WEBVTT RON: WHO KILLED LANCASTER COUNTY TEACHER CHRISTY MIRACK? >> ALL SHE EVER WENT IN TO DO WAS BE A SCHOOLTEACHER. KIM: A QUESTION UNANSWERED FOR 25 YEARS, UNTIL A STUNNING BREAKTHROUGH. >> WE ARE ANNOUNCING THE ARREST OF RAYMOND. RON: HOW A MAN WHO MADE A NAME FOR HIMSELF IN THE SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY AS DJ FREEZ WENT UNNAMED IN THIS CASE UNTIL NOW. WGAL NEWS 8 TAKES YOU INSIDE THE CRIME-FIGHTING LAB CREDITED WITH CRACKING THIS COLD CASE. KIM: PLUS, WE HAVE REACTION FROM THOSE WHO KNOW DJ FREEZ, AND FROM MIRACK’S FAMILY. THIS IS WGAL NEWS 8 CHRONICLE, MUSIC AND MURDER. HELLO EVERYONE AND WELCOME TO CHRONICLE. I’M KIM LEMON. RON: I’M RON MARTIN. IN THIS EDITION, WE’RE DIGGING INTO THE ARREST IN CHRISTY MIRACK’S MURDER, A QUARTER CENTURY AFTER HER DEATH. MIRACK TAUGHT SIXTH GRADE AT THE ROHRERSTOWN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN LANCASTER COUNTY. FAMILY MEMBERS SAY IT WAS HER DREAM JOB. BUT ON DECEMBER 21, 1992, SHE NEVER MADE IT TO WORK. KIM: WGAL NEWS 8’S SUSAN SHAPIRO WAS THE REPORTER COVERING MIRACK’S MURDER 25 YEARS AGO. SHE PICKS UP THE STORY, AND RE-TRACES THE STEPS IN THE INVESTIGATION THAT LED US TO TODAY. SUSAN: JUST DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS IN 1992, CHRISTY MIRACK WAS FOUND MURDERED IN HER APARTMENT IN GREENFIELD ESTATES. THE 25-YEAR-OLD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER HAD BEEN STRANGLED, BEATEN, AND RATE -- RAPED AFTER HER ROOMATE LEFT FOR WORK. A NEIGHBOR TOLD ME AT THE TIME SHE DIDN’T SEE OR HEAR ANYTHING. >> THERE WAS NOTHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY. SUSAN: NO ONE COULD HAVE PREDICTED,THE BRUTAL CRIME ON THIS COLD DECEMBER MORNING WOULD BECOME A LONG COLD CASE. >> I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE EASY TO SOLVE. SUSAN: FORMER EAST LAMPETER TOWNSHIP POLICE DETECTIVE RON SAVAGE WORKED THE CASE UNTIL HIS RETIREMENT IN 1994. THE MIRACK MURDER IS MISSING FROM HIS SCRAPBOOK OF MANY SOLVED CASES. >> IT WAS VERY FRUSTRATING AND THE LONGER IT WENT THE MORE FRUSTRATING IT GOT. SHE HAD NO ENEMIES, I WAS ABLE TO DETEMINE. SUSAN: STATE AND LOCAL POLICE AND EVENTUALLY THE FBI INTERVIEWED HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE. BOB WILDASIN WHO WAS AN ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT IN THE HEMPFIELD SCHOOL DISTRICT WHERE MIRACK TAUGHT SAYS HE FELT LIKE EVERYONE WAS A POSSIBLE SUSPECT. >> I MEAN THEY DIDN’T LEAVE, THEY WANTED NAMES, ADDRESSES, OF STAFF OF CUSTODIANS. SUSAN: AUTHORITIES WENT ON THE THEORY MIRACK KNEW HER KILLER. THEY RELEASED A COMPOSITE SKETCH EARLY ON OF A MAN A NEIGHBOR SAID WAS WALKING NEARBY THE MORNING OF THE MURDER. A MAN WHO FIT THE DESCRIPTION AND DOZENS OF OTHERS