Search Captions & Ask AI

Christy Mirack /// Part 1 /// 224

November 16, 2023 / 46:13

This episode covers the cold case of Christy Merrick, a former elementary school teacher murdered in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 25 years ago. Key discussions include the family's ongoing search for justice, the investigation's developments, and the impact of Christy's life on those around her.

Christy's brother, Vince, speaks about the emotional toll of the case and his determination to keep her memory alive. He recalls the day of her murder and the family's hope for new leads following DNA analysis.

The hosts describe Christy's life, her career aspirations, and her dedication to her students. They detail the circumstances surrounding her murder, including the timeline and the evidence found at the scene.

Witness accounts and police investigations are discussed, highlighting potential suspects and the challenges faced by law enforcement. The episode emphasizes the importance of community involvement in solving cold cases.

Listeners are encouraged to reflect on the impact of violence and the need for continued awareness and support for victims' families.

TLDR

The episode examines the unsolved murder of teacher Christy Merrick and her family's quest for justice after 25 years.

Episode

46:13
00:00:00
explore today's musthave Trends and Innovative Styles at Mrs be's clearance and outlet shop oneof aind finds in
00:00:06
today's musthave Trends explore wall to--all deals Furniture flooring mattresses Home Accents seasonal
00:00:13
favorites and more discover unique new home decor pillows accessories and more there's something perfect for your style
00:00:20
and budget there's new inventory every day add up to 80% off suggested retail discover the style and savings of Mrs
00:00:27
be's clearance and Outlet when it comes to Quality sleep Ashley has you covered with top mattress brands
00:00:35
at winning prices and with special financing options available you can snooze now and pay later plus your
00:00:42
mattress purchase helps give the gift of better sleep to children in need and US
00:00:47
Special Operations forces visit your local Ashley store or shop online today and make every snooze count financing is
00:00:56
subject to credit approval C store or ashley.com for [Music] details [Applause] welcome to True Crime garage wherever
00:01:43
you are whatever you are doing thanks for listening I'm your host Nick and with me as always is a man that believes
00:01:48
that unicorns fart glitter he is the captain it's not a belief it's just science my friend it's good to be seen
00:01:55
and it's good to see you thanks for listening thanks for telling a friend [Music]
00:02:06
this week we are drinking Gold Star pillner by the fine fine people of Lancaster Brewing Company and beautiful
00:02:13
and might I add well-kept Lancaster Pennsylvania garage grade 3 and 1/2 bottle caps out of five this is a
00:02:20
classic Bohemian style pilsner that brings Noble hop flavor and traditional maltiness into perfect union it's July
00:02:27
it's hot outside why not drink a beer that is crisp and refreshing and gold star pills nor was brought to us by
00:02:33
these Cool Cats first up we have Michelle and pickles in Kent Ohio and also a shout out to Rebecca in Columbus
00:02:40
Ohio next up we have Melissa in greville Idaho and big we like your jib to Truckin Johnny and Superior Wisconsin
00:02:48
let's give a cheers to Richard and Baton Rouge Louisiana and a big cheers mates to Canadian nurse Barbara and a cheers
00:02:55
to all the nurses and last but not least a shout out to Mike in New Jersey and thanks to everybody for helping us out
00:03:01
with this week's beer fund if you want to help us out with next week go to True Crime garage.com and click on the Donate
00:03:07
button and you want to check out True Crime garage.com right now go to the store Page we got a couple fancy items
00:03:13
for you we have a beer koozie finally and we have a little tumbler little beer tumbler or I guess you could drink some
00:03:20
moisy out of it and we also have coffee mugs finally finally after 20 years of being on the air all right that's enough
00:03:28
of the business every everybody gather around grab a chair grab a beer let's talk some true
00:03:33
[Music] cry well it's a cold case 25 years in the making and the family of former
00:03:56
rorist toown Elementary School teacher Christy Mirra is is staying positive on the case news 11's Holly hair met with
00:04:03
Christy's brother and has more from the emotional day holly Shannon emotional is
00:04:09
just skimming the surface you can imagine today is a difficult one to face for the mirac family but Christy's
00:04:15
brother Vince met with me outside of the apartment where she was killed and is speaking out in hopes that this might
00:04:21
bring the case to a close it's been a long time since I've been here and um it all
00:04:31
looks the same the trees have gotten bigger but the building still looks the same and it's it's hard it's really hard
00:04:35
whole thing right here just is it just it's just it's Eerie it's been years since he stood within sight of his
00:04:41
sister's apartment but the pain of what happened there on this day 25 years ago Remains the Same there's good days and
00:04:48
there's bad days and today's not a good day despite his sorrow it's Vince's mission to keep Christy's story at the
00:04:54
Forefront that's my whole point here I'm here to to give you know keep her face out there keep her name out there keep
00:05:00
it alive that hopefully in somewhere somebody comes out and gives us that bit of information that we need to get this
00:05:05
solved and he doesn't have to do it alone you know it's hard to believe it's been uh almost 25 years in November the
00:05:12
Lancaster County DA's office sent DNA from the case to parabon Labs a company specializing in DNA phenotyping the
00:05:20
investigators got tips that they're following up on so hopefully we get some information on this and you know move
00:05:24
forward the results brought the mirac family New Hope for finding Christy's killer hopefully you know somebody jogs
00:05:31
somebody's memory somebody looks like somebody I mean it's around the holidays where people are coming back to this
00:05:36
area maybe somebody recognizes the person patience persistence and a Brother's unconditional love I I've
