Map of Colonial Parkway Murders
The serial killer responsible for at least three of the Colonial Parkway murders has now been tied to a fourth victim through DNA.
Virginia State Police have identified Alan W. Wilmer, Sr., as the person responsible for the 1988 cold case murder of 18-year-old Laurie Ann Powell. If not for Wilmer’s death, charges would have been filed against him in connection with Powell’s murder. Wilmer died in 2017 at the age of 63.
The Colonial Parkway murders are the serial murders of at least 10 people in Virginia between 1986 and 1989. The killings are associated with the Colonial Parkway, a 22-mile thoroughfare that cuts through the Colonial National Historical Park and connects Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown. The road is a popular “lovers' lane,” frequented by young adults.
In late 2023/early 2024, police tied three specific murders—two previously associated with the Colonial Parkway murders, and one not—to Wilmer through DNA analysis. Now, nearly two years later, the Virginia State Police have confirmed Powell as another victim of Wilmer and the Colonial Parkway murders.
The first three known victims
The Sept. 21, 1987, murders of David Knobling, 20, and Robin Edwards, 14, are the first murders concretely connected to Wilmer. Their bodies were found after being washed ashore with the tide about 100 feet apart on the bank of the James River near Ragged Island. Both victims were found partially clothed and shot in the head. It was later determined that Edwards was sexually assaulted—a key to solving the case as DNA was left behind.
Wilmer died in December 2017 in Lancaster County, Virginia. He had no felonies on his criminal record, so his DNA had never been obtained—until the police considered him a person of interest and requested a DNA sample in late 2023.
Shortly after, the Virginia Department of Forensic Science issued a “Certificate of Analysis,” confirming a genetic match on evidence collected from the murders of Knobling and Edwards to Wilmer’s DNA. This analysis also connected Wilmer to the murder of 29-year-old Teresa Lynn Howell in 1989—a case not previously linked to the Colonial Parkway murders.
Howell was last seen leaving a popular nightclub in the area around 2:30 a.m. on July 1, 1989. Seven hours later, her body was found by a construction worker in a nearby wooded area. Howell had been strangled and also sexually assaulted. DNA collected at her autopsy matched Wilmer.
Fourth victim
Powell disappeared on March 8, 1988, after an argument with her boyfriend caused her to exit his vehicle. She was last seen by him at approximately 11:30 p.m. walking along Route 614 toward Route 17 in the White Marsh area of Gloucester County. Almost a month later, on April 2, Powell's body was recovered from the James River near Ragged Island. She was found nude and had sustained multiple stab wounds to her back. Powell had previously worked as a receptionist at the same security company that employed Robin Edwards's mother, as well as another suspected victim named Brian Pettinger.
At the news conference on Friday, Virginia State Police confirmed analytical support and testing was provided via the Virginia Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, and testing was completed by DNA Labs International. Powell’s DNA was sent to DNA Labs International for analysis because she was found in the same general area as the others, albeit closer to the mouth of the Elizabeth River.
“The Attorney General’s Office is proud to support the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative and to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our law enforcement partners to ensure that no victim is ever forgotten and that justice prevails. I am grateful that SAKI’s work has helped provide long-overdue answers to the victim’s family and loved ones, and I pray they find strength, peace, and healing moving forward," said Attorney General Jason Miyares.
The Colonial Parkway murders case is far from closed with many agencies, including the FBI, working to reconstruct the movements and encounters of Wilmer. FBI Norfolk Special Agent in Charge Brian Dugan asked the public to come forward and share any encounters with Wilmer, who worked as a fisherman in the 1980s. In fact, he had a small commercial boat he often lived on that was docked at marinas in Gloucester and Middlesex, and around the Northern Neck and Hampton Roads areas. Wilmer also ran a business called Better Tree Service, and was an avid hunter.
Anyone who may have worked with Alan W. Wilmer, Sr. or hunted with him, farmed oysters and clams with him, docked next to him at marinas in the Northern Neck, Hampton Roads, or Middle Peninsula areas, or socialized with him is encouraged to email the Virginia State Police at [email protected].