Dead Virginia fisherman named as suspect in 3 cold cases from the 1980s

HAMPTON, Va. (TCD) -- State and federal law enforcement officials identified a deceased fisherman as the suspect in three cold cases from 35 years ago.

On Monday, Jan. 8, the Virginia State Police announced a "significant breakthrough" in the unsolved killings of 20-year-old David Knobling, 14-year-old Robin Edwards, and 29-year-old Teresa Spaw Howell by naming Alan Wilmer Sr. as their suspected killer. Wilmer, however, died in December 2017 at the age of 63.

Corinne Geller with the Virginia State Police said in a news conference Knobling and Edwards were last seen alive Sept. 19, 1987. Knobling’s truck was found the next day in the parking lot of the Ragged Islands Wildlife Management Area, and their bodies were discovered washed up along the shoreline on Sept. 23, 1987.

Knobling and Edwards were fatally shot, and Edwards had also been sexually assaulted.

Two years later, on July 1, 1989, construction workers in Hampton found a woman’s body in a wooded area near a popular bar called the Zodiac Club. Howell was reported missing on July 4, 1989, and she was later identified as the victim discovered in the woods. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled.

Edwards and Knobling’s deaths occurred around the same time as a series of killings in the area known as the "Colonial Parkway Murders." Geller said although there are "similarities" between the Colonial Parkway killings and Edwards and Knobling’s slayings that "cannot be ignored at this time," there "is no forensic or physical evidence to link the Isle of Wight County homicides to those other double murders."

The Colonial Parkway Murders remain under active investigation.

Virginia State Police said in a statement Wilmer’s DNA was found at both crime scenes, but he was difficult to identify because he did not have a criminal background, which meant his DNA was not in any database or system.

Wilmer owned a small commercial fishing boat named the "Denni Wade" and worked in the 1980s as a fisherman for oysters and clams. Virginia State Police said Wilmer also ran a tree service and was an "avid hunter."

Virginia State Police said Wilmer would be charged with all three killings if he were still alive.

MORE:

• DNA Evidence Identifies Former Northern Neck Man as Suspect in 1980s Cold Cases in City of Hampton & Isle of Wight County - Virginia State Police
• Press Conference - Virginia State Police