i mean, i've done different things. >> you're living life to the fullest now. >> absolutely. ♪ >> that's all for this edition of "dateline", "dateline." i'm natalie morales. thank you for watching. i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." >> he said, "christy's been murdered." she was taken so soon and so violently. i couldn't stop shaking. >> a young teacher, leaving for school. murdered, before she could get out the door. >> this was a horrific scene. >> it was a nightmare scene. she had christmas presents she was taking to her students that day. >> i was petrified. i just thought who? why? >> we looked at suspect after suspect after suspect. the crime was a mystery for

decades. >> we were still with no answer! >> i mean, this poor family. we thought, we might be able to solve this case. >> could cutting edge science yield a new clue? >> this was a huge lead. >> absolutely. >> this wasn't someone they had reason to look at or talk to before. >> he was here. he was here the whole time! >> you are literally talking to christy's killer. >> right. face to face. >> evil comes in all packages. >> it certainly does. hello and welcome to "dateline." christy marack always knew she wanted to be a teacher and her enthusiasm showed. colleagues marveled at her way with kids, but her life was cut tragically short and investigators eventually hit a dead end. decades later a crash course in dna analysis gave them a picture

of her killer and revealed a stunning truth, that he'd been hiding in plain sight the whole time. here's andrea canning with, "facing the music." >> reporter: they were having so much fun. a group of girlfriends hitting the town one saturday night, lost in the music. >> we would go to different clubs and we probably made ourselves known, "we're here, come look at us," in a fun way. >> reporter: this was the playground they knew by heart. this was the home where they felt safe. they were invincible. >> you were in this bubble. you're 25, like, nothing's gonna happen to you. >> reporter: and then, less than 48 hours later one of them was gone -- murdered. the killer was at large. >> and i remember being paralyzed, like, not being able to leave the house. >> reporter: this not only stole your friend, it stole your innocence.

>> yeah. it so did. it did. >> reporter: it would take another 25 years to find the killer. a most unlikely suspect. always there. watching them. daring them. >> reporter: you are literally talking to christy's killer. >> right. and i kept thinking after the fact, i'm like, he had to have known who i was when i was standing in front of him. he had to have known who i was. >> reporter: some things are so life altering you can't forget them, no matter how hard you try. for harry goodman, that moment came the morning of december 21st, 1992. harry was the principal of an elementary school in lancaster county, pennsylvania. his star teacher, 25-year-old christy mirack, was late for work. >> christy was there every morning right around 8:00. >> reporter: when 8:00 became 8:30, harry grew uneasy. >> and the kids had started to

come into the classroom. so i called her apartment about five times. nothing. >> reporter: he contacted her family who lived about a two hour drive north. christy's brother vince mirack. >> i think we were in panic mode. the kind of person she was, we just thought something was wrong. it was that gut feeling. >> reporter: the family told harry they hadn't heard from christy that morning. harry couldn't wait any longer, he knew she lived nearby with a friend. >> reporter: so you decide to jump in your car, to go see what's going on with christy? >> i was prepared to go down and change a tire along the interstate. >> reporter: that's what you were expecting. >> that's what i was expecting. >> reporter: you thought, okay, her car's broken down. >> right. >> reporter: but it wasn't. and when he eventually pulled up to christy's apartment complex --

>> i saw her car there. and it was iced over. >> reporter: uh-huh. >> and then i started to freak out. >> reporter: her front door was open. he went inside and looked to his left. he saw her in the living room, lifeless on the floor. he ran to call 911. >> i was a total mess. i think i was -- i was in hysterics and total shock. >> it was pretty apparent that she had been murdered. >> reporter: craig steadman went onto become the lancaster county district attorney. back in the early 90's, he was a young prosecutor. >> reporter: this was a horrific scene. >> yeah, it was a nightmare scene. you know, not only the fact that you had this young teacher who was brutally murdered, but she had been sexually assaulted on top of that. >> reporter: did it seem clear, at least at first glance, how she died? >> no. other than that it had been -- there had been a brutal struggle. >> reporter: the medical

