VA VA - The Colonial Parkway Murders, 1986-89

[Richard]

Not that I'm trying to find you something to do.

Daniel Lauer & Annamaria Phelps

...Now on September 5, 1989, Daniel Lauer, 21 years old, was enroute to Virginia Beach, Virginia. With him in his tan Chevy Nova, along with his possessions, was his brother’s girlfriend, 18 year old Annamaria Phelps. He was moving from his home in Amelia County, southwest of Richmond, to live with them at their place. The two had been in transit since 11 p.m. on the 4th. They were driving the I-64, the main highway to the coast. They stopped at a large rest area on the highway in New Kent County, just one exit shy of the Route 155, a wooded two lane road that went to some of the small townships of the area....

...They were headed eastbound from Richmond to Virginia Beach. However, Lauer’s tan Chevy Nova was found on the westbound side of the rest area. Not only was it found on the westbound side of the stop, it had not been parked in the stalls in front of the rest area buildings and bathrooms where cars were supposed to park. Behind the rest stop there was a parking area designed for the big rigs and a long road or ramp back onto the westbound lanes of the highway for them. It was on this ramp, halfway on the shoulder and halfway in the road that the Nova had been parked.

In its way, this was a quick ditch for the car . . . just like York River Overlook on Colonial Parkway was for Keith Call’s car. Looking underneath the car revealed it had been driven over weeds in a field or along a dirt forest road. Bill Littreal, the chief detective for the State in this area, didn’t want to believe that this was related to the Colonial Parkway Murders. With time, however, he became the staunchest supporter of the connection...


LINK:

Into the Woods-- The Fourth Victims--Daniel Lauer & Annamarie Phelps-- September 5, 1989

 

[JnRyan]

I wouldn't recommend this YT video I stumbled across today as authoritative on the subject, but I look and listen to everything on the subject that I can given I was in the area at the time. She does qualify her video at the end by directing the viewer to other sources in case she has made an error.

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[kev_i_f_ont]

Is it at all possible that The Zodiac himself might have moved cross country and continued his killing spree of young couples but without the taunting ciphers? Some have speculated that The Zodiac may have been two or more people working as a team and Zodiac would also change his M.O. and murder weapons. It could be a distinct possibility.

 

[kev_i_f_ont]

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

I doubt the rapist or rapists are the ones involved in the Colonial Parkway killings as the murders were not sexual in nature, according to investigators.

 

[Richard]

Is it at all possible that The Zodiac himself might have moved cross country and continued his killing spree of young couples but without the taunting ciphers? Some have speculated that The Zodiac may have been two or more people working as a team and Zodiac would also change his M.O. and murder weapons. It could be a distinct possibility.

Yes, it is possible that a serial killer might have moved across the country and started killing again in a new place.

Comparing these murders (Colonial Parkway) to the Zodiac cases, however, would have to take into account the "known" or most strongly linked Zodiac killings and the facts directly related to them. These would be the four incidents of: December 1968 shooting murder of a young couple near their car, the July 1969 shooting of the couple in their car, the stabbing of the couple in September 1969, and the shooting murder of the cab driver in October 1969.

All other murders which he claimed or which have been theorized as his by writers have to be excluded in making your comparison with these.

There are some similarities, but consider the differences as well. And the time frame between them.

 

[JnRyan]

Watching the "Lover's Lane Murders" on Oxygen now. I don't know if can really say I'm learning much. But I do find the discussion of one murder vs. two murderers very interesting. Especially since the former FBI profiler believes it could be one killer.

 

[MaryG12]

Watching the "Lover's Lane Murders" on Oxygen now. I don't know if can really say I'm learning much. But I do find the discussion of one murder vs. two murderers very interesting. Especially since the former FBI profiler believes it could be one killer.

When I read "A Special Kind of Evil" I considered there being two murderers (possibly a third, copycat-style) in the first case of Cathy and Becky, down to one murderer for the succeeding three cases: David and Robin, Keith and Cassandra, and Daniel and Annamaria. I do feel that one murderer using one gun can have greater control over two potential victims.

During the time I was doing research on this case within the last few years and the Parkway itself, from its conception to actual construction, all I could think of was, "This may as well be a hot spot for body dumping" due to its isolation, the fact that these crimes happened during nighttime, even if, as it is believed, that these four couples were killed in one spot, then their vehicles with their bodies in it, driven to another spot, right on the Parkway, precisely because it is so secluded and dark at night.

