VA VA - The Colonial Parkway Murders, 1986-89

[littlehorn]

This is a weird one: Saw a thing on THS over the weekend about this.

http://crimeshadows.com/parkway.htm

 

[newshound81]

I saw that over the weekend, too. I had never heard it before. I'd say the killer died, moved onto a new place or went to jail since I don't think there have been any similar cases in 20 years.

 

[StealthTheory]

I'm just throwing this out there without research, but the isolated areas, where was Hilton at this time?

 

[kline]

Wow,Interesting case.
Good find Littlehorn!
This character certainly seems to have Zodiac type thing for young couples.
Kind of intriguing the way the attacks seemed to cycle up then just stop.

 

[littlehorn]

Wow,Interesting case.
Good find Littlehorn!
This character certainly seems to have Zodiac type thing for young couples.
Kind of intriguing the way the attacks seemed to cycle up then just stop.

What really surprised me was the methodical nature -- taking the victims car, moving it to a rest stop going the opposite direction on the highway from where the victims were going, bringing their clothes and wallets back to the car, etc.

Some weird intrigue also with a local security company according to that website.

 

[Seifsister]

I am from this area born and raised. I lived within 30 miles from the Chesapeake Bay where some of the bodies were found. It was scary time back in the eighties!! I was acutally born at old Riverside Hospital in Newport News.
They always thought that someone posing as a cop of so sort was responisble. Right beore these murders there were a string of rapes in Southampton County VA. into Northampton County NC. I am not 100% sure but it was about 10 to 12 rapes. These were commited by 2 black men. They would take the women pull them over with lights( like a police car) and then take there vehicle and take them to out of the way places and rape them. They never killed them. I had always wounder if the two cases were connected. These happened before my daughter was born so around 1981-1984 because she was born in 1985. I had a great friend from highschool that was one of the girls raped. They were no more rapes after 1985 and they never caught anyone. I believe these killngs started around 1986 but do not remember for sure ( this was long ago) Now Southampton County is only about 35 miles from Chesapeke Bay. Southampton County is next o Isle of Wight County which crosses over the Chesapeake bridge into Newport News.
I may still have some of the articles from this. I kept some because of Chris being raped.

This case is now in the hands of Va State Police Cold Case. Det. Hook
Betty

 

[Virginiaholly]

This is my first post!


http://labyrinth13.com/mirror/VirginiaMurders/index.htm

 

[Virginiaholly]

Here's a link to an April 19, 2009 article about criminologist Larry McCann researching these violent crimes.

http://journalismclass.wmblogs.net/2009/04/19/the-colonial-parkway-murders-cold-case/

 

[rgr727]

I live near the peninsula and lived in Richmond, Virginia because my father lived in Norfolk, Virginia and my mother and stepfather lived in Richmond. I was very concerned because the only reason IMO that the couples would be taken by surprise like they were and seemed abducted so easily, if it were a cop or someone pretending to be a cop. Since I used to travel I 64 between Norfolk and Richmond it would always bother me what would I do if I was pulled over by a cop. If that was who was pertrating these crimes. I live in Norfolk now but I still am scared to travel that stretch of road, especially where the couple's car was found at the rest stop going in the other direction in which they were headed. Like everyone else who has seen the show THS I wish they would solve this.

 

[KT Can]

bump...just saw the THS show...

 

[reportertype]

I hope I can catch this show at some point.

As an aside, I believe this is the case that influenced Patricia Cornwell's third novel, "All that Remains."

 

[gaia227]

From 1986 to 1989 at least 8 people were murdered along the Colonial Parkway in Virginia and their killer was never caught.


Cathleen Thomas and Rebecca Dowski were murdered Oct. 12th 1986. Their fully clothed bodies in the back seat of their car which had been pushed down a hill towards the water. They both had rope burns on their body, had been stranguled and then their throats cut. Their bodies had been doused in gasoline but apparently not set on fire.

Robin Edwards and David Knobling were killed around Sept. 19th, 1987 in the Ragged Island Refuge Center. David's truck was found parked, keys in the ignition, radio still on and drivers side window half rolled down and drivers door opened. Their underwear and a pair of Robin's shoes were in the car. A few days later their bodies washed up on shore, half clothed. They had both been shot.


