Virginia police name fisher who died in 2017 as suspect in cold-case 80s murders

Alan Wilmer Sr, who died aged 63, would be charged if he were alive, police say, over three unsolved murders in late 1980s

A small-time fisher who died in 2017 has been linked to three cold-case murders in Virginia from the 1980s, including two that were among a series of unsolved killings of couples known as the Colonial Parkway murders, officials have announced.

Virginia state police identified the suspect as Alan Wilmer Sr but offered few details about how he is tied to the killings – which occurred in 1987 and 1989 – or when he became a suspect. However, authorities said Wilmer would be charged if he were alive.