Colonial Parkway Killer

Colonial Parkway Killer
Killings
Number of victims:	8
Span of killings	1986–1989.
Country	United States
State(s)	Virginia
Date apprehended	Unapprehended

"Colonial Parkway Killer" is the name given to an apparent serial killer believed to have murdered at least eight people along the Colonial Parkway of the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia (or nearby) between 1986 and 1989. During that time, three couples were murdered and one couple is missing and presumed to be dead. The first two known victims were Cathleen Thomas, 27, and Rebecca Ann Dowski, 21. The lesbian couple liked to park on the Colonial Parkway for privacy. On October 12, 1986, their bodies were found inside Thomas' Honda Civic, which had been pushed down an embankment near an area of the parkway that was popular with gay couples. An autopsy found rope burns on their necks and wrists, signs of strangulation, and their throats had been slashed. Their purses and money were found inside the car. It appears that Thomas may have struggled with her attacker. A clump of the suspect's hair was later captured by her fingers. Both women were fully clothed and there was no evidence of sexual assault. (As an aside, Thomas was one of 100 women in the United States Naval Academy class of 1981, which was the second graduating class that was coeducational at federal service academies.)

In September 1987, David Knobling, 20, and Robin Edwards, 14, were found murdered in the Ragged Island Wildlife Refuge, on the south shore of the James River in Isle of Wight County, near Smithfield, Virginia. Knobling's truck was found at the refuge several days before the bodies were discovered by his father.

On April 9, 1988, Cassandra Lee Hailey and Richard Keith Call were reported missing after attending a party in the University Square area in Newport News during their first date together. Call's vehicle was found, unoccupied, on the Colonial Parkway the next day. Neither body has been found, but both are presumed dead.

In October 1989, the bodies of Anna Marie Phelps, 18, and Daniel Lauer, 21, were found in New Kent County by hunters in the woods near a rest area on Interstate 64 between Williamsburg and Richmond. They had been missing since the previous month. 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 I-64, New Kent rest stop.

In 1996, the unsolved case of the Colonial Parkway Killer was presented on national television on the program Real Stories of the Highway Patrol, a series that aired from 1993-1999. Actor Steve Altes portrayed the killer.

As of September 2010, the killer has not yet been identified. Investigators have speculated that the suspect might be a law enforcement officer, someone impersonating one, or perhaps a rogue operative from the Central Intelligence Agency, which has a training facility nearby at Camp Peary in York County. Other investigators believe the killings were committed by more than one person working as a team.

Since the incidents, many highly-embellished urban legends have arisen concerning the 'Colonial Parkway Killer,' most of which grossly distort or otherwise incorrectly portray the circumstances of the case.

In June 2010, the victims' families requested the assistance of a retired Milwaukee Police Department homicide detective^[1], Steven Spingola ^[2], an investigator with a national reputation for excellence.

After visiting the crime scenes, Spingola spoke with a handful of family members, tipsters, and law enforcement veterans. In August 2010, Spingola released Predators on the Parkway: a Former Homicide Detective Explores the Colonial Parkway Murders, a 29-page magazine article that detailed his findings. ^[3]

Spinigola ascertained that the murders are the work of different killers, especially the slayings of Cathleen Thomas and Rebecca Dowski. The former homicide detective believes the Thomas-Dowski crimes are directly linked to the deaths of Lollie Winans and Julie Williams -- a lesbian couple found with their throats slashed in the Shenandoah National Park, 180 miles west of the Colonial Parkway, in 1996. Spingola identified the deaths of these lesbian couples as crimes of hate and profiled the killer.

After Spingola's team of investigative journalists, known as the Spingola Files (SF), after their Web site's online moniker^[4],visited Yorktown, Virginia, a family member of one of the victims searched the belongings of her deceased relative. A note was discovered that may identify a possible person of interest in one of the couple-homicides.^[5] While the Virginia State Police claim the information in this note was previously examined, one of the lead investigators at the time of 1989 murders told a television reporter from WAVY that he could not recall such a note.^[6]

Spingola's lengthy magazine article has its critics. A family member of one of the victims claimed the former detective sought to profit from his writings. In Predators on the Parkway, Spingola also described the vehicle of the possible person of interest mentioned in the recovered note, which a family member of a victim dubbed "irrelevant" to the overall investigation. ^[7] But Spingola and his SF staff insist that the note found in a victim's belongings is "very significant"^[8] and that the proceeds from Predators on the Parkway are used to off-set costs associated with records requests and travel to explore other unsolved homicides.

In January 2010, after crime scene photographs of Colonial Parkway murder victims were used inappropriately to instruct a class by a retired and now deceased former FBI photographer, the bureau reopened its investigation of the Colonial Parkway murders.^[9] Investigators soon found that evidence, stowed for over two-decades, had yet to be tested for DNA. Responding to media criticism, the FBI met with the victims' families. Dozens of pieces of evidence were then submitted to the FBI's crime lab for DNA analysis. The FBI reportedly told the victims' families that the results of DNA testing should be available in the latter part 2010, although the testing of crime scene evidence and interviews of suspects have continued through the fall of 2011.

References

General

• June 7, 1990: Two slayings draw police to Hanover from Daily Press (Virginia)
• April 23, 1992: Bones found near Parkway from Daily Press (Virginia)
• June 22, 1992: Psychologist: Parkway killer probably had partner from Daily Press (Virginia)
• July 24, 1996: FBI looks for link in hiker deaths from Daily Press (Virginia)
• Aug. 4, 1996: Scenic road still associated with murders from Daily Press (Virginia)
• September 22, 2009: Crime Scene Photos from Colonial Parkway Leaked by FBI from WTKR-TV, Norfolk, Virginia
• September 23, 2009: New DNA Approach May Help Solve Colonial Parkway Case from WTKR-TV, Norfolk, Virginia
• October 7, 2009 FBI Meets With Family of Serial Killer Victim from WTKR-TV, Norfolk, Virginia
• October 8, 2009 Crime Scene Photos from Parkway Case in Public Domain from Times-Dispatch, Richmond, Virginia
• October 10, 2009 FBI Vows Parkway Murders to Get Thorough Investigation from Daily Press, Hampton Roads, Virginia
• Predators on the Parkway: a Former Homicide Detective Explores the Colonial Parkway Murders

Specific

1. ^ http://www.wtvr.com/news/wtvr-colonial-parkway-murders-100517,0,1713324.story
2. ^ http://badgerwordsmith.com/spingolagroup/
3. ^ http://badgerwordsmith.com/books.html#parkway
4. ^ http://www.badgerwordsmith.com/spingolafiles/
5. ^ http://www.wtkr.com/news/wtkr-colonial-parkway-note-details,0,6781678.story
6. ^ http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news/Is-note-a-break-in-Colonial-Parkway-murders
7. ^ http://www.vagazette.com/articles/2010/08/28/news/doc4c78366490c6c432274267.txt
8. ^ http://www.badgerwordsmith.com/spingolafiles/2010/08/31/note-left-by-murder-victim-continues-to-spur-controversy/
9. ^ http://www.wtkr.com/news/wtkr-parkway-photos,0,6599554.story

External links

• The Colonial Parkway Killer website
• Killers At Large website
• [1]