WERE ELIMINATED AS SUSPECTS MANY THROUGH DNA. JOE MADENSPACHER WAS THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY AT THE TIME. >> WE WERE ELIMINATING SUSPECTS. SUSAN: BILLBOARDS IN 2007 AND SIGNS IN 2011 HELPED RENEW INTEREST IN THE CASE AND KEEP IT IN THE PUBLIC EYE. >> SHE NEVER GOT UP -- CAP AT CHANCE TO HELP KIDS. SUSAN: THE DA SAID AT THE TIME, THEY WANTED TO BRING A FRESH SET OF EYES ON IT. THERE WAS A BREAK LAST YEAR. THE D.A. RELEASED COMPOSITES OF THE KILLER AT DIFFERENT AGES BASED ON DNA FOUND AT THE CRIME SCENE. >> WE ARE ANNOUNCING THE ARREST. SUSAN: AND THEN IN JUNE HE ANNOUNCED THE ARREST OF RAYMOND ROWE. THE DNA FOUND A QUARTER OF A CENTURY AGO WITH NEW TECHNOLOGY LED INVESTIGATORS TO THE POPULAR DJ. A MAN EARLY INVESTIGATORS SAY WAS NEVER ON THEIR RADAR. >> I NEVER EVEN HEAR OF HIM BEFORE. >> WE CHECKED ON EVERYBODY SHE KNEW, ACCORDING TO THE ROOMMATE. HE NEVER CAME UP. RON: SO WHO IS DJ FREEZ? HIS REAL NAME IS RAYMOND ROE. AND ACCORDING TO FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS WHO RAISED HIM, CHANGED A FEW TIMES OVER THE YEARS. NEWS 8’S MIKE STRAUB MET WITH MEMBERS OF THE TURNER FAMILY WHICH AT ONE TIME, SAID RAYMOND WAS LIKE A BROTHER. MIKE: BEFORE HE WAS D.J. FREEZ, HE WAS RAYMOND, A CHILD LIVING WITH HIS SINGLE MOTHER AND YOUNGER BROTHER, AND THE TURNERS WERE HIS BABYSITTER. >> THEY LIVED RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER FROM US SO MY MOM STARTED BABYSITTING THEM. MIKE: THE TURNER’S HAD SIX KIDS OF THEIR OWN FIVE BOYS, AND ONE GIRL LIVING ON WEST FREDERICK STREET. WHEN RAYMOND BECAME A TEENAGER, THE TURNERS SAID HIS MOTHER ASKED FOR HELP. >> RAYMOND’S MOM CAME TO MY MOM AND SAID, LOOK, CAN YOU TAKE RAYMOND IN FOR A WHILE? DOROTHY -- WHILE? MIKE: DOROTHY TURNER OPENED HER HOME TO 14-YEAR-OLD RAYMOND, DESPITE WENDY’S PROTEST. >> LOOK I ALREADY GOT FIVE BROTHERS, AND I’M THE ONLY GIRL IN THIS HOUSE, AND YOU’RE BRINGING ANOTHER DUDE INTO THE HOUSE. THAT’S WHAT I SAID. >> SHE KNEW HOW TO HANDLE KIDS AND SHE DID THE BEST SHE COULD WITH RAYMOND. >> SHE WAS LIKE THAT, SHE’D HELP ANY KID TO TRY AND GET THEM ON THE RIGHT TRACK. MIKE: WENDY AND EDWARD SAY RAYMOND WAS NOT THE BEST ROOMMATE. >> HE JUST WOULDN’T LISTEN TO MY MOM, NO MATTER WHAT SHE TRIED. SHE TRIED TO GET HIM COUNSELING, SHE JUST DID EVERYTHING AND HE WOULDN’T LISTEN. MIKE: THEY SAY RAYMOND WAS MISSING SCHOOL, AND NOT OBEYING THE RULES OF THE HOUSE. >> ALL HOURS OF THE NIGHT, RUNNING THE STREET. MIKE: AND THE TURNERS SAY, RAYMOND WAS ESPECIALLY DIFFICULT FOR WOMEN. >> THOUGHT HE WAS GOD’S GIFT TO WOMEN. MIKE: HE LIVED WITH THE TURNERS FOR ABOUT THREE YEARS. YEARS LATER, EDWARD RECONNECTED WITH RAYMOND AFTER HEARING ABOUT HIS D.J. BUSINESS. >> BECAME FRIENDS AGAIN