FBI identifies serial rapist as person responsible for 1996 Shenandoah National Park killings

By DENISE LAVOIE
AP Legal Affairs Writer

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Federal authorities have identified a now-deceased serial rapist from Ohio as the man they believe raped and murdered two women in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park almost three decades ago. Authorities announced Thursday that they recently matched DNA from the crime scene to Walter “Leo” Jackson Sr., a convicted rapist who died in prison in 2018.  The bodies of 24-year-old Julianne “Julie” Williams and 26-year-old Laura “Lollie” Winans, were found bound and gagged at their campsite in the park on June 1, 1996. The killings sent a wave of fear through the LGBTQ+ community. But the FBI said during a news conference Thursday that there is no evidence that the women were targeted because of their sexual orientation.