RICHMOND, Va. – Federal prosecutors sought Friday to withdraw charges against a man accused in the torture slayings of two hikers – one from Maine – in the Shenandoah National Park nearly eight years ago.

Darrell David Rice, 36, was to stand trial next month in Charlottesville on four counts of capital murder in the Memorial Day weekend killings of Julianne Williams and Laura “Lollie” Winans.

U.S. Attorney John L. Brownlee said in a statement “additional forensic evidence … requires the government at this time to seek a dismissal …

“The investigation has revealed the presence of evidence at the crime scene that currently could cast doubt on the government’s case against Rice,” Brownlee said in the statement.

The case against Rice was based primarily on jailhouse informants.

“It was a long time coming,” said Gerald Zirken, one of Rice’s attorneys. “We’ve said all along there was never any reliable evidence against Darrell Rice.”

Rice was indicted in April 2002 in the slayings of Williams, of St. Cloud, Minn., and Laura “Lollie” Winans, of Unity, Maine, who were lovers. Prosecutors had said Rice killed because of his hatred of gays.

Tom and Patsy Williams, Williams’ parents, said in a statement they were “extremely disappointed” by the motion to dismiss the charges.

“While the preponderance of evidence points to the accused as the murderer, we support the U.S. Attorney in dismissing the charges … to re-evaluate the existing evidence and to pursue additional evidence that will prove guilt, without doubt,” the Williamses wrote.

Forensic experts had said hair and fingerprints found at the campsite were inconclusive – neither proving nor disproving that Rice was the killer. But when prosecutors ordered additional tests in preparation for the trial last year, lab technicians found that a strand of hair previously linked to Williams or Winans actually belonged to someone other than the victims or Rice.

The hair, found on a glove at the crime scene, was determined to be similar to another hair at the camp that also did not match Rice or the victims.

Witnesses and surveillance cameras place Rice in the national park at the time of the slayings, according to court documents. Former work-mates and neighbors also told investigators that Rice had a history of hating women and gays.

Rice is already serving a 135-month federal term for the attempted abduction in 1997 of a young woman, also in the Shenandoah National Park.

Brownlee sought the dismissal of the charges “without prejudice,” leaving the door open that Rice could be charged anew.