You're listening to the Mind Over Murder podcast. My name is Bill Thomas.
I'm a writer, consulting, producer, and now podcaster. I am now
trying to use my experience as the brother of a murder victim to help other
victims of violent crime. I'm working on a book on the unsolved Colonial Parkway
murders and I'm the co administrator of the Colonial Parkway Murders Facebook group together with
Kristin Dilly. My name is Kristin Dilly. I'm a writer, a researcher,
a teacher, and a victim's advocate, as well as the social media
manager and co administrator for the Colonial Parkway Murders Facebook page with my partner in
crime, Bill Thomas. And we're joined today by Judy Nobling here to talk
to us about David Nobling. Judy, thank you so much for joining us
on Mind Ever Murder. You're welcome, christ nice being here. Judy,
what are some of the words that you would use to describe David as a
person. David was a little awkward who was like a fifteen year old all
in a six foot body like. At times, he was very protective,
he was kind, gentle. He was also a people pleaser. He wanted
everybody to get along, very considerate. Yeah, that pretty much described him
a very gentle giant. We've seen a lot of pictures of David over the
years, and we see this freckle faced, cute kid who looks a little
mischievous, perhaps then grow up to be this really handsome young guy. Yeah.
Did he realize that he wasn't the awkward kid anymore and that he was
particularly you see him in his military uniform, and did he understand that he?
I think he finally did when he was in his military uniform and everything
after that, But before then, no, he was. It was very
awkward and very immature for his age, he really was. But just because
he's very protective. He was very protective. I had David when I was
sixteen, and it was just him and me for a long time because I
got divorced right away, so it was him and me for a long time
there. And so when you say protective, you mean of you in particular,
of me, of his brother, of anybody. He was a very
protective type. He would look out for anybody. He was. He thought
he was a big, strong, strapping dude, you know what I mean?
When actually he was skinny as a runch. Oh, it's funny.
The pictures are deceptive because he looks very broad shouldered. Yeah, maybe it
might be. Was about a twenty one for our listeners, give us a
little context about your family in David's place in it was his birth order in
the family. Who did he relate to the best, that sort of thing.
It took family very seriously. He was the oldest grandchild, okay,
the first grandchild born, and he took that very seriously. I can remember.
He tried to look out for everybody else. I remember one time his
last Easter at my grand at my parents, and the kids then were about
twelve thirteen, most of them, okay, and he's like the eighteen nineteen
year old, right, So he's saying, okay, let's have an Easter
egg hunt, and they're all going, we're too old for that. He's
a whome. No, everybody get inside. We're having an Easter egg hunt,
you know. Of course, And of course he goes out there and
hides Easter eggs and all these kids come out there and everybody had a blast.
Of course. That was him though, right there. He wanted to
be. He was a people person. He liked to be around people and
wanted everybody to have fun, everybody to like him. And it sounds like
he was the Easter egg hunt organizer in that example. He was yeah,
he was yeah, he had to be in charge. Now. Was that
part of the military training that he'd had or was that just his nature?
I think that was just his nature. I think it was. He didn't
care for military school when he first went. He was like thirteen fourteen years
old, I think. But he went to military school up in Chatham at
Hart Great Military Academy, and it was really difficult. It was really difficult
for him. At first, he hated it. He was complaining. Way
to come home, he had to march for hours in the rain. I
shuddered to think what he did to deserve that. And then he finally got
used to it a little bit. My brother lived up there and his family
would come get him for weekends and that helped out a lot. So then
when he come back here, I couldn't afford but that first year. But
then when he come back that summer, he decided he wanted to go to
military school. So he enrolled in at Frederick Military Academy in Portsmouth. So
that was closer and less expensive. Michael and I could run over every Friday
afternoon and pick him up and then take him back every Sunday. It was
really good. Then life was really good. Then that was a great time.
He and Michael developed a close bond. Unfortunately, yeah, unfortunately the
school closed down. Though. What was the idea of the military school?