00:05:42
never really given up hope good three things keeping the name Christy mirac in the spotlight although still positive
00:05:49
Vince is hoping for a righteous end to this quarter Century long Saga that's closure in my eyes you know she's never
00:05:56
going to come back we understand that but as long as we can get someone that paid you know serve Justice for this
00:06:02
that would be good enough for us at this [Music] point today's case takes place in
00:06:16
beautiful Lancaster County Pennsylvania Lancaster County has six suburbs located within its borders East
00:06:24
lamper Township is one of those suburbs the township covers 21 square miles and has a population of approximately 16,000
00:06:33
people East lamper is in what they call Amish Country the picturesque landscape has Rolling Hills and lush green grasses
00:06:42
and crops there are farms with windmills and and horse and Buggies sharing the roads with Cadillacs and Camry East
00:06:50
lamper Township rate of violent crimes was and is extremely low here you have a better chance of colliding with a horse
00:06:58
and buggy than getting robbed this is a perfect combination of a little bit of City living with the landscape in the
00:07:05
feel of country living this most certainly is an ideal place to live work and raise a family Christy Merrick
00:07:13
decided this would be the perfect location for a young woman to start her professional life Christy was lucky
00:07:20
enough to find a nice three-bedroom townhouse and what she saw as a perfect location this is the Greenfield Estates
00:07:28
Lux struck a second time when she found the perfect roommate to share her townhouse with as well as the bills
00:07:35
Christy Merrick and her female roommate lived in a quiet development of town homes located near a business park with
00:07:43
a barn and a grain silo just steps away this place could only be described as peaceful and quiet if she steered clear
00:07:52
of the horse and the buggies she would be safe at least that is what she thought now 25-year-old Christy Mar had
00:07:59
wanted to be a school teacher for as long as anyone could remember heck she had practically been rehearsing her
00:08:06
whole life for her dream job when she was little she would play pretend school and christe's brother and sister were
00:08:15
her first group of students and Christy would always end up playing the role of the teacher at school Christy was the
00:08:22
perfect student she worked hard and received great grades her hard work paid off when she was accepted into
00:08:29
Millersville University now she didn't want to burden her parents with the cost of college so she worked as a part-time
00:08:36
waitress at a local Country Club she also did some work as an assistant to a pharmacist at the neffsville pharmacy
00:08:44
this of course to help pay her way Christy was a very positive person with a beautiful personality now she worked
00:08:52
these part-time jobs with the same great attitude that she applied in life friends and co-workers would say that
00:08:59
Christy was always happy and could easily make her surroundings better than before she had arrived kind of opposite
00:09:06
of Captain grumpy pants well I think you're battling through something over there today yeah it's it's either a
00:09:15
cocaine addiction or allergies the C the captain is uh what they would refer to in sports is he he's playing but he's
00:09:21
about 75% yeah maybe 65 after graduating from Millersville University Christy set
00:09:28
out to make a difference her Dream came true when she was hired as a sixth grade
00:09:32
teacher at rown Elementary School located in Lancaster County Pennsylvania she loved her students and the feeling
00:09:41
was Mutual her enthusiasm was contagious and she quickly became a favorite not only with her students but with the
00:09:48
parents and other teachers as well now she was living her dream the pay allowed her to do what 25-year-old women want to
00:09:57
do she liked to have fun and this included hitting some of the local night spots with her girlfriends uh never to
00:10:04
excess though she was not that kind of person she was very concerned about safety as well a young lady walking
00:10:11
around drunk could be dangerous so christe knew better her father had advised her on ways that she could keep
00:10:19
herself safe and she followed his advice she would have her keys out and ready right when she was ready to leave you
00:10:26
know she would park in different parking spaces and at the tow houses where she lived she would drive different routes
00:10:33
home from time to time and she would never answer the door without asking several people or sorry several times
00:10:40
who was knocking who's there right um little safety tip here Captain go with a peephole instead of just shouting
00:10:47
through the door yeah so these were all practice precautions to keep her safe in
00:10:53
her controlled environment on Sunday December 20th 1992 Christie spent the evening preparing gifts for her students
00:11:01
I think this kind of shows what kind of person and what kind of teacher she was uh she was giving each child a copy of
00:11:08
the book miracles on Maple Hill this is by by Virginia Sorenson inside the front cover Christy
00:11:15
wrote the same message inside each book it stated something to the effect of wishing you a very merry Christmas and a
00:11:23
great 1993 love Miss Merrick you know like in one of the students she wrote like I
00:11:30
hope you're not in my class next year or something like you know just one of them
00:11:35
don't talk to me in '93 yeah 93 we're not on speaking terms anymore well she tied a little candy cane to each book to
00:11:42
add a little Christmas decoration flavor this this being described as very much in typical Christy fashion after a good
00:11:51
night's sleep Christy was ready for the new week she woke up started her day her
00:11:56
day and got ready to go off to work now I want to kind of bring something up here studying this case and looking into
00:12:01
this case brought back some memories for me for grade school middle school and that week you know this is the week
00:12:08
before you leave to go on on Christmas vacation one of the best weeks of school it's like it's the best school week you
00:12:15
don't really there's am I crazy or is there like the the work is a little less the work's a lot less it seems a very
