1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:07,280 You're listening to the Mind Over Murder podcast. My name is Bill Thomas. 2 00:00:07,799 --> 00:00:12,080 I'm a writer, consulting, producer, and now podcaster. I am now 3 00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:16,039 trying to use my experience as the brother of a murder victim to help other 4 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:20,280 victims of violent crime. I'm working on a book on the unsolved Colonial Parkway 5 00:00:20,359 --> 00:00:24,640 murders, and I'm the co administrator of the Colonial Parkway Murders Facebook group together 6 00:00:24,719 --> 00:00:28,519 with Kristin Dilly. My name is Kristin Dilly. I'm a writer, a 7 00:00:28,559 --> 00:00:32,479 researcher, a teacher, and a victim's advocate, as well as the social 8 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:37,799 media manager and co administrator for the Colonial Parkway Murders Facebook page with my partner 9 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:43,200 in crime, Bill Thomas. Welcome to mind Over Murder. I'm Kristin Dilly 10 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:50,479 and I'm Bill Thomas, and we're talking today about the Route twenty nine stalker. 11 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:55,399 Oh she's using the spooky voice today. Yeah. This is a pretty 12 00:00:55,439 --> 00:01:00,640 mysterious case and it's one that has confounded people in and around on the Central 13 00:01:00,679 --> 00:01:04,000 Virginia area for quite a while. So I'm glad that we're finally getting a 14 00:01:04,079 --> 00:01:08,840 chance to talk about it. A lot like the Colonial Parkway murders. The 15 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:15,680 Route twenty nine Stocker label may actually be a little bit of a misnomer because 16 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:23,480 it encompasses a pretty wide series of crimes that ultimately may not all be connected. 17 00:01:23,159 --> 00:01:26,480 We're not entirely sure which of them are which of them aren't. There 18 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:30,079 are so many cases here that it's going to take us a little bit to 19 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:34,359 cover them all. But the umbrella term Route twenty nine Stoker, after doing 20 00:01:34,599 --> 00:01:38,040 more research on this, is a little bit of a misnomer because it's not 21 00:01:38,159 --> 00:01:42,719 just one Route twenty nine Stoker. I think there's many Route twenty nine Stokers. 22 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:49,879 Bear with us. We're going to start broad and then narrow down. 23 00:01:49,719 --> 00:01:55,519 I know that ye Kristen said in her notes that this is an umbrella term, 24 00:01:56,079 --> 00:01:59,599 But at the same time I was also thinking about a funnel, because 25 00:01:59,719 --> 00:02:04,760 yes, we start wide, and please don't think we've completely lost our minds. 26 00:02:04,799 --> 00:02:08,439 We're going to talk about a number of different cases which potentially may be 27 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:14,439 linked, and then over the course of the conversation we'll begin to narrow things 28 00:02:14,479 --> 00:02:17,599 down a little bit. So hence the funnel example exactly, And I think 29 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:22,479 that does work better than umbrella. But when I settled down to do my 30 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:27,039 research about Route twenty nine, and I started looking at cases that people were 31 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:29,879 like, this could be Route twenty nine Stocker, this could be Route twenty 32 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:32,479 nine Stocker. I was like, Oh, this is a lot, it 33 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:37,759 is. What I'm going to do is I'm going to go ahead and just 34 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:45,080 mention the overarching number of cases that could potentially be related to the Route twenty 35 00:02:45,159 --> 00:02:49,199 nine Stocker, and then we're going to break down the ones that definitely aren't 36 00:02:49,439 --> 00:02:52,719 Route twenty nine Stocker, and the ones that maybe could be, and the 37 00:02:52,719 --> 00:02:57,000 ones that we're not sure of. It's going to be a crazy episode. 38 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:00,479 So first, let me just establish that the Route twenty nine stocker's umbrella term 39 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:07,599 describes the murders of thirteen different women that happen in the area along Route twenty 40 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:13,439 nine between Charlottesville, Virginia and Manassas, Virginia. And this happened in the 41 00:03:13,439 --> 00:03:19,159 time frame between nineteen ninety six in twenty fourteen. So I'm gonna list our 42 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:22,919 victims' names first, because, as always, we try to be victim centric 43 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:27,400 here and we want all of these women to have their names mentioned. The 44 00:03:27,439 --> 00:03:34,039 potential victims of the Route twenty nine Stalker are Alicia Showalter, Reynolds, Julie 45 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:42,439 Williams, Lally Winan's and McDaniel, Thelmas Skroggins, Cyphia Silva, Kristen Lisk, 46 00:03:43,039 --> 00:03:49,240 Katie Lisk, Morgan Harrington, Samantha Clark, Alexis Murphy, Sage Smith, 47 00:03:49,719 --> 00:03:53,080 and Hannah Graham. Some of those cases are eventually going to be taken 48 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:58,840 off the table because we know who perpetrated the crimes against them. But when 49 00:03:58,919 --> 00:04:01,280 you do as I think we all do, which is go to the source 50 00:04:01,319 --> 00:04:05,120 of all knowledge Wikipedia. If you were to google the Route twenty nine Stoker 51 00:04:05,479 --> 00:04:11,319 on Wikipedia, they would list all of these women and their cases under the 52 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:15,360 Route twenty nine Stocker umbrella, which is why I started there. Fair enough 53 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:18,920 so far, tell our listeners a little bit more about Route twenty nine itself. 