Christy Mirack – Murdered by DJ Freeze

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Christy Mirack's murder was finally solved when a genetic DNA match was made to Raymond Rowe, otherwise known as DJ Freeze

Twenty-five years after a young school teacher, Christy Mirack, was senselessly murdered new DNA technology lead investigators to an arrest.  Listen to the story of how a man, known as DJ Freeze, lived in plain sight with authorities never knowing of his connection to the murder until ancestry genealogy brought him to justice.

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Location

Willow Hill Covered Bridge in East Lampeter Township - Photo by and (c)2006 Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man), CC BY-SA 2.5 , via Wikimedia Commons
Willow Hill Covered Bridge in East Lampeter Township Photo by and (c)2006 Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man), CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

East Lampeter Township is located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. This is the second episode from East Lampeter. The first was our season one episode on the murder of 16-year-old Laurie Show on December 20, 1991. East Lampeter is one of the original townships founded in Lancaster County. It was named after the Welsh college town of Lampeter. The township lies just east of Lancaster City and is primarily a rural farming community.

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On December 21, 1992, classes were starting at Rohrerstown Elementary School in the Hempfield School District when the office was notified that Christy Mirack had yet to show up in her 6th-grade classroom. Harry Goodman was the principal at Rohrerstown. When the office couldn’t get a hold of Christy he went to her apartment in Greenfield Estates to check on her. Christy not showing up nor calling off was not like her in the least and her co-workers were concerned.

When Goodman arrived at Christy’s apartment at 2071 William Penn Way he found the front door ajar. He knocked but received no answer. He then decided to enter the home. That is when he discovered the body of 25-year-old Christy Mirack lying on her living room floor. He ran from the apartment yelling and knocking on neighbor’s doors trying to get someone’s attention. One of Christy’s neighbors answered their door and Goodman placed a call to 911. He told the operator that it appeared that Christy Mirack had been raped and murdered. 

When officers from the East Lampeter Police Department arrived they had to force their way into the residence by kicking in the door. In Goodman’s haste to contact police, he had closed the door behind him locking it. Christy’s body was found on the living room floor to the left of the entryway.

Christy’s pants, underwear, and shoes had been taken off and placed off to the side. She had deep bruises around her neck area. She appeared to have been savagely beaten, raped, and strangled. 

Collection of Evidence

The Pennsylvania State Police forensic unit was called to the scene, as well as, the Lancaster County Coroner. There is no guessing that Christy’s death is anything but a homicide. Investigators could tell from the scene that there had been a struggle in the foyer of the residence. Christy had purchased books for all of her students for Christmas and those wrapped packages were strewn around the room. They found scuff marks on the door and in the hallway and a footprint at the top of the door. Investigators theorize that during the struggle Christy may have been picked up off the floor and that is when she had kicked the door leaving the footprint. 

Evidence collection begins with the investigators taking a swatch from the carpet that Christy Mirack was found lying on. In addition, they took other carpet swatches. A bloody cutting board that she had been beaten with was also collected. Droplets of blood found on the coffee table that Christy lied next to were also processed. Though Christy was found lying in the living room investigators didn’t believe her attack took place there. All the evidence pointed to a blitz-style attack right inside her front door.

Last Morning

Investigators started to interview witnesses with one of those being her roommate, Mary Lasko. They wanted to establish a timeline from that morning. Christy’s roommate told authorities that Christy woke up around 5:30 am and had come downstairs to eat breakfast. She then returned to her bedroom to get ready for the day. Lasko left their residence at 7:00 am and headed off to work. She told investigators that Christy didn’t leave for work until around 7:30 am. Her last conversation with her is through the bathroom door while Christy was still getting ready for the day. 

Investigators believe that Christy was headed out for work when she was attacked. She had on her winter coat, hat, gloves, pants, sweater, and shoes. It appeared that she was carrying her gifts for her students as she was headed out the door. As she’s walking out the door she is greeted by her attacker. Two neighbors who had been out walking told police that they had heard a high pitch scream coming from Christy’s apartment between 7:10 am and 7:20 am.

Friend or Foe

Investigators set out to determine if Christy Mirack knew her attacker. Was this a lover’s quarrel gone wrong or a random attack? Investigators began to develop their victimology report. They were trying to find everything they could about Christy from where she grocery shopped to who she worked and hung out with.

