annual "CrimeCon" true crime convention in Nashville. Moderated by former FBI Special Agent Maureen O'Connell, the panel featured family members and advocates Joyce Call and Bill Thomas along with Blaine Pardoe, coauthor of a book on the case, A Special Kind of Evil: The Colonial Parkway Serial Killings.

On July 23, 2018. WTVR News 6 in Richmond reported that there was additional DNA evidence available for testing in the Colonial Parkway murders.

Investigation Discovery, Virginian Pilot, Access Hollywood, The Daily Beast, Listverse, Daily Press, Dateline NBC and others have published later summaries of the case.

On April 25, 2019, The New York Times published a story on the use of DNA in the Golden State Killer case, the Colonial Parkway murders, and other unsolved homicides titled Sooner or Later, Your Cousin's DNA is Going to Solve a Murder.

On July 30, 2019, The Washington Post ran a story on the search for answers in the Colonial Parkway murders and other cases titled Victims, Families and America's Thirst for True-Crime Stories

On September 17, 2020, the publication Forensic Genomics published an article by family member Bill Thomas covering the Colonial Parkway murders entitled "The Family Perspective."

On January 15, 2021, the Oxygen Network announced that a four-part true crime series, Lovers Lane Murders would cover the Colonial Parkway murders. The four episodes were to feature former FBI profiler Jim Clemente, as well as investigators including former FBI Agent Maureen O'Connell and former prosecutor Loni Coombs, together with crime scene reconstruction expert Dr. Laura Pettler. The series made its debut on February 11–12, 2021.

On February 4, 2021, in advance of their Lover's Lane Murders television series, the Oxygen Network released a series of videos including "Why Would Law Enforcement Not Release All Records On a Case Like the Colonial Parkway Murders? and "Was the Colonial Parkway Killer Pretending to be Law Enforcement?"

Timeline

• Oct. 9, 1986 – Rebecca Dowski and Cathy Thomas last seen leaving University computer lab together
• Oct. 12, 1986 – Rebecca Dowski and Cathy Thomas found murdered on Colonial Parkway
• Sept. 19, 1987 – David Knobling and Robin Edwards last seen at respective family homes
• Sept. 23, 1987 – David Knobling and Robin Edwards found murdered on Ragged Island
• Dec. 4, 1987 – Brian Craig Pettinger goes missing after training at Ballroom Dance Club, a studio on Mercury Blvd; Vehicle found in nearby mall parking lot
• Apr. 10, 1988 – Cassandra Hailey and Keith Call reported missed after university party; car recovered on Colonial Parkway, which Call was leery of visiting
• Jul. 1, 1989 – Teresa Lynn Howell found murdered hours after leaving Zodiac Club on Mercury Blvd
• Sept. 5, 1989 – Annamaria Phelps and Daniel Lauer missing; car recovered at New Kent rest stop on I-64 Westbound, opposite to their direction of travel
• Oct. 21, 1989 – Phelps and Lauer bodies found at hunt club property near New Kent rest stop

Name(s)	Last seen	Vehicle Recovered	Vehicle Staging	Bodies recovered	Cause of death	Wilmer link?
Rebecca Dowski Cathy Thomas	9 Oct 86, campus computer lab	12 Oct, off Parkway embankment	Driver's seat adjusted for a taller driver	12 Oct inside vehicle	Near-decapitation from sharp blade
David Knobling Robin Edwards	19 Sep 87, respective family homes	21 Sep, Ragged Island lot	Keys in ignition at accessory position with radio on, not backed in, doors open, window down	23 Sep, beach of Ragged Island near truck	Gunshot	Alan Wade Wilmer DNA
Brian Pettinger	2 Dec 87, ballroom dance studio	4 Dec, Newmarket North mall parking lot	Door handle almost broken off	1 Feb 88, James river marsh in Suffolk	Blunt force trauma to head, drowning
Cassandra Hailey Keith Call	10 Apr 88, University Square party	10 Apr 88, Colonial Parkway	Keys in ignition, gold wristwatch on seat	Bodies never recovered	Unknown	Alan Wade Wilmer was seen on the Parkway; prime suspect in 1988
Teresa Howell	1 Jul 89, Zodiac Club	—		1 Jul, construction site	Strangulation	Alan Wade Wilmer DNA
Annamaria Phelps Daniel Lauer	5 Sep 89, enroute eastbound to Virginia Beach	5 Sep 89, Westbound I-64 New Kent rest stop	Roach clip moved, keys in ignition	21 Oct, hunt club near rest area	Uncertain, but Phelps showed evidence of stabbing

See also

• Murder Accountability Project Tracking America's Unsolved Homicides

Further reading

• Pardoe, Blaine Lee; Hester, Victoria (2017). A Special Kind of Evil: The Colonial Parkway Serial Killings. WildBlue Press. ISBN 9781942266990. OCLC 1002885656.