Two of the Colonial Parkway Murders Solved!

I know members of the family of Robin Edwards and David Knobling. It is with great satisfaction mixed with sorrow that they finally know who was responsible for the deaths of their loved ones. My daughter Victoria I both extend to them our most positive thoughts and prayers. Our prayers go out to the other victims’ families as well. This is a huge step in the right direction. Victoria and I spent two years researching and writing our book on the Colonial Parkway Murders, A Special Kind of Evil.  We got to know many of the family members personally. This case is a part of us now. 

In a news conference yesterday it was announced that Alan Wade Wilmer, Sr., now deceased was linked via DNA evidence to the murders of Robin and David, along with the murder of Teresa Lynn Spaw Howell.

I’m glad that these families got the answer as to who was responsible. I wish he wasn’t dead so that we could have learned more about his motives and what happened.

What was shocking for us was we knew about Alan Wade Wilmer already, as did readers of the book. He had been the FBI’s prime suspect in the murders of Cassandra Hailey and Keith Call.

Needless to say we are getting swamped with messages and inquires asking if this guy was on our radar. Yes, along with a half dozen others. A chill went up my spine when I saw the image of his truck license plate. I remember sitting with Irv Wells, the FBI SAIC in charge of the Call/Hailey case. He told me that he remembered the license plate as Eat Em Raw or Em-Raw.  When we wrote the book, I changed it EAT THEM with a footnote indicating that I had changed it. At the time, I didn’t want wannabe true crime sleuths tracking down this person, who, at the time of the writing, had been cleared by the FBI.  That footnote exists both in the print and ebook versions.

When I saw the press conference with that picture I realized that the FBI not only was aware of this person, but had cleared him.

Our writing of the book was the first time that this part of the puzzle had been made public. While I encourage you to pick up the book and read the whole story regarding Wilmer.  It starts on page 204 of the print edition of , A Special Kind of Evil.  At the request of my publisher, I am paraphrasing below about the events. There is more available in the book.

With the disappearance of Keith Call and Cassandra Hailey, April 10, 1988, the FBI became involved with the case, rather haphazardly, because of mismanagement at the US Park Service with Call’s car. Irv Wells as the Special Agent in Charge, dusted off the profile the Behavioral Science Unit from the Dowski-Thomas case, the first victims found on the Colonial Parkway. 

That profile indicated they should be looking for a waterman, a local fisherman. They looked into peeping Tom cases on the Parkway.  One stood out. This man, who we now know as Wilmer, was “more aggressive,” confronting couples on the Parkway. In one instance, a couple was making out and the young man had long hair. He banged on the window asking, “Are you girls having fun?” When he saw one was a male, he backed off.

They had a description of his blue truck, complete with oversized tires, rifle rack, and the distinctive EM-RAW license plate.  The FBI spotted him then tracked him down and did drive-by undercover surveillance. This was four days after Keith and Cassandra went missing.  He was seen spray painting the bed of his truck, vacuuming the inside. The FBI feared that he was destroying potential evidence and got a warrant. 

They searched the trailer he lived in and found weapons, handcuffs, and pornography. What they didn’t find was anything that tied him directly to Keith and Cassandra’s disappearance.

“They got everything. We got his vacuum cleaner, and they did a search of his truck, and they found a gun, handcuffs, and I can’t remember what else. He even admitted being at the next cut off around the right time. So he was seen by somebody else that night,” Joe Wolfinger  of the FBI confirmed.

While they had someone that fit their profile, how had questionable stuff in his possession.  Joe Wolfinger told me that they brought in their best polygrapher.  Here’s the shocker, Wilmer passed, with flying colors.

Irv Wells felt the same frustration. “So these guys really did look hot. We brought in a polygrapher, one of the best the bureau had. Anyway, Barry-something was his name. He was sort of known as the bureau’s ‘polygrapher extraordinaire.’ And he was responsible for polygraphing the John Walker case. And he said, ‘These guys didn’t do it.’

“We said, ‘You better fucking be right.’ And we walked away from him. I have always wondered … to defeat a polygraph you have to be more sophisticated than—oh, and they were watermen! That was a big thing—they were watermen! “He said, ‘They didn’t do it and didn’t know about it.’

So the FBI had their man, for the pair of murders that followed Ragged Island (Knobling/Edwards). They didn’t know it, and Wilmer slipped out of their grasp – until this week.

Obviously, I encourage you to pick up  A Special Kind of Eviland read the pages about Wilmer with a new set of eyes. In the meantime, I think we are at the beginning of the end when it comes to these crimes. We have a name and a face. If you have any information about this person, please contact the FBI tip line. 

One pair of crimes down – three to go.