00:12:22
relaxed this is very similar to the week before spring break as well same and the
00:12:28
end of the year so it's like those are the three best I think times to be in elementary school or middle school well
00:12:33
and even if you have a teacher that you disagree with um the teacher's always in
00:12:38
a very good mood that week because they know they're going to be off and not have to see you the following week right
00:12:44
and then and then you're in a good mood too as well because you're like hey I'm going on break and when you're when
00:12:49
you're a child Christmas is like waking up in Disney World so Christy woke up probably very excited for the week ahead
00:12:58
and and she got ready to go off to work now Christy's roommate had left for work
00:13:03
first on this day and was already gone by the time christe had put on her brown leather jacket and winter gloves do we
00:13:11
know what her roommate did for a living I do not know what she did for a living um but the roommate is gone and at this
00:13:18
point christe is preparing the gifts remember she has all these gifts to bring to school that day for her
00:13:23
students and she's preparing the gifts to be loaded into her car placing them near the front door she grabbed her keys
00:13:31
and she started out the door and into the cold Lancaster County air but just as soon as she felt the rush of cold air
00:13:39
someone had grabbed the door and pushed Christy back inside the man entered her home closed the door behind him and
00:13:47
tackled her to the ground after christe's roommate had left for work Christy's attacker was just outside
00:13:54
waiting for the sound of the door to open so he could push her in by 9:00 a.m. Christy's sixth grade classroom was
00:14:01
full with the exception of Christy the teacher this was extremely unlike the young hardworking professional rarely
00:14:11
was she late to work and rarely did she ever miss work even more strange christe
00:14:17
had not called into the school's office to say that she would be late or absent that day so her boss the principal of
00:14:24
the school this is Harry Goodman calls Christy's home and look for her now the phone rings but rather than Christy or
00:14:32
her roommate picking up the phone just rings and rings at first principal Goodman just assumed maybe Christy was
00:14:39
not picking up the phone because she had already left she's on her way to work and was still on her way to the school
00:14:45
but we have to keep in mind here I have a feeling that even though her class is waiting for her at 9:00 a.m. that
00:14:53
they've been waiting for some time and maybe christey had obligations before this 9:00 am uh time when he starts
00:15:00
calling for her right so he gives it another few minutes and he tries calling Christy again but receives the same
00:15:07
result nobody picks up the phone Goodman opened up Christie's file and retrieved
00:15:12
a phone number for christe's mother Goodman called christe's mother and informed her that she had not arrived at
00:15:19
school that morning and was asking if Christy had visited Shamokin I believe that's how you pronounce that that's
00:15:25
where the mother lived that weekend that is where christe's parents lived right right so Mrs Merrick informed the
00:15:34
principal that Christy had not visited her and shimoken that weekend and that the mother started to become very
00:15:40
worried at this point yeah but good for the principal for calling you know emergency contact number yeah so Mrs
00:15:48
Jerry Merrick is her mother she started calling Christy's uh East lamper Township townhouse and just like when
00:15:56
the principal had called her daughter never answered right so shortly after 9:00 a.m. principal Goodman drives to
00:16:03
Christie's townhouse he arrives at approximately 9:15 a.m. he parked his car and he made his way up the sidewalk
00:16:12
to her townhouse when he gets to the front porch he notices that the front door is slightly a jar he lightly pushes
00:16:20
with his hand and the door swings all the way open this is not a good sign no and inside Goodman finds christe's
00:16:27
motionless body body lying on the living room floor and the students gifts are they're scattered throughout the room
00:16:35
Christy still had her jacket and her gloves on but her underwear pants and shoes had been removed and the clothing
00:16:44
on her torso was pushed up the police were called and arrived very quickly now principal Goodman had to call 911 from a
00:16:53
neighbor's house and when he ran out of Christy's townhouse he closed the door behind behind him and when the police
00:17:00
arrived on the scene they found the front door locked so they were forced to break in to to get to Christie okay so
00:17:08
Christie unfortunately was reported dead on police arrival well it might have been one of those things where you
00:17:14
locked the door from the inside and then she went to leave and that that's when she was attacked bring her back into the
00:17:22
to the apartment and then when the perpetrator left they didn't shut the door mhm and the door is still locked
00:17:30
yeah so that's probably what happened well detectives begin to scour the scene for Clues immediately they noticed that
00:17:36
there was uh no signs of forced entry into the home here we have some options as to what may have happened here and
00:17:44
earlier I said that the the attacker waited outside waiting to hear the door open to push her in well that's one
00:17:53
option that's kind of a bit of a creative Avenue you have to go down to to tell a bit of a story
00:17:59
but we're at the we how this individual may have got to christe that um she knew
00:18:07
the the perpetrator exactly did she let her attack her in was this someone she knew or was this someone she thought she
00:18:14
knew maybe mistaken identity right um did someone knock and she just opened up the door which seems maybe unlikely when
00:18:23
we have the brother and her father later saying that she would often call through
00:18:28
the door who's there you know who who is it multiple times to kind of confirm who
00:18:34
it may be on the other side of the door it's such a weird time for attack too I mean you know before 9:00 a.m. in the
00:18:42
morning I mean early on a Monday morning yeah very very odd started the work week
00:18:48
