SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A former Northern Neck resident has been identified in connection with two cold case homicides that occurred more than 30 years ago.
The city of Hampton Division of Police, Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s Chesapeake Field Office and FBI Norfolk Field Office held a press conference Monday afternoon to discuss the updates in the two cases.
Details from Monday’s news conference
The suspect’s name is Alan Wade Wilmer Sr. He died alone in his home on Dec. 15, 2017 at the age of 63, at his home in Lancaster County.
His body would not be discovered for a month.
Because he was never convicted of a felony, “he was never in the system,” said Corinne Geller with the Virginia State Police. “He was never in the CODIS database. There was no hit. So, we had a common suspect. He just had not been identified.”
DNA testing was needed to positively identify Wilmer Sr.’s decomposing body once it was found.
“And then that’s when it was discovered that Wilmer had passed away and it was decided, let’s follow through on that and see if there’s genetic material that we can use,” Geller said, “and he wasn’t the only suspect that was submitted to the Department of Forensic Science.”
Investigators, using forensic evidence, have declared Wilmer Sr. as the person responsible for a Sept. 1987 sexual assault and double homicide in Isle of Wight and a July 1989 sexual assault and homicide in Hampton.
If he were alive today, the Commonwealth’s Attorneys in Isle of Wight and Hampton say he would be charged with both crimes.
Both cold cases are now closed.
Colonial Parkway Murder
Wilmer Sr. has been tied to a series of double murders from the 1980s, known as the “Colonial Parkway Murders,” which WAVY has been following since they happened. Officials announced his DNA matched one of those cases, which dates back to Sept. 21, 1987. That’s when an Isle of Wight County sheriff’s deputy discovered 20-year-old David Lee Knobling’s truck on Ragged Island.
Two days later, two bodies were located along the shoreline, identified as Knobling and 14-year-old Robin Margaret Edwards.
They both had been shot in the back of the head and Edwards had been sexually assaulted.
The Isle of Wight County double homicide was one of four separate double homicides committed between 1986 through 1989. They became collectively known as the “Colonial Parkway Murders.”
Many have believed one person was responsible for all eight Colonial Parkway murders.
“Although the similarities in these series of double homicides that spanned a three-year period cannot be ignored, at this time there is no forensic nor physical evidence to link the Isle of Wight County homicides to those other double murders,” said Geller.
The other double murders include two in York County that occurred on the Colonial Parkway and one in New Kent County. These remain active investigations.
Hampton Cold Case
Alan Wade Wilmer Sr. has also been connected to the July 1989 murder of 29-year-old Teresa Lynn Howell, known to her family as Teri.
Howell was last seen alive around 2:30 a.m. July 1 outside the Zodiac Club on East Mercury Boulevard in Hampton, which no longer exists.
Just after 10 a.m. that same day, when construction crews arrived at a work site on Butler Farm Road, they spotted some women’s clothing. A short time later, a body was discovered in the wood line not far from the clothing. The remains were later identified as Howell. She had been sexually assaulted and died from strangulation.
This case has been actively investigated by the Hampton Police Division with assistance from Virginia State Police and the FBI, for the last 34 years.
According to state police, a DNA profile for Wilmer was only able to be legally obtained after his death. Wilmer had never been convicted of a felony. His profile was compared to DNA collected from the victims and positively linked to Knobling’s, Edwards’ and Howell’s homicides.
Until this match, the two cases were not suspected to be connected.
“I want to thank the Edwards, Knobling and Howell families for their patience and understanding over the years,” said Lt. Col. Tim Lyon, Director of the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation. “Only those who have suffered the loss of a child in this way can truly understand the depth of their sorrow; and the frustration over not knowing who was responsible for taking their loved one’s life in such a violent and cruel way. I do hope the identification of the killer brings some sense of closure and peace for them. Moving forward, we continue our work to ensure other families have their day, too, and a chance at closure and justice.”
The DNA hit goes to show how far DNA forensics has advanced.
“Correct,” Geller said. “It also speaks to a lot of those investigators, 30-plus years ago, who recognized that evidence collected at the scene, the technology, wasn’t there, but that they preserved it enough to enable us 36 years later to be here today.”
Lancaster County
“Alan was a very peaceful person as far as I could see,” said neighbor Tommy Hemans, who recalled Wilmer’s dogs. “He did a lot of hunting. He had an affection for dogs. He always had really pretty dogs.”
Hemans said Wilmer “was a nice person. He did a lot of work for people around here. He was cutting trees all the time. That was his business. He was cutting trees for almost everyone in this Cove Colony area.”
Hemans said he saw something odd days ago — police cars “lined up all the way around.”
“It’s unbelievable looking at the man as I saw him, and as I knew him,” Hemans said, “I wouldn’t [have] expected Alan Wilmer to do anything like that.”
FBI tip line
Law enforcement officials are now asking for the public’s help.
“We recognize relationships and loyalties change over time, as do people and their perspectives. There are occasions where people who may have had knowledge of an incident didn’t feel comfortable coming forward with that information in the past, but we want them to know it’s not too late for them to step forward,” said FBI Norfolk Special Agent in Charge Brian Dugan.
During the news conference, officials confirmed Wilmer drove a blue 1966 Dodge Fargo pickup truck during the late 1980s, with Virginia license plate: EM-RAW. He also had a white pickup truck, a van, and a silver 1989 Ford F-150.
They also mentioned Wilmer lived on a small commercial fishing boat, named the Denni Wade, around this time. He would dock along rivers and the Chesapeake Bay in Gloucester and Middlesex counties, and the Northern Neck.
If you have any information about Alan Wilmer Sr., contact investigators by calling the FBI tip line: 1-800-CALL-FBI or submitting a tip online at tip.fbi.gov. Anyone with information can also reach out to the Virginia State Police by email at questions@vsp.virginia.gov.
The Wilmer Family released the following statement:
“The news of Alan Wilmer Sr.’s crimes has come as a complete and horrific shock to our family. We are learning about this news nearly the same time as everyone else. The man who committed these crimes was not someone we knew. The revelation of what he’s done has deeply impacted our family as we are forced to reconcile who we believed him to be with the unimaginable things he has done.
We deeply mourn with the victims’ families and the community and have them in our prayers. We can’t imagine what they’ve gone through for all these years. We are fully cooperating with law enforcement and are asking for privacy during this extremely difficult time.”
Continue to check WAVY.com for updates.
