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Families still want answers in deaths

December 23, 2007 12:36 am

By PAMELA GOULD

The families of three young women whose slayings remain unsolved after 11 years can't understand why state and federal law enforcement failed to forensically evaluate a known serial killer as a suspect and now are assessing their options.

Harley and Sadie Showalter are considering how to press for answers and action on behalf of their daughter Alicia Showalter Reynolds, who was killed in March 1996.

John Winans is trying to contact federal authorities to see if he can get answers on behalf of his daughter, Laura "Lollie" Winans, who was killed two months later.

And Tom Williams is in disbelief that the people tasked with finding the killer of his daughter, Julianne Williams, wouldn't have automatically evaluated a killer who lived in the region at the time of the slayings.

"I can't believe authorities would be so blind," said Williams, who lives in Minnesota. "They would have to be so obviously inept not to have checked out [Richard Marc] Evonitz thoroughly."

In August 2002, the local, state and federal law enforcement task force that had been hunting for years for the killer of three Spotsylvania County girls announced Evonitz as their killer based primarily on forensic evidence examined by the FBI Laboratory.

At the same time, the task force announced it would try to determine every crime Evonitz committed in his 38-year life.

Specifically, FBI Richmond Division chief Donald W. Thompson Jr. said Evonitz would be checked forensically for any unsolved crime with evidence.

And then-Lt. Rick Jenkins of the Virginia State Police said evidence from Reynolds' slaying was being sent to the FBI Lab to be checked against Evonitz.

But those things didn't happen, The Free Lance-Star found in a more-than 18-month investigation of its own.

Neither the state police agent tasked with solving Reynolds' case nor the FBI agent in charge of the slayings of Williams and Winans asked for those comparisons to be conducted.

'Know for sure'

Mark Reynolds, widower of Alicia Showalter Reynolds, can't imagine why he should need to prompt investigators to conduct forensic comparisons between evidence in his wife's slaying and evidence from serial killer Evonitz.

He'd like to know why they weren't done.

"I would definitely like to know what the explanation is," Reynolds said. "It just seems like a no-brainer--such an easy step to take."

Reynolds, like each of the victims' family members, knows state police and the FBI had been looking at another man, Maryland resident Darrell David Rice, as a suspect at the time authorities learned of Evonitz.

But Rice was checked against all of the evidence in all three slayings over seven years and no link was found.

"Even if you suspect you know what [the result] is, you should know for sure in something like this," said Reynolds, who now lives in North Carolina.

In April 2002, Rice was indicted on federal capital murder charges in the deaths of Williams and Winans at Shenandoah National Park.

But at the time of his indictment, federal authorities had failed in five years' worth of forensic tests to link Rice to the case. They also had no eyewitness, no murder weapon and no confession.

In February 2004, federal prosecutors dropped the charges after an FBI Lab expert checked hairs from that case against hairs from Evonitz and couldn't rule him out as the source.

Neither Rice nor anyone else has ever been charged in Reynolds' slaying.

Evonitz killed himself in June 2002 as police were about to arrest him.

Rice, now 40, has consistently denied involvement in all of the deaths. He served an 11-year sentence in federal prison after pleading guilty to attempted kidnapping in an assault on a female bicyclist inside Shenandoah National Park on July 9, 1997.

His attorneys say that sentence reflected federal officials' suspicion he committed the Shenandoah slayings and ignored the fact that he was then suffering from schizophrenia.

authorities mum

FBI Richmond Division chief Thompson retired in July 2006 believing the forensic checks had been done. When he learned they had not, he told The Free Lance-Star he continued to believe forensic comparisons should be conducted between evidence from Evonitz and the unsolved slayings.

Charles J. Cunningham, Thompson's successor, told The Free Lance-Star earlier this year that he was making a "new pledge" to the community and the families of the victims to investigate what was done to evaluate Evonitz as a suspect. He later said the Justice Department and U.S. Attorney John Brownlee's office told him not to comment on unsolved cases.

A request this month for a follow-up interview with Cunningham was denied.

"He said he is not interested in meeting and he would just prefer that we not have any more follow-up interviews regarding this topic," his spokeswoman Dee Rybiski said.

Cunningham retired Dec. 14.

The Free Lance-Star has interview requests pending with FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III and FBI Lab Director Joseph A. DiZinno.

Culpeper Commonwealth's Attorney Gary Close would prosecute Reynolds' killer if someone were charged. He has said Rice is not a suspect in the case and that he would like the Reynolds evidence checked against Evonitz.

In an interview last week, Close said he planned to question state police officials about the Reynolds-Evonitz forensic tests and on whether they plan to resubmit DNA found with Reynolds' body for updated testing.

The same FBI Lab expert who on his own checked hairs found in the Shenandoah slayings against hairs from Evonitz suggested for years before the Spotsylvania slayings were solved that evidence from them should be checked against Reynolds' case for a possible link.

Once he helped link Evonitz to the Spotsylvania slayings, the lab expert suggested Reynolds' evidence should be checked against the serial killer.

As a result, hairs and fibers evidence from Reynolds' slaying was brought to the FBI Lab in May 2004, but it was never examined and not compared to samples from Evonitz.

In fact, the Reynolds evidence was delivered to the FBI Lab twice without getting examined.

The lab suggested it was the fault of FBI Agent Jane Collins who failed to bring samples from Evonitz to make the comparison. Collins testified in court that the lab denied the request.

The Reynolds evidence was returned to state police in August 2005.

Mark Reynolds was astounded to learn the evidence moved in and out of the FBI Lab over a 14-month period but never got examined.

"It's just amazing the number of people's hands it traveled through and yet nothing happened," Rey-nolds said.

Close said Reynolds' family's wishes would be taken into account in deciding how to proceed.

"Obviously, what victims and families want are a part of the decision-making process," he said.

Tom Bondurant, the assistant U.S. Attorney who led the unsuccessful prosecution of Rice in the slayings of Williams and Winans, would not comment on whether he will push to see Evonitz forensically checked in those slayings.

"Since it is an unsolved murder, I can't make any comment about what was done, wasn't done or will be done," Bondurant said.

When told the families were dumbfounded the tests hadn't already been run, he declined comment.

Families' frustrations

For years, federal authorities led Tom Williams to believe Rice killed his daughter. But with charges against Rice dropped and Evonitz not ruled out as the source of hairs at the crime scene, Williams can't understand not thoroughly evaluating the serial killer from a science standpoint.

"It seems like detective work 101," he said.

"These issues seem to be so obvious to me."

John Winans, who lives in Florida, believes investigators should check "every possible individual or individuals that might possibly have done these acts."

"There shouldn't be any hesitation to checking any lead that's maybe remote but there's a shot. I don't know why that wouldn't be done," he added.

Harley and Sadie Showalter of Harrisonburg are frustrated that state and federal officials haven't pursued every option in searching for their daughter's killer.

"To me, anything that's not been done that should have been done is a disappointment," Harley Showalter said.