Alan Wilmer Sr, who died aged 63, would be charged if he were alive, police say, over three unsolved murders in late 1980s
A small-time fisherman who died in 2017 has been linked to three unsolved murders in Virginia in the 1980s, two of which were from a series of unsolved murders of couples known as the Colonial Parkway murders, authorities said.
Virginia State Police knew the suspect as Alan Wilmer Sr. , but provided few details about how he is connected to the murders (which occurred in 1987 and 1989) or when he is a suspect. However, the government said Wilmer would be charged if they were alive.
“Part of the philosophy of a bloodless case is to go back, start re-examining and reviewing all the witness statements, all the evidence,” Corinne Geller, a spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police, said at a news conference. And it’s a time-consuming, very complex and at the same time very effective method. “
Investigators said they legally received Wilmer’s DNA after his death. Wilmer was not a convicted felon, which meant his DNA was not in any police database. Two of the three victims were sexually assaulted.
The Colonial Parkway murders involved the deaths of three couples and the suspected death of a fourth couple whose bodies were never recovered. The killings occurred between 1986 and 1989 on or near a scenic drive that connects Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown in south-eastern Virginia.
In 1987, David Knobling, 20, and Robin Edwards, 14, were discovered shot near the south bank of the James River on the Isle of Wight. Geller said there is currently no forensic or physical evidence linking this double homicide. to the other Colonial Parkway homicides, although the other instances remain active.
Geller read aloud a joint from the Knobling and Edwards families, thanking law enforcement for the investigation’s advancement.
“For 36 years, our families have lived in a vacuum of the unknown,” the statement said. “We have lived with the fear of worrying that a person capable of deliberately killing Robin and David could attack and claim another victim. Now we have a sense of relief and justice knowing that he can no longer victimize another. His death will now allow us to seek out the answers to countless questions that have haunted us for so long.”
Wilmer is also known as a suspect in the 1989 murder of 29-year-old Teresa Lynn Spaw Howell in the town of Hampton. His death by strangulation is not similar to the Colonial Parkway homicides.
Howell’s body was discovered at the site of a structure about 100 miles (18 miles) from where Knobling and Edwards had been discovered just two years earlier. Howell last saw a popular nightclub outdoors.
Hampton Police Capt. Rebecca Warren read aloud a statement from Howell’s circle of family members that also thanked investigators.
Wilmer died at 63. Geller said investigators were actively pursuing leads on the other killings and had not ruled anything out, including Wilmer’s potential involvement. Investigators are still working to reconstruct his movements and encounters with others during his lifetime.
Wilmer’s name was “Pokey” and he was driving a blue 1966 Dodge Fargo pickup truck with the license plate “EM-RAW,” police said.
He owned a small fishing boat called Denni Wade, which he lived off when moored in marinas along the many canals of southeastern Virginia. He made a living fishing for clams and oysters, but he also ran a small business called the Better Tree Service.
The special agent in charge of the FBI’s field office in Norfolk, Brian Dugan, asked for anyone who knew Wilmer to help.
“We recognize that relationships and loyalties change over time,” Dugan said. “Just like the other people and their views. “