ON FACEBOOK, AND I CONGRATULATED HIM ON BEING SUCCESSFUL. MIKE: HE SAYS RAYMOND NEVER THANKED THEM FOR OPENING THEIR HOME. NOW, THE TWO SIBINGS ARE STUNNED BY THEIR OLD ROOMATE’S ARREST. >> DO I FEEL SORRY FOR RAYMOND? NO. WHO I FEEL SORRY FOR IS CHRISTY MIRACK’S FAMILY, AND CHRISTY MIRACK. RON: DOROTHY TURNER PASSED AWAY A FEW YEARS AGO. THE TURNER CHILDREN SAY THEIR MOTHER WAS ONE OF THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO TRIED TO HELP RAYMOND WHEN HE WAS A KID. >> THIS KILLER WAS AT LIBERTY FROM THIS CRIME, THIS BRUTAL CRIME, FOR LONGER THAN CHRISTY MIRACK WAS ON THIS EARTH ALIVE. KIM: PROSECUTORS NOW HAVE A SUSPECT IN THE TEACHER’S MURDER. BUT HOW CHRISTY’S LIFE ENDED HAS CONSUMED HER BROTHER FOR DECADES. RON: VINCE MIRACK MADE IT HIS LIFE’S WORK TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS MIDDLE SISTER. HE SPOKE TO NEWS 8’S MEREDITH JORGENSEN FROM HIS HOME IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY. MEREDITH: VINCE MIRACK WAITED 25 YEARS FOR THE PHONE CALL HE RECEIVED ON JUNE 25. >> IT WAS SHOCKING, IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE WHEN I GOT THE CALL. I WAS ONE OF THE PEOPLE THAT WORKS WITH THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE AND BASICALLY SAID THERE’S SOME BREAKING NEWS AND I WAS LIKE WHAT DO YOU MEAN? >> TODAY WE ARE ANNOUNCING THE ARREST OF RAYMOND CHARLES ROWE. MEREDITH: NEWS OF AN ARREST IN THE COLD CASE MURDER OF HIS SISTER. >> MY HEART FELT LIKE IT STOPPED. I MEAN IT WAS LIKE A TON OF BRICKS FELL OFF MY SHOULDERS. BUT IT WAS A RELIEF, I STILL STAY THAT THIS DAY I FEEL LIKE THAT PART OF ME, THAT PART THAT HAS BEEN PUSHING ON ME FOR 25 YEARS IS GONE. IT REALLY IS. MEREDITH: VINCE WAS 21-YEARS-OLD WHEN CHRISTY WAS MURDERED. AND THERE’S BEEN NO CLOSURE SINCE 1992. >> WE NEVER GOT TO SEE HER. THE PRIEST AT OUR CHURCH TOLD US IT WAS PROBABLY BEST NOT TO SEE HER. MEREDITH: VINCE SAYS THE ARREST PROVIDES SOME SOLACE FOR HIS FATHER. >> SHE IS RELIEVED. -- HE IS RELIEVED. HE’S HAPPY. MEREDITH: CHRISTY’S MOTHER DIED IN 2002 NEVER KNOWING WHAT HAPPENED TO HER DAUGHTER. >> SHE WANTED TO HEAR THIS, WHICH IS WHY I VOWED I WOULD NEVER LET GO OF THIS CASE UNTIL WE GOT TO THIS POINT. SHE IS AT PEACE. I WOULD SAY SHE’S A PEACE RIGHT NOW. MEREDITH: AND VINCE IS TOO, IN SOME WAYS, ESPECIALLY WHEN HE VISITED HIS MOTHER AND SISTER’S GRAVES NEAR SHAMOKIN AFTER THE ARRESTS. >> IT WAS GOOD. IT WAS RELIEVING. IT FELT GOOD TO BE THERE KNOWING THAT THIS TIME, THERE’S AN ANSWER. EVERY TIME, I STOPPED BEFORE THERE WAS NOTHING. I JUST KEPT SAYING WHY AND SOMEDAY. MEREDITH: SOMEDAY ARRIVED, THE WHY REMAINS. >> THERE’S NO REASON FOR THIS. I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND. IF THERE WAS A REASON, I