for most people and as we said earlier was this a situation where someone had seen Christy's roommate leaving for work
00:18:58
and then the attacker decides to make a move because of either a believing that christe is now alone inside the home and
00:19:08
B knowing she will go out the front door and walk out to her vehicle how much did
00:19:14
this attacker know about this situation right but with without the force entry it seems like the perpetrator knew
00:19:21
Christie either knew her routine or knew her personally yes right so from what detectives could see it looked as if she
00:19:29
was assaulted almost instantly at the doorway they found a shoe they found shoe scuff marks on the inside portion
00:19:38
of the front door they found scuffs and scrapes on the entryway floor suggesting
00:19:44
that Christy was dragged from the front entrance way to back inside of the the home into that front room so she was hit
00:19:52
with something well let's go through this it it it appears that she would have been
00:19:57
dragged I don't know if she would have been tackled or hit before the dragging took place there was a slash um in the
00:20:06
sofa slip cover uhhuh and it was also noted that no furniture was overturned so this was a scuffle but it seemed
00:20:14
pretty contained to this to the front door area so other than the books that were to be to be gifts right having been
00:20:23
strewn about there was not a lot of disturbance to the room or to the items inside the the home where she lived
00:20:32
right which makes it lean more towards uh somebody that's physically bigger than her somebody that could control her
00:20:38
pretty easily and less likely somebody her equal size could you think there would have been more of a struggle right
00:20:46
well and a wooden cut a wooden cutting board was found near Christy's head it was covered in blood and christe's face
00:20:54
was distorted she had been hit with this several times yeah mer had suffered a brutal beating as well and it appeared
00:21:02
to detectives that she had fought hard and desperately for her life a cutting board may sound like an unlikely weapon
00:21:10
but it it seems on the surface to be a very unlikely weapon however as weird as it sounds Captain I've read several
00:21:20
cases where a cutting board is used in an attack right and I think why because of several reasons okay it's this is a
00:21:29
heavy object and usually not always but usually these cutting boards are kept on
00:21:36
countertops so so I'm assuming this was Christy's cutting board I believe it to be yes I don't think that that an
00:21:45
attacker is is bringing a cutting board as choice of weapon to the scene that'd be a little strange right why is he
00:21:52
walking around with feel like you could pick a dozen better weapons yeah if you ever see somebody walk around with a
00:21:58
cutting board call the cops well so here's my thoughts on this unless they're coming at a Pottery Barn the
00:22:05
other cases where I've seen a cutting board used in the perpetration of a of a murder is you know it's readily
00:22:14
available to the attacker if it's kept on the countertop you know if the attacker came into the the scene
00:22:21
unprepared or surprised when they could not overtake the person they they were attacking this is something that they
00:22:28
might see on the countertop go for knowing that they could strike the individual and render them unconscious
00:22:34
or knocking them to the ground and maybe kind of gain control of the situation I
00:22:39
think this is actually ladder here though I think it's almost like there was an attack that happen and the the
00:22:46
the blunt force trauma would have happened afterwards that's just my gut feeling and I also this kind of The
00:22:52
Cutting Board being used as a weapon almost is is the same reason why you see a kitchen knife often being used as a
00:22:58
weapon because sometimes it's something that's in a knife block sitting on the countertop and it's just something you
00:23:04
see in the in the area that you go and grab and reach for during the course of an attack or a scuffle now also
00:23:13
sometimes the person that is being attacked you know when right will grab something yeah when they discover
00:23:19
someone in their home they grab whatever for defense and maybe she grabbed the cutting board and the attacker ends up
00:23:26
taking it from them and you using it against them right regardless Christy suffered blunt trauma to her neck back
00:23:34
upper chest and her jaw was fractured her elbows and knees were very badly bruised the cause of death was
00:23:42
strangulation after investigating the scene for almost 3 hours the phone at Christy's home began to ring an officer
00:23:50
picked up the phone it was Christy's mother Jerry Merrick She was That's horrible for the mom you know yeah she
00:23:58
well keep in mind she's still worried because she's not heard from her daughter and she's not heard from
00:24:04
Principal Goodman that's the worst case scenario I mean you're trying to call your daughter at her apartment she's
00:24:09
young she's a young professional she seems very dedicated to her job and to the children she's trying to teach try
00:24:16
to make the world a better place and you're calling just to see if she's okay and then a police officer answers the
00:24:22
phone she's simply calling to to find her daughter to right to see if christe is okay to get in touch with her now the
00:24:30
officer that picked up the phone told her that they needed her Mrs Merrick the mother to come to Lancaster Mrs Merck
00:24:38
asked why what is wrong right you know was Christy okay was she hurt was she involved in uh you know what was going
00:24:46
on and the officer would say no more other than there was an accident and christe was
00:24:56
dead [Music] this show is sponsored by better help do you look forward to the holidays maybe
00:25:08
you struggle with seasonal Blues this time of year can be a lot and it's natural to feel some sadness or even
00:25:14
anxiety about it but adding something new and positive to your life can counteract some of those feelings
00:25:20
therapy can be a bright spot something to look forward to to make you feel grounded and to give you the tools to
00:25:28
manage everything going on if you're thinking of starting therapy give better help a try it's entirely online designed
00:25:35