54 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:23,720 So Route twenty nine is, as Bill said, a federal highway and 55 00:04:23,759 --> 00:04:28,800 it runs north south and it is one thirty six miles long. It actually 56 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:34,120 runs from Florida to Maryland. When it runs through Virginia, it bisects it 57 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:41,399 into eastern and western halves. It provides the major north south route through the 58 00:04:41,439 --> 00:04:45,160 Commonwealth, or one of the major north south routes through the Commonwealth. If 59 00:04:45,199 --> 00:04:49,720 you move in the direction from south to north. Route twenty nine has bypassed 60 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:58,160 routes through Danville, Lynchburg, Lovingston, Charlottesville, Madison, Culpepper, Remington, 61 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:00,959 and Warrenton. Those names are going to come back in just a little 62 00:05:00,959 --> 00:05:04,240 bit as we discuss those cases, So everybody pay attention. They'll be a 63 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:11,439 quiz on this later. We promised to include detailed information in our show notes 64 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:15,839 as always. Okay, so we'll go ahead and start, and I'm going 65 00:05:15,879 --> 00:05:19,000 to just break this down bit by bit. Bill is going to offer colorful 66 00:05:19,079 --> 00:05:24,920 commentary and additional salient details as needed, and we'll see how much we can 67 00:05:24,959 --> 00:05:28,079 get through for one episode. But I get the sense this is going to 68 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:31,360 take us a little bit. I think you're right. We'll go ahead and 69 00:05:31,399 --> 00:05:36,560 start with the term Route twenty nine stalker because it is a pretty evocative and 70 00:05:36,639 --> 00:05:44,519 interesting moniker. The Route twenty nine stalker refers to the man who, during 71 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:49,079 nineteen ninety six, was spotted signaling more than twenty women to pull over to 72 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:54,759 the side of the road, pretending that they were having issues with their cars. 73 00:05:55,759 --> 00:05:59,199 The pretty typical ruse that he would use was, oh, I can 74 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:02,720 see spark flying out from underneath your car, you better pull over and let 75 00:06:02,759 --> 00:06:06,399 me help you. Ultimately, when a lot of these women pulled over, 76 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:10,920 the cars didn't have anything wrong with them, which I would think is a 77 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:15,519 pretty big red flag for anybody who's suddenly been pulled over by somebody. There 78 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:17,839 are theories as to who this person was, which we'll get into shortly. 79 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:24,120 Signaling more than twenty women came forward eventually and said I was signaled by this 80 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:27,480 guy. Pulled over by this guy, and apparently he was waiting for just 81 00:06:27,519 --> 00:06:33,680 the right victim, and he found that victim with Alicia Showalter Reynolds. Alicia 82 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:38,920 was a twenty five year old Johns Hopkins University grad student. She was getting 83 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:45,800 her degree in pharmacology, and she was seen getting out of her white Mercury 84 00:06:45,879 --> 00:06:48,439 Tracer. You remember that little tiny Carville. I don't think they have him 85 00:06:48,439 --> 00:06:54,680 around anymore. I do remember the car, so it's a small economy size 86 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:58,399 to door. I definitely remember the Tracer. She was getting out of her 87 00:06:58,439 --> 00:07:02,959 white Mercury Tracer and she got into a dark pickup truck with a stranger who 88 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:09,120 was allegedly helping with her car. Her car was found with a white napkin 89 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:13,079 under the windshield wiper, which for anyone of the younger generation who does not 90 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:17,240 know that means I've had car trouble. It's worth mentioning. This is a 91 00:07:17,399 --> 00:07:24,839 pre cell phone environment. Cell phones weren't popular and most people didn't necessarily have 92 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:29,480 a cell phone. They were growing in popularity, but not necessarily everyone had 93 00:07:29,519 --> 00:07:33,079 one. There's a couple things worth mentioning here. Women that came forward after 94 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:41,639 Alisa Showalter Reynolds's disappearance had said that a man would pull alongside them, signaling 95 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:45,519 to them, trying to catch their eye and letting them know that supposedly there 96 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:47,680 was something wrong with their vehicle. He would sometimes say, I can see 97 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:50,720 sparks, you need to pull over, it's not safe, that kind of 98 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:57,920 thing. He drove a variety of different vehicles, so one of the theories 99 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:03,959 about the Route twenty nine stalker was that he had access to different motor vehicles. 