examiner would later determine that in addition to being sexually assaulted, christy had been beaten and strangled to death, likely that very morning. >> i mean, she had her gloves on. so, most people, when they're getting ready to go to work, they -- it's the last thing you do is you put your gloves on beforehand. she had christmas presents that she was taking to her students that day, that were strewn about. as part of the struggle. >> reporter: so brazen, too, that this would happen at that -- that hour of the morning, when people are going to work -- >> yep. >> reporter: -- to school. and those places are close together. and there's a lot of cars around there and people. >> a lot of people around. the number of witnesses that could have been there. i mean, some -- that person was very determined to do whatever he wanted to do. >> reporter: police collected crime scene evidence, including dna the killer left behind during the sexual assault. and they canvassed the neighborhood for witnesses. her brother vince says he had no idea what was happening until he arrived at the police station. >> the session was started with, you know, "there was an accident.

she passed away." and, of course, obviously we said, "what happened?" and that's when they told us. she was murdered. >> reporter: christy's roommate, mary, got a call from police asking to meet back at the apartment -- something about christy being in trouble. when she arrived, a detective approached her. >> and he brought me into his car and he said, christy's been murdered. and i just remember, like, like, being -- doubled over, just trying to stop the shaking. >> reporter: mary explained that she left the apartment around 7:00 that morning. christy was still getting ready for work. >> i was driving away and i'm like, oh, i should go back and get my lunch. oh, i'm already this far. i'm just gonna keep going. >> reporter: that meant christy was murdered sometime between 7:00 and just after 9:00 that morning, when harry goodman found her. investigators asked mary to do a walk through of the apartment. right away she saw scuff marks on and near the front door. >> and there's something from

his shoes or her shoes, she dug in. it's -- it's -- it's what i thought -- she's, like, just dug in and, like, he was drag -- like she was dragged. and then there was just a lot -- there's a lot of blood on -- on the carpet. >> reporter: and you had to see that? it just has to be so traumatizing. >> yeah, it was. >> reporter: investigators believed christy opened the door to leave, only to have the killer drag her back in. something else caught their attention, mary's final conversation with christy. >> before i left, i went and said, okay, we're gonna meet up later? something else that caught her attention mary's time conversation with christy. >> before i left we were like okay we're going to meet up

later. and she sounded distant and i said, are you okay? and i said -- and she's like, no, i'm fine. so then i just went to work. >> reporter: what do you think it was? >> i don't know. i don't know if she was just thinking about the day or just -- she was preoccupied. >> reporter: christy had something on her mind and only moments to live. investigators had to find out if the two were connected. >> coming up -- clues to a mystery. a boyfriend. >> she had told me that things were ending. she was finally ready to move on. >> this was a big deal. >> mmm-hmmm. >> and a mysterious visitor at christy's school. >> i thought, i may have just been face to face with the killer. >> when "dateline" continues. >> when "dateline" continues the itch can last 24 hours. but with pataday once daily relief extra strength you get fast, 24-hour relief in one drop. make it a pataday with the drop that's right for you. now without a prescription. everywhere.

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anyway, that's how you let yourself woah! save 40% on hotel and ticket packages right now. not later, like right now. >> reporter: lancaster county is pennsylvania amish country. a place where old ways and modern suburban sprawl meet. the brutal murder of a schoolteacher just before christmas 1992 upset that sense of peace. >> a lot of people in lancaster county, particularly back then, they just didn't lock their doors, they didn't lock theirs cars. a very trusting community. >> reporter: and yet, da craig stedman says christy mirack's killing didn't have the mark of a stranger. >> 7:00, 7:30 in the morning, home invasion, sexual assault. it would be highly unusual for something like that to take place at that time of day, in someone's apartment, just at random.

>> reporter: police wanted to know if christy had any enemies. the answer was "no." her brother vince says his sister had tons of friends. she was kind, caring and focused. from the time she was a little girl, she wanted to be a teacher. >> we had a little thing set up in our -- in our garage where she was the schoolteacher. now it's the summer, and the kids wanna go out and play. and my sister's pullin' them in to teach them. >> reporter: when she wasn't playing school, she was goofing around, like a normal kid. >> you can ask anybody and they'll tell ya the same thing. she always was laughin', smilin' -- just a good -- good -- havin' a good time. >> reporter: after high school she took her work play ethic to lancaster where she met her other family. were you all like sisters? >> yeah. >> absolutely. >> christy's circle included that roommate, mary, chris, lisa bailee and maryanne taylor. >> we shared clothes, hair products, everything.