to be convenient flexible and suited to your schedule just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a
00:25:40
licensed therapist and switch therapist at any time for no additional charge find your bright spot this season with
00:25:47
betterhelp visit betterhelp.com Garay to get 10% off your first month that's better help
00:25:56
hp.com garage explore today's must-have Trends and Innovative Styles at Mrs B's clearance and outlet shop one-of aind
00:26:07
finds in today's must have Trends explore wall to--all deals Furniture flooring mattresses Home Accents
00:26:14
seasonal favorites and more discover unique new home decor pillows accessories and more there's something
00:26:20
perfect for your style and budget there's new inventory every day at up to 80% off suggested retail discover the
00:26:27
style and Savings of Mrs B's clearance and Outlet Rosetta Stone is the language learning program with a lasting impact
00:26:36
I've been using the rap to learn French and it's not just about memorizing words
00:26:40
but actually having real conversations and it's not just French they offer 25 languages right now Rosetta Stone has an
00:26:47
awesome holiday deal 50% off their lifetime membership every language unlimited access forever for anyone keen
00:26:54
on diving deep into a new language check out rosettastone.com it's a [Music] GameChanger welcome back cheers mates
00:27:10
welcome back to the colonel and dickn NOS show all right Captain let's go through the investigation I just sound
00:27:17
awful I sound more awful than I normally do you usually sound pretty good not today my friend not today not today I
00:27:25
said 75% I think you're right 6 5% I sound like I have a bowl of soup in my nose have another cup of coffee and
00:27:32
maybe we'll get you get you up up in the percenti a little bit Yeah so let's go through the investigation because I
00:27:38
think most will agree and that it looks like the police did a good job with this
00:27:43
one and our murderer well he left evidence he was not super stealthy when committing these crimes so shall we
00:27:51
start with eyewitnesses first or move to the physical evidence well am I right in
00:27:56
saying that it's seems like the motive was the rape yes it seems I don't know that I
00:28:03
would say 100% that the motive was the rape but um it's looking that way it it certainly looks like this is a personal
00:28:12
crime but we're going to have we're going to have evidence we're going to have at least evidence of seaman on the
00:28:18
victim okay all right so let's go through eyewitness uh evidence first and then we'll get into the physical stuff
00:28:24
so neighbors say that they saw a car pull into to a lot directly across from Christy's home this was shortly after
00:28:31
christe's roommate left for work at approximately 7 a.m. witness Witnesses described the vehicle as a 1984 to 1991
00:28:42
Dodge Daytona or Turismo hatchback it was either faded silver doll gray or faded white in color okay
00:28:52
the vehicle's distinguishing features included rollup headlamps and black sun shades on the back window now A man
00:29:00
jumped out from the car and according to these Witnesses was seen jumping out of
00:29:05
the car and heading toward christe's door police would later describe this man as Caucasian in his 20s tall with an
00:29:15
athletic build and sandy blonde or light brown hair possibly in a crew cut this of course according to the eyewitness
00:29:24
statements that they gathered when talking to neighbors en canvasing the area Okay police theorized at the time
00:29:32
that Christie either knew the man or opened the door expecting to see someone else when he then forced his way inside
00:29:40
as we discussed earlier the possibilities of how did this individual man to manage to get inside the home or
00:29:47
get a hold of Christie at least a neighbor heard a single scream at approximately 7:15 a.m. now no one
00:29:56
claims to have seen seen this man leave and I'm guessing you know leaving either
00:30:02
Christy's home the the front door front porch area or even leaving the lot across the way well and also these Town
00:30:10
Homes they're in a row so there's multiple unit so you could see a man walking towards a unit but you don't
00:30:17
know exactly which unit that he went into but now that you have a unknown a male heading towards those row of
00:30:26
townhous then we could assume that this guy is probably the one that was the perpetrator in this crime yes and
00:30:33
although police initially proceeded under the assumption that Christy may have known her killer they also didn't
00:30:39
want to rule out the possibility of a random killing now the medical examiner findings were that Christie had been
00:30:46
beaten sexually assaulted and strangled sometime between 6 and 8 a.m. that morning now remember the roommate said
00:30:55
that she had left the town house for work right around 7 a.m. okay so unless you suspect the roommate was involved in
00:31:03
any way um we got set now it makes a window 7even to eight yes we've we've narrowed this attack and the murder to a
00:31:10
very small window of about 60 minutes all right let's go over the physical evidence well you were exactly right my
00:31:17
friend as you had stated earlier the police did recover and catalog DNA from the murder scene this was DNA from sperm
00:31:25
found on several areas of her body and clothing and also on a piece of the carpet immediately underneath of her now
00:31:36
for the in investigation as for tracking this guy down for that portion of the investigation the meric family offered
00:31:45
up a $10,000 reward for information in the case yeah from what I could find in the reports it looks like initially
00:31:55
three men were considered to be suspects by the police so right away we have some
00:32:00
Persons of Interest which we don't see that in every case that we cover so this is this is good news if you're you know
00:32:08
uh but again the law enforcement was leaning towards the fact that she knew yes you know her attacker so therefore
00:32:15
that kind of makes the you know we we narrowed down the time frame but we're now we're narrowing down this pool of
00:32:22
individuals yes so three men were considered to be suspects by the police initially we believe and this may have
00:32:29
actually included principal Goodman really and the thought here is okay so and I want to be clear about
00:32:38