100 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:09,879 There were two pickup trucks, for example, one was a dark colored 101 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:13,160 Ford or Mazda they were made by the same company at that time, and 102 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:20,639 another green Nissan truck with gold zigzag stripes, and so some of the vehicles 103 00:08:20,639 --> 00:08:24,000 were actually quite distinctive. They thought that he might be someone who worked with 104 00:08:24,519 --> 00:08:31,399 or had access to multiple vehicles. So this could be a mechanic or someone 105 00:08:31,439 --> 00:08:35,879 that worked with cars, maybe worked in a repo yard, junkyard, something 106 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:39,240 like that, where you'd have different vehicles which might belong to customers or other 107 00:08:39,759 --> 00:08:43,600 people, and not necessarily the driver. He seemed to be cruising up and 108 00:08:43,639 --> 00:08:50,960 down Route twenty nine, attempting and sometimes successfully flagging people down and convincing these 109 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:54,519 women to pull over, and then trying to talk them into that there was 110 00:08:54,600 --> 00:09:00,240 something wrong with their vehicle. So Alicia Showalter Reynolds was the only woman who 111 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:05,240 apparently went with this person in the dark pickup truck, but she was found 112 00:09:05,519 --> 00:09:09,879 dead in the woods nearby in March of nineteen ninety six. She was murdered 113 00:09:09,879 --> 00:09:13,639 by the Route twenty nine stoker, and we'll get into some speculation about who 114 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:18,399 the Route twenty nine Stoker might be just a little bit later. Alisia Showalter 115 00:09:18,519 --> 00:09:26,399 Reynolds's disappearance and murder kicked off what seemed to be a startling series of murders 116 00:09:26,399 --> 00:09:30,600 and disappearances of women in and around this area. So I'm going to very 117 00:09:30,679 --> 00:09:35,039 quickly highlight the disappearance and murders that were happening in the area during that time 118 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:41,399 period, and then we're going to get into different details. Shortly after Alisha 119 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:45,679 was found dead in the woods in March of nineteen ninety six, two women, 120 00:09:45,799 --> 00:09:50,519 Julie Williams and Lolly Winans, were killed inside the Shenandoa National Park. 121 00:09:50,799 --> 00:09:54,240 In May of nineteen ninety six, or two months later, in July of 122 00:09:54,360 --> 00:10:00,440 nineteen ninety six, seventy four year old Thelma Skroggins was found dead in her 123 00:10:00,519 --> 00:10:05,639 home along Route twenty nine. In September of nineteen ninety six, twenty year 124 00:10:05,679 --> 00:10:11,159 old and McDaniel was found murdered in the woods very near to where Alicia Showalter 125 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:16,039 Reynolds's body was. That is this cluster that happened in a long Route twenty 126 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:20,159 nine in nineteen ninety six. There are more cases, though, but we'll 127 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:22,840 get into that in more detail, into just a second bill. Anything you 128 00:10:22,879 --> 00:10:26,559 want to add, I think you're good. I know we're going to be 129 00:10:26,639 --> 00:10:31,399 talking with Kate Miles, the author of Trailed, the new book about the 130 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:37,080 Julie Williams Lolly Winans murder. Kate puts forth some very provocative theories and that'll 131 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:41,840 be a fascinating conversation in the next few weeks. Her new book, Trailed 132 00:10:41,879 --> 00:10:46,919 One Woman's Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders, comes out May third. Many 133 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:52,440 experts seem to feel that there is a strong possibility that the murder of Thelma 134 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:58,480 Scroggins and Anne McDaniel may actually link into the Route twenty nine stock her case. 135 00:11:00,279 --> 00:11:03,159 Some of those same experts feel that the Julie Williams and Lawley Winan's murder 136 00:11:03,159 --> 00:11:09,120 inside the Shenandoah National Park may be a separate event, although as you said, 137 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:13,960 everything happens in pretty close proximity and over a period of just a few 138 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:18,279 months, and these bodies being found in and around Lingham, Virginia, where 139 00:11:18,279 --> 00:11:22,159 I've never been, but I understand it's a real small town. They call 140 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:26,000 it a hamlet in some of the reporting, and it really is just six 141 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:31,159 houses, a post office, and a field. I don't know if there's 142 00:11:31,159 --> 00:11:33,559 a term smaller than a hamlet, but I feel like they would almost have 143 00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:37,799 to be. That's what Lingham is. When you're smaller than a village, 144 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:41,000 I think you're down to hamlet size. And it's a tiny place, and 145 00:11:41,039 --> 00:11:45,000 it is odd that all of these women started showing up dead in and around 146 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:48,480 this area. But then, if you want to further complicate the Route twenty 147 00:11:48,559 --> 00:11:56,279 nine stocker label, how about this. There were a series of killings after 148 00:11:56,440 --> 00:12:03,519 nineteen ninety six, closer into the the mid two thousands that were ultimately proven 149 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:09,639 to be the work of three different serial killers. I knew that it seems 150 00:12:09,799 --> 00:12:16,440 highly improbable that there would be multiple serial killers working in one relatively small area, 151 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:20,879 but apparently that actually happened. We are talking about the work of Randy 152 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:26,600 Taylor, who was responsible for the murders of Alexis Murphy and presumably Samantha Clark. 153 00:12:26,919 --> 00:12:31,480 We are talking about Jesse Matthew, who was responsible for the murders of 154 00:12:31,519 --> 00:12:37,120 Morgan Harrington and Hannah Graham. And we're talking about Richard Mark Evanitts, who 155 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:41,919 was responsible for the murders of Sophia Silva, Katie Lisk, and Kristen Lisk. 156 00:12:41,759 --> 00:12:48,120 All of these murderers worked along that Route twenty nine corridor. It is 157 00:12:48,159 --> 00:12:52,679 it's very odd, it is very strange. At the time of these later 158 00:12:52,039 --> 00:12:58,519 murders, there was thinking in law enforcement and media circles that these cases might 159 00:12:58,639 --> 00:13:03,960 tie back into the nineteen ninety six cluster that we refer to as the Root 160 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:07,360 twenty nine Stocker case. And that's why this case really is so confusing. 