Â鶹APP

The Colonial Parkway Murders: 10 Little-Known Facts About the Horrific Crime Spree

Between 1986 and 1989, eight people at least were murdered in South-East Virginia as part of the Colonial Parkway Murders. Each event involved the murder of a young couple who were inside a car.

The bodies of three pairs of victims were found, but one other couple is still missing and is believed to have been murdered. The four confirmed cases and a number of other homicides have also been tangentially connected.

Sadly, the main causes of death were stabbings, gunshots, and strangulations. In any of the incidents, there was no proof of a break-in or a sexual assault. The murderer removed the victims’ cars from the crime scenes. Circumstantial evidence links the four crimes together, yet no suspects have ever been named in the media.

1. Rebecca Ann Dowski and Cathleen Thomas Were Terrifyingly killed In Their Car

Image by from

On October 12, 1986, the first murder took place. The victims were two women in their 20s, Rebecca Ann Dowski and Cathleen Thomas. They were both strangled, and their throats had been slit so viciously that they were almost decapitated, when their bodies were found in Thomas’ car.

To make matters worse, diesel fuel had been poured all over their body and the vehicle, but it had not caught on fire. Although there were traces of a struggle, it was clear from the scene that they had not been able to do much to resist the offender.

The only important piece of information the police were able to get from the site was that neither Thomas nor Dowski’s purses were damaged, indicating that the murders were not the result of a failed robbery.

2. Execution-style Murders were Carried out on the Second Pair of Victims

The corpses of David Knobling, 20, and Robin Edwards, 14, were found on the south bank of the James River in Isle of Wight County, close to Smithfield, Virginia. They were discovered about a year after the killings of Cathleen and Rebecca.

In a totally different manner from the killings that came before, they were both executed by being shot in the back of the head. Three days before the victims’ discovery, Knobling’s vehicle was located.

His wallet was on the passenger seat, and the radio was still turned on. His keys were in the ignition. The fact that Knobling had a bullet in both his left shoulder and his head. This led detectives to conclude that he attempted to flee the murderer.

Read about the 15 Most famous murders in the United States

3. The Bodies of the Third Set of Victims Were Never Recovered

Several months after the murder of Knobling and Edwards, the Colonial Parkway Killer committed his third series of murders. On April 9, 1988, Hailey and Call, who were both Christopher Newport University students, just vanished after attending a party in Newport News.

Following their abduction, Call’s red 1982 Toyota Celica and some clothing were discovered at the York River Overlook. The remains of Call and Hailey were never found, and the two students are believed to be dead.

4. Two victims were Found by Hunters Wrapped in an Electric Blanket

Image by from

Daniel Lauer and Annamarie Phelps vanished while traveling to Virginia Beach on September 5, 1989. Phelps and Lauer’s whereabouts were unknown for more than a month. It appeared that they may join Hailey and Call in the missing list.

Between Williamsburg and Richmond, along Interstate 64, two bodies were found on a logging road on October 19 by hunters. They were approximately a mile from the rest stop where the automobile had been found.

They had an electric blanket covering them that had been removed from Lauer’s car. In addition, Annamarie Phelps seemed to have been stabbed to death. It was hard to tell what, if anything, had happened to both bodies at that point because they had become little more than skeletons due to severe decomposition.

5. The victims’ Properties were Never Stolen

The fact that none of the victims’ vehicles, wallets, or other belongings were stolen was a strange theme running through this tragic story. Additionally, none of the victims ever showed any signs of having been the victims of rape or other sexual assault, despite the fact that one case’s rape kits were accidentally destroyed.

6. The Police Botched their own Investigations

Image by from

A significant amount of the evidence in each of the CPK cases was either unintentionally tampered with or completely lost. The first park rangers on the scene collected everything in the car before recognizing they had completely ruined a murder scene. After ruining the murder scene they started looking into the disappearance of Keith Call and Cassandra Hailey. The rangers attempted to place the artifacts exactly where they had been found, which only made matters worse.

Moreover, the York-Poquoson County Sheriff’s Department received rape kits for Thomas and Dowski from the FBI in 1994, along with instructions to dispose of them as medical waste.

7. Leak of Murder Scene Images to the Public

It was discovered in 2009 that a sizable collection of crime scene images from the Hailey-Call killings had started to spread among the populace. The FBI did revisit the case as a result of this disclosure, despite their initial lack of interest.

Read about the 10 Most famous murders in History

8. The Families of the Victims Sought for Their Own Answers 20 Years Later

The case(s) went unsolved for two decades as a result of the police’s interference with their own investigation into the string of double murders. But in 2010, homicide detective Steve Spingola, who had previously worked for the Milwaukee Police Department, was hired by the victims’ families to launch a new investigation into their loved ones’ murders.

In parallel with Spingola’s new investigation into the killings, the FBI was also looking into the case in an effort to finally uncover the answers that had escaped them for so long. Unfortunately, Spignola and the FBI didn’t reach the exact findings that the families of the victims were hoping for.

9. Investigators Came to the Conclusion that Various Killers were Responsible for the Murders

Detective Spingola came to the conclusion that various killers were probably responsible for the deaths. Additonally, the detective released a book about the investigation. The book was entitled Predators on the Parkway: A Former Homicide Detective Explores the Colonial Parkway Murders.

In the book, Spignola draws parallels between the killings of Lollie Winans and Julie Williams with the murders of Thomas-Dowski. The two campers were discovered bound and with their throats cut in a manner reminiscent of the initial homicides in the Colonial Parkway case, and the Thomas-Dowski murders.

10. The Frightening Theory From The FBI Regarding The Colonial Parkway Killer

The murders on Colonial Parkway remain unsolved. The FBI reopened the case and came to some pretty unsettling conclusions. The first is that the murderer or murderers might still be at large.

In the Jefferson National Forest in 2009, two Blacksburg College students were found shot to death close to their automobile; this crime’s pattern of conduct is uncannily similar to those of the Colonial Parkway killings. The FBI and Virginia State Police detectives have both concluded that the murderer is or was a member of the police department.

Read about the 10 Currently Recent and Active Serial Killers