VA VA - Lollie Winans, 26, & Julie Williams, 24, found murdered, Shenandoah National Park, 1 Jun 1996

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/l...ams-Lollie-Winans-Not-Cold-FBI-381600361.html

Family and friends of Julie Williams and Lollie Winans are marking a grim anniversary today. It's been 20 years since the women's bodies were found at their campsite along a scenic trail just off Skyline Drive. The women had been bound, their throats slashed.

The couple had been hiking in the park since May 19 but were due to return to summer jobs in Vermont May 28. The 24-year-old Williams' father reported the women missing May 31. Their bodies were discovered the next day.

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http://www.fredericksburg.com/news/...cle_c161cfe5-156e-50e7-8b76-0761f186ae79.html

On Wednesday, the FBI sent out a news release, along with updated posters, asking for help solving the double homicide of Julianne “Julie” Williams and Laura “Lollie” Winans...

Williams, 24, of St. Cloud, Minn., and Winans, 26, of Unity, Maine, had set out on a camping trip with their golden retriever, Taj, in May 1996...

Although the case remains unsolved, there was at least one strong suspect: Darrell David Rice.

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Any update of this case? Since there was DNA, it's possible to solve it if they can find the suspect.

Gosh I heard about this case many years ago - wasn't aware that there was a possible perp for a period of time. I hope the DNA can be matched to the that committed these awful murders and this case can be solved. It's good to hear that the FBI reviews the case every 90 days.

LE also looked at this case as being linked to the Colonial Parkway murders/missing people. I don't recall is they found any common threads or not.

The FBI did look at what they called "substantial similariities' between the murder of Julie Williams and Lollie Winans in 1996 and that of my sister Cathy Thomas and her girlfriend Becky Dowski, the first of the Colonial Parkway Murders in 1986. There are a lot of similarities, including athletic lesbian couples in their 20's, outdoorswomen, three day weekends, National Parks in Virginia, investigation by National Park Service rangers, binding of the two women, throats cut, no robbery, no sexual assault, bodies left in plain sight. So far, the FBI investigators continue to believe that the murders are not related.

We discuss some of the potential links in this new podcast series Real Crime Profile with retired FBI Profiler Jim Clemente and New Scotland Yard Behavioral Analyst Laura Richards. There are four episodes. Here is the first.

https://art19.com/shows/real-crime-profile/episodes/f2b6390c-cc04-4209-9323-a29858c28060

Bill Thomas
Brother of Cathleen Thomas
Los Angeles, CA

Bump: http://wjon.com/far-away-but-close-to-home-the-unsolved-killings-of-williams-and-winans-video/

The murder of Williams and Winans has some similarities to the Colonial Pkwy Murders but there were many differences and they were 200 miles apart. The "lesbian" angle is probably a red herring. In both cases, there is is no indication that sexual orientation was a factor; just women in a vulnerable position.

There is a POI in the Williams-Winans case named Darell Rice who had a history of assaulting women on the highway nearby but he had no known history of attacking women away from the road and there was some unexplained male DNA at the W-W crime scene that did not belong to Rice.

Has Gary Hilton been ruled out in this case?

Reading up on this case I found some very interesting information.

The only forensic evidence that could be found was some male DNA on some thermal underwear (presumably belonging to one of the victims) that was used to bind Williams. It did not belong to Rice.

The defense was prepared to argue that this exonerated Rice. The prosecution believed that there were plenty of ways that some trace DNA could have gotten there but they decided to test two hairs that had been found that might yield DNA through recently developed methods. These hairs, one stuck on the sticky part of the duct tape used to bind one of the women and the other from the inside of a glove too big for either women, had no root attached so regular DNA could not be recovered, but now mitochondrial DNA could be.

Mitochondrial DNA can not be matched through CODIS, you can only compare it to a know donner and it is not unique to each individual, descendants of the same female ancestor will have identical M-DNA.

In this case there was some degradation in both samples but they appeared to be from the donner and only 8% of the US population could be a match. Rice was not in this group. Since the origins of these hairs very likely came from the killer, this pretty much ruled out Rice or at least, made prosecution impossible.

Richard Marc Evonitz was, however, a member of that 8%. He was a serial killer who killed three girls in Northern Virginia 150 miles away in late 1996-early 1997. He committed suicide when he was about to be arrested. His crimes were different but he cannot be ruled out by any means.

I can find no information about the a comparison of his DNA with what was found on the underwear but I would assume it was not a match. Otherwise the issue would be settled.

At this point it is hard to say what we have. People associated with the investigation still think Rice was involved but Evonitz is believed to have committed other murders yet no others close to his known crimes have been identified.

