Colonial Parkway Killer
Encyclopedia
"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, Steven Spingola , 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.
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,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. 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.
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. But Spingola and his SF staff insist that the note found in a victim's belongings is "very significant" 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. 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.
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
believed to have murdered at least eight people along the Colonial Parkway
Colonial Parkway
Colonial Parkway is a scenic 23-mile parkway linking the three popular attractions of Virginia's Historic Triangle of colonial-era communities, Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown...
of the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
(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
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
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
James River (Virginia)
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...
in Isle of Wight County
Isle of Wight County, Virginia
As of the census of 2010, there were 35,270 people, 11,319 households, and 8,670 families residing in the county. The population density was 94 people per square mile . There were 12,066 housing units at an average density of 38 per square mile...
, near Smithfield, Virginia
Smithfield, Virginia
Smithfield is a town in Isle of Wight County, in the South Hampton Roads subregion of the Hampton Roads region of Virginia in the United States. The population was 8,089 at the 2010 census....
. 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
New Kent County, Virginia
At the 2000 census, there were 13,462 people, 4,925 households and 3,895 families residing in the county. The population density was 64 per square mile . There were 5,203 housing units at an average density of 25 per square mile...
by hunters in the woods near a rest area on Interstate 64
Interstate 64
Interstate 64 is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Its western terminus is at I-70, U.S. 40, and U.S. 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern terminus is at an interchange with I-264 and I-664 at Bowers Hill in Chesapeake, Virginia. As I-64 is concurrent with...
between Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city...
and Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
. 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
Steve Altes
Steve Altes is an American rocket engineer and writer, best known for his humorous essays. His specialty is getting hired into unusual occupations and writing funny accounts of his misadventures...
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
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
, which has a training facility nearby at Camp Peary
Camp Peary
Camp Peary is a military reservation in York County near Williamsburg, Virginia. Officially it is referred to as the Armed Forces Experimental Training Activity under the auspices of the Department of Defense, but it is widely believed to be the location of a covert CIA training facility known...
in York County
York County, Virginia
York County is a county located on the north side of the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. Situated on the York River and many tributaries, the county seat is the unincorporated town of Yorktown...
. 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, Steven Spingola , 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.
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,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. 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.
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. But Spingola and his SF staff insist that the note found in a victim's belongings is "very significant" 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. 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.