RICHMOND, Va. -- A loophole in Virginia law is making it potentially harder for law enforcement to solve cold cases. That's because a suspected serial killer's DNA cannot be entered into a nationwide database for cold cases due to Virginia state laws.
Alan Wade Wilmer Sr. died in 2017 at the age of 63.During his life he was never convicted of a felony. But detectives announced earlier this year they believe he is responsible for multiple homicides.
A breakthrough this month in some of the Virginia’s most enduring mysteries, four double homicides collectively referred to as the Colonial Parkway murders. "As a result of the forensic findings both the Isle of Wight County commonwealths attorney and the city of Hampton commonwealths attorney confirm that if Allan Wilmer Sr. was alive today he would be charged in all three of these homicides," Virginia State Police spokesperson Corinne Geller said at a January 8 press conference.
However, the announcement of a suspect doesn’t mean crime labs can easily run Wilmer’s DNA through national databases in hopes of connecting more cases. CBS 6 legal analyst Todd Stone says that this case falls into a gap between who can be legally entered into the FBI's Combined DNA Indexing System or CODIS.
While the FBI maintains that database, all 50 states have their own laws about whose DNA gets collected. "... if he were in the database, yes, it could close a lot of cases. But it just, it doesn't meet the criteria that the General Assembly has laid out," Todd Stone explained. "...the only way to address something like that really is through the General Assembly, they'd have to change the law. And then I think there's some real concerns from a lot of groups, ACLU among them, about privacy and where that line should be drawn."
In a statement to CBS 6, Virginia State Police confirmed that Wilmer's profile hadn't been loaded into CODIS but says, "This is not deterring the work of investigators to request one-on-one comparisons with other unsolved crimes."
In the meantime Virginia State Police are still asking for the public's help in connecting the dots to other cases potentially linked to Alan Wade Wilmer Sr. He worked as fisherman and tree trimmer in the 80s and 90s on the Northern Neck. If you knew him or did business with him, please reach out 1-800-CALL-FBI.
Depend on CBS 6 News and WTVR.com for in-depth coverage of this important story. Anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
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