this the we know from the reports that they had suspected three individuals three you know possibility that one of
00:32:46
these three individuals had killed Christy may we have three douche canoes and a canoe I can't say with certainty
00:32:53
that law enforcement considered principal Goodman to be one of these but what I can say is in the public eye and
00:32:59
in the media it certainly looked like some people suspected he might be one of these possible suspects yeah in all
00:33:06
fairness you know he yeah he called people uh that's possibly to establish an alibi but he he also found her so
00:33:16
therefore that that's going to just you know create some red flags and some questioning whether you know whether or
00:33:23
not he was involved at all the person who finds the Mur victim should always be looked at as as a suspect in my
00:33:30
opinion and furthermore to that effect I think the public and the media were questioning why uh he was so quick to go
00:33:40
over to her home right um and then the other thing was the police show up and all of a sudden the door is locked and
00:33:48
you kind of went over the logistics of that that possibly it may have been set to be locked before the principal even
00:33:57
went into the apartment right and then the act of closing the door behind him when he runs over to get a phone to call
00:34:04
911 I actually find that to be an honorable act on two levels one if I'm a detective I'm like cool this dude helped
00:34:14
preserve the crime scene in a small manner by closing the door and and furthermore
00:34:21
it's you know the way that her body was left right it's not something that you know it's she was left in a way that was
00:34:30
that was degrading to her and for her for him to close the door to have the the forethought to close the door as a
00:34:36
sign of respect to his colleague I think was a simple nice gesture well and what
00:34:43
of a what a mench of a guy because he's at work he's a principal and she's young
00:34:49
she yeah she has a roommate but she lives with another female and he probably felt protected of protective of
00:34:57
her on some level and so yeah you call at 9 o' and then by 9:15 know he could have just had a gut feeling that
00:35:04
something's not right and I I just think what what a what a guy for going over and and you know caring about his
00:35:11
employees well and not only that you know time of death was believed to be between 6:00 and 8:00 a.m. and as we've
00:35:19
discussed several times on this show specifically when we discussed the Aurora Hammer Slayer case you know it's
00:35:25
not just so easy like you see on TV where they walk up they they stick something in the body
00:35:31
they take its temperature and they go well the time of death was 7113 right you know it's they are going
00:35:38
off of body temperature they're using other determining factors to come up with that time frame however a lot of
00:35:46
times and and what we see here is what we can infer when we look at these cases is sometimes these individuals are
00:35:55
supposed to meaning the victim were supposed to have been somewhere or been with someone right at a certain time and
00:36:03
when they do not arrive at that location or they do not meet that person well we
00:36:07
can assume that they were either in danger or already dead by that time so here's my guess when they say 6:00 a.m.
00:36:15
to 8:00 a.m. is there a chance that she was supposed to be at school around 8:00
00:36:20
a.m. and because she was not seen at that time then okay she may have already been in trouble or she was already
00:36:27
murdered by that point yeah cuz some some teachers have like early morning duties they can sign up for that I think
00:36:33
they get paid a little extra not really for sure but where you will get there why the buses get there so you have to
00:36:39
be there probably half half an hour to an hour before most of the other teachers so where we see principal
00:36:46
Goodman here and people questioning why he was so quick to go over to Christy's home well my thoughts are two things one
00:36:55
Christy lived only about 10 minutes from the school so we're not talking about like this guy went way out of his way
00:37:03
first of all second of all we're talking about a situation where it's very likely
00:37:07
she was supposed to have been there at 8:00 a.m. right this guy waited an hour it's not like he's sitting there at the
00:37:13
front door like what is that uh Back to the Future where the principal's like right by the front door waiting for
00:37:19
Marty McFly to be two seconds late I think that's Ferris Beer's day off Ferris my bad but you see what I'm
00:37:26
saying it's not like this guy is sitting there right by the front door looking at
00:37:30
his watch and and she's 2 minutes late he hops in his his car and drives over to her house right he doesn't look
00:37:36
suspicious to me at all but like like you said the person that finds the body you have to look at you got to look at
00:37:43
them you got to look at him there were several teachers that had had a long working relationship with principal
00:37:49
Goodman and they just said that's who he was you know he was he was not just our
00:37:53
boss he was like a part of the team he was a friend he was a colleague he was some that would go to B for the people
00:37:59
that worked at his school he considered it a community uh of people working together to educate these children yeah
00:38:06
cheers to all the teachers and my my sister is a teacher a lot of family members are teachers I mean Che that's a
00:38:12
job cheers to the Educators there's other people yeah yeah but you know it's a I'm sick leave me alone I'm not I'm
00:38:19
not actually sick I actually feel fine I just sound like [ __ ] well I'll tell you
00:38:24
what okay so now we know we do know that there are reports of three possible suspects early on in this investigation
00:38:32
now you and I both agree principle Goodman whether he was considered to be one of those three or not he doesn't
00:38:38
look suspicious to you and I agreed well right think about his last name he's Goodman Goodman how could he have done
00:38:46
it not princi badman the individual there is an individual that does look very suspicious so this included the of
00:38:54
the three suspects we do know that this this included a man that investigators believed was having uh behaving very