April 9th, 1988 Richard Call and Cassandra Reilly disappeared after going out on a first date. Richards car was parked near a creek of the parkway.
Both of their sets of clothing were found in the backseat, the drivers side door was opened and Call's wallet and Cassandra's purse were in the car.
THe couple has never been seen again and they are considered to be victims of the Colonial Park Killer.

September, 1989 AnnaMaria Phelps and Daniel Lauer went missing. Daniel's car was found close to a rest stop, most of his clothing was found in the car along with Phelp's purse. Approx a month later the couple's skeletal remains were found. They had both been stabbed.

There is a ton of info out there. I have to get off here for a bit but will dwelve into this a little further later.

http://parkway.crimeshadows.com/main.htm

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_Parkway_Killer"]Colonial Parkway Killer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

http://journalismclass.wmblogs.net/2009/05/19/the-colonial-parkway-murders%E2%80%94not-dead-yet/

http://www.geocities.com/misjoy464/colonialparkwaymurders.html

http://www.mcall.com/topic/dp-pway-16_psychologist_062292,0,7570108.story

http://labyrinth13.com/mirror/VirginiaMurders/index.htm

 

[Lurker Steve]

FYI, this happened in Virginia, not Pennsylvania.

 

[gaia227]

Corrected that - thank you!

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

http://www.dailypress.com/news/virginia/dp-va--parkwayslayings1009oct09,0,4042814.story


the following link is really interesting.

http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-local_parkway_1010oct10,0,6674314.story?track=rss

from above link...

The impetus for the review isn't advances in DNA technology or other investigation techniques.

It was the discovery last year by a Williamsburg resident that sensitive crime scene photos — including graphic shots of victims — were floating around in the public domain. Fred Atwell learned in November the Parkway Murder photos had been obtained by a private security firm from an FBI source and was being used by the firm for training materials.
​

 

[gaia227]

These two were the only victims whose bodies were never found but thought to be victims:

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/call_richard.html

 

[Seifsister]

Eight people crossed paths with a serial killer in the late 1980s. A killer who prowled dark roads at night, who slashed and shot, who has remained a shadowy spectre for two decades.

The man who ended these young lives has been dubbed the Colonial Parkway Killer. Police don't know who he is, but one woman says she does.

"It points directly to him," she said.

This is the gulf coast of Florida. It's more than a thousand miles and 20 years away from the Colonial Parkway Killings. But it is also where a nationally known private investigator says she can solve the case. And she doesn't just have theories. She says she has evidence.

Lynn-Marie Carty usually steers clear of crime and violence. Instead, her job is to find missing relatives through her company, Reunitepeople.com That's what she was doing when she stumbled upon a man she now believes is the serial killer.

"It's time for the authorities to really take a hard look at him in Virginia," said Carty.

He is Michael Nicholaou, and there's no doubt he's a killer. In a bizarre Tampa, Florida crime three years ago, Nicholaou dressed up in a dark suit to kill his wife and stepdaughter.

This guy showed up with a guitar case full of guns.

Then Nicholaou killed himself. And maybe it would've all ended there, but Carty kept digging.

"This guy was really, really bad."

The private investigator found government records showing he'd killed before. Nicholaou admits murdering 30 civilians in Vietnam. The government prosecuted him but then dropped the case. And as Carty peeled layers, she came to this inescapable fact: when Nicholaou moved, serial killings often followed. During Colonial Parkway murders, Nicholaou lived in Charlottesville, and maybe even Virginia Beach.

"I believe in all my heart that Michael Nicholaou did these crimes."

Nicholaou's name is among dozens that surfaced in the two decades since the first murders on the Colonial Parkway. Police and agents checked them all out to one degree or another, but no one settled on a prime suspect.

The suspects included a park ranger who, according to those who knew him, sometimes patrolled the lonely roads at night. He died last year.

And a fisherman in the area who had strange sexual habits.

Agents checked out police officers, including state-trooper-gone-bad John Walter Ball, who was shot to death while robbing a store.

