[PR] Arrest Made in a 1998 Homicide and a 1996 First Degree Sexual Abuse Offense

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch, announce an arrest has been made in a 1998 Homicide and a 1996 First Degree Sexual Abuse Offense. 

Between May 6, 1991, and August 1, 1998, a single assailant, locally known as the “Potomac River Rapist,” is alleged to have sexually assaulted eight women, attempted another sexual assault, and committed one homicide in the Washington Metropolitan Area. The victims ranged in age from 18 to 41 years old. 

On Saturday, August 1, 1998, at approximately 10:30 p.m. 29-year-old Christine Mirzayan was walking in the 3600 block of Canal Road, Northwest, when the suspect approached her. The suspect physically and sexually assaulted the victim. On Sunday, August 2, 1998, the victim was located deceased at the listed location. 

Additionally, on Saturday, July 20, 1996, at approximately 8:30 pm, a 58-year-old female victim was sexually assaulted while walking in the 4900 block of MacArthur Blvd, in the Palisades neighborhood of Northwest, Washington, D.C.

During the course of the investigation, DNA evidence linked these cases together along with several offenses in Montgomery County, Maryland. 

On Wednesday, November 13, 2019, pursuant to a US District Court arrest warrant, 60-year-old Giles Daniel Warrick, of Conway, South Carolina, was arrested. He will go through the extradition process where he will be transported from South Carolina to the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch where he will be charged with Two Counts of First Degree Sexual Abuse and First Degree Murder.  

We would like to thank our local and federal partners, the Montgomery County Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Attorney’s Office and the US Marshals Service for their assistance in bringing this case to closure.

Anyone with information about this case or believes they may be a victim is asked to call the Metropolitan Police Department at 202-727-9099 or the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324). Additionally, anonymous information may be submitted to the department’s TEXT TIP LINE by sending a text message to 50411. You can also submit a tip at https://tips.fbi.gov/.