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

DNA Solves
DNA Solves
DNA Solves
It seems solid that this guy Jackson is the perpetrator. The important question is whether or not he is responsible for other crimes he has not been implicated in. The FBI is going to to go through his life during the period he wasn’t locked up and see if there are unsolved crimes that fit his pattern. He was probably on parole during most of these periods so his movements are probably well documented.

He was apparently known to be a “hiker” but it isn’t clear if he was a backpacker or just a day hiker. He was wearing gloves during the Williams-Wins s attack but it was in the summer and weather was warm. He came prepare, yet sexual attacks of hiking trails are quite rare and are usually well reported on. There may turn out to be others that can be attributed to him. I can’t find accounts of the other crimes he is known to have committed. They include rape but not murder. Interestingly, the Williams-Winans case did not sexual penetration although there are clear sexual overtones. This case has always carried the possibility that it was primarily a Hate Crime because the women were in a same sex relationship. Anything is possible but, unless there is some history of Jackson targeting Lesbians or gay men, it was just an opportunistic attack. Most men would not assume two women backpacking together to be in a sexual relationship.
 
rbbm
''The recent retesting of crime scene evidence showed that both Williams and Winans were sexually assaulted, said Christopher Kavanaugh, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia. Kavanaugh said authorities investigated whether the rapes and killings could be considered hate crimes. But he said they found no evidence that Jackson knew of their sexual orientation or targeted them for that reason.

"Make no mistake, this crime was brutal, this crime was definitely hateful, nevertheless we do not have any evidence" that the crime was motivated by anti-gay bias, Kavanaugh said.''

''Meador said the FBI is continuing to work with other law enforcement agencies to determine if Jackson is responsible for other unsolved crimes.''
 
“CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – The man long considered the prime suspect in the 1996 murders of two women in Shenandoah National Park has died just two weeks after a DNA match cleared him of the crime.”

“In news first reported by Missouri news outlet KTTN.com, Darrell D. Rice was killed just before 10 p.m. on July 5 when he was struck by a vehicle while riding a bike on a rural highway in Chariton County, Missouri. Rice, 56, was airlifted to a hospital where he was declared dead.”

“Rice had been eliminated as a contributor of low-level DNA collected from the Shenandoah National Park crime scene, but it wasn’t until authorities held a press conference on June 20 of this year that Rice was publicly cleared. The DNA match from new testing identified an Ohio man, Walter “Leo” Jackson, Sr., as the Shenandoah park killer.”

More at the link below. I did not realize he had never been publicly exonerated before 6.30.24


 
  • HAWES SPENCER Jul 7, 2024
  • 28 years later, grisly Shenandoah National Park murders solved
  • 1720573493091.png
  • ''Speaking at a press conference in Richmond transmitted nationally via a conference call, Meador identified the perpetrator as Walter L. Jackson Sr., an avid hiker who went by “Leo” and who was known to frequent Shenandoah. A house painter by trade, Jackson was identified after Meador appointed a new investigative team shortly after he took over the Richmond FBI office in 2021.''

  • ''A new revelation Thursday was that, contrary to what authorities had previously revealed, both women had been sexually assaulted.''
 
Laura “Lollie” Winans and Julianne “Julie” Williams
 

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