RICHMOND, Va. – Attorney General Jason Miyares today commended the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) team of the Office of the Attorney General for aiding federal law enforcement in solving the 1996 Shenandoah National Park cold case murders. DNA evidence has linked Walter “Leo” Jackson Sr., a convicted serial rapist, to the 1996 murders of Julianne "Julie" Williams and Laura "Lollie" Winans in Shenandoah National Park. Jackson, who died in an Ohio prison in 2018, was identified by intelligence analysts funded by the SAKI program.
In January 2024, Attorney General Miyares announced that SAKI program funding had also contributed to solving two of the Colonial Parkway Murders. Intelligence analysts continue to investigate and support efforts in other sexually motivated homicides and sexual assaults across the Commonwealth.