Kemo:

My sister, Cathy Thomas, along with her girlfriend Rebecca Dowski, were the first two victims in the Colonial Parkway Murders. Based on everything we know, I don't think that Richard Evonitz was connected with the Colonial Parkway Murders. The cases are very different-- the Colonial Parkway case involves four couples, one lesbian and three straight, in lovers lane situations. Very different from the crimes that Evonitz was associated with before his death.

I do agree that some killers will modify their techniques over time, and in the interest of being thorough, Evonitz should be checked against the Colonial Parkway Murders, the Julie Williams and Lollie Winans case and the Alicia Showalter Reynolds/Route 29 Stalker case, but it is a real long shot that they are a match.

This story runs in the Richmond Times Dispatch this Sunday, October 9, which is the 30th anniversary of the Colonial Parkway Murders, starting with the death of our sister Cathy Thomas and her friend Rebecca Dowski.


http://video.richmond.com/30-years-a...rders-31478839

There are other stories linked in the Colonial Parkway Murders section.

Thanks.


Bill Thomas
Brother of Cathleen Thomas
Los Angeles, CA

There is a new book on the Colonial Parkway Murders, 'A Special Kind of Evil: The Colonial Parkway Serial Killings' by true crime authors Blaine Pardoe and Victoria Hester out now. Well worth reading. There is coverage of the murder of Julie Williams and Lollie Winanss and possible links to that case.

https://www.amazon.com/Special-Kind.../ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Bill Thomas
Brother of Cathy Thomas
Los Angeles, CA

New story on the unsolved Colonial Parkway Murders by Catherine Townsend on Investigation Discovery's CrimeFeed.

Bill Thomas,
Brother of Cathy Thomas,
Colonial Parkway Murders

http://crimefeed.com/2017/09/colonial-parkway-murders/

Lengthy article.
https://www.blueridgeoutdoors.com/magazine/murder-woods-shenandoah-national-park/

[h=1]A Murder In The Woods: The Mystery Behind Shenandoah National Park’s Last Homicide[/h] Kim Dinan01 Mar 18MagazineMarch 2018

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Because the murder of Julie and Lollie is still an active investigation, the FBI will not discuss persons of interest. No one has been convicted of the murders, and Rice was released from prison in 2011. The last reported sighting of Rice was in 2014 when police in Durango, Colorado began receiving calls from frightened residents saying they’d seen him in the area. Durango Police Chief Jim Spratlen said people were overreacting, adding, “all I know is he’s not wanted, and we ain’t looking for him.”
[h=3]Still waiting for answers[/h] Last year, around the twentieth anniversary of Julie and Lollie’s murders, the FBI circulated a press release and updated posters. “The case remains an open and active investigation,” says Dee Rybiski of the FBI. “It’s our hope that any continued coverage of the girls’ murders will one day generate that one crucial piece of information that may bring someone to justice and peace for their families.”

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Over two decades have passed since Julie and Lollie were killed in Shenandoah National Park. The shock of their murders is now just a shadow on an otherwise peaceful recreational paradise that I, like many others, will return to again and again. But the next time I climb Old Rag, or stargaze at Big Meadows, I will remember Julie and Lollie, two lives cut short while enjoying a place that so many of us love.

If you have any information concerning the murder of Julianne “Julie” Williams or Laura “Lollie” Winans, please contact the FBI-Richmond Division at (804) 261-1044.

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dotr said:

Lengthy article.
https://www.blueridgeoutdoors.com/magazine/murder-woods-shenandoah-national-park/

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Thanks for the excellent article. The 1996 murder of Julie Williams and Lollie Winans is often compared to the murder of Cathy Thomas and Rebecca Dowski in the Colonial Parkway Murders.

Sadly, the FBI and National Park Service investigators have never been able to put together a strong enough case against their lead suspect, Darrell David Rice.

Bill Thomas,
Brother of Cathleen Thomas,
Colonial Parkway Murders​

We need investigators to take an approach with Lollie and Julie's case like they did with the East Area Rapist who was just caught in Sacramento by using his DNA in a specific way. They used an ancestry website to locate a family member and in doing so found the man who had eluded them for 40 years. We have some DNA from Lollie and Julie's case that may or may not be their killer's DNA. But if it is the killer's DNA perhaps an ancestry web site could provide answers that are very long overdue.

"Investigators used DNA from crime scenes that had been stored all these years and plugged the genetic profile of the suspected assailant into an online genealogy database. They found distant relatives of Mr. DeAngelo’s and, despite his years of eluding the authorities, traced their DNA to to his front door."

