‘Potomac River Rapist’ to be held without bond after first DC court appearance
WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - A suspect who became known as the "Potomac River Rapist" during a series of sexual assaults in Montgomery County and D.C. in the 1990s – including a fatal attack – was ordered held without bond following his first court appearance in the District Thursday.
A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney's office for the District confirmed to FOX 5 that Giles Daniel Warrick, 60, was expected in court Thursday. Warrick was taken into custody in South Carolina last week after he was connected to the crimes via forensic evidence, officials announced on Nov. 14.
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Warrick has been charged with first-degree murder among several other charges related to the attacks.
Warrick is accused of brazenly and brutally preying upon women in the D.C. area in the 1990s. Officials said Warrick murdered 29-year-old Christine Mirzayan, who was a National Academy of Sciences intern, in the summer of 1998 as she was walking home from a cookout in D.C.
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Warrick is accused of sexually assaulting eight other women, including an 18-year-old babysitter and a mother whose child was in the house at the time of the attack.
The FBI said seven of the nine attacks, which began in 1991, were linked by DNA, and all of the attacks were linked by Warrick’s similar violent methods.
Police say Warrick is also linked by DNA to at least six rapes in Montgomery County.
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DC police had offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the Potomac River Rapist.
Warrick is due back in court on January 17, 2020.