Soulmagent
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VA VA - The Colonial Parkway Murders, 1986-89
- Thread starter littlehorn
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ConundrumPonderer
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Yet another polygraph failure that left a murderer out on the streets.
It's embarrassing that LE in this country (and Canada) rely on and trust the results of these completely unreliable "tools". Sarcastically speaking, they'd probably get more accurate information from a psychic than these machine's and their operators.
Calling these "tools" witchcraft is giving them too much credit. They need to be banned altogether.
It's embarrassing that LE in this country (and Canada) rely on and trust the results of these completely unreliable "tools". Sarcastically speaking, they'd probably get more accurate information from a psychic than these machine's and their operators.
Calling these "tools" witchcraft is giving them too much credit. They need to be banned altogether.
Maybe the brothers are working together. They both seem to have in and around suspicion related to several similar murders. It does not surprise me that a guy(s) that commit several murders yet have zero criminal record could pass a lie detector test or generate inconclusive results.
I do think it likely there were two people involved ( particularly given what we know about the named offender). However, if a firearm is brought into the equation? Also, I know that if it were myself and my wife as the victims, I would not run no matter how much of a chance I thought I had to get away and get help. I just don't see me trying to run off and leave her there for for length of time. So maybe that is what a single offender relied upon.
I do think it likely there were two people involved ( particularly given what we know about the named offender). However, if a firearm is brought into the equation? Also, I know that if it were myself and my wife as the victims, I would not run no matter how much of a chance I thought I had to get away and get help. I just don't see me trying to run off and leave her there for for length of time. So maybe that is what a single offender relied upon.
The Colonial Parkway Murders are a series of unsolved double murders that happened in southeastern Virginia in the mid-to-late 1980s. On January 8, 2024, authorities announced the 1987 murders of Robin Edwards and David Knobling in Isle of Wight County had been solved. Here is a look back at this once-cold case and the decades-long search for justice.
Between 1986 and 1989, at least eight people were murdered near or along Virginia’s Colonial Parkway by an apparent serial killer. In 2024, a suspect was identified in the murders of two of those victims, David Knobling and Robin Edwards. At this time, authorities have found no evidence linking the man to the other Colonial Parkway Murders but they are continuing to investigate.
Well, we have to consider these murders happened around 36 years ago. If the only other evidence linking him to the murders was a witness description, police didn't have too many options.
A previous post by Vern mentioned Mary Harding's 1985 murder. Could her case be connected with these others?
DEATH 23 Aug 1985 (aged 24)
Lancaster County, Virginia, USA
BURIAL Corrottoman Baptist Church Cemetery
Ottoman, Lancaster County, Virginia, USA
LINKS:
www.findagrave.com
www.washingtonian.com
Mary Keyser Harding
BIRTH 30 Sep 1960DEATH 23 Aug 1985 (aged 24)
Lancaster County, Virginia, USA
BURIAL Corrottoman Baptist Church Cemetery
Ottoman, Lancaster County, Virginia, USA
LINKS:
Mary Keyser Harding (1960-1985) - Find a Grave...
www.findagrave.com
A Murder on the Rappahannock River - Washingtonian
Part One The sun was just beginning to fade when David Riley pulled up to the little house off Route 354. The Virginia State Police detective got out of his unmarked Ford Fairmont and took in the setting of the mystery that had brought him here—a low-slung home shrouded in trees and underbrush...
www.washingtonian.com
StarryStarryNight
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Wow!
I just saw this. I read a book a few years back on these murders, so much mystery with it.
I need to catch on the recent news.
I just saw this. I read a book a few years back on these murders, so much mystery with it.
I need to catch on the recent news.
A previous post by Vern mentioned Mary Harding's 1985 murder. Could her case be connected with these others?
