Along the way, as he notes in his pamphlet Predators on the Parkway: A Former Homicide Detective Explores the Colonial Parkway Murders, he came to the conclusion that the murders weren't the work of a serial killer. -from DEATH BY TALONS by Tiddy Smith On December 9, 2001, Kathleen [Read More], On Christmas Night 1996, six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was murdered in her family's home in Boulder, Colorado. Joyce Call's brother was one of the victims. Everybody loves the scenic views of a beautiful road. The grim finale came just five months later. Analysis of the Colonial Parkway Murders An analysis of any crime spree has one major purpose, of course. For two decades, the crime-scene pictures have been secret, critical evidence in the hunt for a serial murderer. Join Mind Over Murder co-hosts Bill Thomas and Kristin Dilley as we discuss the mystery of the late Fred Atwell in the Colonial Parkway Murders. Please subscribe to keep reading. -William [Read More], In early 2022, life in the port city of Mariupol, Ukraine was safe and predictable for Adoriana Marik. FBI photograph of Cathys car, barely visible having been pushed off the embankment. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, 41, and Brandy Washington tied the knot last week, a year after the couple got engaged. 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. Cathy Thomas and Rebecca Dowski To change his mind, Atwell's friend told him he had crime-scene photos from the Parkway Murders. "We want to make sure that our victims' families are not hurt by any of the information that is being put out there," she said. Rebeccas body was found in the backseat of the car, while Cathys was found stuffed into the hatchback. Dogs followed scents, nets dragged the York River and . I am Bill Thomas, brother of Cathleen Thomas, one of the first two victims in the Colonial Parkway Murders case, who died in Williamsburg, Virginia on October 12, 1986. This book has been very informative and I learned things that were not covered by the documentary. Authorities suspect that the perpetrator planned to burn the car and its contents to cover their tracks, but for whatever reason never did. The murderer in the Colonial Parkway killings was never captured, and Steve Spingola, a private detective, believes he knows why. "They told me there was no crime. Do you feel like you've seen and heard about every true crime case on tv and in books? On September 5, 1989, Annamarie Phelps and Daniel Lauer were driving to Virginia Beach when they disappeared. Ditmars, Lawrence Davis has updated and revisded DESTRUCTION OF JUSTICE: Book Two In The Monsters And Men Trilogy, Robert Dodge Combines Biographies of a Norwegian Family and Immigrant Experience from the Mid-19th Century through WWII in FIELDS OF FORTUNE, Anne K. Howard at Quinnipiac University Conference for Ukraine, Author Tiddy Smith On Jurassic Park and The Boys from Brazil, Scholar and DEATH BY TALONS Author Tiddy Smith Answers Who Is Larry Pollard?, Gallery From Lou Smits Investigation | LOU AND JONBENT: A Legendary Lawmans Quest To Solve A Child Beauty Queens Murder by John Wesley Anderson, Sylvester Stallone Calls Making HUNTER Unfinished Business and IMDb Lists Filming as in Pre-Production. Their removal was part of the control that the murderer(s) exerted on the victims. You have permission to edit this article. It was encased in plastic garbage bags. Another couple's remains were too decomposed to find the cause of death, but they were believed to have been stabbed multiple times, as Historic Mysteries details. Cassandra Lee Hailey and Richard Keith Call were two students at Christopher Newport University who had just gone on their first date together in the University Square neighborhood of nearby Newport News. Keith Call's car. CallLess's wallet and Hailey's purse were found inside the car along with most of their clothing. Thomas was a navy veteran turned stockbroker. Its isolation and lack of patrols by the NPS made it a perfect place for murder or to dispose of a vehicle/bodies. There's less of a chance that a single victim will get away or fight back. Strictly by chance, Bill Thomas (me) discovers the stories in a Google search a few weeks later . Your email address will not be published. There was no sign of sexual assault, and the womens purses were still in the car, with all their money still inside. April 8, 1988: Keith Call, 20, left, left his family's house in Gloucester County to pick up his date, Cassandra Hailey. Fred Atwell, a friend of the Call family and a former deputy sheriff in Gloucester County, said he learned that the photographs had been leaked in November 2008 and reported it to the FBI and Virginia State Police. Autopsies performed on the bodies found that both women had been bound and strangled before their deaths, and afterward, the car and the bodies had been soaked in diesel fuel. Home . . Less than a year later another young couple went missing. As of now, the killer (or killers) remains at large. The Colonial Parkway Murders The Colonial Parkway is a historic and scenic road that links together the three points of Virginia's