i mean, it's sad and it's disappointing that will never know, or we may never know, but we have to be okay with it. >> that's all for this edition of dateline, i'm natalie morales. thank you for watching. k you for watching i'm craig melvin, and i'm natalie morales. this is dateline. >> said, christy's been murder. 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 that she was taking to her students that day. >> i was putrefied, i just thought, who, why? >> we looked at suspects after

a suspect. >> the crime was in a mystery for decades. >> we were still with no answer. >> 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 somebody they had a reason to look at or talk to before. >> he was here, he was here the all-time. >> you are literally talking to chris's killer. >> right. face to face. >> evil comes in all packages. it >> certainly does. ♪ ♪ ♪ hello, welcome to dateline. kristie morocco always knew she wanted to be a teacher. her enthusiasm showed. colleagues marvel that are way with kids, but her life was cut tragically short. investigators eventually had a dead end. decades later, a crash course

in dna analysis, gave them a picture of chrissy's killer, and revealed a stunning truth that he had been hiding in plain sight the whole time. here is andrea canning, with facing the music. >> they were having so much fun. a group of girlfriends hitting the town, won 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. >> this was the playground that they knew by heart. this was the home where they felt safe. they were invincible. >> we were in this bubble. we were 25, like, nothing's going to happen to you. >> and then, less than 48 hours later, one of them was gone. murdered, and the killer was at large. >> i remember being paralyzed. not being able to leave the house. >> this, not only stole your friend, story or innocence.

>> yeah. >> it would take another 25 years to find the killer. a most unlikely suspect. always there, watching them, daring them. you were literally talking to christine's killer? >> right. i kept thinking after the fact, he had to have known who i was when i was standing in front of him. he had to have known who i was. >> some things are so life altering that 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, kristie morocco was late for work. >> christie was there every morning, at 8:00. >> when aid became a 30, harry grew uneasy. >> the kids started coming into

the classroom. so, i called her apartment about five times, nothing. >> he contacted her family who lived about two hours north. christy's brother, vince morocco. >> we got the phone call from her school, she wasn't there, she didn't show up for work. which -- maybe she got stuck in traffic. we were in panic mode. the kind of person she was, we thought something was wrong. it was that gut feeling. >> the family told harry, they hadn't heard from her. >> harry couldn't wait any longer. he knew she lived nearby. so you decide to jump in your car to go see what's going on with christy. >> i was prepared to get down and change a tire on the interstate. >> that's what you are expecting? >> that's when i was expecting. >> but, it wasn't. when he eventually pulled up to christie's apartment complex. >> i saw her car there, and it was iced over.

the and then i started to freak out. >> her front door was open. he went inside, look to his level. he saw her in the living room, lifeless on the floor. he ran to call 9-1-1. i >> was a total mess. i was in hysterics. in total shock. >> it was pretty apparent that she had been murdered. >> craig stedman went on to become the district attorney. back in the early 90s, he was a young prosecutor. >> this was a horrific scene. >> yeah. it was a nightmare scene, not only the fact that you have this young teacher who was brutally murdered, but she had been sexually assaulted. >> did it seem clear, at least at first glance, how she died? >> no. other than there was a brutal struggle. >> the medical examiner would later determine that, in addition to being sexually

assaulted, she had been beaten and strangled to death. likely that very morning. >> she had her gloves on. most people when they're ready to get to get -- she had christmas presents that she was taking to her students that day, that were strewing about, as part of the struggle. >> so brazen, to, that this would happen at that hour of the morning, when people are going to work. 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've been there, that person was very determined to do whatever he wanted to do. >> police collected crime scene evidence, including dna that the killer left behind during the sexual assault. 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

the there was an accident, and she passed away. >> obviously, we said what happened? that's when they told us. she was murdered. >> 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. >> he brought me into his car, and he said, as christy has been murdered. i doubled over, trying to stop the shaking. >> mary explained that she left the apartment around seven, that morning. christie was still getting ready for work. >> i was driving a work, like, i should go get my lunch. i or -- >> that man christie was murdered sometime between seven, and just never nine, that morning, when harry goodman found her. investigators asked mary to do a walk through of the apartment. right away, she saw scoff marks on, and near the front door. >> they're either from his

