{"id":2281881,"date":"2024-06-22T16:52:53","date_gmt":"2024-06-22T20:52:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/national-park-double-murder-cold-case-solved-authorities-link-it-to-killer-with-near-total-confidence\/"},"modified":"2024-06-22T16:57:44","modified_gmt":"2024-06-22T20:57:44","slug":"national-park-double-murder-cold-case-solved-authorities-link-it-to-killer-with-near-total-confidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/national-park-double-murder-cold-case-solved-authorities-link-it-to-killer-with-near-total-confidence\/","title":{"rendered":"National Park Double Murder Cold Case Solved, Authorities Link It to Killer with Near-Total Confidence"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnational-park-double-murder-cold-case-solved-authorities-link-it-to-killer-with-near-total-confidence%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2281881&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The long-unsolved mystery of the 1996 double murder\u2062 of Laura Winans and Julianne Williams at Virginia\u2019s Shenahdoah National Park has finally been resolved. Thanks to \u2064a new round of \u200btests, the FBI identified Walter \u201cLeo\u201d \u200dJackson Sr. as the perpetrator, nearly\u2063 30 years after\u200b the murders. The new team \u2062from the FBI\u2019s Richmond field\u2064 office reassessed the case, submitted old evidence for DNA testing, and matched it \u200dto Jackson, \u200dwho \u200bpassed away in \u200c2018. Jackson, a\u2062 convicted\u200c felon\u2063 with a history of serious \u200ccrimes, was often a visitor to the park, establishing a deeper connection to the case. Despite his death,\u2062 the discovery provides closure to a \u2064haunting case that eluded law enforcement for decades.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<header> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/commentary\/\">  Commentary <\/a>  <\/p>\n<h2>National Park Double Murder Mystery Solved, Suspect Was Right Under Authorities&#8217; Nose<\/h2>\n<p> <span> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/author\/jharris\/\">  <\/a> <\/p>\n<p> <span>   By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/author\/jharris\/%20\"><span>Jared Harris<\/span><\/a> <\/span> <span>   June 21, 2024 at 10:23am <\/span> <\/span>  <\/header>\n<section>\n<p>For decades, investigators and sleuths were unable to crack the case of two women murdered while camping at a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of President Trump\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">national park<\/a> in 1996.<\/p>\n<p>Now, things have taken a radical turn as the FBI says a new round of tests has identified the perpetrator and solved this grim cold case.<\/p>\n<p>The bureau made the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fbi.gov\/contact-us\/field-offices\/richmond\/news\/fbi-richmond-identifies-suspect-in-1996-shenandoah-national-park-double-murder\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">announcement<\/a> on Thursday, nearly 30 years after the murders at Virginia\u2019s Shenandoah National Park.<\/p>\n<p>In May 1996, Laura Winans and Julianne Williams were killed at a campsite near the Skyland Resort. Their throats were slashed, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/shenandoah-national-park-1996-killings-two-women-7415eb2d2194688f58e26f952e75e3e0\">The Associated Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Their bodies were not found until a week later, and then only after park rangers conducted a wide search.<\/p>\n<p>Archival news footage from 1996 covers initial efforts to contact potential witnesses and alert hikers in the park.<\/p>\n<p> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Shenandoah National Park murders of Laura Winans and Julianne Williams\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/G930dH0VbL8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen   style=\"display:none\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Attempts to find the women\u2019s killer were unsuccessful over the following decades.<\/p>\n<p>In 2021, a new team out of the bureau\u2019s Richmond field office took over the case.<\/p>\n<div id=\"firefly-poll-container\">\n<p>Are you a supporter of the FBI?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cFBI special agents, intelligence analysts, and other FBI Richmond employees reassessed hundreds of leads and interviews,\u201d the bureau said in its news release. \u201cThey <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/top-female-rights-activist-praises-desantis-for-protecting-girls-sports-on-behalf-of-all-female-athletesthank-you\/\" title=\"Top Female Rights Activist Praises DeSantis For Protecting Girls\u2019 Sports: \u2018On Behalf Of All Female Athletes\u2026Thank You\u2019\">spent countless hours<\/a> to identify and prioritize evidence from the crime scene to retest and submitted the items to an accredited private lab.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Successful DNA extraction on old <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/idaho-student-murders-bryan-kohberger-trial-delayed-after-waiving-right-to-speedy-trial\/\" title=\"Bryan Kohberger trial postponed after waiving speedy trial right in Idaho student murders case.\">evidence led investigators<\/a> to a shocking find, the FBI said.<\/p>\n<p>When put into a national index system, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/disturbing-find-filthy-broken-bus-animals-tested-human-dna-authorities-discover-driver\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">DNA<\/a> hit as a match for Walter \u201cLeo\u201d Jackson Sr., a convicted criminal, according to the release.<\/p>\n<p>Stanley Meador, FBI special agent in charge of the Richmond Office, said the match came with a \u201cone in 2.6 trillion\u201d certainty, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wtvr.com\/news\/local-news\/shenandoah-national-park-murder-suspect-walter-leo-jackson-june-20-2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WTVR-TV<\/a> in Richmond, Virginia, reported.<\/p>\n<p> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FBI Richmond - Shenandoah Park Murder Press Conference\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yDOPZKdblCk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Jackson, a longtime criminal, served multiple years-long prison sentences since the 1980s and spent much of the time after the Shenandoah murders incarcerated and right under authorities\u2019 noses.<\/p>\n<p>The FBI detailed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fbi.gov\/wanted\/seeking-info\/walter-l-jackson-sr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">his criminal history<\/a> which included kidnapping, rapes and assaults.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FBI?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FBI<\/a> Richmond &#038; our law enforcement partners have been working towards this important announcement for 28 years. We have identified the person who murdered Lollie Winans and Julie Williams in the Shenandoah National Park in 1996. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XTPqsUve1l\">https:\/\/t.co\/XTPqsUve1l<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MUN5h0PoGh\">pic.twitter.com\/MUN5h0PoGh<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 FBI Richmond (@FBIRichmond) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FBIRichmond\/status\/1803823078150980027?