161 00:13:07,399 --> 00:13:11,759 There are so many things. What's in, what's out, what's part of 162 00:13:11,759 --> 00:13:15,759 it, what's not. It can be very intimidating to try to deal with 163 00:13:15,799 --> 00:13:18,679 this case. What I thought we would do now that we've got the basics 164 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:24,559 out of the way is work backward and talk about the cases that don't fall 165 00:13:24,639 --> 00:13:28,000 under the label of Root twenty nine Stoker. We can dig down to the 166 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:33,519 ones that do. Sounds good. There are four cases which do not fall 167 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:37,919 under the label of Route twenty nine stalker anymore, and those are the murders 168 00:13:37,039 --> 00:13:43,600 of Morgan Harrington, Samantha Clark, Alexis Murphy, and Hannah Graham. The 169 00:13:43,639 --> 00:13:48,960 first murder is the two thousand and nine murder of Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington, 170 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:54,759 who was twenty years old. She was the first known victim of serial 171 00:13:54,840 --> 00:14:00,519 killer Jesse Matthew, who is currently on death row. Jesse Matthew would go 172 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:05,559 on to murder Hannah Graham, a UVA student, five years later in twenty 173 00:14:05,639 --> 00:14:09,519 fourteen. So he murdered Morgan in two thousand and nine, took a break 174 00:14:09,919 --> 00:14:15,039 win again after Hannah in twenty fourteen. I have always felt that there was 175 00:14:15,039 --> 00:14:20,120 a strong possibility that Jesse Matthew may have been involved in other unsolved rapes and 176 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:26,399 homicides. Now Matthew was tied in to a sexual assault of a woman in 177 00:14:26,519 --> 00:14:33,000 Fairfax, Virginia several years prior, although she fortunately survived a sexual assault, 178 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:39,159 but Jesse Matthew's DNA was found ultimately that is what helped connect the Morgan Harrington 179 00:14:39,279 --> 00:14:45,000 and Hannah Graham case. After Morgan Harrington's murder in two thousand and nine, 180 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:50,320 there was the September twenty ten disappearance and probable murder of Samantha Clark, who 181 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:54,840 was nineteen years old. We say probable murder because Samantha's remains have never been 182 00:14:56,000 --> 00:15:01,279 recovered. Very likely her murder was perpetrated by Randy Taylor, who would go 183 00:15:01,399 --> 00:15:09,120 on to murder Alexis Murphy three years later. If you have not followed our 184 00:15:09,159 --> 00:15:13,480 coverage of those cases, we do encourage you to go listen to our back 185 00:15:13,519 --> 00:15:16,799 catalog. It was very early on that we covered these murders. It was 186 00:15:16,919 --> 00:15:22,679 episode seven and eight, I believe, and we covered Alexis Murphy and Samantha 187 00:15:22,679 --> 00:15:26,279 Clark, and we also talked to Alexis Murphy's great aunt, Trina Murphy. 188 00:15:28,039 --> 00:15:33,279 There's no question in my mind that Randy Taylor is directly responsible for the murder 189 00:15:33,279 --> 00:15:37,919 of Samantha Clark, although he has never admitted as such. He was in 190 00:15:39,039 --> 00:15:43,559 touch with Samantha Clark in the last few days of her life and had cell 191 00:15:43,559 --> 00:15:48,360 phone contact with her. He had met her a few days prior. And 192 00:15:48,039 --> 00:15:54,039 it's very unfortunate that we have not been able to find points of leverage with 193 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:58,639 Randy Taylor to get him to admit to the murder of Samantha Clark because Randy 194 00:15:58,639 --> 00:16:03,639 Taylor never getting out of jail. He has helped in some ways, but 195 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:08,039 I find it heartbreaking that he's not willing to admit that he's also responsible for 196 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:12,559 the murder of Samantha Clark. There has to be something that Randy Taylor needs 197 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:18,559 or wants in jail that could be provided as an incentive to have him admit 198 00:16:19,039 --> 00:16:23,080 his involvement with Samantha Clark. And I think, perhaps most importantly, the 199 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:29,679 guide law enforcement to where Samantha Clark's remains can be found. Randy Taylor abducted 200 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:37,279 and murdered Alexis Murphy in August of twenty thirteen in Lovingston, Virginia. Her 201 00:16:37,399 --> 00:16:45,279 body, unfortunately went unrecovered until twenty twenty. Hers was the second nobody homicide 202 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:48,759 that was successfully prosecuted in the state of Virginia, and as I mentioned, 203 00:16:48,799 --> 00:16:55,200 we did cover her case in some depth in our earlier episode in twenty twenty 204 00:16:55,399 --> 00:16:59,519 for reasons that we are still not entirely clear of. I think maybe Trina 205 00:16:59,679 --> 00:17:03,319 would be a good person ask about this. Randy Taylor suddenly gave up the 206 00:17:03,359 --> 00:17:08,440 location of Alexis Murphy's remains, and so in twenty twenty he did lead them 207 00:17:08,799 --> 00:17:14,039 to where her remains could be recovered, and they were ultimately recovered. Her 208 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:17,799 family was able to give her a proper burial. But right around the time 209 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:26,599 period that he led them to Alexis Murphy's remains, Samantha Clark's disappearance was reclassified 210 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:33,160 from a disappearance to abduction and murder. I have to think that is probably 211 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:37,079 because in the midst of giving them information about where to find Alexis Murphy. 