About This Episode
What is this episode about?
The episode "True Crime Time For October 12, 2026 | A Serial Killer Identified, a Newborn Found Dead & Three Children Beheaded" from Real Life Real Crime covers the Colonial Parkway murders and the forensic DNA testing that has linked deceased fisherman Alan Wade Wilmer Sr. to multiple victims, though questions remain in some cases. The episode also revisits October 12 true-crime history, including the USS Cole bombing, the Bali nightclub bombings, Matthew Shepard's murder and John Dillinger's jailbreak. Further segments cover John Allen Rubio, found competent to face execution in Texas for the murders of three young children, the death of newborn Baby Angelita along a California roadway amid incest allegations involving a teenage girl and her father, the murder of Jasmine Garcia allegedly beaten to death by her husband in front of their child, and a Wisconsin incident involving a man climbing out of a manhole to attack a shuttle driver.
The case behind the episode
Colonial Parkway-mordene: DNA udpeger gerningsmanden 40 år efter centers on at least eight young people killed near Colonial Parkway in Virginia between 1986 and 1989, among them Cathleen Thomas, Rebecca Dowski, David Knobling, Robin Edwards, Keith Call, Annamaria Phelps, Cassandra Hailey and Daniel Lauer. In January 2024, DNA evidence posthumously connected Alan Wade Wilmer Sr. to several of the killings, though he was never charged and some cases remain unresolved. Preserved forensic evidence demonstrates how answers can emerge decades later, even when a suspect has died, but not every case has been conclusively linked to the same person, and some victims remain missing.
Hosts and release
Woody Overton hosts Real Life Real Crime, a weekly true crime podcast drawing on his own investigative background, available on Apple Podcasts. This episode, number 300, was released on October 12, 2026, and runs 39 minutes.
