1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:04,480 Speaker 1: This story contains adult content and language, along with references 2 00:00:04,519 --> 00:00:14,760 Speaker 1: to sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised. I don't understand 3 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:17,560 Speaker 1: how one investigator has this much control. 4 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:21,480 Speaker 2: The FBI has this huge backlog of forensic work that 5 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:24,439 Speaker 2: has never been done, DNA that's never been analyzed, The 6 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:28,120 Speaker 2: victims and the victims' families have absolutely no sense of closure. 7 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 2: And I think Lolly and Julie's case is a really 8 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:33,840 Speaker 2: sort of vibrant case to illustrate this point. 9 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:42,280 Speaker 1: I'm Kate Winkler Dawson, a nonfiction author and journalism professor 10 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:45,080 Speaker 1: in Austin, Texas. I'm also the host of the historical 11 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 1: true crime podcast tenfold More Wicked on Exactly Right. I've 12 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:51,720 Speaker 1: traveled around the world interviewing people for the show. I've 13 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:54,360 Speaker 1: interviewed some people in person and some from my home 14 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: studio over zoom, and they are all excellent writers. They've 15 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:01,240 Speaker 1: had so many great true crime stories, and now we 16 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 1: want to tell you those stories with details that have 17 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:08,399 Speaker 1: never been published. Tenfold More Wicked presents Wicked Words is 18 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:11,840 Speaker 1: about the choices that writers make, good and bad. It's 19 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:16,480 Speaker 1: a deep dive into the stories behind the stories. Author 20 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:20,560 Speaker 1: Katherine Miles is truly a dogged journalist. She wrote a 21 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:25,200 Speaker 1: book called Trailed, One Woman's Quest to Solve the Shenandoah murders. 22 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:28,679 Speaker 1: Catherine digsonto the case of a possible serial killer in 23 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: a national park more than two decades ago, but she 24 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:35,839 Speaker 1: has met with resistance from investigators, and a DNA test 25 00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 1: could solve a string of murders, So why aren't they 26 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:43,959 Speaker 1: doing something? So this is May of nineteen ninety six, right. 27 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:45,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, and it's starting to feel like a 28 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:48,960 Speaker 2: long time ago. I was a college senior in nineteen 29 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:51,800 Speaker 2: ninety six, and I remember that year really well, and 30 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 2: it was a year that I think that there was 31 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 2: a fair amount of kind of uncertainty that was happening 32 00:01:56,400 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 2: in America. This was the year of the Atlanta Olympic Box, 33 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:02,200 Speaker 2: means there was a lot that was happening I think 34 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 2: politically as well too. And it was also I think 35 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:08,760 Speaker 2: a really sort of defining era in terms of LGBTQ 36 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 2: issues and really starting to have those conversations on a 37 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:13,280 Speaker 2: national level. 38 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: So where does the story take place. 39 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 2: The murder of these two young women, Lollywinan's and Julie Williams, 40 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 2: is in Virginia, in Shenandoah, National Park. But for me, 41 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:24,679 Speaker 2: this story is a lot bigger than that. I really 42 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 2: wanted to foreground the story of Lolly and Julie and 43 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:30,600 Speaker 2: make sure that they were really sort of front and 44 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 2: center for the whole book as a whole, And so 45 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:36,560 Speaker 2: I actually began the story much earlier, telling the story 46 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:39,640 Speaker 2: of these two really extraordinary women both as individuals, and 47 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:41,600 Speaker 2: then how they sort of found each other and fell 48 00:02:41,639 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 2: in love as well. 49 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:44,640 Speaker 1: Well, let's hear it. Tell me how they met and 50 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:45,640 Speaker 1: who they were before that. 51 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:48,920 Speaker 2: Julie Williams was a young woman who grew up in 52 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:52,360 Speaker 2: Minnesota and was what her friends used to call a 53 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 2: one woman Peace Corps. She was fluent in Spanish, and 54 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:59,160 Speaker 2: beginning in high school, she would volunteer to interpret for 55 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:03,639 Speaker 2: women who were domestic assault survivors. She was a geologist 56 00:03:03,639 --> 00:03:06,640 Speaker 2: by training, and by the time she had graduated from college, 57 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:09,640 Speaker 2: had already done a ton of work, either missionary work 58 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 2: in Central and South America. She had been on archaeological 59 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:16,680 Speaker 2: digs throughout Europe. She had been doing geologic and water 60 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:20,960 Speaker 2: work on really remote native lands in northern Minnesota. So 61 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 2: it was just highly competent in the world and really skilled, 62 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:27,760 Speaker 2: and she had gone to an organization called Woodswomen, this 63 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:32,600 Speaker 2: really remarkable sort of women's centric outdoor organization, to take 64 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 2: a canoeing class and just fell so in love with 65 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 2: the organization that she came back then to take a 66 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 2: leadership class in May of nineteen ninety five, and it 67 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 2: was there that she met Lolli Winans, who was sort 68 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:47,680 Speaker 2: of the yin to her yang. Where Julie could be 69 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:50,840 Speaker 2: a little reserved, a little introverted, Lolli was this just 70 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:54,760 Speaker 2: larger than life figure who people just fell in love 71 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:57,360 Speaker 2: with wherever she was. She was a big, grateful, dead 72 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:00,680 Speaker 2: fan and you know, was always kind of at the 73 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 2: center of any party that she was at, usually with 74 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:07,000 Speaker 2: a corona in her hand, and was really funny and outgoing. 75 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:10,600 Speaker 2: And she was a student at Unity College and she 76 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 2: liked Julie was also a sexual assault survivor, and Lalie 77 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:18,280 Speaker 2: had really found her way in outdoor recreation programs, and 78 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:23,039 Speaker 2: she had committed to launching an outdoor program and a 79 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:27,080 Speaker 2: wilderness program for sexual assault survivors, a sort of therapeutic 80 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:29,839 Speaker 2: place where people could really kind of come to terms 81 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 2: and really find a new way back into their bodies. 82 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:37,159 Speaker 2: So she was doing an internship focused towards her graduation 83 00:04:37,279 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 2: so that she could do this, and by all accounts, 84 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:42,840 Speaker 2: it was love at first sight, bells and whistles and 85 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:46,000 Speaker 2: birds and everything else like that, and the two really 86 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:48,680 Speaker 2: just fell head over heels and love, and their colleagues 87 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:51,800 Speaker 2: and co workers really fell in love with them as 88 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 2: well too. At the end of that they had been 89 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:56,840 Speaker 2: in this very sort of safe kind of cocoon where 90 00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:00,760 Speaker 2: it felt okay really to be exploring the sexual relationship, 91 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 2: and at the end of that summer they had some 92 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 2: really hard choices ahead of them going into this social 93 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:08,040 Speaker 2: milieu that was really not at all welcoming to a 94 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:10,720 Speaker 2: lesbian couple. So they had sort of a tumultuous year 95 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 2: when Lolly was back in school, Julie had moved to 96 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:15,839 Speaker 2: Vermont to be close. But they had come out the 97 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,040 Speaker 2: end of that year really having committed to this very 98 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:23,120 Speaker 2: long term romantic relationship and had decided to take a 99 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 2: week to go to Shenandoah National Park to kind of 100 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:28,640 Speaker 2: be with each other and kind of re engage before 101 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:30,200 Speaker 2: they were going to be moving in together. 102 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:32,920 Speaker 1: Tell me a little bit more about why they felt 103 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:36,320 Speaker 1: so conflicted to be together at that time. Is this 104 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:38,680 Speaker 1: society or is it their families. 