Also - as to exactly "where" the killer would hide out in his vehicle before following his prey - I have to wonder if it might be that old logging road where Daniel and Annamaria were found. I am inclined to think this killer(s) was not just a person dressed to look like an authority figure, using maybe a decommissioned police car or park ranger's car, but had to know that area very well, especially at night.

MOO

 

[JnRyan]

Yes, it is possible that a serial killer might have moved across the country and started killing again in a new place.

Comparing these murders (Colonial Parkway) to the Zodiac cases, however, would have to take into account the "known" or most strongly linked Zodiac killings and the facts directly related to them. These would be the four incidents of: December 1968 shooting murder of a young couple near their car, the July 1969 shooting of the couple in their car, the stabbing of the couple in September 1969, and the shooting murder of the cab driver in October 1969.

All other murders which he claimed or which have been theorized as his by writers have to be excluded in making your comparison with these.

There are some similarities, but consider the differences as well. And the time frame between them.

I doubt any connection between Zodiac and the Colonial Parkway Murders, but my take away here is how Zodiac was able to control the couple that were stabbed. The survivor gave an account of it. And he did this in daylight, wearing a mask and not trying to fool the couple that he was up to something evil. If I consider the killer in the Colonial Parkway Murders approaches at night with the ruse that he is LE I come away with the possibilities that one person could have done these killings.

 

[JnRyan]

I was reminded in the second episode of the "Lovers Lane Murders" on how LE just turned Knobling's truck over to the father with little to no forensic work. One of those interviewed stated that was not uncommon back then for LE to not even make the connection.

Then I think back to about that same timeframe in another nearby city where I lived and worked where a stolen car was crashed in a parking lot and the driver jumped out and fled the scene. The local PD came out, put up crime tape and immediately began dusting for prints and doing other work before they would tow it. LE didn't hesitate at all in those procedures.

Then I move forward to the disappearance of Heather Elvis in 2013. LE turned over Heather's car to her father right where it was found. Here we are with a local LE over 25 years later that does exactly 'what was not uncommon back then'.

It is LE errors. Plain and simply regardless when they occurred.

 

[JnRyan]

I just finished all 4 of the "Mind Over Murder" Q&A sessions. Some interesting points there. Then I turned to the CrimeCon panel overview and it is mentioned that the FBI has billboards in the Washington DC area asking for info on this case. I was just up there on a weekend about 3 weeks ago and didn't notice any billboards. But, of course, driving by myself in that traffic billboards are the farthest thing from my mind.

 

[JnRyan]

I just finished Oxygen's "Lovers Lane Murders". I believe I learned more from the "Mind Over Murder" Q&A episodes. The Oxygen series was interesting in that I heard from different experienced members of LE and hear different takes on the murders. One killer or two? Serial killer or different killers or some by the same person(s)? Not everyone looks at this and sees the same thing.

 

[missgreenbanks]

I just finished Oxygen's "Lovers Lane Murders". I believe I learned more from the "Mind Over Murder" Q&A episodes. The Oxygen series was interesting in that I heard from different experienced members of LE and hear different takes on the murders. One killer or two? Serial killer or different killers or some by the same person(s)? Not everyone looks at this and sees the same thing.

In the early 1990s Larry McCann of the FBI felt there were two people working together and that the second may possibly have been an unwilling accomplice. They made an appeal in newspapers at the time warning the second person that they could be in danger.
You are so right that everyone looks and sees things differently, the fourth set of murders have always seemed like an outlier to me.

 

[MaryG12]

In the early 1990s Larry McCann of the FBI felt there were two people working together and that the second may possibly have been an unwilling accomplice. They made an appeal in newspapers at the time warning the second person that they could be in danger.
You are so right that everyone looks and sees things differently, the fourth set of murders have always seemed like an outlier to me.

I'm a member of the camp that there were at least two perps involved at the start, particularly in Cathy and Becky murders. Found the newspaper article that mentions McCann. But it would also explain why the method of murder switched from a knife and rope to a gun in the succesive murders, Cassandra and Keith's unknown as their bodies were never found but my guess is by gunshot.

 

[JnRyan]

I'm a member of the camp that there were at least two perps involved at the start, particularly in Cathy and Becky murders. Found the newspaper article that mentions McCann. But it would also explain why the method of murder switched from a knife and rope to a gun in the succesive murders, Cassandra and Keith's unknown as their bodies were never found but my guess is by gunshot.

I wonder about 2 or more murderers. The switch between knife and gunshot bothers me. Different person? Dominant or sub taking control second time? I wish LE would go back to the 3rd site for a search with cadaver dogs. Although I also wonder if the crime scene - and bodies - aren't at a separate site from where the car was found.