>> i don't think there's anything about each other that we don't know and that's such a rare friendship. >> reporter: and when it came to christy, her friends knew she could hold her own, especially when they'd go out. >> if someone came up and she wasn't interested, she'd -- had no problem telling people, "hit the road. i'm not interested." >> reporter: she was also protective of her friends. when they graduated a few of them set up house, in that apartment complex, just outside downtown lancaster. >> christy was always a very safe person, like lock your doors, always leave with a buddy. >> and we did feel safe. there was no time -- >> it was in the middle of nowhere. i mean, our backyard was an amish farm. it was a dairy farm. >> reporter: by then christy had already landed her dream job, as a teacher. here she is leading a sixth grade class in science. >> these are the ways we would classify any type of animal. >> reporter: harry goodman saw something special in her.

>> she had the kids motivated. they were captivated. some people would drag themselves into work. christy didn't look at it as work. >> reporter: if only you could bottle that. >> oh my gosh. >> reporter: and sell it. >> yeah. tell me. >> reporter: but investigators did find one loose thread in her life. >> she loved him. so loyal to him. >> reporter: christy had fallen for a man who went by the nickname dagger. he wasn't exactly her friends' idea of a catch. christy was 25 and he -- was not. >> we -- he was old. >> i remember thinking how old he was. >> he was 20 years older. >> yes. >> reporter: almost twice christy's age. but he had good job as president of the local teamsters. and he was generous. >> i think she felt cared for.

i don't even know exactly how, whether that was financially or what, but i think she felt cared for. >> reporter: christy didn't divulge much about her boyfriend or his past. but her friends could tell he was in no rush to the altar. they thought that bothered christy, especially as the friends started moving out and getting married. >> maybe having just been to chris's wedding that september, i'm thinking maybe that's -- that she was realizing, "that's the life i deserve, too." >> reporter: two days before she was killed, that saturday, christy had come to a decision. >> she had -- told me that things were ending with dagger and she was finally ready to move on. >> reporter: this was a big deal because she had been with him for years at this point. >> years. she looked happy. and we saw christy back, bubbly, happy, ready to get out there and live.

>> reporter: and that night she did. the friends went out downtown, hitting the clubs. now, police had to consider whether christy told dagger she wanted to break up. if so, had he taken it badly? was that on christy's mind the morning she was murdered? or had christy angered someone else from that saturday night? police wanted to know more. >> where did you eat? where did you go dancing? where did you go -- after that? who was there? >> reporter: then, something bizarre. the day after christy's murder, a man walked into her school. he clearly didn't belong there. >> i approached him and said, "may i help you?" >> reporter: bob wildasin was an assistant school superintendent. >> he said, "oh, i'm just here to see christy mirack." i said, "well, unfortunately, you're gonna have to leave. christy -- has passed."

>> reporter: the mysterious visitor said he hadn't heard the news. he claimed he was christy's friend. then, he left. >> it was hard to believe that anyone in lancaster county would not have heard about it. >> reporter: bob wildasin's mind raced. he'd heard stories of investigations where the criminals seemed eager to catch the attention of police. >> immediately after that is when i called the police. i thought -- i may have just been face to face with the killer. >> reporter: whoever that mystery man was, police knew they had to find him immediately. >> reporter: coming up -- >> it would have been shocking to her to see him come in that building. >> reporter: a surprise was in store about that surprise visitor. >> it was something to do with him. >> there was no other logical explanation. >> we were terrified. >> when "dateline" continues. red >> when "dateline" continues