105 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:42,080 Speaker 2: I think it's just really where we were culturally in 106 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:44,640 Speaker 2: nineteen ninety six. You know, this was an era in 107 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:49,920 Speaker 2: which the Supreme Court had just confirmed that antisodomy laws 108 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:54,400 Speaker 2: were constitutionally legal. We have states like Colorado and Oregon 109 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:58,239 Speaker 2: passing or at least trying to pass these legislative acts 110 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:02,160 Speaker 2: that are sort of identifying home sexuality is potentially illegal 111 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:06,080 Speaker 2: and certainly immoral. This is three years before Matthew Shepherd 112 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:10,159 Speaker 2: is really brutally murdered. So it's just not really a 113 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 2: safe space for a lot of LGBTQ type folks to 114 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:16,920 Speaker 2: be there. And so I think certainly for these two 115 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:18,920 Speaker 2: young women who in a lot of ways were still 116 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:22,159 Speaker 2: exploring their sexuality and trying to decide to what degree 117 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:24,560 Speaker 2: they wanted their sexuality to be a part of their 118 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:27,480 Speaker 2: sort of outward and political identity, there was a lot 119 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:31,440 Speaker 2: at stake. There also was a real reckoning beginning in 120 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:34,000 Speaker 2: the eighties and still going on today with issues of 121 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 2: things like sexual harassment and sexual assault that were happening 122 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:40,960 Speaker 2: not just in these wilderness organizations but also within our 123 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:44,719 Speaker 2: national parks, often employee on employee, and so for a 124 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:49,000 Speaker 2: lot of people, especially people who identify as so called 125 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 2: subordinate social groups, whether that's because of gender, or sexuality, 126 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:55,479 Speaker 2: or race or anything else like that. These were not 127 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 2: organizations where people felt welcome. 128 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:02,000 Speaker 1: So switching over to the store, Wally and Julie decide 129 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: in May of nineteen ninety six that they want to 130 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:06,520 Speaker 1: go into the wilderness. So they go on a little 131 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:11,200 Speaker 1: hiking adventure in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. What's that 132 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:11,800 Speaker 1: park like. 133 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 2: It's a really interesting park because it's very close to Washington, 134 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 2: d C. It's a really easy drive, and so in 135 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:21,080 Speaker 2: that regard, it's sort of the opposite of remote. But 136 00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:23,840 Speaker 2: what's really interesting about the park is it's this long, 137 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:26,760 Speaker 2: narrow park that I sort of equate to the sort 138 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:28,560 Speaker 2: of shape of a lizard if you can kind of 139 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 2: picture that going down the Shenandoah Mountains. And it has 140 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:35,640 Speaker 2: one road that goes through this one road called Skyline Drive. 141 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:39,480 Speaker 2: So while that is very congested and hectic, especially during 142 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 2: the summer, if you get just off that road, it 143 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:47,440 Speaker 2: really does feel like utter and complete wilderness. And so 144 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 2: that can be really exciting for folks who want a 145 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:54,680 Speaker 2: true backcountry experience, but it also raises challenges for the 146 00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:57,680 Speaker 2: rangers in terms of patrolling, and as we're going to 147 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:01,040 Speaker 2: see really quickly in this particular story, for personal safety 148 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 2: as well. 149 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:05,280 Speaker 1: Before this happened in nineteen ninety six, was this considered 150 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:07,840 Speaker 1: a safe park for people to go to camp out in. 151 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:10,560 Speaker 2: Yes, and no, I mean I think that all of 152 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:14,400 Speaker 2: our national parks are comparatively safe when you compare them to, 153 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:17,480 Speaker 2: for instance, urban environments. But you know, a couple of 154 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:20,520 Speaker 2: things were happening here first because there is such ready 155 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:24,040 Speaker 2: access from Washington, d C. You do see this influx 156 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:26,480 Speaker 2: of folks, some of whom are looking to kind of 157 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:29,040 Speaker 2: hide under the radar a little bit. And by nineteen 158 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:32,520 Speaker 2: ninety six, our national parks were already in real crisis 159 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:36,200 Speaker 2: in terms of underfunding, a problem that really continues today. 160 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:39,520 Speaker 2: And so in the spring of nineteen ninety six, Shenandoah 161 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:44,320 Speaker 2: is understaffed in terms of its rangers. The rangers are 162 00:08:44,679 --> 00:08:48,760 Speaker 2: under equipped in terms of their gear. Their radios, for instance, 163 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:53,360 Speaker 2: famously don't work, and so the rangers can't even communicate 164 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:57,160 Speaker 2: amongst one another. They're undertrained, Their access to things like 165 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:00,000 Speaker 2: the sort of most up to date weaponry is all lacky, 166 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 2: and that so all of this kind of comes together 167 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:05,360 Speaker 2: to kind of create sort of a perfect storm of 168 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:10,120 Speaker 2: circumstances that would allow a serial murder to move without 169 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:11,400 Speaker 2: a trace within the park. 170 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:15,480 Speaker 1: As an aside, I didn't realize that park rangers carry weapons. 171 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:17,960 Speaker 2: There are two types of park rangers, and I don't 172 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:21,480 Speaker 2: know that I really realized this. Either there's interpretive rangers, 173 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:23,920 Speaker 2: who are the folks that are leading us on nature 174 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:26,680 Speaker 2: walks and things like that, and then law enforcement rangers 175 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:30,840 Speaker 2: who have all of the sort of legal rights and 176 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:34,400 Speaker 2: privileges of state police or FBI. And with our national 177 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 2: park system, there's this very sort of strange division of 178 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:41,840 Speaker 2: labor where the FBI and then these law enforcement rangers 179 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:46,280 Speaker 2: have joint purview. And so the idea is these two cultures, 180 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:50,360 Speaker 2: which are very very different and not really compatible, are 181 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:54,080 Speaker 2: supposed to come together and join forces to investigate crimes. 182 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:56,560 Speaker 2: And as I detail in the book, that creates some 183 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:00,600 Speaker 2: really I think unfortunate circumstances that make these is really 184 00:10:00,679 --> 00:10:01,360 Speaker 2: hard to solve. 185 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:04,960 Speaker 1: Well, let's start from their trip, can you take me through? 186 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:07,640 Speaker 1: They arrive, they check in, they pay their fee. What 187 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:08,560 Speaker 1: happens after that? 188 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 2: One thing that is both I guess good news for 189 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:14,960 Speaker 2: the telling of the story. But also I think really 190 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:18,199 Speaker 2: emotional for me is I was able to access their 191 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:20,800 Speaker 2: journals that they were writing during this, so we do 192 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:24,000 Speaker 2: actually have a really good sort of day to day 193 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:26,880 Speaker 2: account of how they were spending their time. They had 194 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:29,280 Speaker 2: sort of committed to this trip. They were both very 195 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:34,120 Speaker 2: experienced backcountry campers and hikers, and they could have been 196 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:36,559 Speaker 2: covering a lot of mileage every day if they had 197 00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:39,120 Speaker 2: wanted to, but they really just wanted this to be 198 00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 2: sort of a reconnection trip, and they really wanted to 199 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:45,520 Speaker 2: focus on their relationship. So they were taking it really slow, 200 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:48,520 Speaker 2: which is great. And so they were spending some time 201 00:10:48,559 --> 00:10:51,920 Speaker 2: on the Appalachian Trail which runs through there, and doing 202 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:54,320 Speaker 2: you know, just a lot of sort of camping really 203 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:58,640 Speaker 2: beautiful spots far removed from everyone else, and doing a 204 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:00,720 Speaker 2: lot of personal work, I think, doing a lot of 205 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:03,480 Speaker 2: relationship work, doing a lot of that kind of journaling. 206 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:06,640 Speaker 2: And so I think it really was a beautiful moment 207 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:09,960 Speaker 2: in their lives in a lot of ways. So at 208 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:13,280 Speaker 2: some point the two women decide to go down this 209 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:17,080 Speaker 2: very disused trail, and this is such a big question 210 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:20,440 Speaker 2: mark for me. It's never become clear how and why 211 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:22,920 Speaker 2: they even knew this trail existed, It wasn't even on 212 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:25,160 Speaker 2: all of the maps. But there's a trail called the 213 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:30,040 Speaker 2: Bridle Trail which leaves from a fairly well attended resort 214 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:33,880 Speaker 2: called Skyland. And at one time the Bridle Trail was 215 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:37,320 Speaker 2: literally where all these horseback riding events would take place. 216 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:40,080 Speaker 2: But that required people to cross this very busy road. 217 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:44,760 Speaker 2: So eventually the stables at Skyland relocated their horse trails 218 00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:47,080 Speaker 2: so that folks wouldn't have to cross the road, and 219 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:50,479 Speaker 2: at that point the Bridle Trail really fell into disuse. 