The suspects also include Jessie Ronald Walling, an unemployed heavy-equipment operator with a violent temper. He raped a woman and slashed her throat not far from the Parkway. When Walling went to jail for the murder, the Parkway killings stopped.

They were interested in him back in 1990.

Major Ron Montgomery of the York-Poquoson Sheriff's Office arrested the rapist, and Montgomery worked two of the Colonial Parkway cases.

"I haven't seen anything that would eliminate Jessie Ronald Walling as a suspect in any of these cases. Whether or not he committed these crimes, I don't have any idea," he said.

But Montgomery says, a lot of the tips went like that. Can't rule them out, but can't make the connection, either. While the law agencies never settled on a single suspect, Lynn-Marie Carty did. She admits she's obsessed with proving Nicholaou responsible for the Parkway killings and other serial crimes. She turned to a newspaper reporter at the St. Petersburg Times. Together, she and Ben Montgomery cobbled a volume of evidence linking Nicholaou to a New England serial killing that claimed six women. Nicholaou lived right in the middle of it. As those killings ended, Nicholaou moved to Virginia. The murders on the Parkway began.

"I absolutely believe that Michael Nicholaou is going to be the one behind this and I believe that he has a sidekick that he brought along with him in some of the Colonial Parkway murders."

Carty unearthed Nicholaou's medical and war records showing he had severe post-traumatic stress disorder. Doctors wrote "he was exposed to heavy combat, death, dying and killing." He had chronic nightmares, depression, panic attacks. He used cocaine, he abused alcohol.

"I feel as though they owe it to the families to check this guy's DNA. I mean look at his background, look where he was, he was right there at the time."

Montgomery says it's possible the suspect's name is already somewhere in the files. And he says, he hopes all the investigators get together soon to discuss the case, and their old suspects.

"Could produce that one clue that might break this case."

While agents won't talk to us about this case, The FBI recently called some of the families to let them know we were airing this story. They wanted them to know FBI would test Michael Nicholaou's DNA.
Read 2 comments »
http://www.wtkr.com/news/wtkr-colonial-update,0,66658.story

 

[Seifsister]

Someone has leaked graphic crime-scene photographs of the most notorious serial killings in Virginia history, the Colonial Parkway murders.

For two decades, the crime-scene pictures have been secret, critical evidence in the hunt for a serial murderer. They show how the Colonial Parkway Killer stalked couples in cars, stabbed some and shot others, and then discarded their bodies. And got away with it.

He shoved a Honda off a bluff with two bodies inside. He snatched a couple from their truck, leaving their clothes inside. He did it again with a Toyota, and one final time at a rest area with a Chevy Nova.

The rest of the leaked images depict more than can be shown on television. They detail where the knives slashed and the bullets struck. And they show exactly how the unknown killer left the bodies.

Joyce Call's brother was one of the victims.

"They took him and Sandra and they put his clothes back in the car, just tossed them. You know, all his belongings."

For more than 20 years, the Colonial Parkway Serial Killer has kept his secrets. But the police and federal agents trying to catch him have not. For at least a year, and maybe for many years, these pictures have circulated among civilians. How they got out is now the core of an FBI investigation, and source of disgust for the families who lost loved ones.

"These were human beings. They were brothers, sisters, sons, daughters. They were people and they were loved. Just to have the pictures floating around like that is very disrespectful."

Joyce Call's brother, Keith was killed on a first date with Cassandra Hailey. Keith took her for a drive down the Colonial Parkway in his red Toyota Celica. Her brother's car is in a crime-scene photo never meant to be public. Joyce says she found out about the leaked photos in a phone call, not from the FBI, but from a family friend.

"I was floored. I was floored. I was in disbelief for a while. I would like to know how they got their hands on the pictures."

Fred Atwell says this investigation into the leaked photos shouldn't be hard.

"It's an unsolved crime, No. 1. None of these murders have been solved, and the photographs are out in the public. I just don't think it's right."

He's a former Gloucester deputy, who, almost a year ago, says he told authorities who leaked the pictures, how they got out, and who has them. And, he says, he was ignored.