shoes or her shoes. she dug in -- it's what i thought. she dug in -- she was dragged. and then there was a lot of blood on the carpet. >> and you have to see that? >> yeah. >> that has to be so traumatizing. >> yeah. it was. >> investigators believed christie opened the door to leave, only to have the killer drag her back in. >> i think she was overpowered pretty quickly. where she was murdered was not very far away from the entry point. >> did it appear that it had all taken place in one area of the apartment? >> right from the foyer, into the living room. those are the rooms that -- were it seem like the struggle had taken place. >> something else caught the detective's attention. mary's final conversation with christy. >> before i left, i said, we're gonna meet up later, and she sounded distant. i said, are you okay? she said, no, i'm fine.

so, i just want to work. >> when you think it was? >> i don't know. i don't know if she was thinking about the day, but she was preoccupied. >> christy had something undermined. and only moments to live. investigators had to find out if the two were connected. >> coming up, close to a mystery. a boyfriend -- >> she had told me that things were ending, and she was finally ready to move on. >> this was a big deal. >> and, a mysterious visitor are crusty school. >> i thought, i may have just been face to face with the killer. >> when dateline continues.

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pennsylvania amish county. a place where old ways, and modern suburban sprawl meat. the brutal murder of a schoolteacher, just before christmas, 1992, upset that sense of peace. >> a lot of people in lancaster county, particularly, then didn't lock their doors, that is not the cars, very trusting community. >> and yet, they said christine iraq's killing didn't have the mark of a stranger. >> seven, 7:30 in the morning. home invasion, sexual salt. it will be very universal to take place at that time of day, in somebody's apartment, just at random. >> police wanted to know if christy had any enemies. that 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 garage, where she was the schoolteacher. now, it's the summer, and kids went about playing, and she's pulling them into teach them. >> when she wasn't playing school, she was goofing around, like a normal kid. >> you can ask anybody, they'll tell you the same thing. she was always laughing and smiling. just a good -- having a good time. >> after high school, she took her work play ethic to miller's villa university in lancaster, where she met her other family. where you are like sisters? >> yeah. >> absolutely. >> christie's circle included that roommate -- lisa bailey, and marianne taylor. >> we shared clothes, we shared hair products. we shared everything. i don't think there's anything about each other that we don't know. that's such a rare friendship.

>> when it came to christy, her friends knew that she could hold her own. especially, when they go out. if >> somebody came up, and she wasn't interested. she had no problem telling people, hit the road, i'm not interested. >> she was also protective for friends. when they graduated, a few of them set up house in that apartment complex, just outside downtown lancaster. >> kristie was always a very safe person, like lock your doors, always lead with a buddy. >> we did feel safe. there was no time -- >> our bark yard was an amish form. it was a dairy farm. >> 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 classify any type of animal. >> harry goodman saw something special in her. >> she wasn't satisfied with just being a good teacher, she wanted to be a great teacher. >> would you think it was about

christy's ability to connect with the kids? >> she was creative. she had the kids motivated, they were captivated. some people would drag themselves into work, christy would -- >> a phony you could bottle it and sell it. >> tell me. >> but, investigators did find one loose threatened her life. >> she loved him the. so loyal to him. >> christy had fallen for a man who went by the name, dagger. it was in her friends idea of a catch. kristie was 25, and he was not. >> he was old. he was 20 years older. >> almost twice christie's age, but he had a good job as the president of the local team store's, and he was generous. >> i think she felt cared for. i don't know exactly how, whether that was financially,