220 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:54,720 Speaker 2: Even today, there's no sign marking the trail. I have 221 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:56,920 Speaker 2: been there countless times, and I still have to search 222 00:11:56,960 --> 00:11:59,960 Speaker 2: for it a little bit. Somehow they found this trail, 223 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:02,920 Speaker 2: and they descended about a third of the mile down 224 00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:06,680 Speaker 2: the trail, and then, like any good backcountry camper should, 225 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:10,440 Speaker 2: they then bushwhacked off the trail about two hundred yards 226 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:14,280 Speaker 2: and they found this very pristine location next to a stream. 227 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:17,880 Speaker 2: It's a perfect backcountry hidden site, and they set up 228 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:21,559 Speaker 2: their tents, they set up the backpack gear, water purifier, 229 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:24,079 Speaker 2: all of that sort of thing. We don't know how 230 00:12:24,559 --> 00:12:27,320 Speaker 2: the murderer found them. I speculate in the book that 231 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:29,440 Speaker 2: I think he must have followed them down the trail, 232 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:32,839 Speaker 2: because the tent was all but invisible from the trail, 233 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:36,120 Speaker 2: and in fact, once this search begins for the two women, 234 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:39,440 Speaker 2: rangers will repeatedly walk by this tent site and not 235 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:41,760 Speaker 2: even see their tent set up. It was that hidden. 236 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:46,160 Speaker 2: But at some point this person comes in very sophisticated crime, 237 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:50,480 Speaker 2: what forensic psychologists call an organized crime, as opposed to 238 00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:53,960 Speaker 2: the sort of disorganized crime of passion that tends to 239 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:57,000 Speaker 2: be very messy and leave a lot of evidence. 240 00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:00,720 Speaker 1: Like he didn't stumble on them, saw the opportunity, killed them, 241 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:03,120 Speaker 1: and then took off and left all these clues behind. 242 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:05,000 Speaker 1: This is someone who plotted to do something. 243 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:08,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's what's really really terrifying, right. This was 244 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:12,320 Speaker 2: a person who saw them, came prepared with a murder kit, 245 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:17,800 Speaker 2: tracked them through the wilderness, and then managed to subdue 246 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:23,000 Speaker 2: these two very strong, athletic, competent, confident women who also 247 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:25,840 Speaker 2: had a dog with them. He brought this murder kit 248 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:29,760 Speaker 2: that included duct tape. He bound and gagged them first 249 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:32,040 Speaker 2: with the duct tape, then with their own long underwear, 250 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:36,439 Speaker 2: sexually assaulted at least one of them, had them separated. 251 00:13:36,679 --> 00:13:39,800 Speaker 2: We think Julie was the primary target for him. Then 252 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:44,559 Speaker 2: very brutally and decisively murdered these two women and escaped 253 00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:49,680 Speaker 2: with almost not a trace, just one very decisive slice 254 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:50,640 Speaker 2: to both throats. 255 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:55,520 Speaker 1: Oh gosh, so efficient, which means I think we're going 256 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:57,800 Speaker 1: to get to this sounds like somebody who's done this before, 257 00:13:57,800 --> 00:13:59,199 Speaker 1: because he's plotted so well. 258 00:13:59,559 --> 00:14:01,640 Speaker 2: I do. I lay out a case in the book. 259 00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:03,600 Speaker 2: I wanted to try to be as objective as possible 260 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:06,080 Speaker 2: so that readers could come to their own conclusion, because 261 00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:09,240 Speaker 2: while the FBI believes they know who did this, this 262 00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:11,560 Speaker 2: is still an open case. And so one of the 263 00:14:11,559 --> 00:14:13,600 Speaker 2: things I try to do in the book is walk 264 00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:17,360 Speaker 2: through who the FBI thinks did it and why and 265 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:20,840 Speaker 2: that indictment, and then I also offer another suspect, which 266 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:22,800 Speaker 2: is who I think did it. And one of the 267 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:25,240 Speaker 2: things I really wanted readers to have the opportunity to 268 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:27,640 Speaker 2: do is to be able to go through and do 269 00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:30,240 Speaker 2: their own kind of investigation and come to their own 270 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:32,480 Speaker 2: conclusions about who they think did it as well. 271 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:37,480 Speaker 1: So they are killed, Is anything taken? Has he looted 272 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:39,040 Speaker 1: their belongings at all? 273 00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:41,360 Speaker 2: It's a little hard to tell because one of the 274 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:44,040 Speaker 2: things that I think is really interesting and important here 275 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:47,840 Speaker 2: is that wilderness crimes as a crime scene is just 276 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:51,840 Speaker 2: a completely sort of foreign and difficult concept, especially to 277 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:55,480 Speaker 2: the FBI. So even understanding where a crime scene in 278 00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:59,400 Speaker 2: the wilderness begins and ends, it's just not like a 279 00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:02,160 Speaker 2: bedroom in house, where you secure the premises and you 280 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:04,680 Speaker 2: can see what's been taken out of the drawers and 281 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:07,360 Speaker 2: look for fingerprints. None of that makes sense in the 282 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:11,040 Speaker 2: back country, so we can't know exactly what they had 283 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:14,920 Speaker 2: in their backpacks. It appears that it looks like this 284 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 2: person may have taken underwear from Julie, which is why 285 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:21,400 Speaker 2: I think the person who I name in the book 286 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:24,120 Speaker 2: is such a strong suspect. There's some other reasons as well, 287 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:27,800 Speaker 2: but certainly targeting them. Certainly there was a sexual component 288 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:30,440 Speaker 2: to it for sure, and then disappears. And again that's 289 00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:33,160 Speaker 2: one of the real challenges with these wilderness cases is 290 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:35,880 Speaker 2: sometimes it takes a really long time to figure out 291 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:38,280 Speaker 2: that someone is missing, and then even longer to figure 292 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:41,720 Speaker 2: out where they are. And so whereas if someone might 293 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:44,320 Speaker 2: be killed in their house, it might be just hours 294 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:48,120 Speaker 2: before the FBI or the state police or whomever is 295 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:51,440 Speaker 2: on the scene and able to collect evidence. In this case, 296 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:54,680 Speaker 2: it's days and maybe even a week before the authorities 297 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:55,280 Speaker 2: even arrive. 298 00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:59,520 Speaker 1: So my question is about communication. Right now, this happens 299 00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:01,840 Speaker 1: in nineties, and I got my first cell phone, I 300 00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:05,720 Speaker 1: think in fall of ninety four. Did they have cell phones? 301 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:07,720 Speaker 1: Certainly they wouldn't have worked out in the wilderness. 302 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:10,440 Speaker 2: At one point, Julie had sort of one of those 303 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:13,280 Speaker 2: do you remember those old timey like car phones that 304 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:15,040 Speaker 2: were sort of in a bag and it had like 305 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:17,280 Speaker 2: an antenna. At one point Julie had one of those. 306 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:21,120 Speaker 2: But certainly they didn't have cell phones on their person. 307 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:24,280 Speaker 2: And even today when I'm in Shenandoah, there are places 308 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:27,200 Speaker 2: in Shenandoah where I don't have cell reception, which I 309 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:30,440 Speaker 2: think is part of that kind of quasi remoteness that 310 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:30,880 Speaker 2: it has. 311 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:34,680 Speaker 1: Yeah, were they in contact, regular contact with their families 312 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:36,320 Speaker 1: when they went on these types of trips. 