Mary Keyser Harding
BIRTH 30 Sep 1960
DEATH 23 Aug 1985 (aged 24)
Lancaster County, Virginia, USA
BURIAL Corrottoman Baptist Church Cemetery
Ottoman, Lancaster County, Virginia, USA
LINKS:
Mary Keyser Harding (1960-1985) - Find a Grave...
A Murder on the Rappahannock River - Washingtonian
Part One The sun was just beginning to fade when David Riley pulled up to the little house off Route 354. The Virginia State Police detective got out of his unmarked Ford Fairmont and took in the setting of the mystery that had brought him here—a low-slung home shrouded in trees and underbrush...
Definitely looks suspicious. It happened in 1985, a year or so before the first of the Colonial Parkway murders. Killer's family lived in Lancaster County. Victim's husband was a commercial fisherman, probably knew his schedule. Body weighted with items found on a commercial fishing vessel. Victim was abducted before being murdered.
If it's him, he may have learned to abduct victims from cars instead of their homes and to conduct his crimes farther away from his home. Just a guess, but he may have been questioned by police in this murder.
Off to check out this thread..
VA - VA - A man served 31 years for the crime; but who did kill Mary Keyser Harding? *great longread
A Murder on the Rappahannock River A little over 30 years ago, a Northern Neck fisherman named Emerson Stevens went to prison for the brutal slaying of a homecoming queen and mother of two. Now, a reexamination of the case by a hard-charging UVA lawyer has turned up troubling questions. Did...
www.websleuths.com
Off to check out this thread..
VA - VA - A man served 31 years for the crime; but who did kill Mary Keyser Harding? *great longread
A Murder on the Rappahannock River A little over 30 years ago, a Northern Neck fisherman named Emerson Stevens went to prison for the brutal slaying of a homecoming queen and mother of two. Now, a reexamination of the case by a hard-charging UVA lawyer has turned up troubling questions. Did...
This was the case in which VA state police suspected Wilmer's brother, Keith. The MO's are so similar.
A Murder on the Rappahannock River - Washingtonian
Part One The sun was just beginning to fade when David Riley pulled up to the little house off Route 354. The Virginia State Police detective got out of his unmarked Ford Fairmont and took in the setting of the mystery that had brought him here—a low-slung home shrouded in trees and underbrush...
www.washingtonian.com
<modsnip - quoted post was not an approved source> I'm not fond of the language used at the press conference that tried to separate the murders linked to Allan Wilmer from the other Colonial Parkway Murders. Also odd that FBI and other LE didn't mention that Wilmer had been a suspect in the Call-Hailey murder/disappearance.
Also agree that LE should be able to soon rule Wilmer in or out WRT the other Colonial Parkway murders.
1-800-CALLFBI
Like other cold cases recently solved by DNA evidence, in a way, its a new case. Since Wilmer has been identified in 2 murders and possibly more, LE will be receiving many tips that people hadn't sent before. Wilmer wasn't really a suspect in the past, nor was he publicly discussed as one. It's important for people to call in if they recognize the boat or truck, or knew Wilmer.
Wilmer had no criminal record, so they have to put together a timeline or history of where Wilmer was, what he was doing back then.
Did anyone see Wilmers truck on the Colonial Parkway back then?
Also agree that LE should be able to soon rule Wilmer in or out WRT the other Colonial Parkway murders.
1-800-CALLFBI
Like other cold cases recently solved by DNA evidence, in a way, its a new case. Since Wilmer has been identified in 2 murders and possibly more, LE will be receiving many tips that people hadn't sent before. Wilmer wasn't really a suspect in the past, nor was he publicly discussed as one. It's important for people to call in if they recognize the boat or truck, or knew Wilmer.
Wilmer had no criminal record, so they have to put together a timeline or history of where Wilmer was, what he was doing back then.
Did anyone see Wilmers truck on the Colonial Parkway back then?
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LunaticFringe
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I can't tell what it says on the side of the truck but commercial vehicles aren't allowed on the parkway. I would assume if a park ranger saw that truck it would have been pulled over just for that reason.