>> reporter: bob wildasin was one of christy's colleagues. he was certain the man who'd shown up at school a day after the murder, claiming to be her friend, had, instead, been her killer. >> i was convinced. in fact, i said, "we're gonna get the guy who did this right now today." >> reporter: he called police, told them the story and gave them the man's name. turned out it was no random

visitor at all. it was none other than dagger, christy's longtime boyfriend. police brought him in for questioning. they found out dagger had a secret. he had a wife. >> he was married. so, he was pretty high on the suspect list. and i can tell you, just even talking to the investigators, they were absolutely convinced -- that -- you know, that he -- this was him. >> reporter: but dagger insisted it wasn't. he said when christy died he was hundreds of miles away, in virginia where he'd recently moved with his wife. christy's friends were stunned. she never mentioned dagger was married. they weren't sure she even knew. now they had to wonder if her decision to break things off with him, two days before her death, had doomed her. he might not have liked that. >> i mean, she was devoted to him. and i'm sure that would be a loss for him to not have that -- >> uh-huh. >> -- in his life anymore. >> and it was years.

i mean, you don't just cut that tie and have it not mean anything. >> reporter: and when they heard he'd shown up at christy's school, their suspicions grew. >> we were all -- thinking he was trying to establish some kind of alibi or to show that he had no involvement, "look how much i love her. i'm ready to make it public." >> and it was so odd because it -- it was everywhere that she had been murdered. i mean, everywhere in lancaster. so, i just never understood how he didn't know. and it was very uncharacteristic of him to show up at the school. >> i think it would have been shocking to her to see him come in that building. like, it would have been unnerving for her to have her worlds collide like that. >> reporter: but the idea that dagger did it fell apart. police confirmed his alibi. he had been in virginia at the time of the murder. they also tested his dna against the dna the killer left during the sexual assault. >> he was eliminated through alibi as well as scientifically.

>> reporter: still, her friends wondered if he might have been involved in christy's death, somehow. to them, dagger had always been a man of mystery. he didn't talk about his life or work. their imaginations ran wild. >> he either hired a hit man -- >> right. >> uh-huh. >> uh-huh. >> or it was revenge. >> it was something to do with him. it was somebody that wanted to get back at him for whatever reason. >> there was no other logical explanation for us at the time. >> we were terrified. >> reporter: but investigators didn't buy the hitman angle. >> professional hitmen do not usually get into hand-to-hand physical combat with their victim, and they certainly don't leave multiple dna samples behind. you wouldn't think that anyone would do it at 7:15 in the morning in her apartment. there would be way better ways to do this. it's just not consistent with a professional-type hit.

>> reporter: so police needed to consider other men christy might've crossed. her friends did mention one incident from that saturday night. they ran into someone who'd dated another one of their friends. >> who was not a good guy and we called him out on it. >> reporter: they believed the man had been abusive to their friend. had even killed her dog. >> i think we yelled, "puppy killer." >> puppy killer. >> reporter: oh, my gosh, how did he react? >> he was scary. >> yeah, he was a sociopath. >> big, scary. >> reporter: and so -- so did you tell the police about him as well? >> uh-huh. >> yeah, i mean, talk about a motive, that's something we latched onto -- >> yes. >> uh-huh. >> -- because we thought christy angered him by calling him this name in a very public place. >> reporter: police looked into it but eventually cleared him too. in the meantime, her friends kept trying to help with the investigation. >> i mean, they had her photo albums and we would go through

all the guys in the photo album and give them their names. >> reporter: as it happened police were already interested in someone else. his connection to christy was more recent and compelling than those old photos. and he'd practically driven himself into the heart of the case. >> reporter: coming up -- >> i walk in the door and they start to fingerprint me. i'm thinking "what? they think i did this." >> reporter: a principal, under the microscope! what's their tone? what kind of questions are they asking you? >> extremely accusatory. first question, "did you murder christy mirack?" >> when "dateline" continues. >> when "dateline" continues when you have a two-inch lift. when you have goodyear duratrac tires. when you have rancho shocks and an integrated dual exhaust. when you have all that, the last thing you'll need... is a road. the chevy silverado trail boss. ready to off-road, right from the factory.