313 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:40,040 Speaker 2: That was part of the delay. So Lalli was largely 314 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:44,080 Speaker 2: estranged from her family. She was an incest survivor, and 315 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:48,120 Speaker 2: that had really I think rocked the family and her 316 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:51,440 Speaker 2: parents really struggled to deal with that. So Lali's family 317 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:54,800 Speaker 2: had become her circle of friends, most of whom were 318 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:58,480 Speaker 2: also very active in the back country and outdoor leadership 319 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:01,480 Speaker 2: type programs, so it was very usual for them to 320 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:04,879 Speaker 2: go weeks or even months without communicating because they were 321 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:07,760 Speaker 2: all off in the back country. Julie had a great 322 00:17:07,840 --> 00:17:11,159 Speaker 2: relationship with her family, and it was actually her father 323 00:17:11,320 --> 00:17:15,639 Speaker 2: who first notified the rangers. She was overdue, first to 324 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:17,960 Speaker 2: move out of her apartment and then later to begin 325 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:20,320 Speaker 2: a job that she was really excited about. And so 326 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:23,120 Speaker 2: when her roommate, who was really miffed because she wasn't 327 00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:25,760 Speaker 2: there to help move out of the apartment, he called 328 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:29,760 Speaker 2: Julie's parents and that evening. At first they were like, well, 329 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:32,800 Speaker 2: that's that's okay, this has happened before. Julie's just not 330 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:35,959 Speaker 2: near a phone. We'll hear from her soon. But there 331 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:38,399 Speaker 2: was something that just kind of stuck out and it 332 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:41,400 Speaker 2: didn't feel right to them, and so that night, which 333 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:44,200 Speaker 2: was a Thursday night, they thought, well, maybe we should 334 00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:48,240 Speaker 2: call authorities, but who is the authority here? Shenandoah spans 335 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:52,920 Speaker 2: something like five counties, so sheriffs don't quite work. They 336 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:57,200 Speaker 2: call the National Park headquarters and they get an answering 337 00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:00,160 Speaker 2: machine that says, you know, we're closed. Call back tomorrow morning, 338 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:02,720 Speaker 2: So there's another delay. When they finally get a hold 339 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:05,919 Speaker 2: of rangers on what is a Friday, rangers have to 340 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:08,119 Speaker 2: make a decision how big of a deal do we 341 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:10,560 Speaker 2: think this is? And then at first they don't because 342 00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:14,239 Speaker 2: they're really accustomed to folks who show up late or 343 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:16,840 Speaker 2: forgot to tell someone that they decided to stop by 344 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:19,119 Speaker 2: and see a friend or something like that. So the 345 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:23,840 Speaker 2: search begins really fairly casually, which is appropriate at that time, 346 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:26,399 Speaker 2: and it's not until several days go by that the 347 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:30,520 Speaker 2: search really starts to amplify. And then eventually Lali's dog, 348 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:35,280 Speaker 2: Tage appears without a caller on, looking rattled, looking hungry, 349 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:39,359 Speaker 2: and that's when everything changed. Everyone agreed that there was 350 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:42,119 Speaker 2: no circumstance in which these two women would not have 351 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:44,520 Speaker 2: been with their dog. So the appearance of a very 352 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:47,760 Speaker 2: rattled Taj is what really accelerates this search. 353 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:51,239 Speaker 1: So what's the last entry in their travel journal? What 354 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:54,040 Speaker 1: does it say that they did they found this little spot. 355 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:56,840 Speaker 2: It's heart wrenching. Actually, they weren't so much talking about 356 00:18:56,840 --> 00:18:59,480 Speaker 2: the places they were, They were talking about their relationship. 357 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:03,920 Speaker 2: And Julie and Lally's last entry both are just really 358 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:06,320 Speaker 2: talking about the love that they have for each other, 359 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:09,680 Speaker 2: the idea that while that past year of living apart 360 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:12,240 Speaker 2: and trying to decide what does it mean to be 361 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:15,119 Speaker 2: a same sex couple that had really kind of taken 362 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:17,840 Speaker 2: a toll on both of them, And so their last 363 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:21,040 Speaker 2: entries are just so forward looking. They're like, this is 364 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:23,639 Speaker 2: the love of my life. I'm committing to this person. 365 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:26,439 Speaker 2: I cannot wait to get the summer going. I cannot 366 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:28,199 Speaker 2: wait to get the rest of my life going with 367 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:31,600 Speaker 2: this person. And that's the real heartbreaking aspect of this 368 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:32,000 Speaker 2: for me. 369 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:37,320 Speaker 1: So they finally, I'm assuming, stumble upon this crime scene. 370 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:40,159 Speaker 2: This is the first of several puzzles that, again I 371 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:43,119 Speaker 2: try to lay out as objectively as possible for readers 372 00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:44,720 Speaker 2: because I want them to be able to come to 373 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:48,000 Speaker 2: their own conclusions. But it's late. It's on a Saturday. 374 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:51,720 Speaker 2: At this point. The ranger who patrols this area of 375 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:55,040 Speaker 2: the park and who's responsible for patrolling this particular trail 376 00:19:55,359 --> 00:19:58,840 Speaker 2: has walked by the tent site several times and not 377 00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:02,239 Speaker 2: seen the tent because it's so hidden. It's dusk, and 378 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:06,240 Speaker 2: these two male rangers embark down the trail. Dusk falls 379 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:09,880 Speaker 2: very dramatically in the Shenandoah Valley, right, because these guys 380 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:11,880 Speaker 2: are on the east side of the valley, so it's 381 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:15,720 Speaker 2: really quite dark. And then these two rangers just say 382 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:18,439 Speaker 2: they happen upon the tent, which has always been a 383 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:21,920 Speaker 2: question for me. Interestingly, the ranger that happened upon it 384 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:24,200 Speaker 2: was one of two rangers involved in this case who 385 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:26,480 Speaker 2: wouldn't talk to me, so I was never able to 386 00:20:26,520 --> 00:20:29,560 Speaker 2: ask him how it was that he happened to find it. 387 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:32,920 Speaker 2: But once this tent is found, it is immediately the 388 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:37,159 Speaker 2: fog of war in the Shenandoah National Park, and the 389 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:41,720 Speaker 2: authorities there start to make a series of catastrophically terrible 390 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:47,640 Speaker 2: and in some cases utterly indefensible decisions, including withholding from 391 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:51,879 Speaker 2: both the media and partgoers and the general public that 392 00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:55,680 Speaker 2: this murder had occurred for about forty eight hours. They 393 00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:58,000 Speaker 2: tried to pass it off first as a bear attack 394 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:01,520 Speaker 2: and then as a murder suicide, which again two women 395 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:04,680 Speaker 2: bound and gagged at this point fifty yards apart from 396 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:07,600 Speaker 2: each other, their throat slit. How this is anything other 397 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:09,960 Speaker 2: than a double murder is absurd, And yet the park 398 00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:13,520 Speaker 2: withholds this from the millions of people who are coming 399 00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:17,159 Speaker 2: into the park and backpacking or bringing their families. They 400 00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:20,080 Speaker 2: have no idea that a potential serial killer may be 401 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:22,600 Speaker 2: among their midst and for me, that's again one of 402 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:35,639 Speaker 2: the most horrifying moments in the story. 403 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:39,199 Speaker 1: Will we return to the two park rangers that you 404 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:42,040 Speaker 1: said you have some questions about do they play a part? Later? 405 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:43,040 Speaker 3: They sure do. 406 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:45,479 Speaker 2: And one of the big questions for folks and all 407 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:48,159 Speaker 2: of this, folks who really follow true crime may be 408 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:51,840 Speaker 2: familiar with a series of murders called the Colonial Parkway murders, 409 00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:56,800 Speaker 2: which began in nineteen eighty six, also on Virginia National 410 00:21:56,880 --> 00:22:01,960 Speaker 2: Park property. And four of the rangers who worked the 411 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:06,959 Speaker 2: Colonial Parkway murders were also the rangers working this murder 412 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:07,760 Speaker 2: ten years later. 413 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:08,160 Speaker 1: Wow. 414 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:11,320 Speaker 2: And so some people have tried to draw some real 415 00:22:11,359 --> 00:22:15,800 Speaker 2: comparisons between the Colonial Parkway murders and the Shenandoah murders. 416 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:20,200 Speaker 2: And in fact, at one point, the FBI strongly suspects 417 00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:23,280 Speaker 2: two of these rangers. Not only do they compel the 418 00:22:23,359 --> 00:22:26,160 Speaker 2: rangers to take light detector tests, but they also are 419 00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:29,760 Speaker 2: able to get court permission to search their vehicles, search 420 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:31,919 Speaker 2: their homes. That's how strong of a suspect they were 421 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:33,960 Speaker 2: at one point. For the FBI. 422 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:37,359 Speaker 1: Well, just to recap for listeners who heard Blaine Pardou, 423 00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:40,320 Speaker 1: who wrote a book on the Colonial Parkway murders, I 424 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:43,280 Speaker 1: can't remember how many couples that were murdered, is it for? 425 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:46,800 Speaker 2: There's some questions about which murders should be considered Colonial 426 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:49,240 Speaker 2: Parkway murders and which shouldn't, but four, I think is 427 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:49,960 Speaker 2: a safe number. 