Virginia Serial Killers
ColdCaseIndex documents 4 serial killers whose murders took place in Virginia, with first known killings from 1974 to 1988. 4 of them were caught; 1 linked case file document their victims. The earliest series is Paul John Knowles (1974) and the most recent is Alfredo Prieto (1988). Profiles are added in order of public interest, so this page is not a complete census of the state.
All 4 profiles
Paul John Knowles
The Casanova Killer
Killed. Paul John Knowles, the Casanova Killer, was linked to at least 18 killings across several states in 1974 after escaping a Jacksonville jail.
Alan Wade Wilmer Sr.
Colonial Parkway Killer
Suspected, never charged. Fisherman Alan Wade Wilmer Sr., who died in 2017, has been named by the FBI and Virginia State Police as responsible for six of the eight Colonial Parkway victims of 1986 to 1989, plus a 1989 Hampton…
Timothy Wilson Spencer
The Southside Strangler
Executed in Virginia in 1994. Timothy Spencer, the Southside Strangler, was convicted by juries of raping and strangling four women in Richmond and Arlington in fall 1987, the first U.S. murder convictions won on DNA evidence.
Alfredo Prieto
Alfredo Rolando Prieto
Executed. Alfredo Prieto was sentenced to death in California for the 1990 murder of a 15-year-old girl and in Virginia for the 1988 killings of two George Washington University students in Reston.
At a glance
| Name | Alias | State | Active | Convicted | Confessed | Suspected | Legal status | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul John Knowles | The Casanova Killer | Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Nevada, Texas, Connecticut, Virginia | 1974 | — | — | 18 to 35 | Died before trial | Killed |
| Alan Wade Wilmer Sr. | Colonial Parkway Killer | Virginia | 1986 to 1989 | — | — | 7 | Suspected, never charged | Died (other) |
| Timothy Wilson Spencer | The Southside Strangler | Virginia | 1987 | 4 | — | 5 (investigators also attributed the 1984 Arlington murder of Carolyn Hamm to him; he was never charged with it) | Convicted | Executed |
| Alfredo Prieto | Alfredo Rolando Prieto | Virginia, California | 1988 to 1990 | 3 | — | 9 | Convicted | Executed |
Serial murder case files from Virginia
Victim-centred case pages from the cold case index, with their own timelines and sources.
Sofia Silva, Kristin Lisk & Kati Lisk
Sofia Silva, 16, vanished from the front steps of her Spotsylvania County, Virginia home on September 9, 1996, and sisters Kristin, 15, and Kati Lisk, 12, were taken from their front yard on May 1, 1997. All three were found dead.
Colonial Parkway Murders
Eight young people were killed or disappeared in four incidents along or near Virginia's Colonial Parkway between 1986 and 1989.