 

[Kell1]

I dont beleive this was the work of the Zodiac relocated, nor do I feel that any other serial murder case, that we are aware of , is the work of the Zodiac UNSUB.

Completely different behavioral profile , (actually theres multiple in the parkway case alone) between the 2 cases.

 

[billthom56]

New article on the Colonial Parkway Murders which appeared in the Daily Press and Virginia Gazette.

35 years later, victims’ families in Colonial Parkway Murders still searching for answers, hope DNA advances will solve case


35 years later, victims’ families in Colonial Parkway Murders still searching for answers, hope DNA advances will solve case

We are also covering the case on our "Mind Over Murder" podcast:

Mind Over Murder Episode 106: New Leads for Longtime Suspects in the Colonial Parkway Murders?

New Leads for Longtime Suspects in the Colonial Parkway Murders?

Thanks.


Bill Thomas, Brother of Cathy Thomas, Colonial Parkway Murders

 

[Betty P]

New article on the Colonial Parkway Murders which appeared in the Daily Press and Virginia Gazette.

35 years later, victims’ families in Colonial Parkway Murders still searching for answers, hope DNA advances will solve case


35 years later, victims’ families in Colonial Parkway Murders still searching for answers, hope DNA advances will solve case

We are also covering the case on our "Mind Over Murder" podcast:

Mind Over Murder Episode 106: New Leads for Longtime Suspects in the Colonial Parkway Murders?

New Leads for Longtime Suspects in the Colonial Parkway Murders?

Thanks.


Bill Thomas, Brother of Cathy Thomas, Colonial Parkway Murders

From the linked article:

“We understand that we’re not going to be at the front of the line, but to hear that evidence hasn’t been tested in over a year is unacceptable,” Thomas said. “Why not just tell us that our case will never be a priority? No one has been standing in this line longer than the family members.”

BBM

I agree completely. I'm not an expert, but it seems the FBI could have tested the DNA sometime in the last year.

 

[waunakeegan]

I dont beleive this was the work of the Zodiac relocated, nor do I feel that any other serial murder case, that we are aware of , is the work of the Zodiac UNSUB.

Completely different behavioral profile , (actually theres multiple in the parkway case alone) between the 2 cases.

@Kell1 what do you think about SK Ed Edwards' behavioral profile lining up with all the Colonial Parkway killings/disappearances, save for Cathy Thomas and Rebecca Dowski’s murders? I promise I'm not an enthusiast of Cameron's theory about Edwards being responsible for killing everyone from the Black Dalahia to JonBenet lol. Edward's know MO and signatures have always struck me as very similar to most of the Colonial Parkway victims. I wouldn't bet the farm on him being involved or anything, but I think he's interesting to at least consider. If any of those cases have developed offender DNA and uploaded it to CODIS with no match, then Edwards would be out though since he should also be in CODIS.

 

[billthom56]

Does anyone know for certain if Ed Edwards' DNA is actually in CODIS?

We recently interviewed DNA expert Rock Harmon for our "Mind Over Murder" podcast, and he states that tens of thousands of felons whose DNA profiles who should be in CODIS are not on file.

BONUS: DNA Expert Rock Harmon on Why are Thousands of Felons not in CODIS? (Part 1)

Thanks.



Bill Thomas, Brother of Cathy Thomas, Colonial Parkway Murders

 

[dotr]

Refresher re posts.
Jun 08, 2021
Cold Case: the 1956 murder of two young people in Great Falls (kpax.com)
''GREAT FALLS — The Cascade County Sheriff’s Office has closed out what they believe may be the oldest "cold case" in the country after more than 65 years.
Through the use of forensic genetic genealogy, they say Kenneth Gould is the most likely suspect in the rape and murder of Patty Kalitzke and the murder of her 18-year-old boyfriend Duane Bogle in Great Falls in early 1956.''
''Another suspect whose DNA didn’t match was Edward Wayne Edwards, who was arrested for burglary in Montana in 1956 and served time at the Montana State Prison.
Edwards, the subject of a book by former Great Falls Police Detective John Cameron, was linked to "Lover's Lane murders" in Ohio and Wisconsin.
In 2019, through a company called Bode Technology, detectives began coordinating to have more testing done on the semen collected from Patty’s body.
The process tested and uploaded DNA from unknown sources.
Three people were found to be genetically compatible, and included in that trio was a link to Gould.''
2016
Special Report: The Colonial Parkway Murders -- 30 Years Ago - YouTube

2018
30 Years Later: The Colonial Parkway Murders - YouTube