Did you feel that he needed that level of discipline or some focus? You
see his stepdad, Carl and I separated when he was eleven and Michael was
seven. Okay. I didn't realize how devastating that would be for the boys,
and it was, and Carl was very upset with me at the time,
and he refused to visit with the boys, okay, and that just
hurt him, and they both just acted out. And here I am with
the two boys at home, and I'm trying to go to work, and
I'm getting calls of busted windows and this and that, and I just I
couldn't work and worry about them. So something had to be done, and
I couldn't send them to Carl. So I enrolled David in military school in
retrospect to work. At the time, it did seem to work at the
time, it was helpful. Yeah, but he did end up when he
came back home, then he surprised me by getting his ged. He didn't
want to go back to public school, so he got his ged because he
knew how much I valued education. So I went out and immediately got him
a high scho ring. He was just tickled to death with that. What
you prompably gave to a girlfriend and lost. So then when it was found
after his death, though, it ended up being turned over to Carl,
so I haven't seen it. So what were some of David's hopes and dreams
and future plans at the time of his death? What was he eventually hoping
to do long term? I honestly don't know. I really don't know.
First of all, his Tara was pregnant at the time, so he was
looking forward to being a father. But he worked at the time at the
Water Purification Plan selling water purification systems and he had just got to his first
paycheck that week when he died, and he was really good at that.
He was a talker. He can talk his way pretty much into anything.
Yes, I honestly don't know what would have happened. I really don't know.
I'm sure he would have been successful because he's he was hard headed and
determined. I can remember when he went to when he wanted to get a
truck after he got his driver's license, and I told him that I would
co sign for him, and I put the down payment down right off.
We go to the store and he wanted a brand new truck, A brand
new truck. Blah blah blah. We'll come back another day. And then
I think the next day he comes driving up in this truck that we had
looked at that I told him he couldn't have. He says, I financed
it, so, yeah, he could manage to do that. I said,
okay, fine, I'll do it anyway. So after he died,
I ended up having to pay for the truck. Oh that's right. Some
people, his brother and other friends, had said that he was almost like
a super salesman though in other words, he connected with people. I don't
know if it was Michael or somebody else's brother who said he was one of
those ice cubes to Eskimo's kind of salesman, that he could have sold anyone
anything because he had that charm. He did, he really did. Of
course, I was strict on him. I can remember one time I got
a call from Ford Motor Credit saying they hadn't received his payment on that truck.
So I go over to his place in the middle of the night because
I had a key, after all, I co signed part my car,
right, that's right truck rather, So I go over and I move his
truck so he couldn't find it. Then I call him and tell him,
if you can't make the payments, then you can't get the car the truck.
Anyway, a little lesson and responsibility exactly. Turn out the check was
in the mail and it just didn't get there. But anyway, that didn't
happen again. He was very careful about making the payments and ahead of time.
What was David's relationship like with Tara You mentioned her previously. We know
she was pregnant at the time of his death. What were their plans were
you were aware of? They had dated for a couple of years. She
lived with her grandparents and David was over there all the time. He thought
a lot of her grandparents, and they felt the same way about him up
until she got pregnant anyway, and of course he died before the baby was
born. I think they were breaking up. I'm not sure it wasn't.
They were not on the best of terms at the time, and he was
trying to decide if he should marry or not marry, or it wasn't any
issue about taking care of the baby. He was looking forward to the baby.
But I don't know what would have happened with that relationship because he really
wasn't quite sure that the baby was his at the time. But Tarah no
Tera seems to have a different perception. Of course, she's looking back on
things more than thirty years later as well. Yeah, true, Yeah,
I visited in the hospital and the baby was born, and then I kept
up the relationship with her. And just for clarification for our listeners, in
this next section, we are talking about David and Tara's daughter Ashley until she
moved got married and moved away to Texas really and then she got divorced after
five or six years and come back here, and she didn't have custody of
the boys, two boys by then. But I had gone to visit her
down there, and I realized that her life was miserable. She was working
as a waitress or something, and she was just paying child support. That
was all she did. She was renting a room. She had a crummy
job and no car, no training, no family in Texas. So I
convinced her to come back to Virginia and go to school, which she did.
She come back, she became a paralegal and stayed here for several years,
and then she missed the boys. They needed her, and so she
moved back there. And that's where she is now. So I don't get
to see her, but but a couple of times a year, and the
boys maybe once a year. Really missed. No, she moved back to
Texas about year and a half ago. Yeah, I guess it's possible she
might have been up in Virginia when we were shooting the Lover's Lane. Oh
yeah, she was here then, yeah, Okay, got it. So
she's back in Texas now, Oh yeah, yeah. And then she was
up here and she she went to school. She worked at the law firm
where I worked for five five to six years. Yeah, Oh, I
didn't know that. That's very interesting. Are you still with that law firm?