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i'm dara brown. here's what's happening. china has issued new sanctions against usa canadian officials including gale manchin. the sanctions follow accusations from the u.s. and canada china has committed human rights abuses which despite evidence otherwise china strongly rejects. baltimore will no longer prosecute drug possession, prostitution and low level

crimes. since then all categories of crime have declined in baltimore. now back to "dateline." welcome back to "dateline." i'm natalie morales. schoolteacher christy mirack was strangled and beaten to death in her apartment early sunday morning. given the time of day investigators believe she knew her killer. her ex-boyfriend dagger was high on their suspect list but his alibi checked out. >> reporter: after christy mirack's murder, her principal harry goodman says he got a phone call to come down to the police station. >> and they said, "we wanna talk to you and ask you questions about christy's teaching and those kind of -- so i walk in. >> reporter: he thought they would ask routine questions about christy's background.

he was wrong. >> i walk in the door and they start to fingerprint me. i'm thinking, "what? they think i did this." i'm mourning the loss of our teacher and our friend, and all of a sudden, i'm being interrogated. >> reporter: why do you think they zeroed in on you? >> i found her. >> reporter: and that's it? >> yeah. that one thing -- >> reporter: that one moment in time. >> that one thing? i found her. >> reporter: actually, there was a bit more. the d.a. said investigators found harry's drive to check on his employee that morning very strange. >> reporter: a lot of bosses, when someone's only, you know, 30, 40 minutes late, they don't jump in their car, you know, to go -- to go see if someone's okay. why did you feel the need to -- to do that? >> that's just who i am. i -- i knew something was wrong. i thought christy might need help. >> reporter: he says police asked where he'd been in the hours before her death. harry recalled going to the gym, coming home to change, and

heading back out to work. >> reporter: what's their tone? what kind of questions are they asking you? >> extremely accusatory. you know, "why would you have hired her? what was is it about her that you liked so much?" i mean, they were coming at me with all ends. >> reporter: detectives asked if he would take a polygraph. >> i'm thinking i've got nothing to hide. hook me up. first question, "did you murder christy mirack?" >> reporter: harry told them no. after answering all their questions, he says he passed the polygraph. they later confirmed his alibi and his dna was not a match. but harry knew some people still suspected him. >> my teachers would always come up to me. "harry, you should've heard what so-and-so was saying, but i told them." and i said, "don't tell me. i don't wanna know." >> reporter: police began looking elsewhere. they even considered the possibility that christy might not have known her killer. that's when her friends recalled something that had happened -- months earlier -- at the apartment. back then, they brushed it off. now they wondered.

>> reporter: you have a bizarre incident one night where dagger comes over and sees somebody in the bushes. >> they went after the stranger. >> we immediately jumped up and started screaming at him and we chased him down here and all the way down there. >> uh-huh. >> reporter: and what gave you the courage to go after this person? >> cause he violated us. he was peeking in our window. >> reporter: but they never got a good look at the guy. that wasn't much help to police. investigators needed to focus on the solid leads they did have. neighbors told them they'd spotted a white car outside christy's apartment just before the murder. >> there were four, five or six people that saw, at some point that morning, a white car driving around that complex. >> reporter: some thought it was a toyota celica like this one. but one witness, who saw a man

get out of the car near the apartment that morning, described a different make and model -- a dodge daytona. police decided to focus on that type of car. >> so they took that information, and then they put it in the -- the registry for -- for pennsylvania, for anyone that had -- similar type vehicle. >> reporter: but her friends didn't know anyone who drove that kind of dodge. they started to worry the killer -- whoever he was -- might come back, for one of them. >> i remember going to go to work and i saw a car that was meeting the description of the car that they were looking for, being paralyzed, like, not being able to leave the house because -- he's waiting for me. and i remember writing their license plate number down and putting it in my pocket so when they found my body, they would have this clue. >> reporter: this has to strike fear in -- in -- to people when -- when a young girl like that is brutally murdered and -- and the person who did it is at large. >> was out there. that person was out there this whole time.

