2 Sex Crimes Linked By DNA Evidence Result In Hefty Prison Sentence

PEEKSKILL, NY — A cold case was solved, thanks in part to a DNA sample taken from a cup.

Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Rocah announced on Thursday that a man who was convicted for a 2021 rape of a woman in Peekskill, and later implicated by DNA in a 2018 attempted rape, was sentenced to 16 years in state prison.

"For a number of years, answers and closure evaded two women who were brutally and sexually assaulted in Peekskill," Rocah said. "Thanks to the committed prosecutors in this Office and our law enforcement partners who never gave up on solving these cases, we have aptly secured justice for them today."

43-year-old Cristian Panza, of Peekskill, was sentenced before NYS Supreme Court Justice James McCarty in Westchester County to 16 years in prison with 20 years post-release supervision for the 2021 crime to run concurrently to 15 years in state prison with 15 years post-release supervision for the 2018 crime.

Panza pleaded guilty in September to first degree rape and first degree attempted rape.

On Sept. 4, 2021, around 10 p.m., Panza was at a recreational sporting event where he encountered the 20-year-old victim who he already knew from his mechanic shop in Peekskill. Panza took the woman to a local bar where he bought her several drinks until she became highly intoxicated.

While pretending to drive her home, Panza instead took the victim to Depew Park where he strangled and raped her.

The victim was able to get away from Panza and immediately reported the attack.

Peekskill police officers captured and arrested Panza as he attempted to flee the area that night.

At police headquarters, Panza took a drink of water from a cup, which was retained for DNA testing.

After noticing a similar pattern of facts, prosecutors at the Westchester DA's Office requested lab comparison testing of Panza's DNA from the cup to DNA evidence collected from an unsolved 2018 case of attempted rape in Peekskill.

DNA from the evidence collection kit in the unsolved 2018 assault yielded a limited profile, making it ineligible for comparison against databases of convicted offenders, but appropriate for case-to-case comparisons.

The DNA from the 2021 case was a match for the 2018 cold case.

On Dec. 30, 2018, around 3:30 a.m., Panza encountered an intoxicated 39-year-old woman in a Peekskill bar. When the woman left the bar, Panza followed her and offered her a ride home.

Believing Panza was a taxi driver, the woman entered the back of his vehicle and gave her address.

Panza instead drove her to a wooded area. When the victim asked where he had taken her, Panza climbed to the back of the vehicle, strangled and attempted to rape her.

The victim scratched Panza while fighting him off, and ran away to a nearby residential building where she banged on doors seeking help, and police were then called.

"To this day, I remember it like it was yesterday, and even now, sometimes I cry and ask myself, 'Why me?'" one victim's statement read in court said. "I am thankful every day for the good people who supported me throughout this process and for bringing justice so no one else has to endure what I went through."

"I was both physically and psychologically impacted by the defendant’s attack," the other victim said. "I lived in constant fear and on some days, although years later, I still do. I believe the sentence is fair and that God will also judge the defendant’s punishment."

Rocah thanked the City of Peekskill Police Department for their work on the case.

The case was prosecuted by Special Prosecutions Division Deputy Chief Michelle Lopez with assistance from Sex Crimes Bureau Chief Wendy Parra and Senior Assistant District Attorney Marissa Morra-Wynn.

The DA’s Office Special Prosecutions Division is available to help victims and witnesses of sexual assault at 914-994-3000.