No, I retired. I retired about five years ago, but she
was still there when I left. We're talking about Ashley, Tara's daughter,
Ashley would not have anything to do with her mother. M h. I
have never talked to Tara at all since this, since any of this.
Maybe one time, but no, Tara was a drug addict, Okay.
That's why Ashley was with her grandmother on her mother's side, got it,
Okay, Sorry for the Yeah. When all this happens, and I've tried
to convince Ashley to talk to her mother, but she won't. She just
she will not forgive her for the way she treated her. It was very
difficult for and Ashley. We were referencing him a few minutes ago. It's
Ashley that's been back and forth between Texas and Virginia. Yes, and she
had two sons. How did David know Robin Edwards and her family? He
really didn't, okay. So he had his own apartment. I convinced him
to move in with me because I was having financial problems and it wasn't all
great for him either. So he moved in and moved back home. And
he was hanging around the house one night when their cousin, Jason, who
is more Michael's age, okay, was spending the night, and then he
had he had been talking to a girl that he knew who was Robin,
who had been in some kind of a I don't know, halfway house or
something like that, and she had just gotten back home again and she wanted
to go out. I think they wanted to go to movies or something,
so David agreed to take them all out. You're listening to mind Over Murder.
We'll be right back. Who wants some brand new mind over Murder merchandise?
You do, of course, and our friends at che Public have hooked
us up with some great merchandise. They are mind over Murder t shirts,
available in about six different ways, eight female, male, soft, not
so soft, something that looks like your old gym shirt, all the above,
and in any color that you want as well. The possibilities are limitless.
And then we have tank tops, crew necked sweatshirts, which probably won't
be big in July, but might be more popular, say in October,
better for those cooler months and also for cooler months, long sleeve T shirts,
baseball t shirts, and you get to configure the color of the shirt
and the color of your sleeves. You could do your entire women's softball team
in mind Over Murder t shirts. Baseball it's that idea. We've also got
mugs available, magnets, stickers, laptop cases, phone cases, and toe
bags. I'm going to order a couple of toebags, can take one every
day of the week to school. We've got masks, which I hope we
won't be wearing soon, and Walart notebooks. A pillow. I don't know
if I need a mind Over Murder pillow, but somebody else might love it.
Perfect for your living room. And then for the younger crime fighters,
we have kids t shirts, kids hoodies, kids' longsleeve t shirts in a
variety of colors. All of these things can be configured just about in any
color you can imagine. And then my favorite, the Mindover Murder onesie for
the smallest crime fighters among us. So if you're interested in any of this
great merchandise, take a look at the website at teapublic dot com and type
in mindover Murder podcast. You can also look for links on our social media
pages and in our show notes. We're back here at Mindover Murder. Anyway,
they go out, Jason, Michael David, and they come back in
just a little while and tell me the movie sold out. David wants to
know if he should go back to her house and tell her parents that the
movie sold out. We want to go to the arcade and play some video
games, and I said, no, I don't think so just get her
back when she's supposed to be on time. I think that would be fine.
And so off they go again. And then later on they come back.
They had already dropped her off and everything. We're sitting around eating pizza
anyway, so David decides he's going out again. It was late eleven thirty
or so, but he's twenty years old. I don't tell him whatever.
So he goes, and so that was it. I did not hear from
him anymore. We went on to bed next morning with Sunday, so we
slept in and I didn't think it unusual that he wasn't there, because lots
of times he gets He's a get up and go kind of person. So
I figured maybe he got up and he's gone on his way wherever. But
then by the afternoon I hadn't heard from him. By dinner time, I
hadn't heard from him. That's when I started getting worried and started calling all
around everywhere, and I couldn't nobody had ever seen him heard from him or
anything. I finally called the police. I don't know who was dinner the
next day or whatever. There was no problem to them, there was It
hadn't been enough time. He's not a missing person, he's an adult.
Couldn't do anything about it. And would that have been twenty four or more
hours since you had seen him by that point when you were talking with the
police, it had been twenty four, but at that time I think it
had to be at least forty eight. And he was a grown man from
the and he was a grown man. Yeah. Police, even when they
found his truck over at Ragged Island, they said, it doesn't look like
there's been foul play, and he's an adult, there's still no problem.