or white, but i think she felt cared for. >> christie didn't divulge you much about her boyfriend, or his past, but her friends could tell that he was in no rush to the alter. they thought that bothered kristie, especially as the friends started moving out, and getting married. >> we'd be having -- that september, i'm thinking, maybe that she was realizing, that's the life i deserve. >> two days before she was killed, that saturday, christy had come to a decision. >> she had told me that things were ending with dagger. she was finally ready to move on. >> this was a big deal, because she had been with him for years, at this point. >> years. she looked happy. we saw christy back. bubbly, happy, ready to get out there, and live. >> that night, she did. the friends went out downtown,

hitting the clubs. now, police had to consider whether christie told dagger that she wanted to break up. if so, had he taken it badly? was that on christy's mind in 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? >> then, something bizarre, the day after casey's murder, a man walked into her school, he clearly didn't belong there. >> i approached him, and said, can i help you? >> bob will dyson, assistant school superintendent. >> he said, i'm just here to see christy mirack. >> i said, well, unfortunately, you have to leave. as christy has passed. >> the mysterious visitors said he hadn't heard the news. he claimed it was christy's

friend. then, he left. >> it was hard to believe that anyone in lancaster county would not have heard about it? >> bob will decisions mind raced. he heard stories of investigations -- catch the intentional police. >> immediately after that, is when i called the police. i thought, i may have just been face to face with the killer. >> whoever that mystery man was, police knew they had to find him, immediately. >> coming up -- >> it would've been shocking to her to see him come in that building. a surprise wasn't store about that surprise visitor. >> it was something to do with him. >> there was no other logical explanation. >> we were terrified. >> when dateline continues.

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christie's colleagues. he was certain that the man who showed up to the school, adapter the murder, claiming to be our friend, had instead, been her killer. >> i was convinced. i said, we're going to get the man who did this, right now, today. >> he called police, told in 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 high on the suspect list. i can tell you, just talking with the investigators, they were convinced that he -- this was him. >> but, dagger insisted, it wasn't. he said, when chrissy died, he was hundreds of miles away, in virginia. where he recently moved with his wife. christy's friends were stunned. she never mentioned that dagger was married. they weren't sure that she even knew. now, they have to wonder of her decision to break things off with him, two days off before her death, had doomed. or he may have not alike. that >> she was devoted to him. i'm sure, that would be a loss for him. >> it was years. you don't just cut that tie, and have not meet anything.

>> when they heard that they had shown up at her school. their suspicions grew. >> we were all thinking that he was trying to stab liz some sort of alibi, or to show that he had no involvement, look how much i love her, i'm ready to make a public. >> it was so odd, because it was everywhere, that she had been murdered. i mean, everywhere in lancaster. i never understood how he didn't know. it was very uncharacteristic of him to show up to the school. >> i think it would've been shocking to her to see him come in that building. it would've been unnerving for her, to have her worlds collide. >> 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 did scientifically, and by alibi. >> next to them, dagger had always been a man of mystery. he didn't talk about his life, or work. their imaginations run wild. >> he either hired a hitman. >> right. >> 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. >> but, investigator's didn't buy the hitman angle. >> professional hit man do not get in hand to hand physical combat with their victim. they certainly don't leave multiple dna samples behind. you wouldn't think that anybody would do it at 7:15 in the morning, in her apartment. there would be better ways to do it. it's not consistent with the professional hit. >> so, police need to consider other men that she may have

crossed. her friends did mention one incident, from that saturday night. they ran into somebody who dated another one of their friends. >> it was not a good guy. we called him out on it. >> they believe the man had been abusive to their friend. and even killed or dog. >> we yelled puppy killer. >> oh my gosh, how did he react? >> he was scary. >> he was a sociopath. >> big, scary. >> so did, you tell the police about him as well? >> when you talk about a motive, that's something we latch on to. we thought, christy angered him by calling in this name, in a very public place. >> police looked into it, but eventually cleared him, too. in the meantime, her friends kept trying to help with the investigation. >> we had our photo albums, and we would go through the guys in the photo albums, and we would give them their names. >> as it happened, police were already interested in someone else.

