Murder on the Appalachian Trail

Off Our Backs, Jul 1996 by Mantilla, Karla

Murder on the Appalachian Trail

Two women who were hiking and camping along the Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia were found murdered at approximately 8:30 in the morning on Saturday, June 1. The women killed were Julianne Williams, 24, of St. Cloud, Minnesota, and Lollie Winans, 26, of Unity, Maine. (See sidebar about the women's lives.) Shenandoah National Park received word from Williams' father that they were overdue from returning from their trip on May 31.

The two women and their dog, a golden retriever mixed breed named "Taj," were last seen at a nearby lodge on May 24. According to the National Park Service, they were found to have died from "an incised wound to the neck" -- in other words, their throats were slashed. Park spokesman Paul Pfenninger said that "something [investigators] found at the site led them to believe it was an isolated incident." He did not indicate what it was. Authorities from the National Park Service and the FBI have not said whether there was any indication of sexual assault.

Were they killed because they were lesbians?

According to Williams' pastor, Rebecca S. Strader, of a Burlington, Vermont, Presbyterian church, the two were in a relationship and were planning to move in together. Friends of both women also said the two were involved in a lesbian relationship, according to The Washington Blade. A spokeswoman for Williams' family said that though Williams did not discuss her sexuality with family members, the family welcomed a hate crime investigation. Winans' grandfather, Donald C. Winans, denied that she was a lesbian, saying "That lesbian thing is for the birds. There's nothing to that at all."

The NGLTF and the FBI

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has asked the Justice Department to investigate the murders as hate crimes. A Justice Department official who was unwilling to give his name told The Washington Post, "We're investigating a murder, and the fact they may have been lesbians is not a factor right now." An FBI spokesperson was quoted in the Burlington Free Press as saying, "There has been no indication that this is a hate crime of any particular type."

Carol Florman, a Department of Justice spokesperson, told oob on June 19 that "At this point, there is no determination on any motivations. Every avenue is being explored as the investigation continues. But there has been no determination at this point whether it was or was not a hate crime or whether there was some other motivation as to what led to the murders."

Reno responds

In a June 19 letter from Attorney General Janet Reno to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, however, Ms. Reno wrote, "From the outset, investigators have been exhaustively examining all evidence, following all leads and pursuing all motives, including the possibility that the crime was motivated by the sexual orientation of the victims. Any press reports that have suggested otherwise have misstated the nature of the investigation."

Hate crime or isolated incident?

Florman said that determining whether a crime is a hate crime involves "the same sort of things that you have in determining premeditation, or determining aggravating circumstances in other kinds of crime...it's both a matter of statements and of evidence and that you can build a case that proves beyond a reasonable doubt that these factors were part of a crime." The statute on Hate Crime Motivation or Vulnerable Victim from the Crime Bill says that if the court finds "beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant intentionally selected any victim or any property as the object of the offense because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability or sexual orientation of any person," the penalty shall be increased.

In regard to the murders being characterized as "an isolated incident," Florman said "My understanding from the Park Service is, this is the second incident of murder in the history of Shenandoah National Park, so therefore, by definition, they consider it an isolated incident. Murders do not generally happen there." She said the characterization of the murders as an isolated incident has no relevance to whether the murders are found to be the result of a hate crime.

The National Park Service, the FBI and the Virginia State police are involved in the investigation. Florman also said they have received over 1000 phone calls from the 800 number. She said that "there have been a number of leads and they are pursuing every one." But Florman also said the calls have begun to drop off since the time the murders have been committed and stressed the difficulty in finding witnesses due to the fact that people who may have seen something may have traveled elsewhere by now and not be aware of the crime.

The FBI and the National Park Service have offered a $25,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the murders. The FBI toll free number to contact with information about the murders is 1-888-856-2467.