LANCASTER, Pa. — Note: The video is from June 2018.
The Lancaster man serving life in prison for the 1992 rape and murder of Christy Mirack had the denial of his motion for additional DNA testing of evidence in the case upheld by the Pennsylvania Superior Court, prosecutors in Lancaster County announced Wednesday.
Raymond Rowe, also known as DJ Freeze, pleaded guilty to Mirack's murder in January 2019 and was sentenced to life in prison, plus 60 to 120 years, the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office said.
He filed a petition last year to have five items from the crime scene tested for touch DNA, but that petition was denied by Lancaster County Judge Dennis E. Reinaker in April 2022.
The items Rowe wanted tested, according to the DA's Office, were:
- a cutting board found near Mirack's head
- a toaster that is known to have been on top of the cutting board
- a pair of pants found next to Mirack's body
- Mirack's sweater
- Mirack's undershirt
Reinaker's denial of Rowe's petition, which was filed under the terms of Pennsylvania's Post-Conviction Relief Act (PCRA), was upheld by the State Superior Court.
According to the DA's Office, in order to obtain Post-Conviction DNA testing, a defendant must establish that 1.) the evidence was not tested because the technology was not in existence at the time and counsel did not request testing, 2.) the evidence was subject to the testing, but newer technology could provide substantially more accurate and substantially probative results, or 3.) counsel sought and was denied funds for testing.
DNA expert testimony during the three-day PCRA hearing revealed that the purported new DNA collection method was a combination of traditional methods of touch DNA collection that “was being utilized effectively in cases” in 2018 and 2019, when Rowe pleaded guilty, according to the DA's Office.
Such testing would’ve been available to Rowe and his defense team at that time, prosecutors said.
The body fluid DNA sample found at the murder scene produced a good short tandem repeat analysis result and full independent profile that matched Rowe’s DNA, which was surreptitiously obtained from chewing gum and a water bottle he used while working as a DJ at an event in May 2018, prosecutors said.
The profile also matched subsequent confirmation samples taken after Rowe's arrest, according to the DA's Office.
In its opinion, the Superior Court discerned “no error with the PCRA court’s determination that (Rowe) failed to meet the threshold requirement of establishing the unavailability of effective DNA collection and testing capable of producing probative results under the circumstances at the time he pleaded guilty. STR technology for testing Touch DNA samples inarguably was in existence, effective, and know to (Rowe) and his team of defenders at the time of (his) plea.”
The Superior Court also said in its opinion that Rowe failed to show that Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology would have produced more reliable results than STR technology, since both testifying experts at the PCRA hearing indicated that they could only speculate about the quantity and quality of the Touch DNA samples capable of collection from the requested items since testing hadn’t been attempted.
Mirack, 25, was found dead in her East Lampeter Township townhouse on December 21, 1992. The teacher's body was found by her school’s principal, who went to her home after she did not appear for work.
Investigators searched for her killer for 26 years before arresting Rowe in 2018.
They eventually identified Rowe as a suspect with help from Parabon NanoLabs, which developed a genotype by using DNA evidence left at the murder scene.
The genotype was then uploaded to a public, genetic geneology database, which resulted in matches to relatives of Rowe, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office.
Parabon’s genealogical research determined that Rowe was a “strong viable suspect.”
In May 2018, undercover detectives acquired a water bottle and gum of Rowe’s while he was working as a disc jockey at an event at Smoketown Elementary School, the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office stated.
Testing revealed a match between Rowe’s DNA and the DNA found on multiple locations of Mirack’s body and on carpet underneath her body, the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office said.
Prosecutors announced their intention to seek the death penalty as Rowe's case made its way to trial.
Rowe pleaded guilty to Mirack's rape and murder in January 2019 and received a life sentence plus 60-120 years as part of the plea agreement.