Historic Triangle: Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown. Just like the other three cases, the case eventually went cold, and the killer was never brought to justice. Are you sick of watching and reading about the same killers and crimes? The vehicle should have been in the east bound rest area, but was found in the west bound area where the killer(s) had left it. Regardless, the murders shook the state and instilled an insidious fear during the decade when each killing cropped up within a few years of the others. Lindestrom was something of a novelty in 1932 Stockholm. Knobling had taken Edwards out with his younger brother and cousin that day. . "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.". Atwell says he couldn't get a return call, until NewsChannel 3 got involved. Further, not all experts believe these final victims were connected to others, due to timing and other factors. Former NFL star Chad Johnson says he saved money by living inside Cincinnati Bengals stadium for 2 years. Between 1986 and 1989 though, a crime spree took place that left three pairs of . The two women in the car were identified as Cathleen "Cathy" Thomas, a 27 . The club opened in 1982, eventually fostering the Manchester acid house and rave scene in the late 1980s. One long night turned into four long years for [More], Coming March 28, 2023 About the Book In the spring of 1853, a family of eight drove their wagon to the wharf in Bergen, Norway. Lauer's gold 1972 Chevrolet Nova was found abandonedat the I-64 New Kent rest stop in New Kent County. "These were human beings. Was this a breadcrumb she had dropped, was it cut off during her struggle, or was it some sort of symbol that the killer left behind for investigators? This scandal is why I became so much more involved in my sister Cathy's case and the Colonial Parkway Murders in general. You saw Dr. Pettler in the four part true crime TV series, "Lovers Lane Murders" on the Oxygen Network. The FBI has effectively reopened the case as a result of losing control of graphic crime scene photographs of the Colonial Park Murders. He could work magic on a safe that would have sent Mandrake the Magician [More], On an unseasonably warm April evening in 2001, the headless body of a tiny girl was found discarded in a makeshift dump site in the woods on the southeast side of Kansas City, Missouri. on the unsolved Colonial Parkway Murders. Crime-scene photos from Parkway murders in public domain. The Colonial Parkway Murders were a series of homicides that occurred between October 1986 and September 1989. They didn't make it. The police attribute these eight murders to the same killer because of similarities in each case. Crime scene photos were leaked from these cases. It was their first date. From about October 1986 to September 1989, 8 people are presumed to have been murdered near Colonial Parkway in Eastern Virginia. Since October 1986, 10 On Your Side has covered what are now known as the "Colonial Parkway murders." There were four double homicides. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Sign up for The Lineup's newsletter to get terrifying recommendations delivered straight to your inbox. Some of the families know about the photos. Posted on February 27, 2023 by laguardia airport food terminal c . Other than that, it seems the victims didn't have much in common at all. A typically tranquil area, no one expected the Parkway to be the setting for a gruesome string of murders. Hanlon says he can't speculate how the leaked evidence might affect a prosecution because there's never been anyone to prosecute. Oxygen's two-night true-crime special Lovers' Lane Murders focuses on the slaying of eight men and women at the Colonial Parkway in Virginia The double homicides took play over a four-year. "Incredibly intrusive. When the FBI and VSP failed to follow up, Atwell went to the media, specifically WTKR channel 3 TV News in Norfolk. Despite theories that the crimes may not be connected, many still believe that the Colonial Parkway murders were the work of a serial killer. Records show 31 crimes from 2017-2021, including four aggravated assaults and three rapes. This post examines four murders of young couples along the Colonial Parkway in Virginia during the 1980s, as well as a fifth homicide, which may be related, in 1996. When he was asked about the use of the photographs, Hanlon told the station, "We looked into it. I very much and highly recommend this book. FBI photograph of the smashed back window of Cathy Thomass Honda Civic. The Colonial Parkway is a scenic highway in Virginia that runs through historic areas like Yorktown, Williamsburg, and Jamestown. None of these murders have been solved, and the photographs are out in the public. Do you hate foreplay? They detail where the knives slashed and the bullets struck. They were reported missing on April 10, 1988, and Calls red Toyota Celica was found at the York River Overlook along the Colonial Parkway on April 11. FBI starts to respond to media . None of the victims were robbed, and sexual assault did not appear to be a motive in any of the cases. For more than 20 years, the Colonial Parkway Serial Killer has kept his secrets. See bottom of post for update. These crime scene photographs show the area where the remains of David Knobling and Robin Edwards were found three days after their disappearance. Required fields are marked *. They were brothers, sisters, sons, daughters,' says Joyce Call. A crime blog referencing unsolved criminal cases. The First Murders. "Well, we looked into it. Contact Frank Green at (804) 649-6340 or fgreen@timesdispatch.com. Atlanta lists 13 code complaints over that same period. He had a young pregnant girlfriend and was just starting a new career. 