>> reporter: the investigation dragged on. weeks became months, then years. still, police believed that white car and the dna from the crime scene would lead them to christy's killer. >> reporter: do you remember how many people were -- were tested for their dna? >> well, it was definitely dozens. we looked at suspect after suspect after suspect. as time went on, we started just reaching out to just, well, could it be this person? could it be this person? >> reporter: and when the fbi created a national dna database -- codis -- investigators on christy's case uploaded a sample from the crime scene. it didn't match the dna of anyone in the system. the waiting was especially hard for christy's mother. a decade after the murder, she died not knowing who killed her daughter. >> i promised her that i wouldn't give up. you know?

because i knew it was, you know, she was leaving. and we were still with no answer. >> reporter: vince took up the cause, staying in touch with police, even putting up a billboard, looking for any new leads. but nothing. >> just hitting this dead end all the time was just -- it was just extremely frustrating for us as a family. >> reporter: but a breakthrough was coming -- a new way to analyze dna and catch criminals. a new way to find christy's killer. >> reporter: coming up -- >> what we're looking for is the pieces of the dna for that person's eye color, their hair color, their face shape. >> reporter: could a dna breakthrough break the stalemate in christy's case? >> reporter: he could look a lot like this. >> right. >> when "dateline" continues. >> when "dateline" continues ths you've got the looks♪ ♪let's make lots of money♪ ♪you've got the brawn♪ ♪i've got the brains♪ ♪let's make lots of♪ ♪uh uh uh♪ ♪oohhh there's a lot of opportunities♪

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and we love that you love our products. like our award winning liquid lash extensions mascara. plus, with every product you purchase we donate to help a woman thrive. join our movement today at thrivecosmetics.com. >> reporter: time seems to pass more slowly here in the rolling farmlands of lancaster county, pennsylvania. but for christy mirack's loved ones, it felt like time had stopped all together. nearly 25 years had gone by since her death, and investigators were no closer to catching her killer. it must have bothered you knowing that whoever did this was getting away with it. >> yeah. >> oh, yeah. >> absolutely. >> they were still out walking around. >> or was he? i think there were times where we thought, "this person could be dead by now and then we'll really never know." >> right.

>> reporter: still, they wanted to know, needed to know who her killer was. they just had to wait a little longer. >> some things in law enforcement are just through hard work and dedication, some things are just through coincidence and a little bit of luck. >> reporter: in 2016, the da's office heard about a new tool that uses dna to solve cold cases. 'genetic phenotyping' allows scientists to create a composite of a suspect, using the dna left at a crime scene. >> so we're reading the information out of that dna that determines what that person looked like. >> reporter: ellen greytak is director of bioinformatics at a company called parabon, which has helped pioneer the use of dna phenotyping. >> so that dna built that person. and that's what we're looking for, is the pieces of the dna that coded for that person's eye color, their hair color, their face shape. and then we can tell that to the detectives. >> reporter: this isn't the first time phenotyping has come

up in one of our stories. last year, parabon created an image from my dna to show how it works. why am i anxious right now i feel like i'm the criminal or something. let's see it. oh wow. i felt like after i got my composite sketch from parabon that if i had've committed a crime and left my dna, i would've been completely busted. >> yeah, absolutely. you would've been right at the top of that suspect list. >> reporter: and now the lancaster da hoped the company could help with christy's case. they analyzed the dna left by her killer, trait-by-trait. hair and eye color, facial structure, even ancestry. >> we found that he was partially of european descent, but also partially of latino descent so he was a mix of those two ancestries. >> reporter: they came up with three composites to reflect how he might have aged over the years. he could look a lot like this. >> right. this may have been approximately what he looked like when the crime was committed.

>> reporter: the da asked christy's family and friends to take a look. but when they actually saw the composite -- >> i didn't see anyone i knew. and i'm like, "this is a stranger." >> reporter: in october 2017, the da made the composites public during a press conference. maybe someone else would recognize the person in those images. >> there will be no tip that's gonna be a waste of our time. >> we got a lot of calls. some of them seemed hopeful at first, but ultimately led to -- led to nothing. >> reporter: oh, that's so frustrating. >> yeah, this was kinda -- felt like our last shot, our last thing that we could do. >> reporter: the composite didn't work. but it would not be their last shot. that's because investigators working an unrelated crime in california came upon another way of solving cold cases. >> police arresting a man they believe is the so-called golden state killer, discovered using dna. >> reporter: california detectives found their suspect

after uploading dna from a crime scene to a database used by thousands looking for lost relatives. their search turned up people whose dna had distant matches to the killer. from there investigators constructed a family tree and narrowed it down to their man. >> when you read about it and you see it, you just say to yourself, "well, why didn't i think about this?" i mean, it's -- totally -- completely brilliant. >> reporter: parabon's genetic genealogists did the same thing in the hunt for the man who murdered christy. sure enough they found relatives who shared dna with her killer. >> in a couple of days, they're able to take these few people who share dna with our unknown killer, and build to who that person could've been. >> reporter: remember, they knew the killer had european and latino ancestry. one man in the family tree stood out. he matched the ancestry and lived near christy when she was murdered. but that didn't mean investigators in lancaster could make an arrest.