428 00:22:50,359 --> 00:22:52,840 Speaker 1: Some of them are remote. The Colonial Parkway seems like 429 00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:55,560 Speaker 1: a major thoroughfare, but I've driven it and it's scary 430 00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:57,560 Speaker 1: at night even now. I can't imagine what it was 431 00:22:57,600 --> 00:22:59,800 Speaker 1: like in the eighties. And some of these were in 432 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:02,960 Speaker 1: remote areas where people really had to know where to go. 433 00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:06,639 Speaker 1: So I see that comparison as being totally valid. That 434 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:08,840 Speaker 1: is also an open case too. That's a serial killer 435 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:12,000 Speaker 1: who hasn't been caught yet. So FBI are they in 436 00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:14,719 Speaker 1: when they discover these bodies, and now they're working with 437 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:15,960 Speaker 1: the park rangers, so. 438 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:19,160 Speaker 2: It takes a while. So the rangers find the bodies. 439 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:21,320 Speaker 2: The first thing the rangers do is they secure the 440 00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:23,480 Speaker 2: site as best as they can. But again, it's not 441 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:26,040 Speaker 2: like taping crime scene tape on the front door of 442 00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:29,480 Speaker 2: a house, right, So where do we even put tape like, 443 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:31,520 Speaker 2: where does this begin and end? As a question, it's 444 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:34,160 Speaker 2: the middle of the night at this point, and by 445 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:35,960 Speaker 2: the time they get a hold of the FBI, it's 446 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:39,240 Speaker 2: several more hours, and by then it's so dark there's 447 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:43,240 Speaker 2: nothing anybody can do. So it isn't until then Sunday morning, right, 448 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:46,080 Speaker 2: So the women have been reported missing on a Thursday. 449 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:49,840 Speaker 2: Now it's a Sunday morning before, for instance, the medical 450 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:52,560 Speaker 2: examiner is able to get there, before they're able to 451 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:55,280 Speaker 2: remove the bodies, before they're able to start doing any 452 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:59,800 Speaker 2: evidence collections. So that's a problem. And it's definitely ranged. Okay, 453 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:02,800 Speaker 2: the women were killed, so that's also a problem. And 454 00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:05,680 Speaker 2: then we start to see this culture war between the 455 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:09,320 Speaker 2: FBI and the National Park Service rangers. The FBI has 456 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:14,000 Speaker 2: just created a brand new organization within them called their 457 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:17,760 Speaker 2: Evidence Response Teams, who are responsible for collecting the evidence. 458 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:20,040 Speaker 2: That was something an initiative that came out of the 459 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:23,080 Speaker 2: Oklahoma City bombings in nineteen ninety two. So we have 460 00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:26,240 Speaker 2: this brand new evidence response team that's never been called 461 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:29,040 Speaker 2: to a violent crime scene and who were trained to 462 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:32,640 Speaker 2: secure urban places. And then we have these Park Service 463 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:37,960 Speaker 2: law enforcement rangers who are experts at backcountry crime investigation, 464 00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:41,760 Speaker 2: but the FBI has primacy, and so we see this 465 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:45,680 Speaker 2: budding of heads in terms of evidence collection. And what 466 00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:48,760 Speaker 2: multiple investigators who worked this case told me was that 467 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:53,080 Speaker 2: undoubtedly evidence that could have closed this case was lost 468 00:24:53,359 --> 00:24:56,320 Speaker 2: because of this and because of the decisions about how 469 00:24:56,359 --> 00:24:58,760 Speaker 2: they What they ended up doing was bagging it all 470 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:02,639 Speaker 2: up in trash bags, taking it to another ranger station 471 00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:04,840 Speaker 2: and trying to investigate it there. And there are some 472 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:09,560 Speaker 2: colossal missteps that happen there that just removed what could 473 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:10,880 Speaker 2: have been essential evidence. 474 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:14,480 Speaker 1: But they were able to collect DNA evidence, is that right? 475 00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:17,920 Speaker 2: They do. They collect hair and they collect some male 476 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:20,840 Speaker 2: DNA that was on the gag that was used to 477 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:24,040 Speaker 2: gag one of the women. There's other trace evidence that 478 00:25:24,119 --> 00:25:28,159 Speaker 2: has not been recollected now that we have mechanisms that 479 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:31,600 Speaker 2: can go back over through things like sleeping bags, duct 480 00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:34,760 Speaker 2: tape and get that really tiny, little almost molecular evidence. 481 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:40,040 Speaker 1: So may springtime in Virginia. I can't imagine there aren't 482 00:25:40,119 --> 00:25:44,800 Speaker 1: scavenger animals around with these two women and their remains 483 00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:46,919 Speaker 1: for at least a week. We think that they were 484 00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:47,880 Speaker 1: out there. Well. 485 00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:51,760 Speaker 2: One of the good news pieces of the rain and 486 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:54,800 Speaker 2: the fact that When Lolly and Julie arrived in Shenandoah 487 00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:58,040 Speaker 2: on May nineteenth of ninety six, Shenandoah was going through 488 00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:02,360 Speaker 2: this incredible heat wave, record breaking heat. This huge storm 489 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:05,000 Speaker 2: moves through on the Wednesday of their trip, sort of 490 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:08,200 Speaker 2: halfway through their trip, and it brings cold, rainy weather. 491 00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:11,879 Speaker 2: One thing that was actually helpful about the cold rainy 492 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:14,040 Speaker 2: weather is I think it did prevent a lot of 493 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:18,439 Speaker 2: scavenger activity good and it also minimized insect activity on 494 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,760 Speaker 2: the bodies as well too, so it didn't look as 495 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:25,000 Speaker 2: if scavengers had gone through and disturbed the crime scene. 496 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:26,600 Speaker 2: But of course no one will ever really know. 497 00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:29,560 Speaker 1: So there is it sounds like, for a lack of 498 00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:31,960 Speaker 1: a better term, a pissing match between the National Park 499 00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:35,080 Speaker 1: Rangers and the FBI. Where do they start. There's the 500 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:38,400 Speaker 1: murder suicide. I'm assuming that the FBI wrote that off 501 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:40,640 Speaker 1: pretty quickly based on the crime scene. 502 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:43,919 Speaker 2: Right, and word eventually gets leaked to the media. So 503 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:47,080 Speaker 2: the women are found very late on a Saturday. Sunday 504 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:50,600 Speaker 2: is sort of evidence collection day. By late Monday, the 505 00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:53,439 Speaker 2: media has received word that there has been a double 506 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:56,159 Speaker 2: murder in one of the most popular national parks in 507 00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:58,840 Speaker 2: the country and all of a sudden, there's this huge 508 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:03,439 Speaker 2: just cloud of media descending on the park. And again 509 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:07,400 Speaker 2: in these initial media press conferences, they continue to try 510 00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:10,600 Speaker 2: to say that they think that this is a murder suicide, 511 00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:13,800 Speaker 2: that there is not a third party involved here, and 512 00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:15,919 Speaker 2: this goes on for another couple of days. 513 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:19,199 Speaker 1: I'm so confused by that, is that an attitude that 514 00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:21,879 Speaker 1: the National Park Service has now that they are so 515 00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:25,479 Speaker 1: protective of visitors coming and the money that comes in, 516 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:26,399 Speaker 1: that they would do that. 517 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:29,040 Speaker 2: One of the things that was very troubling to me 518 00:27:29,119 --> 00:27:32,520 Speaker 2: in my research for the book is what a problem 519 00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:35,959 Speaker 2: the National Park Service has in terms of dealing with crime. 520 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:40,640 Speaker 2: There is no codified mechanism for how parks should deal 521 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:45,159 Speaker 2: with violent crime, and so what both the Inspector General, 522 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:49,159 Speaker 2: the Department of the Interior, and the Government Accountability Office 523 00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:52,640 Speaker 2: has determined is that we have a major problem right 524 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:56,119 Speaker 2: now with how violent crime is investigated and reported in 525 00:27:56,119 --> 00:27:58,359 Speaker 2: our national parks. What we know is that there's a 526 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:03,400 Speaker 2: profound underreporting a violent crime and an underreporting of even 527 00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:07,440 Speaker 2: inept or even malicious behavior on the part of rangers. 528 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:09,360 Speaker 2: And that was another thing I really wanted to call 529 00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:12,159 Speaker 2: attention to in this book is how safe are our 530 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:16,040 Speaker 2: national parks really and how concerned should we really be 531 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:17,359 Speaker 2: about safety there? 532 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:20,600 Speaker 1: Do you have any idea with these rangers the area 533 00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:23,680 Speaker 1: that each person is responsible for covering. 534 00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:25,880 Speaker 2: This is where that sort of attrition and that sort 535 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:30,320 Speaker 2: of funding really comes into place. Shenandoah was understaffed with rangers, 536 00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:32,960 Speaker 2: and the rangers there were doing a great job. I 537 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:35,840 Speaker 2: think most of the rangers were doing their absolute best work, 538 00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:38,120 Speaker 2: but there weren't enough of them. And what I've found 539 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:40,840 Speaker 2: now is that there are some national parks that don't 540 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:43,600 Speaker 2: have any law enforcement rangers, or they have one law 541 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:47,440 Speaker 2: enforcement ranger who's literally covering thousands of acres. You just 542 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:50,000 Speaker 2: can't be effective in that kind of environment. 