212 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:41,960 I wonder if he gave up information about Samantha Clark as well. You're listening 213 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:47,079 to mind over Murder we'll be right back after this word from our sponsors, 214 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:59,559 We're back here at Mindover Murder. They never publicly said why Randy Taylor came 215 00:17:59,599 --> 00:18:04,279 forward with this additional information in twenty twenty leading them to be able to recover 216 00:18:04,519 --> 00:18:10,839 the remains of Alexis Murphy. I was so hopeful at that time. I 217 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:17,000 think Christin you felt the same way that this might also lead to the recovery 218 00:18:17,119 --> 00:18:22,440 of Samantha Clark's remains. And the whole thing has been baffling and frustrating. 219 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:26,000 I had some off the record conversations with Trina a couple of years ago where 220 00:18:26,039 --> 00:18:30,519 she told me this was coming, and she said they were hopeful that Taylor 221 00:18:30,559 --> 00:18:36,359 would lead them to Alexis Murphy's remains, which he did. I know. 222 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:41,440 Samantha Clark's family in interviews, has talked about the fact that they just feel 223 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:45,960 like they're on the outside looking in, and that people have forgotten about Samantha 224 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:49,839 Clark and her disappearance. For what it's worth, we haven't forgotten about her. 225 00:18:51,279 --> 00:18:56,160 We still find ourselves at this frustrating crossroads where we can't seem to convince 226 00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:59,519 Randy Taylor, whom, as I said, is serving two life sentences. 227 00:18:59,559 --> 00:19:03,200 He's not getting out of jail. Ever, there's got to be some way 228 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:07,279 to convince him. I know. One of the things when I talked to 229 00:19:07,519 --> 00:19:11,279 Trina a couple of years ago about this, she had said that the kind 230 00:19:11,319 --> 00:19:18,319 of appeals to heart and soul or religious or spiritual approach that might work with 231 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:25,079 most of us often don't work with people that are just brutal, sociopathic killers 232 00:19:25,119 --> 00:19:30,279 who just lack the empathy gene, if you will, And when you and 233 00:19:30,319 --> 00:19:33,240 I look at each other, Kristen, and we think, oh my gosh, 234 00:19:33,279 --> 00:19:37,480 how can he not see how much it would mean to the Clark family 235 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:41,079 to find Samantha's remains, much in the same way it was a dare I 236 00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:47,720 say, a healing step for the Murphy family. That appeal to someone's humanity 237 00:19:48,279 --> 00:19:56,079 is so difficult a reach for people that are probably almost without a soul. 238 00:19:56,319 --> 00:20:00,519 These are brutal killers. I'm hoping there can be some way to reach Taylor 239 00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:07,240 with something that he wants and in a way that would result in a good 240 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:12,680 outcome for the Clark family. Interestingly enough, Randy Taylor, who is totally 241 00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:18,519 full of it in my opinion, suggested to investigators that maybe you should check 242 00:20:18,559 --> 00:20:25,480 Alexis Murphy's cell phone and Facebook pages and Instagram accounts to see if she had 243 00:20:25,519 --> 00:20:30,880 any contact with Jesse Matthew, who murdered Morgan Harrington and would later murder Hannah 244 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:33,960 Graham. As if he didn't have everything to do with Alexis Murphy, he 245 00:20:34,079 --> 00:20:37,839 actually went out there and told his lawyers, hey, ask for a DNA 246 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:42,200 sample from Jesse Matthew. Maybe he did it, really, dude, you 247 00:20:42,319 --> 00:20:48,839 did it? Come on? During the investigation of Alexis Murphy's disappearance, Taylor 248 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:55,759 had claimed that an African American man with long dreads had been with them at 249 00:20:55,880 --> 00:21:00,160 Taylor's trailer, and it seemed awfully convenient to me. Yeah, first of 250 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:03,519 all, oh, let's blame the black guy, and then, of course 251 00:21:03,599 --> 00:21:10,920 there's a guy with long dreads, which is a style that matches roughly the 252 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:15,079 description of Jesse matt At that time, the whole thing was just ludicrous. 253 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:18,000 I think they actually went through with it, did they not, Christ they 254 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:23,039 did. They did run a DNA test on Jesse Matthew, justin cause, 255 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:30,880 and unsurprisingly, there was no DNA or social media commonality. There was no 256 00:21:32,039 --> 00:21:37,680 contact between Jesse Matthew and Alexis Murphy. That only just implicates Randy Taylor even 257 00:21:37,759 --> 00:21:41,799 further. In my opinion, he wasn't fooling anybody with that. Maybe you 258 00:21:41,799 --> 00:21:45,240 should look at this guy over here. We've got the right guy. And 259 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:51,319 interestingly enough, Randy Taylor and Jesse Matthew are both in the same supermax prison 260 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:55,279 in Virginia. They are both in Red Onion State Prison, along with Lee 261 00:21:55,319 --> 00:21:59,720 Boyd Malvote, the DC Sniper. Interesting. What a classy group of people 262 00:21:59,759 --> 00:22:03,880 to have all together out there. And this would be in the western part 263 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:07,240 of the state. Yeah, way way down, like you're almost getting to 264 00:22:07,279 --> 00:22:12,119 Tennessee. You'll notice then in you'll notice how states almost always stick their prisons 265 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:19,559 at the very edge of their area of jurisdiction. It's almost we couldn't push 266 00:22:19,599 --> 00:22:23,839 them any further. Outs were just as far away as you can. It's 267 00:22:23,839 --> 00:22:29,400 like putting the dump at the edge of town. This is not dissimilar as 268 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:34,240 a repository for people that no one really wants to see, oh exactly. 