Even with the clothes in the cab of the truck. They didn't see a
problem. Nope. They didn't see a problem. Nope. Did they offer
any thoughts as to why they thought? From everything we've heard from Michael David's
brother, that Ford Ranger pickup was his pride and joy. Oh yeah,
that was definitely his baby. Oh yeah, nobody. They would not have
left it like that. He would not have left it. We all knew
he would not have left his truck unattended, and Mules made the point as
well that David was in the habit of always parking his truck nose out.
It was a thing was back into the space, which I know is is
a car guy truck guy thing. And yet here the truck was pulled nose
in to the space, unlocked, unlocked with the keys in the ignition,
if we understand correctly, I think so, yeah, and his wallet up
on the dashboard. I think law enforcement didn't seem to think that all those
little things were unusual. Nope. I just said, maybe he was in
a hurry to get somewhere. And there's no broken windows, and there's no
drag marks or anything. There's no blood anywhere. Everything's fine. So it
took carassing them for several days, or maybe it took forty eight hours for
him to be missing. I don't know what it was. But finally they
took us seriously. But by then they had insisted that we moved the truck,
so I had the truck toed over. I asked Carl if it keep
it at his place, because I really didn't. I said, look,
something's wrong and I really don't want to reminder at my house constantly. So
anyway, so they took it over there, and it seems that eventually they
come over there to take fingerprints or something, but by then the truck has
already been gone through. I'm sorry, go ahead. I think they ended
up dropping the fingerprints or something. Maybe I don't know if they've dropped them
or lost them or what. But anyway, we've heard a story that the
print cards were dropped in the driveway. I think that's what Carl told us.
David's dad, Carl did agree to take the truck. Did they toe
it to Carl's house or did they drop I don't remember. Yeah, I
don't remember. Yeah, I don't remember. I think they towed it,
but I don't remember. We're talking about when we say they regarding law enforcement,
what agency are you dealing with? Do you recall, no, was
this Isle of White, Sheriff. I would think it would be all of
White. I think it was Isle of Light. And you were living in
Newport News at the time. Correct. I was living in Hampton, Hampton,
Okay, So you were not dealing with Hampton PD or any agencies on
that side of the river. You were dealing with Isle of Wight on the
far side of the James River, but that's where the truck was. Am
I reading into things? It sounds like you had some difficulty having Isle of
Wight take things seriously. Oh yeah, definitely. And were any other agencies
involved at that point, Not that I know of, Not that I know
of. I don't even remember talking to them. After I talked to them
that first time. My dad and I went back up there several times before
he was the body was found. Carl was up there. I think we
had just gotten home one time when they found the body and I saw it
on television. That's how I knew my son was dead. Do you mind
was on the news? Do you mind telling us how that happened? I
don't know how that happened. I was from your point of view though,
In other words, you're at home watching television. And did they say that
they had a a break in that case or did they just blurted out over
the over the television news. No, this was just the news. Okay,
this was just the news. And actually I do remember being over there
one time though, when David and I were over there, when we realized
that the shoes in the truck belonged to Robin Michael recognized them as I don't
know if they had writing on them or be dazzled or something like that,
but there were doodles on them like drawings. Yeah, that was when I
called his dad then and told him that he was missing and all that kind
of stuff. So I had called my boss and told him I wouldn't be
in and he came over and picked me up, and we went over there
and he walked through it. But anyway, I went back. He wanted
me to go back to work. So I went back to work for a
couple of hours, and who could concentrate, do you know what I mean?
So I left to care. Sure, Yeah, we went back over
there. We just kept hanging back over there. And so anyway, so
the police did asked that we moved his truck, and I asked Carl to
keep it to his place. And I don't remember talking to the hardly at
all. I'm sure I must have, but I was totally in shock.
And after I heard he was dead, and it was on the news is
where I heard it. They were showing a body bag being hauled off.
And did they actually use David and Robin's names? No? Not. Then
I don't think God immediately they were just but of course I knew at end
it showed a picture of my dad there. Yeah, okay, And this
is just a reminder for our listeners. This is before cell phones, So
this is definitely before cell phones. Yeah, it must have been difficult to
even get updates in terms of what was going on in the three day search
because they're out there looking in the Ragged Island area, which is very spread
out and swampy with paths and that sort of thing, and then looking along
the water's edge. It must have been difficult for you to try to just
follow along with whatever was going on. It was, it was, it
was. It was difficult just sit home and try to wait to hear something.