COULD UNDERSTAND. BUT THERE IS NO REASON FOR THIS, THERE IS NO REASON FOR HER TO LEAVE THE WAY SHE LEFT. MEREDITH: VINCE DOESN’T KNOW SUSPECT RAY ROWE, HE DOESN’T KNOW IF THE TWO EVEN KNEW EACH OTHER. BUT IF THE CHARGES ARE CORRECT, HE DOESN’T THINK DJ FREEZ DESERVED THE LIFE HE’S LIVED SINCE THE MURDER. >> HE SEEMS LIKE AN EGOTISTIC PERSON. SOMEONE WHO LOVES HIMSELF. SOMEONE THAT CAN PHYSICALLY DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS, AND LIVE IN THE LIMELIGHT IN THE SAME CITY WHERE IT HAPPENED AND TAKE IT ALL IN, IT IS UNBELIEVABLE. IT HURTS. IT REALLY HURTS. THE WAY HE HAS BEEN FREE, AND THE WAY HE’S BEEN LIVING HIS LIFE, JUST A GOOD OLD TIME I SEEMS LIKE. JUST A GOOD TIME HE WAS HAVING. MEREDITH: THE MIRACK’S ARE PUSHING FOR THE DEATH PENALTY. >> I AM ALL FOR IT. EYE FOR AN EYE, TOOTH FOR A TOOTH, I AM ALL FOR IT. MEREDITH: STANDING IN THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S PRESS CONFERENCE, VINCE SAYS HE WAS FLOORED BY THE DNA EVIDENCE. >> IT IS AMAZING. IT REALLY IS. MEREDITH: HE KNOWS THERE IS STILL A TRAIL AHEAD. >> IT IS MY BIGGEST FEAR. THAT IS MY BIGGEST FEAR. I MEAN YOU HEAR THOSE NUMBERS, BUT YOU KNOW, I’VE SEEN PEOPLE GET OFF ON THIS AND THAT’S MY BIGGEST FEAR. MEREDITH: NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS TO RAY ROWE, IT WON’T BRING HI SISTER BACK. A SAD REMINDER HE COULDN’T DENY EVEN WHEN THE ARREST WAS ANNOUNCED. >> IT WAS HARD, HARD, AND THEN THAT BIG PICTURE OF HER SITTING THERE LOOKING AT EVERYBODY, SMILING, IT WAS REALLY HARD. KIM: -- MEREDITH: YOU CAN SEE IT’S STILL SO RAW FOR VINCE AND HIS FAMILY AT TIMES. ANOTHER THING VINCE MENTIONED DURING OUR CONVERSATION WAS HIS SISTER’S PASSION FOR TEACHING, FIRST AS A READING SPECIALIST, THEN AS A LONG TERM SUBSTITUTE, THEN SHE FINALLY GOT HER DREAM JOB. HER VERY OWN CLASSROOM. THE SCHOOL THAT CHRISTY TAUGHT AT DOESN’T EVEN EXIST ANYMORE, IT WAS TORN DOWN IN 2004 AND REPLACED WITH THIS BUILDIN BUT HER SPIRIT IS STILL HERE, HER LOVE OF TEACHING REMEMBERED IN THIS SCULPTURE GARDEN AND THIS MEMORIAL DONATED BY THE FAMILY IS THE CENTERPIEC IT IS SURROUNDED BY BRICKS, SOME ETCHED WITH THE NAMES OF FORMER STUDENTS. MARYUM FISCHER WAS A STUDENTS OF MS. MIRACK’S AND SHE SAYS CHRISTY WAS MORE THAN A TEACHE SHE BECAME A FAMILY FRIEND. WHEN THE NEXT SCHOOL YEAR BEGINS AND THE STUDENTS FILE UP THE STAIRS, THERE’S CHRISTY MIRACK LOOKING OVER THEM. KIM: A PIECE OF GUM WAS CRUCIAL IN THE ARREST OF DJ FREEZ. COMING UP ON CHRONICLE, MUSIC AND MURDER, UNLOCKING DNA EVIDENCE TAKEN FROM THE CRIME SCENE. >> PEOPLE TYPICALLY COME TO US BECAUSE THEY HAVE A CASE WHERE THEY HAVE DNA, BUT NO LEADS. RON: WGAL NEWS 8 TAKES YOU INSIDE THE LAB THAT USES GENETICS TO CRACK COLD CASES, LIKE CHRISTY MIRACK'