LANCASTER, Pa. —
When elementary school teacher Christy Mirack was found dead in her home in 1992, the tight-knit Pennsylvania community where she lived was left reeling and without answers. Nearly three decades later, her murder was finally solved thanks to DNA evidence and genealogical matching. WGAL reporter Meredith Jorgensen discusses what it was like to have such a legendary cold case come to a close after all these years.
‘Absolute, remorseless horror’: Murdered teacher’s brother rages against homicidal DJ Raymond Rowe
Posted Jan 8, 2019
Raymond Rowe pleaded guilty Tuesday to the brutal 1992 murder and rape of school teacher Christy Mirack.
It was with a sense of both grief and rage that Vince Mirack rose in a Lancaster County courtroom Tuesday morning to face the man who raped and killed his sister more than 26 years ago.
Mirack got that long-awaited chance moments after well-known disc jockey Raymond Rowe pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and burglary charges for the 1992 slaying of 25-year-old elementary school teacher Christy Mirack.
Rowe, who was finally nabbed for the murder with the aid of DNA evidence last June, struck a deal for a life-plus-60-to-120-year prison term. He did so to avoid the death sentence District Attorney Craig Stedman was seeking.
“The question I have to ask you is, Why?” Vince Mirack said as he glared at the 50-year Rowe.
He got no reply. In fact, at no point during the 45-minute hearing before Judge Dennis Reinaker did Rowe explain why he targeted Christy Mirack, forced his way into her East Lampeter Township apartment and raped, beat and strangled her.
All the trembling Lancaster man offered was an apology.
“I’m sorry,” Rowe said, turning to Mirack’s family. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through.”
Stedman described the long-unsolved homicide as an “absolute, remorseless horror” committed by a “deviant and a coward.”
“It was pretty clear from the scene that (Mirack) was surprised and fought for her life,” the DA said. “Unfortunately, she failed.”
Mirack was planning to deliver Christmas presents to her students at Rohrerstown Elementary School the day she was murdered, Stedman said. Her principal became concerned when she didn’t show up for work on the morning of Dec. 21, 1992. He went to her apartment and discovered her body.
The decades-long investigation of her death bore fruit when DNA evidence tied Rowe to the crime. Stedman said Rowe’s DNA was found not only on Mirack’s body, but also in blood drops on the carpet of her Greenfield Estates apartment.
In the intervening years, Rowe, who at the time of the killing worked for a ServiceMaster office near Mirack’s home, went on with his life, married and created a successful business as DJ Freez.
Stedman said after the court hearing that investigators don’t know why Rowe targeted Mirack. He said Mirack did go to clubs where Rowe was a DJ, but it isn’t known whether the two ever met. Nor, the DA said, are investigators certain this was Rowe’s only murder.
Rowe, dressed in a light gray suit, stood mostly silently before the judge as Stedman outlined the charges against him. The DA said Mirack’s family agreed to the plea deal.
When Reinaker asked Rowe if he agreed with the charges and was pleading guilty, Rowe replied, “Yes, your honor,” in a soft voice.
Public Defender Patricia Spotts said Rowe admitted to her that he killed Mirack.
“There is nothing we can say to make the community feel better about this case,” Spotts said. “We can only hope the community and (Mirack’s) family find some comfort in the person who did it taking responsibility.”
Vince Mirack didn’t try to hide his rage as he spoke to Rowe.
“I’ve searched for who could do such a horrific thing…Who could do something so heinous to another person and walk away with no regret,” he said. “Now I know who.”
“You took away our joy, our security, our love of the Christmas holiday…But most of all you took away our Christy,” Vince Mirack added. “We struggle every day to get past the pain.”
His regret, he said, is that his mother didn’t live long enough to see the man he described as a self-serving evil fraud brought to justice.
“I can only hope the rest of your life is as painful for you as the last 26 years have been for my family,” Vince Mirack said.
Christy Mirack’s father also had planned to address the court. Instead, he collapsed in tears to be surrounded and comforted by relatives.
Stedman echoed Vince Mirack’s observation that after the killing Rowe “went back to his life in the community and he enjoyed it. It’s so wrong on so many levels.”
“All we can do is make sure he is held accountable going forward,” Stedman said.