269 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:40,200 And then after the twenty thirteen murder of Alexis Murphy, there was the twenty 270 00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:47,640 fourteen murder of UVA student Hannah gram eighteen, very much publicized I remember watching 271 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:52,559 this just absolutely explode across social media. NBC, CNN, like every single 272 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:57,200 news outlet that there was at the time had the Hannagram story and that was 273 00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:03,279 I remember that just being huge news for a couple of days until ultimately her 274 00:23:03,319 --> 00:23:10,160 body was found and it was a DNA comparison that linked Jesse Matthew to both 275 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:15,079 Morgan Harrington and Hannah Graham. Matthew finally ultimately just pleaded out and he pled 276 00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:21,359 guilty to the murder of Hannah Graham and Morgan Harrington and was sentenced to three 277 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:26,480 life terms without the possibility of parole in twenty sixteen. And really, it 278 00:23:26,599 --> 00:23:30,680 just couldn't happen to a nicer guy. We do encourage you to listen to 279 00:23:30,759 --> 00:23:34,440 our episodes seven and eight of Mind Over Murder, in which we discuss Alexis 280 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:40,359 Samantha and we interview Trina Murphy, and we will get to coverage of Morgan 281 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:45,079 Harrington and Hannah Graham in more detail in future episodes. The next set of 282 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:49,079 murders that we come to, I guess we're going reverse chronologically at this point. 283 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:52,799 I think so, yeah, the next set of murders that are not 284 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:56,680 the work of the route twenty nine stalker, but are often grouped in there 285 00:23:56,759 --> 00:24:03,079 anyway, are those of Sophia Silva and Kristen and Katie Lisk. Those were 286 00:24:03,119 --> 00:24:10,279 perpetrated by Richard Mark Ivana. So these actually happened also within that nineteen ninety 287 00:24:10,319 --> 00:24:14,799 six time frame. Both of them were just absolutely horrific. I was doing 288 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:18,359 some reading and research on this last night before going to bed. Probably not 289 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:26,680 the best before bed reading activity that will help you sleep. Yeah, it 290 00:24:26,759 --> 00:24:30,440 was not great reading before bedtime, but absolutely horrific. Although there is a 291 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:36,720 pretty good compelling story of survival that does come out of everything that happened with 292 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:41,400 Evanna. Okay, so let's get to September of nineteen ninety six, and 293 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:45,799 that was the abduction and murder of Sophia Silva, and that is in Spotsylvania. 294 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:51,720 Sixteen year old Sofia Silva was actually kidnapped right off of her front porch. 295 00:24:52,039 --> 00:24:55,440 She was sitting outside doing her homework, had a Cannesota with her, 296 00:24:55,559 --> 00:24:59,000 had her notes from class. Her twenty one year old sister, Pam, 297 00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:03,680 came outside to check her and she's gone, just gone. Pam said she 298 00:25:03,759 --> 00:25:07,000 heard no screams, she heard no sounds of a struggle, her sister just 299 00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:14,240 up and vanished. There was an intense hunt for Sophia because it was determined 300 00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:18,759 pretty quickly that this is not a teenage girl who would run away from home, 301 00:25:18,799 --> 00:25:21,519 that she was not troubled in anyway, she had a good family life, 302 00:25:21,599 --> 00:25:26,079 everything was copesthetic. So there was an intense hunt for Sophia that she 303 00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:32,119 was ultimately found dead more than a month later. In some of the reporting 304 00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:36,000 calls it a creek, some calls it a swamp, but body of water, 305 00:25:36,079 --> 00:25:41,119 but wrapped in a blue blanket. She had been raped and her pubic 306 00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:45,079 area had been shaved, which later will come into play when we talk about 307 00:25:45,079 --> 00:25:48,799 the next abduction. Later in May of nineteen ninety seven, you have the 308 00:25:49,319 --> 00:25:56,480 double abduction and murder of sisters Kristen and Katie Lisk. And this one breaks 309 00:25:56,519 --> 00:26:00,599 my heart, I think, possibly even more because I can't sagine what their 310 00:26:00,599 --> 00:26:03,839 poor parents must have gone through to lose both daughters at once. Twelve year 311 00:26:03,839 --> 00:26:10,359 old Katie and fifteen year old Kristen were abducted from in front of their home 312 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:15,640 in Spotsylvania, again in broad daylight, just like Sophia Silva. Their bodies 313 00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:22,160 were found in the south Anna River. Five days later, under similar circumstances, 314 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,640 they also had been raped, they had been wrapped up, and their 315 00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:30,839 pubic areas had been shaved as well. The case ultimately on this went cold. 316 00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:36,079 During the Sophia Silva disappearance, there was an arrestmate. It was one 317 00:26:36,079 --> 00:26:41,240 of Sophia Silva's neighbors, who they thought was maybe responsible for