543 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:53,000 Speaker 1: So if we go back to the investigation, at what 544 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:56,320 Speaker 1: point do they give and say, Okay, it was a 545 00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:58,880 Speaker 1: murder and somebody is out there and now we're trying 546 00:28:58,920 --> 00:28:59,600 Speaker 1: to work on that. 547 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:04,560 Speaker 2: It was really the work of very dogged reporters and 548 00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:07,640 Speaker 2: one publication that no longer exists, but there was a 549 00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:11,480 Speaker 2: small niche newspaper called The Washington Blade, which was an 550 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:16,400 Speaker 2: LGBTQ publication, and a reporter for the Blade is not 551 00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:18,960 Speaker 2: going to give up on this case, and he keeps 552 00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:21,760 Speaker 2: showing up with these press conferences and he's like, how 553 00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:25,480 Speaker 2: can this possibly be a murder suicide? And it's these 554 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:30,000 Speaker 2: reporters that really force the issue and force the Park 555 00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:33,120 Speaker 2: Service and the FBI to acknowledge that they are in 556 00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:37,160 Speaker 2: fact dealing with a double murder. There's already been one 557 00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:40,520 Speaker 2: murder of a young woman, Alicia Showalter Reynolds, who was 558 00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:43,680 Speaker 2: murdered just outside the park in March of ninety six. 559 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:47,560 Speaker 2: Her body was found just about two weeks before Lollie 560 00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:50,480 Speaker 2: and Julie were murdered, and was found very near the park. 561 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:54,000 Speaker 2: And then that summer there would be multiple other murders 562 00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:56,960 Speaker 2: of young women right around the park. And so for 563 00:29:57,080 --> 00:30:01,200 Speaker 2: people like forensic psychologists and for filers at the FBI, 564 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:04,440 Speaker 2: this very clearly became for them the work of a 565 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:07,320 Speaker 2: serial killer. But that wasn't the way in which the 566 00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:08,840 Speaker 2: investigation unfolded. 567 00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:12,080 Speaker 1: Tell me about Alicia. Did the media know that story 568 00:30:12,120 --> 00:30:13,360 Speaker 1: that happened two weeks earlier? 569 00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:17,480 Speaker 2: It was hugely reported upon. Alicia Showalter Reynolds was a 570 00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:21,400 Speaker 2: very talented graduate student at Johns Hopkins. She was studying 571 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:27,440 Speaker 2: pandemics actually, and she had been traveling from Washington to Charlottesville. 572 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:31,120 Speaker 2: Her twin brother was going to be getting married, and 573 00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:34,400 Speaker 2: Alicia and her mom had planned to spend the day 574 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:38,400 Speaker 2: buying dresses for the wedding. She was driving down what 575 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:41,560 Speaker 2: was a very rural road at the time called Route 576 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:44,880 Speaker 2: twenty nine, and at that point the Route twenty nine, 577 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:48,600 Speaker 2: Stalker had already started his work, and his MO was 578 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:52,280 Speaker 2: basically to signal women that there was something wrong with 579 00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:54,760 Speaker 2: their cars and kind of flag them down, and then 580 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:57,360 Speaker 2: when they stopped, he'd show up and act like he 581 00:30:57,480 --> 00:31:00,719 Speaker 2: was this very concerned, sort of boy scout guy, who, 582 00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:03,360 Speaker 2: you know, I noticed there were flames under your car, 583 00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:05,320 Speaker 2: and this is really dangerous and you should have that 584 00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:07,760 Speaker 2: looked at, and he'd offer them a ride to a 585 00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:10,480 Speaker 2: service station. And this had been going on, and the 586 00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:13,880 Speaker 2: sort of creep factor had been increasing significantly in this 587 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:17,200 Speaker 2: rural part of Virginia, And what folks think now is 588 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:20,360 Speaker 2: that he'd been sort of preparing to kind of take 589 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:24,080 Speaker 2: further action against his victim, and he chose Alicia. Got 590 00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:26,680 Speaker 2: her in his vehicle, which was a truck. We know 591 00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:28,920 Speaker 2: that it was either a dark green or a very 592 00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:32,560 Speaker 2: dark blue, almost kind of black truck, and then again 593 00:31:32,840 --> 00:31:35,880 Speaker 2: very brutally murdered her, buried her in a shallow grave 594 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:38,600 Speaker 2: off of a very remote road that would be hard 595 00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:41,440 Speaker 2: to know about, and so had led folks on this 596 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:44,360 Speaker 2: sort of six week search for her body, which had 597 00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:47,520 Speaker 2: again just been found just a few weeks before Lolly 598 00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:48,360 Speaker 2: and Julie. 599 00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:52,240 Speaker 1: The man who killed her is the Route twenty nine stalker. 600 00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:54,480 Speaker 1: That's the same person, you're saying, we think so. 601 00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:57,360 Speaker 2: Again, like with the Colonial Parkway, it's hard to know 602 00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:00,720 Speaker 2: how many people were dealing with right here, whether all 603 00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:03,280 Speaker 2: of these Route twenty nine cases were one person or 604 00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:06,840 Speaker 2: more than one person, but certainly there was a very 605 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:10,640 Speaker 2: strong mo that was happening in about thirty of these 606 00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:14,360 Speaker 2: stalker cases on Route twenty nine, and authorities believe that 607 00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:15,880 Speaker 2: those were all one person. 608 00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:20,120 Speaker 1: Okay, so we're on the investigation with Lollie and Julie. 609 00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:22,959 Speaker 1: At what point do they connect this with maybe this 610 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:25,080 Speaker 1: is somebody who's responsible for multiple killings. 611 00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:29,400 Speaker 2: They don't. The investigators do not, which is remarkable because 612 00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:34,760 Speaker 2: you literally have the founders of the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit, 613 00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:38,040 Speaker 2: people like John Douglas, saying this has got to be 614 00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:42,200 Speaker 2: the work of a serial killer. But for about fourteen months, 615 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:45,800 Speaker 2: the FBI and the National Park Service rangers go through 616 00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:49,720 Speaker 2: a series of suspects, including one another, and then by 617 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:54,200 Speaker 2: July of nineteen ninety seven, the case has basically gone cold. 618 00:32:54,440 --> 00:32:57,720 Speaker 2: At that point, and as investigators told me, they had 619 00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:00,120 Speaker 2: literally run out of leads. 620 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:03,000 Speaker 1: That's the next big break here. Is there DNA testing. 621 00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:07,440 Speaker 2: There is there's mitochondrial DNA testing, and that'll become really important. 622 00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:11,040 Speaker 2: But without a suspect to compare the DNA too, it 623 00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:13,720 Speaker 2: doesn't really do a lot of good. So at this 624 00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:17,080 Speaker 2: point the case is just languishing. And then in July 625 00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:20,600 Speaker 2: of nineteen ninety seven, a young man named Darryl David Rice, 626 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:24,600 Speaker 2: who was a computer programmer in eastern Maryland, suffered from 627 00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:29,000 Speaker 2: significant mental health issues, including bipolar schizophrenia. In the spring 628 00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:32,640 Speaker 2: of nineteen ninety seven, his life is completely unraveling. His 629 00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:36,440 Speaker 2: father lived right outside of Shenandoah, and he would spend 630 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:38,720 Speaker 2: a lot of his time cycling in the park. So 631 00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:42,000 Speaker 2: in July of ninety seven, he's been fired from his job. 632 00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:47,800 Speaker 2: His mental illness has become completely unmanageable. He's not sleeping, 633 00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:51,000 Speaker 2: he's smoking a lot of marijuana, and one day in 634 00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:54,600 Speaker 2: ninety seven, he drives into the park, he sees a 635 00:33:54,680 --> 00:33:59,200 Speaker 2: woman cycling down that main thoroughfare skyline drive, and he 636 00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:02,640 Speaker 2: decides he's going to drive back and forth. He's harassing her. 637 00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:06,080 Speaker 2: He's yelling expletives out the window. At one point he 638 00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:09,080 Speaker 2: throws a soda bottle at her, and then he runs 639 00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:12,080 Speaker 2: her off the road and in a really menacing way, says, 640 00:34:12,239 --> 00:34:15,080 Speaker 2: I'm going to get you. At that point, she screams. 