FBI identifies convicted serial rapist as suspect in cold-case national park double murder

A deceased convicted serial rapist from Ohio has been identified as the suspect responsible for the murders of two women in Shenandoah National Park nearly 30 years ago, a case that has confounded investigators. 

DNA evidence that was recently retested linked Walter Leo Jackson Sr., of Cleveland, Ohio, to the killings of 24-year-old Julianne "Julie" Williams and 26-year-old Laura "Lollie" Winans, the FBI said Thursday. 

"After 28 years, we are now able to say who committed the brutal murders of Lollie Winans and Julie Williams in Shenandoah National Park," U.S. Attorney Christopher Kavanaugh said. 

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Julie Williams and Lollie Winans pictured before they were killed while camping in Shenandoah National Park 28 years ago. (FBI)

Both women, who were a couple, were killed on May 24, 1996, at their Virginia campsite near the Skyland Resort. Family members called the National Park Service when the women didn't return home. 

The pair began hiking in Shenandoah National Park on May 19. They were due to return to their summer jobs in Vermont on May 28. But no one had heard from them, according to media reports at the time. 

Their bodies were found on June 1, 1996, during a search by park rangers. They had been bound, and their throats had been slashed.

"Their murder sparked shock and fear throughout the community and nation," said FBI Special Agent in Charge Stanley Meador. "We now know who is responsible for this heinous crime."

Jackson died in a prison in Cuyahoga County, Ohio in March 2018. His criminal history includes kidnapping, rapes and assaults, the FBI said. He was forensically linked to two rapes that occurred in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, in June and July 1996, just weeks after Winans and Williams were killed, Kavanaugh said.

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An image is displayed during a news conference concerning the 1996 murders of Laura "Lollie" Winans and Julianne "Julie" Williams at a campsite in Shenandoah National Park, Thursday Jun. 20, 2024, in Richmond, Virginia. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) (FBI)

Jackson was a painter by trade and was an "avid" hiker who was known to visit Shenandoah National Park.

In 2004, another man, Darrell D. Rice, was indicted for the killings but the charges were dropped just before his trial after his DNA failed to link him to the crime. The Virginia FBI took a new look at the case in 2021, Meador said. 

With funding from the Department of Justice's sexual-assault-kit initiative, investigators combed through everything in the case file, re-examining evidence, photos and interviews. Considering advancements in DNA technology, the team spent "countless hours" determining what pieces of evidence could be retested, Meador said.

A lab pulled DNA from the evidence and submitted the result to the federal DNA index system, the FBI said. They found a positive match to Jackson, whose DNA was on file in Cuyahoga County. Additionally, investigators compared evidence from the murders directly to a buccal swab containing Jackson’s DNA.

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Stanley Meador, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Richmond Field Office, gestures during a news conference concerning the 1996 murders of Laura "Lollie" Winans and Julianne "Julie" Williams at a campsite in the Shenandoah national park, Thursday, June 20, 2024, in Richmond, Virginia. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

"Those results confirmed we had the right man and finally could tell the victim’s families we know who is responsible for this heinous crime," Meador said. 

"There was a one-out-of-2.6-trillion chance that it originated from someone other than Walter Leo Jackson," Kavanaugh said. "I've prosecuted many homicides and cold cases, and I have never witnessed statistics that high."

Federal investigators said Jackson was likely driving a 1984 Chestnut Brown AMC Eagle 30 at the time of the murders, though he was known to use temporary tags, alter license plates and frequently change vehicles.

An image is displayed during a news conference concerning the 1996 murders of Laura "Lollie" Winans and Julianne "Julie" Williams at a campsite in Shenandoah National Park, Thursday Jun. 20, 2024, in Richmond, Virginia. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

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The FBI is working to determine whether Jackson was responsible for other unsolved crimes.