So I would go out there for a while, and then I'd come
back home, and then I'd go out there again. It was just it
was horrible. So with Ragged Island a place that David frequented, or was
it a place that he would not have had any occasion to be at,
I really don't know. I didn't even know about the place, and I
can't imagine him knowing about the place. I don't think it was a place
he frequented but maybe I really don't know. Talking to Robin's family, they
said they had no familiarity with the place either. It was on the far
side I know of the river, and not a place that they recall ever
going, and they didn't think that Robin had ever been there either. I
know. It's weird. As far as I could figure, I don't know.
I don't know why she wanted him to pick her up later. I
don't know why they were meeting. That was just strange, although I will
admit I did find a road in his ashtray, so they had been smoking
marijuana, I think, but of course I took it before the cops got
there. Did you ever discuss it with the police? I don't think so.
I don't know that they ever asked or, like I said, I
don't remember talking to them. I think they pretty much talked to Carl.
I don't think I talked to him. And have you and Carl ever talked
much about this in the years since? No, No, Carl just took
over be in our family all of a sudden, even though he wasn't even
in David's family before then, which after we separated, he decided not to
visit anymore. He was out of it. I just I called him in
when David was missing. That's the only time up until then. I think
he went to Christmas parties at his dad's house, and that might have been
it. It does sound like Carl was trying to help in some way in
his own way. Yes, yes he was. He was in searching,
and I know that Carl tells a story about pushing asked some of the investigators
who didn't want to allow him to search the water's edge. Yeah, I'm
sure he would do that. That sounds consistent with his personality what little I
know of. Yes, he has a persistent personality, A man of strong
opinions. I think is probably fair. Would you agree? I will.
But it was this whole saying was really difficult. There was a lot of
publicity and stuff right after this, and Carl and his new wife taking over,
and I just I could handle it. I try to commit suicide.
Oh my god, I'm so sorry. But that was about six months that
afterwards. Do you feel like that was all related to what was going on
with losing David? Oh yeah, definitely, yep. Yes, And I
was such a horrible mom at that time with Michael. He ended up turning
to drugs. I was in the hospital and then he was on drugs for
years. So sorry. Now we've gotten to know Michael a bit in the
last couple of years, and he actually is an amazing young man. He
really is, isn't that something between I've finally got my stuff together though,
And then when he was on drugs, I realized that I've got him to
deal with now. So it was me and him against the world, and
together with drug Court that really saved his life. Then he came through it
on the other side and he could not be more perfect, and he really
could not be. He appreciates everything he's got. He met his current wife
right after he got off the drugs and all that, and she saved Yeah,
yeah, she actually saved him and he didn't go back to drugs then.
But I don't think he ever would have been on them if it wasn't
for David's murder. He was always a good student to behave. Now he's
got two step daughters he considers his own. Yes, I've never seen such
a happy family, and he has taken over David's role of taking care of
everybody, his grandmother, me, his cousins, anybody, got car trouble,
Colin Michael, anybody need a place to stay? Colin Michael took that
over for David. All of us who've gotten to know him in the last
few years, and of course he's a grown man now, were incredibly impressed
with him. And I remember being there with the television cruise twice when we
shot interviews with Michael and he impressed everyone. And he and Tonda were absolutely
lovely and so kind and gracious, and he's a very thoughtful guy, he
really is. You're listening to Mind Over Murder. We'll be right back after
this word from our sponsors. We're back here at mindover Murder. Oh my
gosh, did he tell you the story about going out on a park to
a party one night and seeing David's picture up in someone's house? No,
what do you know? What do you know about this? Yes, So
he went to a party one night and they stopped by this somebody's a friend
of a friend, and there we are and he saw his brother's picture up
there, and he asked, why do you have this? And he says
it's my brother. And he says, no, that's my brother. What
are you talking about? And it turns out that was his David's stepbrother.
David had gone and unbeknownst to me or Michael, looked up his biological father
and had developed a relationship with them. He used to visit them all the
time. Oh my god, I didn't know that. I didn't even know
that until after he passed. Oh how interesting. And so, like I
said, he was a people person. He liked to have friends, he
wanted to be around people. And I guess he missed having a dad.
