Judge Schedules Additional Hearings Prior to Potomac River Rapist Trial

By Katie Gallagher [former] , Isabelle Chiu [former] - June 22, 2022
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Sexual Assault | Suspects | Victims |

DC Superior Court Judge Milton Lee scheduled additional hearings prior to the trial of a man connected to a 1998 murder. 

Giles Warrick, 63, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder with aggravating circumstances in connection with the sexual assault and death of 29-year-old Christine Mirzayan. Mirzayan was found dead on Aug. 2, 1998, with multiple laceration wounds in a wooded area on the 3600 block of Canal Road, NW. 

During the June 22 hearing, Warrick’s defense attorney, Stephen Mercer, requested more time to review the prosecution’s evidence with the defense’s expert. Mercer told Judge Lee that he expects to decide whether additional testing is needed by mid-July. 

Warrick is suspected of being the “Potomac River Rapist,” who was responsible for a series of rapes in Maryland and DC between 1991 and 1998. 

According to court documents, the DNA evidence found in Mirzayan’s case matched samples from six then-unsolved rape cases in Montgomery County, Maryland. The homicide investigation continued for over 20 years until Warrick’s arrest in 2019. 

Judge Lee scheduled a hearing to discuss the defense’s decision on July 26.  

Judge Lee scheduled an additional hearing on Sept. 16 to discuss multiple defense motions to suppress the prosecution’s DNA evidence, the search of Warrick’s residence, and Warrick’s statements to detectives on Nov. 12, 2019.