13News Now Investigates has learned at least one Hampton Roads police department recently checked Wilmer’s DNA to see if he was a match for one of their unsolved cold cases. Another local police department is currently reviewing all sexual assault cases that match Wilmer’s modus operandi (MO), and a third local police department spent part of January reviewing more than a dozen cold cases from the 1970s and 80s to see if Wilmer was ever on their radar, and whether he could be considered a suspect today.
More law enforcement agencies could follow suit.
But is a legal loophole leaving a potential trail of unsolved crimes unexplored?
CODIS – or
Combined DNA Index System – could instantly confirm whether Wilmer’s DNA sample matches DNA that was once collected at a crime scene and entered into the universal database.
But Virginia State Police say State law requires someone to have a conviction on their record before their DNA profile is entered into the government-run CODIS.
And a conviction is something this dead man will never have.