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Thank you! That's interesting and helpful information!
I would say the business lettering has been removed, either by painting over or scraping away. Therefore, it was probably licensed and operated as a private vehicle. It probably had to be a non-commercial vehicle to get a personalized license plate (not 100% sure in VA, but it's that way in the other states I've lived in).
They surveillance him for a time… he Was seen cleaning his truck and iirc the truck bed repainted. He should never have left their radar given he admitted not being far from that area ( like one exit down or so) and that truck apparently spotted by at least one person), fitting their profile, and a known history of harassing a couple kissing in their car.
This is very interesting, but is there a link here in this thread for that? Thanks, I'd like to read more. There's a lot of new information coming out here and there, since his arrest. TIA
Two of the Colonial Parkway Murders Solved!
I know members of the family of Robin Edwards and David Knobling. It is with great satisfaction mixed with sorrow that they finally know who was responsible for the deaths of their loved ones. My d…
blainepardoe.wordpress.com
In a post following the recent press conference re the deceased AWW‘s connection to three murders including a “parkway” double killing, Blaine Pardoe relates reasons FBI a developed AWW as a prime suspect until “cleared“ by polygraph in the case of Call & Hailey.
excerpt:
“They looked into peeping Tom cases on the Parkway. One stood out. This man, who we now know as Wilmer, was “more aggressive,” confronting couples on the Parkway. In one instance, a couple was making out and the young man had long hair. He banged on the window asking, “Are you girls having fun?” When he saw one was a male, he backed off.
They had a description of his blue truck, complete with oversized tires, rifle rack, and the distinctive EM-RAW license plate. The FBI spotted him then tracked him down and did drive-by undercover surveillance. This was four days after Keith and Cassandra went missing. He was seen spray painting the bed of his truck, vacuuming the inside. The FBI feared that he was destroying potential evidence and got a warrant.
They searched the trailer he lived in and found weapons, handcuffs, and *advertiser censored*. What they didn’t find was anything that tied him directly to Keith and Cassandra’s disappearance.
“They got everything. We got his vacuum cleaner, and they did a search of his truck, and they found a gun, handcuffs, and I can’t remember what else. He even admitted being at the next cut off around the right time. So he was seen by somebody else that night,” Joe Wolfinger of the FBI confirmed.”
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Thanks very much! I had missed this article.Two of the Colonial Parkway Murders Solved!
I know members of the family of Robin Edwards and David Knobling. It is with great satisfaction mixed with sorrow that they finally know who was responsible for the deaths of their loved ones. My d…
In a post following the recent press conference re the deceased AWW‘s connection to three murders including a “parkway” double killing, Blaine Pardoe relates reasons FBI a developed AWW as a prime suspect until “cleared“ by polygraph in the case of Call & Hailey.
excerpt:
“They looked into peeping Tom cases on the Parkway. One stood out. This man, who we now know as Wilmer, was “more aggressive,” confronting couples on the Parkway. In one instance, a couple was making out and the young man had long hair. He banged on the window asking, “Are you girls having fun?” When he saw one was a male, he backed off.
They had a description of his blue truck, complete with oversized tires, rifle rack, and the distinctive EM-RAW license plate. The FBI spotted him then tracked him down and did drive-by undercover surveillance. This was four days after Keith and Cassandra went missing. He was seen spray painting the bed of his truck, vacuuming the inside. The FBI feared that he was destroying potential evidence and got a warrant.
They searched the trailer he lived in and found weapons, handcuffs, and *advertiser censored*. What they didn’t find was anything that tied him directly to Keith and Cassandra’s disappearance.
“They got everything. We got his vacuum cleaner, and they did a search of his truck, and they found a gun, handcuffs, and I can’t remember what else. He even admitted being at the next cut off around the right time. So he was seen by somebody else that night,” Joe Wolfinger of the FBI confirmed.”