641 00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:18,400 Speaker 2: She runs for help. The little store that she runs 642 00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:21,520 Speaker 2: to tries to call the rangers. They can't get through 643 00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:26,440 Speaker 2: because the rangers radios aren't working. They eventually get a 644 00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:29,759 Speaker 2: description of Rice and his truck to the rangers, and 645 00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:33,640 Speaker 2: in that moment, the Rangers are thinking, we've got our guy. 646 00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:37,080 Speaker 2: This is the guy who killed Lolly and Julie, and 647 00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:40,840 Speaker 2: they apprehend him. They remarkably bring him back to the 648 00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:43,960 Speaker 2: young woman to identify, which must have been terrifying to her, 649 00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:48,279 Speaker 2: and he asks. He says, did you ever solve that 650 00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:51,120 Speaker 2: double murder from last year? And at that point the 651 00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:53,759 Speaker 2: Rangers are like, this is the guy, and so they 652 00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:58,440 Speaker 2: really use the arrest of this harassment case, which again 653 00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:01,400 Speaker 2: is a crime, right, I'm not using Rice's behavior, but 654 00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:05,839 Speaker 2: they use this arrest as the time they need to 655 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:08,759 Speaker 2: detain Rice and to start a case against him in 656 00:35:08,840 --> 00:35:13,440 Speaker 2: earnest and this case continues today. Millions and millions of 657 00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:17,600 Speaker 2: dollars have been spent by the FBI, including embedding their 658 00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:22,360 Speaker 2: leading counter terrorist undercover agent in Rice's cell. They fabricate 659 00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:27,320 Speaker 2: issues of the newspaper, They fabricate postal cancelation stamps from Europe, 660 00:35:27,640 --> 00:35:29,600 Speaker 2: all in an effort to try to get Rice to 661 00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:30,880 Speaker 2: confess to this murder. 662 00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:34,040 Speaker 1: And they're able to do that for someone who should 663 00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:36,799 Speaker 1: have a public defender and who I'm assuming has been 664 00:35:36,960 --> 00:35:40,000 Speaker 1: officially diagnosed with a mental illness, you're allowed to fabricate 665 00:35:40,040 --> 00:35:40,680 Speaker 1: and lie like that. 666 00:35:41,200 --> 00:35:44,520 Speaker 2: In two thousand and two, John Ashcroft, the Attorney General 667 00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:47,719 Speaker 2: of the United States, makes a very public announcement that 668 00:35:47,800 --> 00:35:51,440 Speaker 2: he's going to use brand new hate crime legislation, the 669 00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:54,319 Speaker 2: first hate crime legislation in this country. He's going to 670 00:35:54,400 --> 00:35:58,200 Speaker 2: use it to seek the death penalty against Rice in 671 00:35:58,239 --> 00:36:02,120 Speaker 2: this brand new indictment. And he gives this bizarre public 672 00:36:02,400 --> 00:36:06,080 Speaker 2: televised press conference in which he says the nation has 673 00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:08,800 Speaker 2: been shattered by September Eleventh's is just a few months 674 00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:11,920 Speaker 2: after September eleventh. It's been shattered, hate crimes are on 675 00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:15,120 Speaker 2: the rise, We're all looking for justice. And then he 676 00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:19,000 Speaker 2: makes this conflation and he says, by putting Darryl Rice 677 00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:22,560 Speaker 2: to death, the country is going to somehow heal from 678 00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:27,960 Speaker 2: September eleventh. It's a bizarre, just utterly bizarre combination of 679 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:30,520 Speaker 2: two things that just don't fit. So at that point 680 00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:34,319 Speaker 2: this becomes such a high profile case that Rice is 681 00:36:34,360 --> 00:36:37,480 Speaker 2: sort of given this dream defense team. And what they 682 00:36:37,560 --> 00:36:40,720 Speaker 2: told me too, is that the hardest thing for Rice 683 00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:44,320 Speaker 2: to deal with was the fact that this guy, Mike Jerman, 684 00:36:44,560 --> 00:36:47,719 Speaker 2: the agent who was embedded in his cell, who then 685 00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:52,520 Speaker 2: becomes Daryl's constant penpal. They exchanged something like fifty letters. 686 00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:56,120 Speaker 2: He'd come visit him during visiting hours. The hardest thing 687 00:36:56,160 --> 00:36:58,520 Speaker 2: for Dale Rice was to come to learn that this 688 00:36:58,680 --> 00:37:01,800 Speaker 2: guy he thought was his best friend was actually an agent. 689 00:37:02,239 --> 00:37:05,520 Speaker 1: We had talked about the victims of whomever is the 690 00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:08,600 Speaker 1: person who's doing this, and we don't think it's Daryl Rice. 691 00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:12,680 Speaker 1: So we've got Alicia, You've got Lollie and Julie potentially 692 00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:14,719 Speaker 1: from the same person. Did you mention there were a 693 00:37:14,760 --> 00:37:18,120 Speaker 1: couple of other women after Julie and Lollie. 694 00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:20,799 Speaker 2: Eight women One of the things we include in the 695 00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:24,239 Speaker 2: book is a very detailed map that shows people just 696 00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:27,520 Speaker 2: how close in proximity these murders are, and in some 697 00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:31,879 Speaker 2: cases there are very significant similarities, like, for instance, being 698 00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:34,240 Speaker 2: bound with duct tape, the way in which the bodies 699 00:37:34,239 --> 00:37:37,760 Speaker 2: are sort of tied into their sleeping bags, some really 700 00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:38,920 Speaker 2: stark similarities. 701 00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:41,920 Speaker 1: Is there DNA that connects all of them or do 702 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:43,919 Speaker 1: we not have samples from everyone? 703 00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:48,480 Speaker 2: We have samples. And at one point, jumping ahead a 704 00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:51,759 Speaker 2: few years after all of this has unfolded, the indictment 705 00:37:51,840 --> 00:37:56,319 Speaker 2: has happened, an individual named Richard Mark evanis kidnaps a 706 00:37:56,360 --> 00:38:03,200 Speaker 2: young woman, Kara Robinson, who very heroic manages to extricate 707 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:07,560 Speaker 2: herself from her apartment after just this like horrific twelve 708 00:38:07,560 --> 00:38:11,000 Speaker 2: hours of being raped, and she manages to escape his 709 00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:14,320 Speaker 2: apartment and run to get help and to get the police. 710 00:38:14,480 --> 00:38:17,440 Speaker 2: At that point, Avonnet sort of knows that the police 711 00:38:17,480 --> 00:38:20,560 Speaker 2: are onto him, and he begins this multi state high 712 00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:24,799 Speaker 2: speed chase which ends with him committing suicide in his car. 713 00:38:25,080 --> 00:38:29,960 Speaker 2: At that point, Avonnets becomes a suspect in multiple other crimes, 714 00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:33,680 Speaker 2: including very briefly, Lolly and Julie's the State Police of 715 00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:38,160 Speaker 2: Virginia decide they have enough evidence to close three cases 716 00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:41,200 Speaker 2: and tie them to Avonnets. In three of those cases 717 00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:43,839 Speaker 2: are these eight that I'm mentioning that occur right around 718 00:38:43,920 --> 00:38:46,160 Speaker 2: the time of Lolly and Julie's death. For a very 719 00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:48,960 Speaker 2: brief period of Hoonnets is in fact a lead suspect 720 00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:52,520 Speaker 2: in Lolly and Julie's case. There's DNA testing that happens 721 00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:56,480 Speaker 2: that does not rule him out. And then, for reasons 722 00:38:56,520 --> 00:38:58,480 Speaker 2: that no one has been able to explain to me, 723 00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:02,160 Speaker 2: at that point, the so called of hoon Its task Force, 724 00:39:02,160 --> 00:39:06,120 Speaker 2: which was supposed to be investigating multiple murders around the country, 725 00:39:06,480 --> 00:39:10,239 Speaker 2: is disbanded and they are told to not investigate evon 726 00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:14,239 Speaker 2: its for anything else. So, yes, there is DNA, and no, 727 00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:17,839 Speaker 2: it has not been compared despite the fact that the 728 00:39:17,880 --> 00:39:20,600 Speaker 2: FBI lab has continually said that it should be. 729 00:39:21,080 --> 00:39:23,640 Speaker 1: Who has the authority to make the decision that it 730 00:39:23,680 --> 00:39:26,360 Speaker 1: all should be tested and let's close these cases. 731 00:39:26,840 --> 00:39:29,960 Speaker 2: The lead investigator in this case, and this is one 732 00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:32,000 Speaker 2: of the things that just makes me furious. And this 733 00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:34,240 Speaker 2: is one of the things that if I can hope 734 00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:37,680 Speaker 2: that this book is going to do something I'm hoping 735 00:39:37,719 --> 00:39:41,080 Speaker 2: that what this book will do is create enough public 736 00:39:41,160 --> 00:39:45,719 Speaker 2: momentum that the FBI has no choice. At one point, 737 00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:50,440 Speaker 2: the FBI takes DNA evidence from Lolly and Julie's crime 738 00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:54,839 Speaker 2: scene and they do a mitochondrial DNA test analysis on it. 739 00:39:54,920 --> 00:39:57,360 Speaker 2: We have much more sophisticated testing now, but at the 740 00:39:57,400 --> 00:39:59,480 Speaker 2: time that was sort of the best guess. And what 741 00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:03,200 Speaker 2: a anddrial DNA test does is it compares evidence at 742 00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:06,959 Speaker 2: eight hundred points on the DNA chromosome. So I'll take 743 00:40:07,080 --> 00:40:10,040 Speaker 2: these eight hundred points of mine and compare them to yours, 744 00:40:10,120 --> 00:40:13,600 Speaker 2: and we'll see how similar they are. The FBI labs 745 00:40:13,640 --> 00:40:18,000 Speaker 2: policy is if a comparison comes back and seven hundred 746 00:40:18,040 --> 00:40:21,160 Speaker 2: and ninety eight of those places are identical, then a 747 00:40:21,200 --> 00:40:24,000 Speaker 2: person cannot be ruled out. In the fact, that person 748 00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:27,520 Speaker 2: must be continued to be considered a viable suspect. The 749 00:40:27,680 --> 00:40:31,280 Speaker 2: FBI gets this evidence from the crime scene, they compare 750 00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:34,560 Speaker 2: it to Darryl Rice, and they compare it to Mark Evonnits. 751 00:40:34,719 --> 00:40:37,560 Speaker 2: It comes back completely different from Rice. I don't know 752 00:40:37,680 --> 00:40:40,239 Speaker 2: six hundred places are different. I'm making that number up, 753 00:40:40,280 --> 00:40:43,239 Speaker 2: but it comes back with a Hoonnits seven hundred and 754 00:40:43,360 --> 00:40:47,120 Speaker 2: ninety nine places are identical. And at that point the 755 00:40:47,200 --> 00:40:53,120 Speaker 2: FBI investigator says, rerun the DNA against Rice and it 756 00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:56,080 Speaker 2: is never tested against a Hoonnors Again. 757 00:40:56,400 --> 00:40:59,960 Speaker 1: Had he been to Shenandoah Park, had he known the trail, 758 00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:01,240 Speaker 1: does he fit that profile? 