'As a forensic criminologist, we take everything we know and we reconstruct the scene, each piece of evidence, breaking it apart, analyzing everyone individually, and then reassembling them into the mosaic that is the crime,' Pettler explains. According to the Daily Mail, the District Attorney publicized the gruesome photos a week after they were presented to a jury. As it appears today from the road, this is the lonely trail leading back into the woods where the victims had been taken and killed. Queen Letizia of Spain is polished in a recycled Reiss skirt as she joins King Felipe VI at Behind-the-scenes at fashion week with the Spencers! Some of his victims he held captive for days, [Read More], Get a closer look at the photos from Blaine Pardoe and Victoria Hester's new true crime TANTAMOUNT [Read More], For four years a killer, or killers, stalked Virginias Tidewater region, carefully selecting victims, sending waves of terror into the local community. Keith was programming on leading edge home computing technology for the 1988. She had been strangled with a [Read More], Punch Stanimirovic insists: "My father, known as Mr. Stan, is the greatest gentleman thief who ever lived-a true genius." The cause of death remains unknown, though forensics suggested that Phelps may have been stabbed. Searching for chills? Robins pants were partially rolled down, but police were unsure if there had been sexual assault since it was presumed that Robin and David had had some sort of sexual relationship. Atwell says a friend of his, a security-company owner, asked him last year to teach a class about the killings. FBI photograph of David Knoblings truck. In the center of the image is Danny Plott, standing next to Dr. Marcella Fierro of the Virginia State Medical Examiners office. From 1986 to 1989, four couples were either shot or slashed on the Parkway or and in other secluded spots. And they show exactly how the unknown killer left the bodies. 10 The Crime Scene. But that isn't the case for this killer. Last month, television station WTKR in Norfolk first reported the photographs were being used publicly as the 23rd anniversary of the first slayings, in October 1986, approached. The view north on the Colonial Parkway as it appears today, looking north from the pull-off where Cathy Thomas and Becky Thomas were discovered. They were found dead with their throats cut in a way that was just inches of flesh away from full decapitation. Published: 17:47 GMT, 11 February 2021 | Updated: 19:53 GMT, 11 February 2021. Sure, you know all about Ted Bundy, The Zodiac Killer, and The Golden State Killer. Their 20-year-old brother, Keith, vanished from a Colonial Parkway overlook in April 1988 while on a first date with Cassandra Hailey. The Colonial Parkway is beautiful. No motive for the killings was ever established. There has been no word on the fate of the couple. On that date, Stockholm police discovered the corpse of 32-year-old prostitute Lilly Lindestrom. The place is a sightseeing extravaganza brimming with historical points, scenic pull-offs, markers . Over the years, police have questioned 150 suspects in connection to these four cases, but all have been cleared. It's been over 30 years, and they're still missing without much of a trace. So much time has passed the families have just about given up hope for any resolution. Atwell agreed to take a look - and he made copies. After he dropped her off that night, she snuck out to meet him. At daybreak, a ranger discovered Call's Toyota Celica parked at an overlook along the Colonial Parkway. Clue? 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. It's difficult to imagine something as gruesome and shocking as a string of murders occurring on this seemingly safe road but that's exactly what happened decades ago. . The couple had been missing since the evening of October 9th after they had been seen leaving a computer lab. The first pair of victims, Cathy Thomas and Rebecca Dowski, were a romantic couple who were last seen alive going out to dinner in 1986, as Oxygen points out. Richard Keith Call Keith to his friends and family. According to the Daily Press, Spingola was hired by Annamaria Phelps' family to look into the girl's murder. The murders had not happened on the Colonial Parkway, but police linked the cases due to the fact that both sets of victims were couples who had been killed at or around lovers lane areas, and the two locations were only about a 30-minute drive apart. 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