"I took them to the FBI and the state police, and nobody has done nothing."

Atwell says a friend of his, a security-company owner, asked him last year to teach a class about the killings. From 1986 to 1989, four couples were either shot or slashed on the Parkway or and in other secluded spots.

Fred Atwell was a deputy when the killer prowled this Parkway. But he didn't really know much about the case, or the couples, so he declined to teach the class. To change his mind, Atwell's friend - the owner of a private-security company - told Atwell he had crime-scene photos from the Parkway Murders. Atwell agreed to take a look. And he made copies.

Brian Hanlon supervises the Peninsula FBI office. That means he's in charge of the Colonial Parkway cases.

"Well, we looked into it. I think we understand where it came from. I can tell you that we recovered all the copies from the folks that we've contacted that had them. They're no longer there."

But that's a recent development. After Atwell spoke to NewsChannel 3, we called the FBI. And only then, according to Atwell, FBI agents suddenly came knocking. Atwell says they asked for his copies, and seized photographs from the school, too. Atwell says he couldn't get a return call, until NewsChannel 3 got involved.

Hanlon declined to explain what happened between Atwell's first complaints, and this recent scramble to retrieve the photographs. To the Call family, the FBI did not do enough to protect the families from this indignity, and protect the evidence of such terrible crimes.

Keith Call's brother Chris is upset. "Incredibly intrusive. I don't know the law, but I hope it does not, in any way, jeopardize the case if they do find somebody."

Hanlon says he can't speculate how the leaked evidence might affect a prosecution because there's never been anyone to prosecute. But he says he says the FBI did take this breach seriously, even if they didn't take action until a few days ago.

"I think any time you have things out there in the public domain of somebody's loved one, and this is still an open case, that yeah, that's a serious matter."

So much time has passed the families have just about given up hope for any resolution.

But the FBI isn't giving up. Tuesday night at 11, they reveal for the first time how they are using new science to search for an old killer.

Tune to NewsChannel 3 tonight at 11 for part 2 of this investigation

 

[Seifsister]

For the first time in years, the family of one of the victims in the Colonial Parkway serial murders is meeting with the FBI.

It's a direct result of NewsChannel 3's recent investigation of the FBI's handling of the case.

Our story last month initially focused on how someone leaked crucial crime-scene photos from these unsolved killings. And during our interview with the FBI, the agent in charge said he'd ordered a top-down review of this case.

Families of the victims say that's what they've been waiting to hear. Today the family of Keith Call was invited to Peninsula FBI Headquarters in Newport News to meet with agents.

Keith Call and Cassandra Hailey were on a first date when the killer took them more than 20 years ago. And as years passed, the Call family felt forgotten by the FBI.

"We have not talked to them in years and years and years. So I don't know what to expect. I just hope they are going to do what they said they're going to do as far as reexamining the case and doing a top to bottom review," says Keith's sister Joyce.

That promise came as the FBI answered NewsChannell 3's questions about a leak. Someone has let out into the public graphic crime-scene photographs from the murders.

In answering our questions, the FBI promised to breathe new life into this old case.

"We are going to be reaching out to her, and we will do a better job of making contact periodically in the future," said Special Agent Bryan Hanlon.

"They said they're going to give this case a top to bottom review, so we're here to hear what they have to say and try to hold them to that, so hopefully we can have some resolution here," says Keith's brother Doug.

After meeting with agents for almost 90 minutes the Call family says they're re-energized because they think this case is going forward.

"It is a cold case, but they did say they were committed to do everything and there's a lot of new technology and they were going to do everything that they could in their power," says Joyce.
http://www.wtkr.com/news/wtkr-colonial-parkway-family-meeting,0,75217.story

 

[lizzybeth]

I really hope they can solve these cases. I have to wonder if they were all committed by the same person.

As far as the crime scene photos leaked? I think it happens a lot. A friend of mine committed suicide at age 23. Her mom went to a "class" . I can't remember what the class was about; whether it was suicides or what. She actually saw a picture of her daughter as she was found in the display. It was horrible and heartbreaking. I think most are leaked by LE or first responders.