Christy Mirack was raised in the small blue-collar town of Shamokin, Pennsylvania. She was one of three siblings. Her life’s goal was to become a school teacher and her kind, caring, and genuine personality was a perfect fit. Christy started her work in education as a reading specialist and from there became a substitute teacher. She eventually landed her dream job as a classroom teacher.

Christy had been involved in a somewhat secret relationship with man 20 years her senior. This man was married, but they had been seeing each other for several years. Christy’s family and co-workers were not aware of this relationship, but her close friends were. The day after her murder the man had shown up at her school with flowers unaware that Christy had been murdered. When he found out he went to the police and gave up his DNA and granted them a full interview. He was later cleared.

What the Christy’s Body Shows

Christy’s autopsy showed that her jaw had been broken and she had some teeth knocked out. She had bruises around the top of her head and face. Christy Mirack had been manually strangled and then her attacker had also used her own scarf to strangle her mechanically. She had been sexually assaulted. Several swabs of DNA were collected and sent off to the Pennsylvania State Police Crime Lab for analysis. Her time of death was estimated between 7:30 am to 8:00 am on the 20th.

Investigators continue their interviews with people who knew Christy. In the first few days alone over 26 people were interviewed. DNA samples were also collected to be compared with the unsubs DNA. Neighbors reported to investigators that they had seen a white muscular man that morning driving a white Dodge or Toyota sedan. Investigators focused on finding this man. He was seen parking his car across from Christy’s residence and walking towards her front door. Police were able to track down a 31-year-old male who fit that description. But he was cleared after collecting hair and DNA that didn’t match.

Principal Suspect

Investigators also questioned her principal Harry Goodman since he had discovered her body. Initially, Goodman thought he was being asked down to the police department to answer questions about Christy and any issues he may have known of, but when he arrived he was immediately fingerprinted.

Investigators felt that Goodman may be their unknown suspect as he initially failed to give a DNA sample. Goodman’s story was that morning when Christy Mirack failed to show up for work he tried calling her five times. He also contacted her mother. She told him that she had seen Christy on Sunday when she came for a visit but had not talked to her since. Goodman decided that he would drive to Christy’s place thinking that he would find her along the way with a flat tire or something. When arrived at her place he noticed her car was there with ice all over it. That’s when Goodman says he started to panic.

Goodman claims that the police didn’t accept his alibi for being in a meeting during the window Christy was murdered. He felt that investigators were insinuating that he had been sexually attracted to Christy. Investigators felt they were on the right track when they noted that Goodman had been initially cooperative but now become uncooperative with them. Again refusing to give them a DNA sample. Eventually, Goodman was cleared.

Cold Case

Over 60 suspects were swabbed during the investigation, but none of them showed up in the CODIS database. This meant that their suspect hadn’t committed another crime since murdering Christy or had not been caught yet for any type of sexual offense. Christy’s case eventually turns cold with no new leads coming in over the years. Christy’s family was devastated especially her mother whom Christy was very close to.

Parabon

DNA

It’s now around 2011 and close to twenty years have passed. Over the year CODIS has been checked multiple times but there are no hits. A new DNA technology surfaced which investigators decide to take advantage of. Parabon Nanolabs, which is located in Virginia, was contracted to develop a DNA profile of their killer. They also developed an image of what their suspect may look like. The photo investigators received showed a male in his early to mid-’20s with darker skin and complexion and possibly dark hair.

On November 1, 2017, now 25 years later, the East Lampeter Township Police Department release the sketch and phenotype report put together by Parabon. Unfortunately, no one came forward claiming to know who the sketch resembled.

In 2018, Tom Shaw of Parabon Nanolabs reaches out to investigators with an offer to look at the sample through ancestry DNA. A genealogist would take the DNA profile and search ancestry archives to put together a family tree of the suspects. A search on GenMatch, a public genealogy website, gets a hit and shows two second cousins who were linked to the DNA from Christy’s killer.