Maybe that got him interested in it. I don't know. Did he have
contact with his biological father, Yes, he did, and then met his
brother as well, his stepbrothers. Yeah. Interesting. Wow, Now we'd
never heard that. And so David, excuse me, Michael's at this party
and he realizes that he's actually related to this young guy as well, is
he not. No, he wouldn't be because Michael, because Michael is Carl's
son. But David was Justin's son, got it. Okay, So no
direct blood relationship, but a family relationship. Right. One of the things
we're curious about, Judy, is do you recall when the Virginia State Police
became an involved in the case nos a long time after David died. Do
you think we're just asking you a guest, but remember, your educated guest
is better than anybody else's. Are we talking about months or perhaps years after
David died that the Virginia State Police got involved. I would think it would
be closer to years. And do you know we've been told But I'm curious
if anyone ever told you, as a family member, as a mother,
why the Virginia State Police were getting involved at that point. No, actually,
other than was it of a state park or something? I think that
was what we were told. That answer has come up recently, which was
new to Kristen and me. What we've been told for years And I'm not
saying this is one hundred percent accurate, but we've been told that Isle of
Wight was a very small sheriff's department, bigger now than thirty years ago,
but they didn't have the resources, supposedly to investigate a case. I think
maybe that is another Yeah, I think that maybe that is another reason why.
But also because it was a state part that's just I don't know,
weird. And did investigators reach out to you at any point with updates or
questions? Once or twice? I know I have a phone number, and
I called a couple of months ago to the state police and they're very nice.
They just you know, yeah, we're doing we're still following leads and
we're doing this DNA whatever, and we'll get back to you. And then
I don't hear back. Did they say specifically what they were doing with DNA?
They did, but I don't remember, okay, And would this have
been what I was told a while back is they have a very small part
a DNA sample and they really can't do much with it. Okay, That's
what I've been until they find something to try to match it with. Get
stuck. But they did say that they are still actively investigating the case,
like they said that they're working on Yes, yes they did. Do you
recall if this was investigator Dustin Weymouth, German or a different investigator. No,
that was him, and that was just months ago. And did he
initiate the caller? Did you do you remember? No? I did?
I did. If you call, will they return your call? Probably are
usually texting, but yes, So when you text him, how does he
reply? Then he replies by text? If there were new scientific opportunities which
we're aware of to test this DNA using much more advanced search technology. Is
that something that you would be interested in and would support. Oh, yes,
definitely. As a matter of fact, I think that's what he said
at the time, that there's something new that they were going to try.
We're pushing the FBI on Kathy Thomas and Rebeccadowski's case to use more advanced forensics.
And I am aware of the fact that there is a small sample available
from David and Robins case, which is as I understand it, it's not
in great shape. It's thirty plus years old, and they were exposed to
water and perhaps seawater. And I believe, and I'm trying to be fair
to law enforcement here, I believe they've conducted tests over the years, but
some of those tests consumed the DNA so that there's not very much left.
One of our questions is we think they should be using this new what they
call full genome sequencing DNA testing, which uses dramatically less of the sample and
it's much more precise than ever before. And all these developments are in the
last five years, so this obviously wasn't I really think that's what he mentioned.
That's good news. Then, yeah, I really think that's what he
mentioned. Let me ask a question, though. Let's say that we knew
we only had a very small amount of DNA left, we knew we only
had one shot if left with the DNA that we have had, would you
be okay if we took a final shot with whatever DNA was left, using
the most advanced testing available. But it might mean that we have nothing left
at the end of the process. I'm just asking you a theoretical here.
Would you support that? I think we ought to use the best that we've
got, Yes, even if we have to use it a hall because heck,
it's it's going to be thirty four years coming up. So what difference
does it make at this point? What's been your overall view of the way
the case has been handled by Isle of Weight in Virginia State Police. Naturally,
I feel like they dropped the bucket on the very initial in stages.
They wouldn't even consider that I knew what I was talking about, that he
was missing and there was no reason for it. I don't know, especially
what else they could have done well, especially given your close relationship and the
fact that there were so many things that were wrong about that. The way
the truck was found, and the circumstances that were just so not what David
was all about as we understand it, I know, And they just would
not listen to us until a body pretty much was found. They weren't interested.
I know that. Michael was very insistent. He just said, there
is no way my brother would have left the truck the keys in it.