759 00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:05,320 Speaker 2: He definitely does. When the FBI and the state police 760 00:41:05,400 --> 00:41:10,000 Speaker 2: go into his apartment, they find a chest that's filled 761 00:41:10,040 --> 00:41:16,280 Speaker 2: with women's underwear, really disturbing pornography, lots of women's hair. 762 00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:18,799 Speaker 2: And when he was on this high speed chase, he 763 00:41:18,880 --> 00:41:21,720 Speaker 2: was talking to one of his sisters and she said, 764 00:41:22,040 --> 00:41:24,560 Speaker 2: have you done this before? And he said yeah, And 765 00:41:24,600 --> 00:41:27,160 Speaker 2: she said how many times? And he said more times 766 00:41:27,200 --> 00:41:29,719 Speaker 2: than I can remember. One of the things that was 767 00:41:29,800 --> 00:41:33,680 Speaker 2: really disturbing that we found was he also kept all 768 00:41:33,719 --> 00:41:37,040 Speaker 2: these slips of paper that would have descriptions of women, 769 00:41:37,560 --> 00:41:41,000 Speaker 2: descriptions of back roads, including the back road where Alicia 770 00:41:41,040 --> 00:41:44,040 Speaker 2: Showalter Reynolds was found, and then just a log of 771 00:41:44,080 --> 00:41:47,000 Speaker 2: women that he kept that he had met online or 772 00:41:47,040 --> 00:41:50,400 Speaker 2: other sources, some of whom I talked to who had 773 00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:52,480 Speaker 2: no idea that they had gone on a date with 774 00:41:52,520 --> 00:41:55,520 Speaker 2: a serial killer. As far as I can tell, there 775 00:41:55,600 --> 00:41:58,279 Speaker 2: was a very brief moment of really what is only 776 00:41:58,320 --> 00:42:01,080 Speaker 2: a few weeks where Avonna was a suspect in this 777 00:42:01,239 --> 00:42:04,359 Speaker 2: case and then at that point everything is dropped. So 778 00:42:05,000 --> 00:42:07,800 Speaker 2: we don't know. I've been working with the Innocence Project 779 00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:10,560 Speaker 2: to reinvestigate all of these cases, and we don't even 780 00:42:10,600 --> 00:42:12,880 Speaker 2: really know where all of this evidence that was taken 781 00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:15,560 Speaker 2: from Evonez's house is right now? Has it been. 782 00:42:15,440 --> 00:42:19,000 Speaker 1: Lost Evonitz's case. Is that with the Virginia State Police 783 00:42:19,280 --> 00:42:20,720 Speaker 1: or was that with the FBI? 784 00:42:21,080 --> 00:42:24,560 Speaker 2: And that's also a little mushy oh evidence, I mean, 785 00:42:24,719 --> 00:42:28,040 Speaker 2: come on, the evidence was in a locker with the 786 00:42:28,120 --> 00:42:32,880 Speaker 2: Virginia State Police. Alicia Showalter, Reynolds's mother, who's been a 787 00:42:32,920 --> 00:42:35,720 Speaker 2: really great supporter of this investigation that I've been doing. 788 00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:39,560 Speaker 2: I had to tell her that cloth gloves were found 789 00:42:39,640 --> 00:42:43,320 Speaker 2: at Alicia's car, cloth gloves that look identical the cloth 790 00:42:43,360 --> 00:42:46,759 Speaker 2: gloves that were found at Lolly and Julie's crime scene. 791 00:42:46,880 --> 00:42:49,040 Speaker 2: She didn't know that, and as far as she knows, 792 00:42:49,120 --> 00:42:52,160 Speaker 2: those gloves have never been analyzed. Cigarette butts were found 793 00:42:52,360 --> 00:42:54,719 Speaker 2: at both scenes. As far as we know, those have 794 00:42:54,800 --> 00:42:55,719 Speaker 2: not been analyzed. 795 00:42:56,080 --> 00:42:59,080 Speaker 1: Okay, evidence was collected at these scenes. Some of it 796 00:42:59,120 --> 00:43:02,960 Speaker 1: that was collected was poorly collected. We don't know precisely 797 00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:06,520 Speaker 1: who has what, but there is a suspicion that we 798 00:43:06,640 --> 00:43:10,200 Speaker 1: might have enough DNA at most or all of these 799 00:43:10,280 --> 00:43:13,879 Speaker 1: eight murderers to compare it to Avon. It's right if 800 00:43:13,880 --> 00:43:14,480 Speaker 1: we wanted to. 801 00:43:14,960 --> 00:43:18,640 Speaker 2: Absolutely, the FBI lab is ready and waiting to compare it. 802 00:43:18,840 --> 00:43:21,719 Speaker 2: I have an expert at the University of California who 803 00:43:21,760 --> 00:43:26,200 Speaker 2: regularly works with the FBI doing very sophisticated DNA analyssons. 804 00:43:26,239 --> 00:43:30,000 Speaker 2: He's like, I just need a centimeter of each hair 805 00:43:30,080 --> 00:43:33,240 Speaker 2: sample and I will answer this for you. And none 806 00:43:33,239 --> 00:43:35,720 Speaker 2: of this has been received by the FBI. 807 00:43:36,400 --> 00:43:39,239 Speaker 1: Okay, So let's talk about the families a little bit. 808 00:43:39,400 --> 00:43:41,799 Speaker 1: I know that Lolli was estranged from her family. Have 809 00:43:41,880 --> 00:43:43,440 Speaker 1: they talked to you at all or have you heard 810 00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:44,520 Speaker 1: anything from them? 811 00:43:44,680 --> 00:43:48,800 Speaker 2: Lolli's mother, unfortunately, died well before I began the book project. 812 00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:51,279 Speaker 2: Lolli's father, when I began the book project was in 813 00:43:51,360 --> 00:43:54,160 Speaker 2: late stage Alzheimer's, so I was not able to talk 814 00:43:54,200 --> 00:43:57,120 Speaker 2: to her parents. I was able to talk and continue 815 00:43:57,160 --> 00:43:59,919 Speaker 2: to talk to her community of friends who really were 816 00:44:00,280 --> 00:44:04,640 Speaker 2: her family. And they've been fantastic resources and supporters of 817 00:44:04,640 --> 00:44:08,000 Speaker 2: this book because again It's as important, if not more important, 818 00:44:08,040 --> 00:44:11,960 Speaker 2: to me, that Lolly and Julie remain the main characters 819 00:44:11,960 --> 00:44:14,239 Speaker 2: in this book and not Rice and the honors. I 820 00:44:14,280 --> 00:44:17,040 Speaker 2: think too often in true crime we forget about the 821 00:44:17,040 --> 00:44:19,919 Speaker 2: agency of the victims and we really focus on the perpetrators, 822 00:44:19,920 --> 00:44:22,120 Speaker 2: and I really wanted to keep Lolly and Julie and 823 00:44:22,200 --> 00:44:25,880 Speaker 2: their communities front and center. Julie's family was really helpful 824 00:44:25,920 --> 00:44:28,000 Speaker 2: and supportive when I was writing the book, and it's 825 00:44:28,040 --> 00:44:30,640 Speaker 2: because they were all willing to sit with me and 826 00:44:30,680 --> 00:44:33,960 Speaker 2: share stories and baby pictures and things like that that 827 00:44:34,040 --> 00:44:35,719 Speaker 2: I was able to really tell the story of who 828 00:44:35,719 --> 00:44:38,480 Speaker 2: these two women were and why they were just so remarkable. 829 00:44:39,360 --> 00:44:42,040 Speaker 1: So where do we stand now? Is Darryl Rice in 830 00:44:42,160 --> 00:44:43,120 Speaker 1: jail or prison? 831 00:44:43,480 --> 00:44:46,080 Speaker 2: So Darryl Rice was in prison. He did serve the 832 00:44:46,120 --> 00:44:50,560 Speaker 2: full sentence for that assault against the cyclist. They tried 833 00:44:50,640 --> 00:44:53,520 Speaker 2: to pin the root twenty nine stalker cases on him. 834 00:44:53,840 --> 00:44:57,279 Speaker 2: That didn't work when it finally came back that none 835 00:44:57,360 --> 00:45:00,680 Speaker 2: of this DNA was matching Rice in even the slightest. 836 00:45:00,880 --> 00:45:04,000 Speaker 2: At that point, his trial had moved to jury selection, 837 00:45:04,480 --> 00:45:06,400 Speaker 2: so it's just about to get going. And at that 838 00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:12,480 Speaker 2: point the prosecution thought we literally have no physical evidence, 839 00:45:12,560 --> 00:45:16,360 Speaker 2: and the circumstantial evidence we have is so faint and 840 00:45:16,440 --> 00:45:19,319 Speaker 2: so tangential that we're really concerned that we're not going 841 00:45:19,360 --> 00:45:21,919 Speaker 2: to get a guilty verdict. And so what they did 842 00:45:22,160 --> 00:45:27,839 Speaker 2: is they dismissed his case using a concept called without prejudice, 843 00:45:28,320 --> 00:45:32,000 Speaker 2: and without prejudice basically means we really think we have 844 00:45:32,080 --> 00:45:35,480 Speaker 2: a really solid case here, but there's been some procedural 845 00:45:35,600 --> 00:45:38,759 Speaker 2: thing that's happened that's prevented us from pursuing this the 846 00:45:38,760 --> 00:45:41,640 Speaker 2: way we want to, and so they can bring the 847 00:45:41,719 --> 00:45:45,200 Speaker 2: case against Darryl Rice back at any moment, and so 848 00:45:45,480 --> 00:45:48,920 Speaker 2: he ultimately lives in a state of constant double jeopardy. 849 00:45:49,200 --> 00:45:51,000 Speaker 2: And as far as I can tell, he's the only 850 00:45:51,040 --> 00:45:54,719 Speaker 2: individual in America who currently is in this state where 851 00:45:54,760 --> 00:45:57,440 Speaker 2: he can be brought back for a capital case at 852 00:45:57,440 --> 00:46:00,600 Speaker 2: any time. And meanwhile, everywhere he goes was the local 853 00:46:00,640 --> 00:46:03,880 Speaker 2: newspaper picks up on it, and it's like serial killers 854 00:46:03,960 --> 00:46:05,080 Speaker 2: walking amongst us. 855 00:46:05,360 --> 00:46:08,080 Speaker 1: And it's a tragedy because we come back to Lallie 856 00:46:08,120 --> 00:46:11,800 Speaker 1: and Julie. They were advocates, they were survivors. Must have 857 00:46:11,920 --> 00:46:14,120 Speaker 1: been really difficult for you to report on. It would 858 00:46:14,160 --> 00:46:14,879 Speaker 1: have been difficult for. 859 00:46:14,880 --> 00:46:19,200 Speaker 2: Me, I have felt so connected to them since nineteen 860 00:46:19,280 --> 00:46:22,000 Speaker 2: ninety six. As soon as I heard about the murders, 861 00:46:22,120 --> 00:46:25,680 Speaker 2: it really shattered my sense of security in the back country. 862 00:46:25,800 --> 00:46:28,600 Speaker 2: I've had untold numbers of people approach me after a 863 00:46:28,600 --> 00:46:31,839 Speaker 2: book talk or a lecture and say, I remember that case, 864 00:46:32,040 --> 00:46:34,120 Speaker 2: and I've never gone back into the woods, or I've 865 00:46:34,160 --> 00:46:37,600 Speaker 2: never gone camping alone again, And in that case, I 866 00:46:37,640 --> 00:46:39,960 Speaker 2: think that this really is a hate crime. I think 867 00:46:40,000 --> 00:46:45,240 Speaker 2: for an entire generation of people, especially queer non binary women, 868 00:46:45,760 --> 00:46:49,280 Speaker 2: this case continues to haunt them and continues to affect 869 00:46:49,280 --> 00:46:52,399 Speaker 2: them in ways that has dramatically changed who they are 870 00:46:52,480 --> 00:46:53,520 Speaker 2: whenever they go outside. 871 00:46:58,360 --> 00:47:01,840 Speaker 1: On the next episode of Wicked, Matthew mcgow on the 872 00:47:02,040 --> 00:47:06,319 Speaker 1: LAPD officer who murdered her ex boyfriend's wife. 873 00:47:06,560 --> 00:47:11,399 Speaker 3: She was confiding in her parents and several friends more 874 00:47:11,440 --> 00:47:14,000 Speaker 3: than one that there was this woman who was a 875 00:47:14,360 --> 00:47:17,560 Speaker 3: LAPD officer. There were times that Sherry felt like she 876 00:47:17,719 --> 00:47:22,279 Speaker 3: was being followed, so clearly it's stalking behavior, but there 877 00:47:22,400 --> 00:47:25,560 Speaker 3: wasn't really a name for it. So there were a 878 00:47:25,719 --> 00:47:29,279 Speaker 3: lot of incidents in the months leading up to the 879 00:47:29,360 --> 00:47:44,799 Speaker 3: murder that were very concerning to Sherry. 880 00:47:45,600 --> 00:47:48,160 Speaker 1: My new book, all that Is Wicked is available for 881 00:47:48,239 --> 00:47:51,360 Speaker 1: pre order now, including the audiobook All That Is Wicked 882 00:47:51,480 --> 00:47:54,000 Speaker 1: is based on our first season of tenfold War Wicked. 883 00:47:54,160 --> 00:47:56,160 Speaker 1: You might think you know the whole story of Killer 884 00:47:56,280 --> 00:47:59,520 Speaker 1: Edward Ruloff's crimes, but there's so much more. My book 885 00:47:59,520 --> 00:48:02,680 Speaker 1: American s U is also available. This has been an 886 00:48:02,760 --> 00:48:07,120 Speaker 1: exactly right tenfold War Media production. The producer is Alexisamirosi. 887 00:48:07,400 --> 00:48:11,440 Speaker 1: Our mixer is Ryo Baum, Our sound designer is Andrew Epen. 888 00:48:11,640 --> 00:48:14,720 Speaker 1: Curtis heath Is. Our composer, Nick Toga did the artwork. 889 00:48:14,880 --> 00:48:19,560 Speaker 1: Il Sabrink designed the website. The executive producers are Georgia Hartstark, 890 00:48:19,880 --> 00:48:24,200 Speaker 1: Karen Kilgarriff and Danielle Kramer. Follow Wicked Words on Instagram 891 00:48:24,239 --> 00:48:27,399 Speaker 1: and Facebook at tenfold more Wicked and on Twitter at 892 00:48:27,440 --> 00:48:30,640 Speaker 1: tenfold More and If you know of a historical crime 893 00:48:30,719 --> 00:48:33,880 Speaker 1: that could use some attention, especially if it happened in 894 00:48:33,920 --> 00:48:38,600 Speaker 1: your family, email us at info at tenfoldwoar Wicked dot com. 895 00:48:38,960 --> 00:48:42,200 Speaker 1: We'll also take your suggestions for true crime authors for 896 00:48:42,320 --> 00:48:43,080 Speaker 1: Wicked Words