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/26/us/golden-state-killer.html

There is a problem with the DNA evidence in this case. Trace male DNA was found on one of the woman’s Long Johns but there are plenty of innocent ways it could have gotten there. If it was traced the way the EAR DNA was traced, it would be far harder to narrow down a suspect since no one has any idea how old the perpetrator was, the geographical area he lived or anything else that might help.

They do have two hairs that most likely did belong to the perpetrator but hairs, without the root attached only yield matriarchal DNA which is not unique to every person. All descendants of the same female line, going back as far as the first significant mutation, will have the same matriarchal DNA. A woman who came to America on the Mayflower could possibly have thousands of descendants with identical matriarchal DNA. It is useful to exclude suspects but not strong evidence.


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I remember this was the first case that was show on Haunting Evidence that had a ghost hunter and two psychics. The finding would if you want take them with a gain of salt

The ghost hunter caught some odd lights comming from where the girls' tent was at the crime of the crime
The killer was a religious nut and Julie was his main target
Also they say the knife was still out there but someone who the killer trusted is hiding
One psychic say the killer was someone who the police look at but there was no proof to tied them to the case but the other psychic say the killer was Darrell Rice

Cold Cases - Investigative Services (U.S. National Park Service)
Unsolved homicide: Julianne Williams
NPS image.

Name: Julianne "Julie" Williams

Location: Shenandoah National Park

Date: Found murdered on June 1, 1996 at campsite

Suspect Info: Unsolved.

Case Info: Julianne Williams and Laura Winans were found murdered in their campsite in Shenandoah National Park on June 1, 1996. Williams was 24 years old at the time. She and Winans were last seen hiking with a Golden Retriever named Taj on May 24, 1996. The dog was found wandering in the park and turned over to US Park Rangers near Whiteoak Canyon Trail. Searchers found the womens' bodies in their campsite off the Bridle Trail near Skyland Resort. The National Park Service (NPS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) continue to work on this active, ongoing investigation. We wish justice for Julie and Lollie and closure for their families. Please share this information and help in our efforts to bring national attention to this investigation. Someone may have a critical piece of information investigators need.
See also: www.fbi.gov/wanted/seeking-info/julianne-williams/view


Unsolved homicide: Laura Winans
NPS image.

Name: Laura "Lollie" Winans

Location: Shenandoah National Park

Date: Found murdered on June 1, 1996 at campsite

Suspect Info: Unsolved.

Case Info: Laura Winans and Julianne Williams were found murdered in their campsite in Shenandoah National Park on June 1, 1996. Winans was 26 years old at the time. She and Williams were last seen hiking with a Golden Retriever named Taj on May 24, 1996. The dog was found wandering in the park and turned over to US Park Rangers near Whiteoak Canyon Trail. Searchers found the womens' bodies in their campsite off the Bridle Trail near Skyland Resort. The National Park Service (NPS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) continue to work on this active, ongoing investigation. We wish justice for Julie and Lollie and closure for their families. Please share this information and help in our efforts to bring national attention to this investigation. Someone may have a critical piece of information investigators need.
See also: www.fbi.gov/wanted/seeking-info/laura-winans/view

Anyone have an idea how thoroughly Randall Lee Smith has been investigated as a possible POI for Lollie and Julie's murder? He died in 2008 following his second arrest for an attempted double homicide along the Appalachian Trail. This occurred in the Virginia section of the AT near the Dismal Creek. He served a lengthy sentence for an attempted double murder in the same area in 1981! He was released from prison in 1996, but so far I am unable to see which date he was released. From what I can glean this scary fellow was running free from 1996 to 2008, and I think he deserves consideration for homicides taking place in Va during those years, including but not limited to Lollie and Julie, possibly Alicia Showalter, and the many other ladies that disappeared or were killed in this area in the 12 year span this guy was running free.

For anyone who is interested in researching deaths along the AT, please see attached The Gruesome Truth Behind Those Murders On America's Famous Appalachian Hiking Trail

I did up a little profile on what the killer could be like

At the time of the murders the killer was in his mid 20's to early 30's

This case and RT.29 Stalker are tied and the kiler was just starting out

The killer frequent the park where Williams and Winans would killed and know it well

The murders would more about control and power also the killer had more of a Hatred toward women

The killer was targeting brunette women with a athletic type body

The killer move away or when to jail

The killer has a thing for bondage *advertiser censored* (the control)

The killer has rep for bit littering women around him

The killer think more of himself than what other may think of him

The killer is smart but self centered