his connection to christy was more recent, and compelling than those old photos. he practically had driven himself into the heart of the case. >> coming up -- >> i walk in the door, and they start finger-pointing me. i think, why? they think i did this. >> a principle under the microscope. >> what's their tone, what kind of questions of they're asking you? >> extremely accusatory. first question, did you murder christine iraq? >> when dateline continues. how did olay top expensive creams? like this

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for -- have nearly doubled, since 2019. now, back to dateline. as >> welcome back to dateline, i'm natalie morales. school teacher, christy morocco was strangled and beaten to death, in her apartment, early one december morning. given the time of day, investigators believe that she knew her killer. her ex lover, dagger, was high on their list of suspects, but his alibi checked out. now, detectives were about to turn up -- once again, here is andrea canning, with facing the music. >> after christy morocco's murder, her principal, harry goodman, got a phone call. >> he said, we want to talk to you, and as you questions about christie's teaching. so i walk in -- >> he thought they would ask routine questions about her

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

>> what's their tone, what kind of questions are they asking you? >> extremely accusatory. you know, why would you have hired her? what was it about her that you liked so much? they were coming at me with all fans. >> detectives asked if you would take a polygraph. >> i'm thinking, i've got nothing to hide. hook me up. first question, did you murder christine iraq. >> harry told, them no. after answering other questions, he says he passed the polygraph. they later confirmed his alibi, and his dna was not a match. but, harry knew that some people still suspected him. >> my teachers would always come up to me, harry, you should've heard with somebody was saying. don't tell me, i don't want to know. >> police began looking elsewhere. they even consider the possibility that christie may not have known her killer. that's when your friends recall something that has happened months earlier, at the apartment. back then, they brushed it off.

now, they wondered. >> you have a bizarre incident, where dagger comes over, and see somebody in the bushes. they went after the stranger. >> we immediately jumped up, and started screaming at him. we chased him down here and all the way down there. >> what gave you the courage to go after this person? >> he had violated us. he was peeking in our window. >> but, they never got a good look at the guy. it wasn't much up to police. investigators need to focus on the solid leaves that they did have. neighbors told them, they spotted a white car outside of christie's apartment, just before the murder. >> there were four, five or six people who saw -- a white car driving around the complex. >> some thought it was a toyota salika, like this one. but, one witness who saw 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. >> they took that information, put it in the -- for anybody who had a similar type vehicle. -- >> they started to worry, whoever he was might come back for one of them. >> i remember going to go to work, and i saw a car that was fitting the description of the car they were looking for. being paralyzed, not being able to leave the house, like, he's waiting for me. i remember writing their license plate number down, and putting in my pocket, so when they found my body, they would have this clue. >> this has to strike fear to people. when a young girl like that is brutally murdered. and the person who did it is at large. the >> person was out there this whole time.

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

because, i knew -- she was leaving, and we were still with no answer. >> 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, it was just extremely frustrating for us, as a family. >> but, a breakthrough was coming. a new way to analyze dna, and catch criminals. a new way to find christy's killer. >> coming up -- >> we're looking for the pieces of the dna, for that person's eye color, hair color, face shape. >> could a dna breakthrough break the stalemate in christie's case. he can look at all like this? >> right. >> when dateline continues. right >> when dateline continues

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♪ ♪ start here. walgreens makes it easy to stay protected wherever you go. schedule your free covid-19 booster today. time seems to pass more slowly, here in the farmlands of lancaster county. but, for christie murdoch's loved ones, it felt like time had stopped altogether. nearly 25 years had gone by, since her death. investigators were no closer to catching her killer. it must of bothered you knowing that whoever did this was getting away with it. >> there's still out, walking around. or was he? i think there are times thinking -- this person could be dead, and will never know. >> still, they wanted to, know

needed to know who were killer was. they had to wait a little longer. >> something's law enforcement are true hard work and dedication, some things are hard through dedication -- >> in 2016, the da's office heard about a new tool that uses dna to solve cold cases. genetic phenotyping allow scientists to create a composite of a suspect, using the dna left of the crime scene. >> so, we're reading the information out of the dna, that determines what that person looks like. >> -- yeah >> using parabon which is helped, pioneer the -- phenotyping >> so that the innate built that. person. that is what we are looking for, pieces of the dna, and coated for that person's eye color, hair color, face shape. we can then tell it to the detectives. >> this is not the first time it has come up to one of our stories.