her disappearance because 318 00:26:41,279 --> 00:26:45,839 he had been seen talking with her, as neighbors sometimes do. There was 319 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:49,920 a search done of his van, and there were fibers found in his van 320 00:26:51,039 --> 00:26:55,160 that seemed to match ones that were found on Sophia's silva. But again, 321 00:26:55,440 --> 00:27:00,880 fiber analysis is not exactly a science that we trust nowadays. Also, when 322 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:06,720 this person happened to have been in jail on suspicion of abducting and murdering Sofia 323 00:27:06,759 --> 00:27:11,440 Silva, the lists sisters were kidnapped and so very quickly the charge against him 324 00:27:11,519 --> 00:27:15,400 was dropped. Now, the case probably would have stayed cold, except for 325 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:21,920 in June two thousand and two, fifteen year old Kara Robinson did about the 326 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:26,480 most badass thing that I can possibly imagine. She escaped from a serial killer. 327 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:33,559 Fifteen year old Kara Robinson had been kidnapped at gunpoint from the yard of 328 00:27:33,599 --> 00:27:38,480 a friend, and she was kidnapped by Richard mark Evanenz. He kidnapped her 329 00:27:38,559 --> 00:27:45,799 gunpoint when he was walking around pretending to sell magazines of all things. He 330 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:48,640 showed her a magazine she's flipping through. He's got another magazine in his hand 331 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:52,200 in which he's got a gun, drops the magazine, holds the gun up. 332 00:27:52,599 --> 00:27:56,720 Ushers her into a rubber maid container in the back of his car and 333 00:27:56,839 --> 00:28:00,559 takes off with her. He took her back to his apartment, which he 334 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:03,759 happened to have to himself because his wife and mother were on a trip to 335 00:28:03,839 --> 00:28:07,799 Disney World at the time. He let her out of the rubber maid container, 336 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:12,200 took her into the apartment, bound her, raped her repeatedly. After 337 00:28:12,279 --> 00:28:18,279 eighteen hours, he fell asleep. Kara slipped her hand out of the cuffs 338 00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:22,839 and made a run for it. I love this. She's awesome. She's 339 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:26,319 so awesome. And she said that she made a point of memorizing every single 340 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:33,359 detail that she saw in that house. She memorized his dentists and doctor's names 341 00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:37,240 that were on the magnets on his refrigerator. She memorized all the turns that 342 00:28:37,279 --> 00:28:41,200 they took when she was stuck in the rubber maid container in the back of 343 00:28:41,279 --> 00:28:45,799 the car. She memorized everything and then she ran to the police said hey, 344 00:28:45,119 --> 00:28:48,640 I've been kidnapped, I just escaped. I can give you all the 345 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:53,799 information, and that did lead to the information that Richard Mark Evanitz was in 346 00:28:53,839 --> 00:29:00,000 fact the person who had kidnapped her. Incidentally, and I think most deservedly, 347 00:29:00,279 --> 00:29:03,160 Kara actually received the one hundred and fifty thousand dollars reward that had been 348 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:08,200 offered for the capture of Katie and Kristen lists killer. It's worth noting here 349 00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:15,599 that Kara Robinson's kidnapping may actually resolve one of the questions from the previous cases 350 00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:21,400 involving Evonnors, which is how did he manage to convince these young girls to 351 00:29:21,599 --> 00:29:25,319 leave the safety of their porch or yard and come with him? Now, 352 00:29:25,359 --> 00:29:29,160 he may have used a ruse, and there's always the lost puppy in those 353 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:33,279 kind of stories which appeal to young people. Given the fact that he used 354 00:29:33,319 --> 00:29:37,079 a gun to compel Kara Robinson to come with him, he may have actually 355 00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:42,039 used the same approach with these other young girls, where he just produced a 356 00:29:42,079 --> 00:29:47,039 gun and insisted that they come with him, and they went quietly because they 357 00:29:47,039 --> 00:29:49,920 were in fear of their lives. It makes a lot of sense. Mark 358 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:55,240 Evanez was thirty eight at the time that he kidnapped Kara Robinson, and he 359 00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:59,039 seemed on the surface, as we hear about so many serial killers, he 360 00:29:59,119 --> 00:30:03,200 seemed like a nice guy. Twice married, he was a former sonar tech 361 00:30:03,319 --> 00:30:07,039 for the US Navy. He'd been honorably discharged. He'd received the Navy's Good 362 00:30:07,039 --> 00:30:11,599 Conduct Medal not once but twice. He looked like you're just straight up, 363 00:30:11,799 --> 00:30:18,319 regular, ordinary guy. He had a history of legal issues, including an 364 00:30:18,359 --> 00:30:22,319 a nineteen eighty seven conviction for leude exposure. He was also an alcoholic, 365 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:27,240 and he did have a pretty nasty temper. So unfortunately, the ordinary nice 366 00:30:27,279 --> 00:30:33,240 guy thing only went so far. After Kara Robinson's escape, Evanittz fled and 367 00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:37,200 was on the run by the time the police arrived, and he was running 368 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:42,079 ahead of them for two days, I think it was they finally trailed him 369 00:30:42,079 --> 00:30:48,599 to Sarasota, Florida. On his way to Florida, Evanantz called his sister 370 00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:53,720 and confessed to the murders of Sophia Silva Katie Lisk, Kristen Lisk, and 371 00:30:53,759 --> 00:31:00,400 then he said, as well as more crimes than he could remember, and 372 00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:06,240 it's unfortunate he wasn't more specific about that. Ultimately he was cornered by police. 