Police have added the 1988 murder of a Gloucester County teen to a list of victims by a serial killer, who last year, was linked to three additional deaths in Virginia.
Laurie Ann Powell, 18, was found dead three weeks after she went missing around midnight on March 8. 1988, while walking on Route 614 toward Route 17 after a fight with her boyfriend.
Her body, found in the Elizabeth River near Craney Island, had several stab wounds including a fatal one to the back of her neck.
The suspect, Alan Wade Wilmer Sr., died in 2017 in Lancaster County. He was 63.
Virginia State Police said if he was alive, charges would have been filed in the Powell cold case.
The breakthrough in the case came after advancements in DNA technology identified Wilmer as the person responsible for her death.
Wilmer has been connected with three additional murders; he chose different methods to kill his victims but a sexual assault was the common denominator.
Wilmer was linked to the murder of David Knobling and Robin Edwards in Isle of Wight in 1987, known as the Colonial Parkway murders, and Teresa Lynn Spaw Howell in Hampton in 1989.
Knobling, 20, and Edwards, 14, were found shot to death on Sept. 23, 1987, along the shoreline of the Ragged Island Management and Refuge Area on the south bank of the James River. Edwards had been sexually assaulted, according to law enforcement. Their deaths were examined in a 2025 episode of “Homicide Hunter: American Detective.”
Howell, 29, was found dead near a construction site near the Zodiac Club. Howell had been sexually assaulted and died from strangulation.
ICYMI
Due to evidence collected from the other two homicide cases, the Virginia Department of Forensic Science confirmed a genetic match to Wilmer. He had no felonies on his criminal record when he died. The attorney general’s office funded additional testing in the Powell case, which finally brought this active case to a close. The same initiative, the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, also paid for testing in the other two cases.
“It is unfathomable to lose a child, particularly in such a violent and senseless manner,” said Col. Matthew Hanley, superintendent of Virginia State Police. “While only the family truly understands the depth of their sorrow and frustration, we have grieved alongside them and hope that the identification of the killer brings them some sense of peace.”
Powell’s sister, Cindy Kirchner, said the tragedy changed her. She remembers her sister as a “firecracker.”
“I never thought my family would experience the tragedy of my sister being murdered. We were in shock. Out of all the people in my life, I never thought this would happen to her. But, for whatever reason, it had to be that way. I choose to believe she’s in a better place.
“My sister loved life and was living life to the fullest. She was young and figuring things out. She had so much potential; she was planning to be a cosmetologist, was in marching band and had the smarts without opening a book,” Kirchner said.
Investigators continue to piece together killing spree
Investigators believe it is possible that Wilmer committed additional murders and are asking anyone who knew him to come forward. Wilmer went by the nickname “Pokey” and drove a distinctive blue 1966 Dodge Fargo pickup truck with a Virginia license plate that read “EM-RAW.” He had a small commercial fishing boat named the “Denni Wade.”
For some time, he lived on the boat and worked as a commercial fisherman; he would dock at marinas in Gloucester and Middlesex counties. He also ran a business called Better Tree Service and was an avid hunter.
Anyone who may have worked with Wilmer or hunted with him, farmed oysters and clams with him, docked next to him at marinas in the Northern Neck, Hampton Roads or Middle Peninsula areas, or socialized with him is encouraged to contact the police at [email protected].
Video: Nov. 14 update on case
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Crystal Graham