previously, parabon created an image from my dna to show how it works. >> why am i anxious right now? like, i feel like i am the criminal or something? >> [laughs] >> let's see it. >> all right, okay. >> oh, wow. >> i felt like after i got my composite sketch from parabon, but if i had committed a crime and left my dna, i would've been completely busted. >> absolutely, you would have been at the top of the suspect list. >> and now, the lancaster dm is hoping company can help with christie'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, he is a mix of those two ancestry's. >> they came up with three composite to reflect how he might have aged over the years. >> he could look a lot like this. >> right. >> this might have approximately been what he looked like when the crime was

committed. >> the da asked christie's family and friends to take a look. >> but when they actually saw the composite -- >> i did not see anybody i knew, i was like, this was a stranger. >> in october, 2017, the da made the composite public during a press conference. maybe somebody else would recognize the person in those images? >> there is no chance this could be a waste of our time. >> we got a lot of calls, some seemed hopeful at first. but ultimately, this led to nothing. >> oh, that is so frustrating! >> yes. this was kind of like we fought like it was our last, shot, our last thing we could do. >> the composite did not work. but it would not be their last shot. that is because, investigators working on an unrelated crime in california came upon another way of solving cold cases. >> police arresting a man they believe was the so-called golden state killer, discovered using dna. >> 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 people up 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 see it, you say to yourself, why did i not think about this? i mean, it is completely brilliant. >> parabon's genetic geologists to 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 were able to take these few people, who shared dna with our unknown killer, and build up to that person could have been. >> 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 do not arrest people on genetic database, we needed to get his sample, we need to have it confirmed through the state police crime lab. >> so, they staked him out, hoping they would leave something behind with his dna on it. >> we had a couple of undercover guys watching all day long, to see if you abandon anything, he abandoned nothing, we completely struck out. >> 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 was able to get some things directly from him. >> what did she do? >> she was able to get a water bottle and government that he used. >> the state crime lab prepared the dna from those samples to the dna of the crime scene. they matched. now, investigators were confident that they had their man. standing, right where they least expected him, in the shadows of the dance floor.

>> coming up. >> he slept on my bed that night. you just do not know what to think. >> who was the man who murdered christy? >> >> a lot of our officers knew who he was, had been two events he had been at. >> his stunning identity, revealed at last. >> you are literally talking to christy's killer. >> right, face to face. >> when dateline continues. ce ce >> when plus, patients get 20% off their treatment plan. we're on your corner and in your corner every step of the way. anything to make you smile. book today at aspendental.com, walk in, or call 1-800-aspendental.

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after dozens of dead ends and disappointments, the question of who killed christy mirack would finally be answered. investigators thought the identity of the killer was a bombshell, but they were in for another surprise. here now is andrea canning with the conclusion of facing the music. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> detectives believed they finally found christy mirack skill or. they matched his dna to the crime and we're ready to arrest him. until. >> you realize he is not even home, he is on vacation? >> found out he was on triple cross america with his wife and daughter. >> now da craig stedman had an agonizing decision to make. >> do we arrest him out there and what have our investigators interview him? do we risk his wife and adopted daughter? >> what do you do? >> i made the decision of [inaudible]

