Do you know who murdered Gretta Denise Rainey? In the spring of 1987, the life of 35-year-old Gretta Denise Rainey tragically ended in a Capitol Hill apartment in Washington, D.C. On the afternoon of May 13th, her nude body was discovered in a first-floor apartment at 610 Third St. SE, an apartment belonging to her girlfriend, Roxanne Johnson. The cause of death was determined to be ligature strangulation, and it was later revealed that she had also been raped.
The initial investigation quickly focused on Johnson, who was arrested and charged with second-degree murder just two days after Rainey's body was found. According to neighbors, Rainey had spent the previous night at Johnson's apartment. Johnson told authorities she had left for work that morning and became concerned when Rainey didn't answer the phone. She returned to the apartment with a coworker to make the grim discovery. However, four months after her arrest, prosecutors dropped all charges against Johnson without providing a public explanation.
Johnson maintained her innocence, stating that the false accusation had a devastating impact on her life.
For decades, Gretta Rainey's murder remained a cold case, a haunting mystery within the walls of the beige apartment building that had already been the scene of another unsolved slaying. Just 18 months prior, in October 1985, a 22-year-old paralegal named Florence Eyssalenne was found raped and strangled in the apartment right next door to Johnson's. The similarities between the two cases were striking, but for years, no definitive link could be established.
A significant breakthrough finally came in 2022 with the advancement of DNA technology. Police lab technicians were able to develop a full DNA profile from tissue samples taken from the scene of Rainey's murder. This new evidence not only confirmed a connection between the two homicides but also pointed to a single, unidentified male suspect. Authorities have since stated they believe the suspect to be an African-American man who was familiar with the building or the neighborhood. As of now, this unknown individual remains at large, and the case of who killed Gretta Denise Rainey is still officially unsolved. The Metropolitan Police Department continues to seek information from the public, offering a substantial reward for any tips that lead to an arrest and conviction.