00:39:01
strangely almost immediately after the murder okay so the day after Christy was killed a 45-year-old man named Ken
00:39:09
lockoff showed up at Christy's school now I'm unclear as to his reasoning for being at the school meaning meaning this
00:39:18
what I'm not sure of was did he show up there looking for Christie or asking what had happened to her right so
00:39:27
regardless we do know that he shows up at her work and he's asking about her I don't know if he's asking for her or if
00:39:33
he shows up saying does anybody know what happened to Christie right did they date or something well get this so so
00:39:41
here's what's going on this out mother he was he was briefed on what had happened to her the day before right and
00:39:50
shortly after being briefed he left the school but later he called the school twice that same day
00:39:57
later this man was observed at Christy's funeral when investigators started looking through christe's private life
00:40:04
and digging through her past they discovered that this man was having an extramarital affair with christe so this
00:40:13
Ken lockoff was a significantly older married man that Christy Merrick has she was discreetly dating this guy Part-Time
00:40:23
Lover well police round this guy up they go and they get Ken and they bring him in and they talk to him now police would
00:40:30
later say that Ken fully cooperated with the police and their investigation into
00:40:36
Christy's murder this meaning he answered all of their questions he passed two polygraph test and he
00:40:43
submitted his DNA which later cleared Ken from their suspect list well but that's how you do it right I mean he he
00:40:51
showed up cuz he cared about her he showed up trying to get answers then when the police come knock knocking on
00:40:56
his door he's like hey full cooperation I'll answer all your questions oh lie detector I'll take two I'll take two
00:41:04
give me two of those that's funny I tell you what though here's the thing my just
00:41:08
just my humble opinion I would avoid the lie detector at all cost okay even if I'm innocent I agree except for in this
00:41:17
case you know why because we have DNA that's true so I'd go okay I'm submitting you my DNA let's take the lie
00:41:25
detect I get that makes sense now and also you know how this works when they give you
00:41:31
the lie detector they'll say okay we we ask we asked the colonel 12 questions three of them he was well a little iffy
00:41:41
on right right so but I think if there's DNA and you know that you didn't do this
00:41:48
submit the DNA you know well yeah that's the other thing too I don't I don't want
00:41:53
to play your your your games and do the monkey t let's here's my DNA and let's get this over with if there were no DNA
00:42:01
uh this is just my opinion I would never take a polygraph test because it especially if I'm innocent and the
00:42:10
reason being is as the suspect you have nothing to gain because even if you let's say you pass it it's not
00:42:17
admissible in the court of law right so like o I got an A++ Plus on my polygraph
00:42:23
test but we can't tell anybody in court that right I mean if you look at the West Memphis 3 case I mean Jesse Miss
00:42:31
Kelly passes a lie detector and then then confesses to the murder well and what and and if the cops even believed
00:42:39
in this idea of a polygraph then you'd go oh well here's this guy that clearly told us the truth now he's telling us a
00:42:47
lie he needs to stop telling us a lie so I I agree with you there's nothing good
00:42:52
that can come from right you can only lose out of it right and the other thing too especially in a situation like this
00:42:58
where like you said he shows up on the scene caring about her asking questions about her I understand he's having an
00:43:04
extramarital affair that doesn't mean he's not in love with her and furthermore he cooperates in the
00:43:09
investigation that also shows one he's innocent two that he cared about her and what I'm what I'm getting at here is
00:43:17
referencing something that John Douglas educated me on through through his books
00:43:23
was stating that sometimes especially with a husband or a wife when you question them about a child or a loved
00:43:31
one you know their their their spouse or another loved one's death you have there's a certain bit of
00:43:37
survivors guilt there's also especially with a husband there's this there's kind
00:43:42
of this ingrained thing in our DNA where we're supposed to protect our families right
00:43:48
and when a family member dies we and probably ingrained in well ined in everybody well you know for the children
00:43:55
I'm I'm going off of referencing Douglas's words though where he states that you know with with a husband in
00:44:03
particular that that you could get false false positives meaning false positives
00:44:09
of signs of deception during the test because even though the the husband had nothing to do with the death of his wife
00:44:17
or the murder of his wife he still feels guilty for not having protected her from
00:44:21
what happened right so this is one of those situations where I feel like it's just
00:44:26
it's a lose but congratulations to Ken for being forthcoming and helping out in the investigation and like we've said
00:44:33
many times Captain with a lot of these cases when we look at things it's hard to sit down and just just solve
00:44:41
something especially you know for the police maybe for you they can't just sit down and solve something but if they can
00:44:47
cross something off their list if they can if they can strike something from the list from the list of possibilities
00:44:54
they can start to hone in on different things and angled the investigation and maybe it leads you to the
00:45:05
[Music] answer for everything true crime garage check out True Crime garage.com also make sure you follow us
00:45:14
on Instagram Twitter or Facebook at truecrimegarage and we want to see you right back here in the garage for the
00:45:20
conclusion of the Christy Merrick case until then be good be kind and don't litter
00:45:26
[Music] [Applause] you can start your day off right when you find a professional on Angie to get
00:46:02
your plumbing right first connect with skilled professionals to get all your home projects done well
00:46:08
visit angie.com you can do this when you Angie that