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

lancaster, and stayed here for his life. >> around the time of christy murder, raymond rowe worked a warehouse job by day and performed at a close 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 dj. >> a lot of our officers knew who he was, had been two events he had been at. >> he was living in plain sight? >> living in plain sight, he had been living in plain sight, he never hid it. >> now, he was charged with murder. investigators quickly connected him to another key piece of evidence, that white car. in 1992, raymond rowe owned a tioga salika, similar to this, that some of christie's neighbors had mentioned, not the dodge daytona police had focused on. >> sitting in my office, i had a pile, about this big of all of the dodge daytona's registered in pennsylvania at

that time. >> but not the salika? >> no. >> why not go through both of them in the database? >> i do not have an answer for you for that, i think that they felt like, based on the information that they had, the dodge was the way to go. >> investigators now believe that raymond rowe drove that car passed christy's often. >> we discovered that he worked in very close proximity to where christy's apartment was. >> stedman says it's possible that raymond rowe was the peeping tom that christie's friends chased just months before her murder. but what if haunts them. >> the thing that bothers me is that, like, what if it was him? if i would have caught him ... then ... -- >> it gets you upset, just thinking about it now? >> yes. >> investigators also knew that raymond rowe might have spotted christy in one of the downtown clubs. like that saturday before her

death >> was the at the club that weekend, one of the places you went to? >> we did not know, we did not know him, he did not stand out, if he was there. >> yet, the da thinks it is likely that the two met. >> i think she was targeted, that she encountered him at some event before hand. my guess, she had spurned him, and he saw her out there, at that apartment at some point the damages. >> connection to christy seemed tenuous, but stedman says the dna proved that rowe killed her. in fact, the odds of the killer being anybody other than him on the entire planet were not just one in 1 million. >> 9 million top chilean, 1000 trillion trillion, things like this, you can conceive of a number with 30 zeroes, which is what we end up getting. >> remarkable. >> i have never heard of a case with this much. >> remember that composite from the killer's dna? it turns out, it was a pretty good match to rowe. even then, it was hard for someone in lancaster to believe

that rowe could commit such a horrible crime, especially this woman. >> he was the life of the party. >> her name is monica whalen. she was engaged to rowe when was christy killed. this is the first time just publicly talk about their relationship. >> you are learning that they believe that he brutally murdered a woman, sexually assaulted her and then came home to you? >> yes. >> how do you process that? >> well, you just do not 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. >> and you are none the wiser? >> no. >> but monica does remember christy's murder being in the news and talking to you rowe about it. >> he was concerned about your safety after this murder? >> yes. >> outrageous to think that he is advising you on your safety,

worrying about you, and he was the killer? >> yes. it is surprising. >> the couple divorced almost six years later. >> there must be a part of you saying, what did i not see? >> there was that. there was like, it could have been me, why was it not me? why did she have to die? >> rowe was now facing trial. if convicted, the death penalty. but, it did not come to that. in january, 2019, he pled guilty to the murder and rape of christy mirack in exchange for a life sentence. citing newly discovered evidence, he has since petition to the court to withdraw his guilty plea and go to trial. as for christy family, they felt relieved, but also cheated. >> he has been doing what he wanted to do for the past 26 years, and she has been dead for the last 26 plus years, i think that he got off pretty easy. >> christy's friends were angry that rowe got to live among them for so long, never hinging

at what he had done. >> he was a guy that i talked to, when my daughter was planning her wedding. >> no! >> at a wedding expo, face to face. >> oh my ... you are literally talking to her killer! >> i kept thinking after the fact, he had to have known who i was, when i was standing in front of him. he had to have known who i was. >> now, she would like to have one more chance to meet him, face to face. >> how did you know her? why did you do this? i still want to drive to the prison and see if they will let me in, i just want to ask him. i just do not understand why he did this. >> and they might never know. neither rowe or his lawyers responded to dateline's request for comment. through it all, the circle of friends had stayed bonded. they thank christy for that. >> i like to think that christy has kept us together. >> you almost feel guilty like, we were able to get married,

have kids and we still think about christy, that she never got to have that. >> she was a huge light in this world, that was taken away, way too soon. just way too soon. >> that is all for this edition of dateline. i am natalie morales, thanks for watching. morales, thanks fo>> i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is dateline. >> she did not deserve this. to kill someone, over months, and months and months. there are a lot of ways to kill someone, but i have never seen anything like this. >> a devastating mystery illness. >> she was in a lot of pain, excruciating pain. >> this is all i wanted. >> she looks like a zombie? >> like a zombie.