Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 29, 1990 TAG: 9007290084
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long
The killer has not struck this year, however, and police are nervous that the killer may yet add to the list of eight victims - three couples slain and one couple still missing.
In anticipation, the police and FBI have launched a campaign using some unusual methods to try to catch the killer and to warn the public.
Investigators are relying heavily on psychological guesswork. They say that there is a chance the killer masquerades as a policeman. And they have appealed to a mysterious comrade whom they believe may have been coerced to witness the crimes.
Also, with an eye to the success of true-crime television shows such as "America's Most Wanted," police here have produced four slick half-hour television broadcasts about the crimes.
"When this is over, there will have been a high profile on these crimes for eight weeks. That has got to have some impact on solving the cases," said Norfolk Police Cpl. Bob Haynes, who is producing the shows.
For Barbara and Richard Call, the shows are a chance to appeal for some word on what happened to their son, missing since he went on a date two years ago. Along with the families of all the other victims, they agreed to cooperate with police and were interviewed for the broadcasts.
"Deep down, we know we may never see Keith again. But we're saying to ourselves, `Keith, we're trying. We're still trying to find out,' " said Barbara Call, 49.
Keith Call, a 20-year-old college freshman, went to two parties on April 9, 1988, with 19-year-old Cassandra Hailey. They had met at school. It was their first date.
Early the next morning, Richard Call was driving to his job at a Williamsburg beer brewery when he saw his son's car parked on a pulloff of the Colonial Parkway. The car was empty, and the driver's door open. But it was a likely spot for couples to park, and "I never even thought about any foul play," Call said.
Five hours later, authorities began a futile search of the York River for the couple's bodies. The spot where Keith Call's car was found was just a few miles from the scene of an unsolved murder two years earlier, and the series of crimes has come to be known as the "Parkway Murders."
The Colonial Parkway is a broad, unlit boulevard that cuts through heavy forest from Yorktown to Williamsburg and Jamestown. Its wide pulloffs and shoulders are swallowed at night by the dark of tall trees, giving ample privacy.
In October 1986, the bodies of Cathleen Thomas, 27, and Rebecca Ann Dowski, 21, were found in Thomas' car, pushed over the embankment from one of those pulloffs.
Thomas, a 1981 graduate of the Naval Academy, had recently quit the Navy and become a stockbroker in Norfolk. She was last seen with Dowski at the College of William and Mary, where Dowski was a senior.
They were found in the back seat, their throats slit, with apparent rope marks about their necks. Some sort of oil-like fluid had been poured on their bodies.
The following year, the truck of David Knobling, 20, was found parked, with its doors open and the radio playing, at a wildlife refuge on the James River west of Norfolk. He had gone out that night with Robin Edwards, 14.
Their bodies washed up three days later. Each had been shot in the back of the head. Police theorize they may have been marched through the woods to a pier and executed.
Finally, in September 1989, 18-year-old Annamaria Phelps and 21-year-old Daniel Lauer left her house late at night headed for Virginia Beach. Their abandoned car was found at an isolated rest stop on Interstate 64 about 30 miles from the first murder.
Six weeks later, hunters found their bodies under a blanket in a nearby woods. Both had been stabbed.
Police had speculated about links among as many as 10 unsolved murders in the area. The Virginia State Police, FBI and local departments threw enormous manpower into the investigations. They have combed the parkway, its environs and checked out its frequent visitors.
They came up with "all kinds of nuts, voyeurs, and people baying at the moon," said one investigator. But no murderer.
Last week, however, they declared it probable that these four cases are the work of the same person, and the other murders on their list are not related.
Each of the four couples, investigators said, appears to have been commandeered by someone in authority.
"There was no sign of any struggle. These people were placed under control early on, and they became compliant," said Irvin Wells, special agent in charge of the Norfolk FBI office. "A possibility exits that someone may be out there impersonating a police officer. But we don't know that for sure."
Some police officers have been unhappy over such speculation, according to several officers. "There's a lot of people out there with uniforms: security guards, park rangers, anybody," noted Robert Jasinowski, head of the State Police investigation. "Or it could be somebody with a gun who gained control."
But police agencies last week warned the public to be cautious. The State Police said its officers are all uniformed or will quickly produce a badge. And they urged people to stay out of isolated lovers' lanes or parking spots.
"Don't be in a remote area where you have to wonder who this guy is who's coming up to your car," Wells said.
Investigators believe they know even more about the killer. Working with the FBI's National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crimes, they have put together a psychological profile based on evidence at the crime scenes.
"It's a guess, but it's an educated guess," said Larry McCann, a special State Police agent who worked with the FBI's center. "The way a crime is committed is a reflection of the individual who did it."
Investigators are keeping determinedly mum about the profile. They will say that they believe two men were present at the crimes, and that the main perpetrator has some influence over the other man.
"I don't want to classify him as an accomplice, a spouse, friend or relative," McCann said. "There's a possibility this second person could have been there not of their choice."
That theory prompted their unusual appeal last week to the "second person" to cut his ties with the killer and turn himself in. If not, he may be killed, too, McCann suggested.
"I don't think he's enjoying what's going on now. I don't know if he's unwilling, but however he got entangled with this individual, it's time to get out," McCann said. "We have almost said, `Read my lips.' Something is going on here, and it's time for this second person to get away."
The appeals will be repeated on the television broadcasts, which will be shown repeatedly on six cable channels and a Fox Network affiliate in the Norfolk area. A different half-hour program will be broadcast each week, each dealing with one of the "Parkway Murders."
The Norfolk police department already has experience in using television. The department for five years has produced "Crime Line Chronicles," featuring pictures of fugitives. More than 250 wanted people have been captured through the program, according to Officer Larry Hill.
That success led them to offer to expand the format for these serial murders, said Corporal Haynes.
"It's high-tech, but it's just an extension of the investigation," said Corporal Haynes. "I think you're going to see more police agencies trying to reach the public through television."
The Calls hope the technique will bring an end to the wondering about their son, even if it is the outcome they fear.
"A majority of the families at least have a grave to put flowers on," Call said. "We still don't have anything."
by CNB