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 75
    Most heartbreaking
  • 70
    Most emotional
  • 70
    Most intense
  • 65
    Most shocking

Episode Highlights

  • The Search for Justice
    Vince Mirac remains hopeful for closure in his sister's case after 25 years. 'I've never really given up hope.'
    @ 05m 44s
    November 16, 2023
  • A Teacher's Kindness
    Christy Merrick prepared gifts for her students, showcasing her caring nature. 'This kind of shows what kind of person and what kind of teacher she was.'
    @ 11m 01s
    November 16, 2023
  • A Tragic Morning
    On December 20, 1992, Christy was attacked just as she left for work. 'Just as soon as she felt the rush of cold air, someone had grabbed the door.'
    @ 13m 39s
    November 16, 2023
  • The Tragic Discovery
    Christy's mother receives the devastating news of her daughter's death from the police.
    “Christy was dead.”
    @ 24m 56s
    November 16, 2023
  • The Principal's Concern
    Principal Goodman shows concern for Christy, raising questions about his involvement.
    “What a guy for going over and caring about his employees.”
    @ 35m 06s
    November 16, 2023
  • The Affair Uncovered
    Investigators find that Christy was discreetly dating a married man, Ken Lockoff.
    “Ken fully cooperated with the police and their investigation.”
    @ 40m 30s
    November 16, 2023
  • Investigation Insights
    The complexities of guilt and deception in investigations are explored through John Douglas's insights.
    “False positives of signs of deception can arise from a husband's guilt.”
    @ 44m 15s
    November 16, 2023
  • Ken's Cooperation
    Ken's willingness to cooperate in the investigation shows his care and innocence.
    “Congratulations to Ken for being forthcoming and helping out in the investigation.”
    @ 44m 29s
    November 16, 2023
  • Conclusion of the Case
    The episode wraps up with a reminder to be kind and responsible.
    “Be good, be kind, and don't litter.”
    @ 45m 24s
    November 16, 2023

Episode Quotes

  • It's not a belief, it's just science, my friend.
    Christy Mirack /// Part 1 /// 224
  • There's good days and there's bad days, and today's not a good day.
    Christy Mirack /// Part 1 /// 224
  • That's horrible for the mom, you know?
    Christy Mirack /// Part 1 /// 224
  • What a mensch of a guy!
    Christy Mirack /// Part 1 /// 224
  • Cheers to all the teachers!
    Christy Mirack /// Part 1 /// 224
  • It's a lose but congratulations to Ken for being forthcoming.
    Christy Mirack /// Part 1 /// 224

Key Moments

  • Emotional Anniversary04:50
  • Teacher's Gifts11:01
  • Cutting Board Theory22:54
  • Investigation Begins27:36
  • Eyewitness Accounts28:22
  • Three Suspects32:25
  • Principal's Alibi33:16
  • Final Thoughts45:24

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown