The Murder Minute podcast contains descriptions of real-life true crime cases.

Some details may be disturbing, and listener discretion is advised.

This is Murder Minute. I'm your host, Mrs. Smitty, and today is Monday, August 30, 2021.

Today on Murder Minute, the story of a woman so driven by greed that she decided to kill her own husband.

But she didn't stop there.

But first, your true crime headlines.

A Pennsylvania man who is serving a life sentence for the rape and murder of a school teacher in 1992 is requesting a new trial.

25-year-old Kristi Murak was preparing to leave for work on the morning of December 21, 1992, when someone forced their way into her town home and overpowered the young woman.

She was viciously raped and beaten, then strangled to death with her own sweater.

The case went unsolved for more than 25 years until advances in DNA technology led to the identification of a suspect.

Through the use of familial DNA matching, police identified her killer as Raymond Rowe, a well-known local DJ.

Rowe was arrested in June of 2018, and in January of the following year, he pleaded guilty to Murak's murder, for which he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole,

plus 60 to 120 years for other related crimes.

Last week, Rowe returned to court to request a new trial, claiming that he is actually innocent but was coerced by his defense team to accept a plea.

In court filings, Rowe now claims to have had consensual sex with Murak that morning, but says that someone else was responsible for her murder.

In California, the man responsible for the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 had his 16th opportunity for parole, and this time he was recommended for release.

77-year-old Seerhan Serhan appeared remotely in front of the California parole board on Friday.

He has served 53 years in prison for the murder of Senator Kennedy, the brother of President John F. Kennedy, and a candidate for President himself at the time of his assassination.

Senator Kennedy was shot and killed at the ambassador hotel in Los Angeles, just after delivering a victory speech following the California primary.

Seerhan was sentenced to death for the crime, but his sentence was commuted to life in prison after the United States Supreme Court briefly outlawed the death penalty in 1972.

Speaking to the Associated Press earlier this year, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said that he idolized Senator Kennedy and mourned his assassination, but was standing firm in his belief that a prosecutor should have no role in deciding if a prisoner should be released.

That decision, said Gascon, should be left up to the parole board.

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