And he said it just and we he said, we'd worked on that truck
in the garage and the driver at the house, and he said we'd hardwired
the radio so we could play the tunes when we were doing stuff at the
beach and that sort of thing. And he said, you didn't need to
have the key in the accessory position to play the stereo. And he said
that's right, because the police kept telling us maybe he had this sere on
and David Michael was explaining to him that he didn't need to do that,
and this was all something that the two brothers shared. And it's funny.
We know Michael, he's a total car guy to this day, Oh my
god, yes, total. But he remembered all of those details about the
Ford Ranger truck and the things they'd done to fix it up, and he
said, there's no way, and he ticked off the nose out position.
There's no need to leave the car in the accessory position to play tunes,
and he said, and there's no way in the world. He said that
his brother would ever leave that truck unless he was forced to. He said
he'd close and lock the truck at McDonald's. When they went inside to get
a hamburger, it really looked like the truck had been set up the way
everything was positioned in it, the shoes and it underwear on the gear shift,
is wailap up on the dashboard, that these are not the way things
would have been less personally, I think they had gotten out of the truck
and walked down to the beach area. At one point there was a towel
there that looked like it would have been like it was one of mine,
But I really could be sure, so I didn't say anything. But it's
like they were down at the beach when this happened, and that would have
been this straight one hundred or two hundred yards paralleling the bridge that would have
taken you right down to that sandy area. Right. What do you think
of this question that's come up about whether or not, they would have gone
straight towards the water, paralleling the James River Bridge. As opposed to this
idea that they might have been forced to walk through the paths in the marsh
to a place further along. Does any of that long walk through the I
don't know. There's no way they could have walked through that long walk to
where the bodies were found. They couldn't have done that. I guess if
somebody has a gun to you, you probably could, but this was all
marsh back then. This was they would but it was not a place where
you would be. I think it was somebody on a boat. I think
somebody was doing a drug dealer or something on a boat and they were there
and they stumbled across them something and then I don't know if they shot them
first, or they made them get in the boat and go up to where
that other little island is, made them get often and that's where it all
happen. So that puts them in a wrong place, wrong time kind of
scenario. Yeah, I really think that's what happened. So when we talked
to Jennette in our last episode, she said that she does not think that
this case is necessarily related to the others in the Colonial Parkway Murders series.
Do you feel the same way. I don't think I do feel the same
way. I don't think it's related either. And the state police are kind
of fifty to fifty on it too. They really some of them don't feel
that way at all. So the way they see it and the way you
see it, this is an independent event, this idea of the Colonial Parkway
murders, And I'm putting air quotes around that may not apply here at all.
It may not know ultimately. What do you want to see happen with
the case moving forward? You mentioned earlier it will be thirty four years in
September. What would you like to see happen to bring some answers and justice
for Robin and David. I would like to see the killer caught, but
I don't see that. I really don't see that unless somebody has already arrested
on death row and decides to admit to it, or maybe they die and
they had told someone else that they did it. Other than that, I
don't think it's going to be solved. And considering how much it's destroyed me
and my family, it's just hard to believe somebody would deliberately do that.
Yeah, for us as well. Is that something that, in any way,
shape or form you can make peace with I don't know. I don't
think you can make peace. I think you just survived stuff. I don't
think you get over it. I don't think you make peace with it.
You just survive it. And that's just what I've been doing. We're glad
of it. Judy. I can't thank you enough for taking the time to
talk to us today. You're welcome, Bill, and I appreciate all you
too. Sure hope we find justice one day. We're working on it.
Yeah, Kristin, it was nice talking to you. I was wonderful talking
to you too. I hope we get to meet in person at some point
now that I think you seem to have calmed down around here. Thank you
so much for joining us on mind Over Murder. We'll see you next time.
Mind Over Murder is a production of Absolute Zero and Another Dog Productions.
Our executive producers are Bill Thomas and Kristin Dilley. Our logo art is by
Pamela Arnois. Our theme music is by Kevin McLoud. Mind Over Murder is
distributed in partnership with crawl Space Media. You can follow us on Facebook,
Twitter, or Instagram. You can also follow our page on the Colonial Parkway
murders on Facebook, and finally, you can follow Bill Thomas on Twitter at
Bill Thomas. Five six. Thank you for listening to Mind Over Murder