UNC Asheville alumnus Brian Santana and co-author Cameron Santana’s “A Murder on Campus” reveals new research developments in the unsolved murder of former UNCA student Virginia Olson.
“Over 32 people we interviewed for this book, including her boyfriend. I can tell you the people who were very close to Virginia Olson, they do not have the luxury of pretending like this horrible thing that transformed the rest of their lives didn’t happen,” Brian Santana said.
Virginia Marie Olson, former UNCA drama student nicknamed “Ginger,” was discovered bound and murdered in the Asheville Botanical Gardens on April 15, 1973. Brian Santana said the book includes the name of the prime suspect of the Asheville police, the un-redacted search warrant to the suspect’s residence and the full medical examiner’s report associated with Olson’s case.
“I personally believe that someone close to that individual has some knowledge of some kind that is useful for this investigation and we will never get that unless there is a large-scale public conversation about this case,” Brian Santana said.
Brian Santana studied drama and graduated from UNCA in 2003 where he said he resonated with Olson’s story. Years later he began researching the case with his brother and co-author, law enforcement officer Cameron Santana.
“The idea that someone who was 19 years old and was trying to figure out their life and was studying drama, like I was, had lost her life before she had been able to realize these different hopes and aspirations she had was something that really resonated with me,” Brian Santana said.
Brian Santana said her case was deprioritized by the Asheville Police Department and did not receive significant media attention.
“While we do not know everything that is happening right now behind the scenes of the Asheville police, I can tell you in terms of outward media coverage, getting public support and having a public dialogue about this case, it is simply not true to say that they are invested in that,” Brian Santana said.
Public information officer at the Asheville Police Department Rick Rice said the department plans to continue dedicating resources and facilitating media interviews.
“We have facilitated interviews with multiple media outlets, local and national, presented the case at a forensic conference held in Asheville and joined UNCA Sgt. Whitney Montgomery on campus meeting with Renee Roberson for an interview regarding her podcast ‘Missing in the Carolinas,’” Rice said.
Former UNCA student and host of the podcast “Missing in the Carolinas” Renee Roberson hosted the Santana brothers to discuss their work on the case.
“They went through all the hoops to try to subpoena the police records, the search warrants. Everything that I didn’t and couldn’t do with my resources, they were able to do so I’m very happy that the book has a collection of all that,” Roberson said. “I was just the tip of the iceberg in what I was writing.”
Roberson said her podcast focuses on missing people, true crime and cold cases. She said she first heard of Olson’s case through an article on the Blue Banner.
“I was shocked because the whole time I was at UNC Asheville in the mid-to-late nineties, I had never heard of that case before,” Roberson said.
Brian Santana said he plans to appear on the podcast “The Consult,” hosted by lead FBI Profiler on the Golden State Killer case Julia Crowley with his co-author. He said they put her in touch with the APD to request their assistance in further investigation into Olson’s case.
“The ball is really in their court, we’re just hoping they take us up on it,” Brian Santana said about the police department. “At this point, after 51 years, what would be gained by holding the case so tight where you don’t want other people in the field, not just us but other experts in the field involved in it?”
Rice said Crowley’s request is being reviewed by the APD.
“We are currently reviewing Ms. Crowley’s request, which we only received within the past week and are consulting with the Buncombe County District Attorney’s Office,” Rice said.
Brian Santana said he hopes the book will inspire readers to do their own research on Olson’s case.
“We were interested in this case before we wrote the book and we will continue to look into this case and try to bring resolutions to this case long after this book is out,” Brian Santana said.