\">June 20, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Breaking?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Breaking<\/a>: A suspect has been identified in the 1996 murders of Lollie Winans and Julie Williams in the Shenandoah National Park. Evidence from the crime scene matched Walter Leo Jackson, Sr., of Cleveland, Ohio. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7NM7sH5kp3\">pic.twitter.com\/7NM7sH5kp3<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 FBI Richmond (@FBIRichmond) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FBIRichmond\/status\/1803859141921820824?\">June 20, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>He was a hiker who was known to visit the park where the women were murdered, lending even more credibility to the FBI\u2019s findings.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, Jackson died while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/yale-newspaper-forced-apologize-running-personal-ad-incarcerated-pedophile\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">incarcerated <\/a>in March 2018 and will not be made to answer for these murders.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<div>\n<p><b><i>A Note from Our Deputy Managing Editor:<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><i><span>I heard a chilling comment the other day: \u201cWe don\u2019t even know if an election will be held in 2024.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>That wasn\u2019t said by a conspiracy theorist or a doomsday prophet. No, former U.S. national security advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn said that to the founder of The Western Journal, Floyd Brown.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Gen. Flynn\u2019s warning means that the 2024 election is the most important election for every single living American. If we lose this one to the wealthy elites who hate us, hate God, and hate what America stands for, we can only assume that 248 years of American history and the values we hold dear to our hearts may soon vanish.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>The end game is here, and as Benjamin Franklin said, \u201cWe must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>All of this means that <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/subscribe\/?utm_source=site&#038;utm_medium=westernjournalism&#038;utm_campaign=authorpitch\"><i><span>without you<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>, it\u2019s over. We have the platform, the journalists, and the experience to fight back hard, but Big Tech is strangling us through advertising blacklists, shadow bans, and algorithms. Did you know that we\u2019ve been blacklisted by 90% of advertisers? Without direct support from you, our readers, we can\u2019t continue the fight.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Can we count on <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/subscribe\/?utm_source=site&#038;utm_medium=westernjournalism&#038;utm_campaign=authorpitch\"><i><span>your support<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>? It may not seem like much, but a <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/subscribe\/?utm_source=site&#038;utm_medium=westernjournalism&#038;utm_campaign=authorpitch\"><i><span>Western Journal Membership<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>  can make all the difference in the world because when you support us directly, you cut Big Tech out of the picture. They lose control. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>A monthly Western Journal Membership costs less than one coffee and breakfast sandwich each month, and it gets you access to ALL of our content \u2014 news, commentary, and premium articles. You\u2019ll experience a radically reduced number of ads, and most importantly you will be vitally supporting the fight for America\u2019s soul in 2024.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>We are literally counting on you because without our members, The Western Journal would cease to exist. Will you <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/subscribe\/?utm_source=site&#038;utm_medium=westernjournalism&#038;utm_campaign=authorpitch\"><i><span>join us<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>  in the fight? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Sincerely,<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Josh Manning<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Deputy Managing Editor<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>The Western Journal<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"author-info-44845\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/author\/jharris\/\">  <\/a> <\/p>\n<div>\n<p><label for=\"summary-tab-radio-44845\">Summary<\/label><label for=\"more-info-tab-radio-44845\">More<span> Biographical Information<\/span><\/label><label for=\"posts-tab-radio-44845\">Recent<span> Posts<\/span><\/label><label for=\"contact-tab-radio-44845\" onclick=\"if( typeof grecaptcha=='undefined' ) { let cap_s=document.createElement( 'script' ); cap_s.src='https:\/\/www.google.com\/recaptcha\/api.js?render=6LeJFcsUAAAAAPsIEqvB1EebWbZfqRUe6ebMpGy7'; document.body.appendChild( cap_s ); }\">Contact<\/label><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Jared has written more than 200 articles and assigned hundreds more since he joined The Western Journal in February 2017. He was an infantryman in the Arkansas and Georgia National Guard and is a husband, dad and aspiring farmer.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>  Jared has written more than 200 articles and assigned hundreds more since he joined The Western Journal in February 2017. He is a husband, dad, and aspiring farmer. He was an infantryman in the Arkansas and Georgia National Guard. If he&#8217;s not with his wife and son, then he&#8217;s either shooting guns or working on his motorcycle. <\/p>\n<p>  Location <\/p>\n<p>  Arkansas <\/p>\n<p>  Languages Spoken <\/p>\n<p>  English <\/p>\n<p>  Topics of Expertise <\/p>\n<p>  Military, firearms, history <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The decades-old mystery of two women murdered in a national park in 1996 has been solved. The FBI recently identified the suspect, who was unexpectedly close to the investigation from the start<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2047,"featured_media":2281882,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Victims-Jackson.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[32149,20589,32148],"class_list":["post-2281881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily","tag-cold-case","tag-double-murder","tag-national-park"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Victims-Jackson.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2281881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2047"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2281881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2281881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2281882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2281881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2281881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2281881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}