WILLIAMSBURG — As part of our countdown to 2025, WYDaily is revisiting its most-read and favorite stories of the year.
Coming in at No. 9 was the announcement that police officials had made a “significant breakthrough” in identifying the suspect responsible in three cold case homicides that occurred in the late 1980s, including two connected to the Colonial Parkway Murders.
The City of Hampton Police Division, City of Hampton Commonwealth’s Attorney, Isle of Wight County Commonwealth’s Attorney, Virginia State Police and FBI Norfolk Field Office announced on Jan. 8 that DNA evidence confirmed that now deceased Northern Neck resident Alan W. Wilmer Sr. was the suspect responsible for the 1987 Isle of Wight County murders of David L. Knobling, 20, and Robin M. Edwards, 14.
The murders of Knobling and Edwards, who were found shot to death on Sept. 23, 1987 along the shoreline of the Ragged Island Wildlife Management and Refuge Area on the south bank of the James River in Isle of Wight County, over time became known as part of the four separate double homicides spanning 1986 through 1989 known as the “Colonial Parkway Murders.”
Read the original story: DNA IDs Suspect in Three 1980s Homicides, Including a ‘Colonial Parkway Murders’ Cold Case