CeCe Moore and her amazing talent start to build a family tree from this information starting from the great-grandparents down through the family line. She was able to pinpoint a family from Lancaster County who had both European and Puerto Rican ancestry. Then she conducted a newspaper search for any information about the family. CeCe Moore informs authorities of her findings and the name of the suspect. The match was one in two hundred octillion (27 zeros) that it could be anyone else. Genetic genealogy also helped to solve the Golden State Killer case leading to an arrest in April 2018.

DJ Freeze

So who was Christy’s killer? Raymond Rowe, also known as DJ Freeze, was a name that never popped up on the investigator’s radar. Rowe was a well-known wedding and venue DJ, something of a local celebrity, who also worked in Philadelphia and New York. However, his name was well known around central Pennsylvania and specifically in Lancaster County. Rowe claimed to had deejayed events for the likes of Paris Hilton, Sting, and the Eagles.

Rowe had been raised by a single mother along with his younger brother. At age 14, Raymond went to live with close neighbors, the Turner Family, when his mother asked them to take him in. Rowe was difficult to manage as a teenager. It is said that Rowe saw himself as God’s gift to women even at a young age. Rowe had married four times and had at least one child. At the time of the murder, he had been engaged and would go on to eventually marry his fiance Monica Whalen. They divorced in 1998.

DNA Never Lies

So the next step was investigators needed a sample of Rowe’s DNA. That proved to be a bit tricky as Rowe would often clean up after his venue’s collecting his own trash. He even brought his own water bottles. On May 15, 2018, investigators put Rowe under surveillance. Their intention was to collect something with his DNA on it, such as a water bottle or napkin. Basically anything with his saliva on it.

On May 31, 2018, Rowe is followed from his residence around 5 pm. He was leaving with his daughter to go to her Smoketown Elementary School for an end-of-the-year dance that he is working at. An undercover female trooper pretending to be a parent of one of the students is there to observe Rowe and collect any evidence that is discarded. Her patience pays off and by the end of the evening, police collect a water bottle and a piece of gum. 

Within two days the Pennsylvania State Police Lab was able to confirm the results that Raymond Rowe was the unknown suspect in Christy Mirack’s killing. Raymond Rowe was arrested on June 25, 2018, by authorities when he went outside to mow his lawn. When he was arrested he was told it was for the murder of Christy Mirack to which he replied “who’s that?”

Interrogation

Rowe is transported to Lancaster City Police Department and taken into an interrogation room. Rowe was read his rights, but right way denied that he had anything to do with Christy’s murder. According to investigators, Rowe tried to control the interview through manipulation. After being confronted that they had a match to his DNA the interview ends and he is arranged in front of a judge. He pleads not guilty to first-degree murder, three counts of rape, two counts of involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, and one count of burglary.

In January 2019, Raymond Rowe, age 50, ends up taking a plea deal to potentially avoid the death penalty. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole plus 60 to 120 years. He has never talked about why he raped and killed Christy Mirack. During sentencing Christy’s brother, Vince Mirack, spoke asking Rowe “why?” to which he got no reply. Vince went on to rage against Rowe for what he had done referring to him as a “self-serving evil fraud.”  Christy’s father had planned to address the court but was unable to do so collapsing in tears. Christy’s mother died in 2002 before her daughter’s killer was caught. When it was Rowe’s turn to address the court he did apologize to the Mirack family during his sentencing stating, “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine what you’re going through. I apologize.” 

Connection

Authorities and Christy’s family and friends are left to wonder what Rowe’s motive was in raping and killing her. After Rowe’s sentencing investigators did discover a possible connection. Christy’s friends had told police that she sometimes went to the Chameleon Club where Rowe was a DJ on Friday nights. Christy had a ticket stub in her wallet from the club where she had gone shortly before her death. Christy was also known to sunbathe outside her apartment and Rowe could have possibly passed by her residence on his way between his home and work. At the time of the murder, Rowe worked for ServiceMaster which is a professional cleaning business. 

Remember the white Toyota or Dodge vehicle neighbors reported seeing. Raymond Rowe drove a white 1988 Toyota Celica at the time of the murder.

It Wasn’t Me

That should be the end of this tragic tale, but hold on! Raymond Rowe now has a new attorney and filed paperwork alleging that he is innocent He is asking for new DNA testing to be conducted on evidence that was not previously tested. Three motions have been filed on his behalf. One for post-conviction relief, a motion for new forensic DNA testing, and a motion for discovery.

