Schoolteacher Olivia Dare Christian was murdered in her Hampton, Virginia, apartment in 1981. Her killer left few clues and the murder went unsolved.
Three decades later, in 2011, next-generation detective Randy Mayer re-opened Olivia's dusty cold case file and began unraveling the mystery. Mayer located a reluctant witness who was a teenager back in 1981. She recalled a suspicious man lurking outside Olivia's apartment the morning of the murder and provided a detailed description of the man.
Detective Mayer then researched hundreds of old cases, hunting for a person who fit the description and used a similar MO. He identified a prime suspect, a Smithfield Foods employee, by then in his 60s, previously convicted of several brutal sexual assaults. Digging further, Mayer linked him to two other unsolved Hampton homicides. Was this man a serial killer?
Mayer enlisted the help of FBI agent Liza Ludovico and special prosecutor Phil Figura. Could the team uncover enough evidence to bring Olivia's murderer to justice? Could the witness from 1981 identify him? And would a jury convict in a cold case based entirely on circumstantial evidence?
Nicknamed 'The Squirrel' for his elusiveness, Thrasher was a daredevil pilot who made millions flying marijuana and cocaine from South America into the US in the 70s and 80s. With his beautiful Portuguese-born wife, Olga, he lived in a mountain estate near Virginia's New River Valley. He owned oceanfront homes and yachts in Florida, spent weekends in the Caribbean, and laundered money in Las Vegas, where he partied with Frank Sinatra's entourage.
The Feds were hot on his tail in 1984 when word came that he had died in a plane crash in Belize, his body burnt to ashes. But investigators soon learned the crash was staged and the death certificate fake. Meanwhile, Olga became a federal informant assisting the DEA in an audacious undercover sting to infiltrate the highest levels of his smuggling ring. Thirteen international traffickers were indicted, including Bolivian drug lord Roberto Suarez-Gomez, known as the world's 'King of Cocaine.'
But Wally Thrasher was never caught. Authorities believe he has spent the past four decades living in some faraway tropical land. He was recently profiled on America's Most Wanted as US Marshals chased leads around the globe in his pursuit.
Under the Trestle is the true story of the most compelling murder case in Virginia history. In 1980, beautiful Gina Renee Hall, a Radford University freshman, went to a Virginia Tech nightclub on a Saturday night. She was never seen again. Her abandoned car was found parked beneath a railroad trestle bridging the New River, with blood in the trunk. The investigation led police to a secluded cabin on Claytor Lake, where there was evidence of a violent attack. Former Virginia Tech football player Stephen Epperly was charged with murder, despite the fact that Gina's body was never found. In Virginia's 'trial of the century,' prosecutor Everett Shockley presented an entirely circumstantial case. Key witnesses against Epperly included his best friend, his mother, and a tracking dog handler later believed by many to be a fraud. Three former Virginia Tech football players testified, including a Hokies quarterback once featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Would Epperly become the first person in Virginia history convicted of murder without the victim's body, an eyewitness, or a confession? And would authorities ever find the body of Gina Renee Hall?