373 00:31:06,359 --> 00:31:08,680 He got out of his vehicle, they set a police dog on him, 374 00:31:08,839 --> 00:31:15,240 at which point he shot himself rather than be taken into police custody. 375 00:31:15,039 --> 00:31:19,839 And so any other information that Mark Evanits would have had about any crimes that 376 00:31:19,839 --> 00:31:25,640 he committed died with him. Interestingly, though, in his apartment they did 377 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:32,400 find a number of truly frightening and incriminating pieces of evidence. He did keep 378 00:31:32,440 --> 00:31:37,119 a foot locker, and it contained newspaper clippings about the Silva murders and the 379 00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:41,920 List murders. There was also a map and explicit directions to the Lisk home 380 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:48,400 with a description of two white females eleven or twelve, the other fourteen or 381 00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:52,920 fifteen, next to the words brunette very cute, excuse me while I vomit. 382 00:31:53,599 --> 00:31:59,039 In addition, there were notes which contained the addresses and descriptions of two 383 00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:02,839 other young girls who evidence was stalking. So he was clearly getting ready to 384 00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:07,599 do this again, even after he had kidnapped Kara Robinson, and this is 385 00:32:07,799 --> 00:32:12,599 something that I found only in one piece of reporting, and I could not 386 00:32:12,759 --> 00:32:15,920 find it again. There is no further confirmation on this one. One piece 387 00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:21,680 of reporting said that among the other things in his foot locker was a note 388 00:32:21,759 --> 00:32:28,519 containing directions to the location where Alicia Showalter Reynolds's body was found. But like 389 00:32:28,559 --> 00:32:31,720 I said, I saw no other reporting that indicated that, and a follow 390 00:32:31,799 --> 00:32:37,400 up article on Alicia's case that was done last year did not mention that information, 391 00:32:37,519 --> 00:32:39,559 and in fact it said her killer still had not been caught. So 392 00:32:39,799 --> 00:32:45,680 I don't know where that bit of information stands. Color me skeptical on that 393 00:32:45,759 --> 00:32:49,640 one. It is possible, given the fact that he was following the news 394 00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:54,279 regarding the cases he was responsible for, that he may have made notes about 395 00:32:54,319 --> 00:32:59,680 a case that he was not responsible for, or he may have made notes 396 00:32:59,799 --> 00:33:04,960 about where Alisa Showalter reynolds body was found in Lingham, Virginia, with an 397 00:33:05,039 --> 00:33:09,960 i towards dropping off a murder victim in the future at that location in order 398 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:15,160 to create confusion for law enforcement. So there can be a lot of different 399 00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:21,039 aspects to that reporting. We're not one hundred percent sure it's accurate, and 400 00:33:21,279 --> 00:33:25,480 I can think of a couple of explanations, not that they're innocent explanations. 401 00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:31,440 They may be able to explain why he'd be interested in that Lingham location where 402 00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:36,960 Alisha Showalter reynolds remains were found, And it would never have occurred to me. 403 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:39,400 That explanation that you just gave would never have occurred to me. So 404 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:45,319 it's it's a testament. I think to how long you've spent immersing yourself, 405 00:33:45,319 --> 00:33:50,079 and you spend so much time on true crime, you start thinking like it's 406 00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:52,440 I'm not going to I'm not going to accuse you of thinking like a serial 407 00:33:52,519 --> 00:33:55,279 killer. I would never say that. I note the hesitation, but he 408 00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:59,720 looked at things a certain way, and then you find yourself flipping them around. 409 00:34:00,039 --> 00:34:02,880 We've done this in the Colonial Parkway murders many times as well. It 410 00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:08,039 occurred to me there might be reasons, as I said, not necessarily innocent 411 00:34:08,159 --> 00:34:15,159 explanations, but explanations that don't necessarily mean that he's directly involved in the Route 412 00:34:15,159 --> 00:34:20,000 twenty nine stalker case remains to be seen. Okay, So now that we 413 00:34:20,159 --> 00:34:23,559 have worked backward and we've covered the cases that are not Route twenty nine Stalker, 414 00:34:24,119 --> 00:34:28,880 we are finally going to get to the cases that probably are, but 415 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:34,440 we're still not sure if they're connected. Anyway. We will continue our conversation 416 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:39,480 about the unsolved crimes along Route twenty nine in our next episode, so stay 417 00:34:39,519 --> 00:34:44,800 tuned. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of mind Ever Murder. 418 00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:58,559 We'll see you next time. Mind Over Murder is a production of Absolute 419 00:34:58,679 --> 00:35:04,880 Zero and Another Productions. Our executive producers are Bill Thomas and Kristin Dilley. 420 00:35:05,239 --> 00:35:09,360 Our logo art is by Pamela Arnois. Our theme music is by Kevin McLoud. 421 00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:15,880 Mind Over Murder is distributed in partnership with Coral Space Media. You can 422 00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:20,079 follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. You can also follow our 423 00:35:20,119 --> 00:35:23,559 page on the Colonial Parkway Murders on Facebook, and finally, you can follow 424 00:35:23,599 --> 00:35:29,840 Bill Thomas on Twitter at Bill Thomas five six. Thank you for listening to 425 00:35:30,039 --> 00:35:30,440 mind Over Murder.