Rowe now claims that he had a secret relationship with Christy Mirack and had met her while working at the Chameleon Club in nearby Lancaster City. He claims that they had consensual sex on the morning she was murdered. When he left he claims she was alive and someone else had entered and killed her. He also claims that he felt that he had no choice but to plead guilty after the state had filed a notice that they were going to seek the death penalty. He was forced by his defense attorneys to take the plea.

Rowe is seeking to have several items tested or even re-tested for DNA. These items include the cutting board and a toaster that had been on top of the cutting board, Christy’s pants, her sweater, and the t-shirt she had on under her sweater. In addition, the door and doorknobs and a reexamination of all the vaginal swabs taken from her during her autopsy. Rowe claims that his DNA will not be found on the new items he has requested to be tested. They will show another male’s DNA, and as such, that will exonerate him. 

Stalker

Rowe’s attorney also argued that there are some newly discovered facts around the case. One being that Christy may have had a stalker. His attorney references a police report that states Christy and her roommates were being watched. Prosecutor’s claim that this new evidence of a stalker was just one tv personality’s opinion. There is no evidence of her or her roommate being stalked.

A post-conviction relief hearing was held on Thursday, September 2, 2021, where Rowe’s original Lancaster County public defenders were questioned about any pressure they put on Rowe to accept the plea deal. This was a unique situation as Rowe had to waive attorney-client privilege in order for them to testify. Patricia Spotts took the stand and testified that Rowe had confessed to her that he had murdered Christy Mirack. He claimed that he snapped. Both of his public defenders testified that Rowe wanted to plead guilty to avoid new charges in another case. He could have changed his mind and gone to trial up until when the judge sentenced him. Spotts testified that Rowe knew this and although he didn’t like the plea it was his decision and his alone to take it.

Mystery Charges?

Back in 2018, county district attorney, Craig Stedman, offered Rowe a deal where he would not file additional charges if he plead guilty in Christy’s case by December 31, 2018. Neither the district attorney’s office nor Rowe’s original public defenders would say what those other pending charges were. Part of the deal was that Rowe’s involvement with the other charges would be kept secret. His involvement would be kept from other officers of the court from both the prosecutor and public defender offices.

All Spotts would testify to was that the charges were “very concerning” to the defense team at the time. These new charges would have affected his “circumstances and privileges in prison and his ability to visit his wife and daughter.”  What those charges were have not been revealed. Alberto Ruiz, an investigator for the public defender’s office, also took the stand. He testified that Rowe told him he had snapped when confessing to killing Christy.

When questioned by Rowe’s new defense attorney on requesting DNA testing, Spotts and the other public defender, David Blanck decided not to do any additional DNA testing of items found at the scene because they feared Rowe’s DNA would be found. This would further incriminate him. They also testified that they did not write down Rowe’s confession to them as it was highly incriminating. But both of them remember having multiple conversations with Rowe where he admitted to the murder. He claimed he was on cocaine at the time and described himself as a “thug.”  He never shared details of the murder with them.

Defense Strategy

When questioned why his defense team didn’t pursue an alternative suspect defense Spotts testified that the “heat-of-the-moment passion” defense was a better strategy if they had gone to trial. They felt it would have been difficult to explain to the jury why Christy was killed in the exact same spot that she and Rowe allegedly engaged in consensual sex at. Remember, Rowe’s DNA had been found under Christy’s badly beaten body. They also could not put Rowe on the stand as he had confessed to them and they are ethically bound not to enter perjured testimony. The passion defense was the best option they had since Rowe could not provide any information or evidence of his alleged prior relationship with Christy. The defense team also could not find any connection.

As to the discovery of evidence, both defense attorney’s testified that Rowe would not even look at any of the evidence that the prosecutor’s office sent to them. Each time, Rowe would refuse to look at it. Rowe’s hearing continues next week with more witness testimony.

Rohrerstown Elementary school no longer exists today. It was torn down and a new school was built in its place, but Christy Mirack is not forgotten. There is a sculpture dedicated to Christy in the new garden and a picture of her hangs in the new building in remembrance.

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