>> we don't arrest people on what a genetic database is saying to us. we needed to get his sample and we needed to have it confirmed through the state police crime lab. >> reporter: so, they staked him out, hoping he'd leave behind something with his dna on it. >> we had a couple of undercover guys watch him all day long to try to see him -- abandon something. he abandoned nothing. he took everything with him. we completely struck out. >> reporter: they tried again. state troopers eventually followed the man to, of all things, an event at a public school. this time, success. >> an undercover female trooper befriended him and she was able to get -- get some things directly from him. >> reporter: what did she get? >> she was able to get a water bottle and gum that he had used. >> reporter: the state crime lab compared the dna from those samples to the dna from the crime scene. they matched. now investigators were confident they had their man standing right where they least expected him, in the shadows of the dance floor. >> reporter: coming up --

>> he slept on my bed that night. you just don't know what to think. >> reporter: who was the man who murdered christy?! >> a lot of our officers knew who he was. a lot of our officers had been at events he'd been at. >> his stunning identity revealed at last. you are literally talking to christy's killer. >> right. face-to-face. >> when "dateline" continues. face-to-face >> when "dateline" continues

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welcome back. after dozens of dead ends and disappointments the question of who killed christy mirack would finally be answered. if investigators thought the identity of the killer was a bombshell, they were in for another surprise. here now is andrea canning with the conclusion of "facing the music." >> reporter: detectives believed they'd finally found christy mirack's killer. they matched his dna to the crime. and they were ready to arrest him, until -- >> reporter: you realize he's not even home. he's on vacation. >> we found out that he was actually on a trip across america with his wife and daughter. >> reporter: now d.a. craig stedman had an agonizing decision to make. >> do we arrest him out there and not have our investigators try to interview him? do we risk, you know, the safety of the -- the -- his -- his new wife and adopted daughter? >> reporter: so, what do you do? >> well, so, i made the decision to wait.

>> reporter: thankfully, their man returned to lancaster. and on an early summer day in 2018, they arrested him outside his house. what was his reaction? >> he kind of was acting pretty calm, "oh, well, this is, you know, kind of a joke, right?" and they kept telling him, "no, you're arrested for criminal homicide of christy mirack." >> reporter: he denies it? >> he denied it. he denied ever knowing her. >> today we are announcing the arrest of raymond charles rowe for the murder of christy mirack from december 21st, 1992. >> raymond rowe. who was he? >> never heard of the guy. i don't know who this person is. >> reporter: turned out many people knew the accused by a different name, dj freez. >> all right ladies and gentleman, we have one more toast. >> reporter: christy's friends were floored. >> he was the local deejay everyone wanted. he was the guy who went to the same church as me. >> he had been raised in lancaster and he had --

essentially stayed here for his life. >> reporter: around the time of christy's murder, rowe worked a warehouse job by day and performed in clubs at night. aside from a brush with the law in 2001, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, he stayed out of trouble. over the years he married four times and built a name for himself as a deejay. >> a lot of our officers knew who he was. a lot of our officers had been at events that he had been at. >> reporter: he was living in plain sight. >> he was living in plain sight. he had been living in plain sight. he never hid it. >> reporter: now, he was charged with murder. investigators quickly connected him to another key piece of evidence, that white car. in 1992, rowe owned a toyota celica, similar to this, that some of christy's neighbors had mentioned. not the dodge daytona police focused on. >> i had sitting in my office, a pile about this big, of all the dodge daytonas and -- that were registered in pennsylvania, back at that time.

