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. U.S. Attorney Christopher Kavanaugh stated, “After 28 years, we are now able to say who committed the brutal murders of Lollie Winans and Julie Williams in Shenandoah National Park.”
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. Their bodies were found on June 1, 1996, during a search by park rangers. They had been bound, and their throats had been slashed. FBI Special Agent in Charge Stanley Meador expressed, “Their murder sparked shock and fear throughout the community and nation. We now know who is responsible for this heinous crime.”
Jackson, who died in a prison in Cuyahoga County, Ohio in March 2018, had a criminal history that included kidnapping, rapes, and assaults. 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, according to Kavanaugh. 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 reopened the case in 2021, re-examining evidence, photos, and interviews with advancements in DNA technology. A lab pulled DNA from the evidence and submitted the result to the federal DNA index system, finding a positive match to Jackson.
Federal investigators said Jackson was likely driving a 1984 Chestnut Brown AMC Eagle 30 at the time of the murders. The FBI is now working to determine whether Jackson was responsible for other unsolved crimes. The positive identification of Jackson as the suspect in this cold case brings closure to the families of the victims after nearly three decades of uncertainty and fear.