Suspected ‘Potomac River Rapist’ Scheduled for Trial

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A DC Superior Court judge scheduled a man charged in connection with a 1998 murder to go to trial in late 2022.

Giles Warrick, 61, is charged with first-degree murder for allegedly sexually assaulting and killing 29-year-old Christine Mirzayan. According to court documents, Mirzayan was found dead in a wooded area on the 3600 block of Canal Road, NW, on Aug. 1, 1998.

Warrick was arraigned and pleaded not guilty during the Sept. 27 status hearing. Defense attorney Stephen Mercer requested a trial date for the end of 2022.

Judge Milton Lee set aside Nov. 29, 2022, through Dec. 6, 2022, for the trial. He also set a hearing date for Nov. 12.

Warrick is suspected of being the so-called “Potomac River Rapist.” According to court documents, DNA from an unknown male individual was recovered from the victim. After the FBI entered the DNA profile into the national DNA database known as the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, they found that it matched DNA from six unsolved rape cases from the 1990s in Montgomery County, Md.

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