>> reporter: but not the celica? >> not the celica. >> reporter: why ---- why not go through both in the database? >> i do not have an answer for you on that. i think that they felt, like, based on the information they had, that the dodge daytona was the way to go. >> reporter: investigators now believed rowe drove that car past christy's doorstep -- often. >> we discovered that he worked in very, very close proximity to where christy's apartment was. >> reporter: stedman says it's even possible rowe was the peeping tom that christy's friends chased just months before her murder. the "what if" haunts them. >> the thing that bothers me is, if it would've -- like, what if it was him? if i would have caught him, then -- >> reporter: it gets you upset? >> yeah. >> reporter: just thinking about it now. >> yeah. >> reporter: investigators also knew that rowe might have

spotted christy in one of the downtown clubs. like that saturday before her death. was he at the club that weekend? one of the places you went to? >> we don't know. >> we didn't know him. he -- he didn't stand out if he was there. >> reporter: and yet, the d.a. thinks it's likely the two met. >> i think it was targeted. i think that she had encountered him at some event beforehand. my guess is, had spurned him and he saw her out there at that apartment at some point. >> reporter: the deejay's connection to christy seemed tenuous. but stedman says the dna proved rowe killed her. in fact, the odds of the killer being anyone other than him on the entire planet weren't just one in a million. >> nonillion, octillion, like a thousand trillion trillion, things like this. i -- i -- you can't even actually conceive of a number with 27 zeroes or 30 zeroes, which is what we ended up getting. >> reporter: it's remarkable. >> yeah, it -- i just had -- i've never heard of a case with this much. >> reporter: and remember that composite from the killer's dna? turns out it was a pretty good match to rowe. even then, it was hard for some

in lancaster to believe rowe could commit such a horrible crime. especially this woman. >> he was the life of the party. >> reporter: her name is monica whalen. she was engaged to rowe when christy was killed. this is the first time she's publicly talked about their relationship. >> reporter: you're learning that they believe he brutally murdered a woman, sexually assaulted her and then came home to you. >> yes. >> reporter: how do you process that? >> you just don't know what to think. i mean, he slept on my bed that night. you know, we had christmas four days later. and we got married months later. >> reporter: and you're none the wiser. >> no. >> reporter: but monica does remember christy's murder being in the news and talking to rowe about it. he was concerned about your safety. >> uh-huh. >> reporter: after this murder? >> yeah. >> reporter: it's outrageous to

think that he's advising you on your safety and worrying about you when he was the killer. >> uh-huh. yeah, it is surprising. >> reporter: the couple divorced almost six years later. there must be a part of you is that, like -- why -- what didn't i see? >> yeah, there was that. there was, it coulda been me. you know, why wasn't it me? why did she have to die? >> reporter: rowe was now facing trial and if convicted, the death penalty. but it didn't come to that. in january 2019, he pleaded guilty to the murder and rape of christy mirack in exchange for a life sentence. as for christy's family they felt relieved but also cheated. >> he's been doin' what he wanted to do for the last 26 years. and she's been dead for the last 26 plus years. and i still think he got off pretty easy. >> reporter: christy's friends are angry that rowe was able to live among them for so long.

never hinting at what he'd done. >> he was the guy i talked to when my daughter was planning her wedding -- >> reporter: no. >> -- at a wedding expo, face to face. >> reporter: oh, my gosh. >> spoke to him. >> reporter: you are literally talking to christy's killer. >> right. and i kept thinking after the fact, i'm like, he had to have known who i was when i was standing in front of him. >> oh, absolutely. >> he had to have known who i was. >> reporter: now, she'd like to have one more chance to meet him, face to face. >> how did you know her? and why did you do this? i still want to drive to the prison and see if he'll let me in. i just want to ask him. i just don't understand why he did this. >> reporter: and they may never know. neither rowe nor his lawyers responded to "dateline's" request for comment. through it all, this circle of friends has stayed bonded. they thank christy for that. >> i'd like to think christy's kept us together. >> you almost feel guilty that we were able to get married and have kids and we still think about christy, like, that she

never got to have that. >> she was a huge light in this world that was just taken way too soon, just way too soon. . i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." if you admit that she's never coming home, it's like you're admitting defeat or that she's dead. >> reporter: a hard working wife, a loving mother. >> she was having affairs. >> they worked in the same office areas, they spent some time after hours. >> kathy was trying to break off the relationship.

>> she ner