Shivangi Sinha
In October 1999, the remains of Patrick “Pat” McRae were found inside his home in Des Moines, Iowa. After he failed to take his daughter to school, a welfare check was requested at his residence. However, when help arrived, they discovered he had been killed a few days prior. While there was a lot of blood at the scene, DNA analysis only led to an arrest almost five years after the crime had been committed. A&E’s ‘Sex, Money, Murder,’ particularly the episode ‘An Evil Mystery,’ gives a detailed timeline of the case and explains the various stages of the investigation.
Patrick “Pat” McRae’s Ex-Wife’s Concerns About Him Led to the Discovery of His Remains
Patrick Warren “P. W.” McRae was born on August 26, 1957, in Richmond, Virginia. His parents, Cornelius and Barbara McRae, raised him and his seven siblings in a loving and happy home. Patrick grew up in a large family with three sisters, Margaret, Kathryn, and Anne, and four brothers, Christopher, Frank, Andrew, and Bill. Growing up with so many siblings, he shared a close relationship with them. McRae eventually settled down in Des Moines, Iowa, and lived there for a long time. He even welcomed two kids, Patrick Jr. and Megan McRae, into his life, but his private life was not without its problems.
Since McRae and his ex-wife had divorced, they shared custody of their kids. On October 18, 1999, he failed to show up to take his daughter to school, which was out of character for him. His ex-wife decided to call the police and asked them to do a welfare check at his house. That was when McRae’s remains were found just at the door of his house. He had been stabbed multiple times in the chest and neck area. The autopsy determined that he had actually passed away on October 16, 1999.
The Killer Was Linked to the Crime Scene Through DNA Evidence
At Patrick McRae’s home, several of his personal items were missing, which led police to conclude that the motive for the killing was robbery. Two DNA profiles were found at his house; while one was his, the other belonged to an unidentified female. When the days leading up to his killing were traced back, it became known that on the night of October 16, 1999, he had been to a Des Moines strip club called The Outer Limits. He often visited the club, and some dancers from the bar were called in for questioning, but it led nowhere. Gradually, the case went cold, and the breakthrough came only in 2004.
An informant named Mars Davis, who was arrested on drug charges, gave detectives credible information. According to his statements, McRae had requested a private dance at his house, and Davis had taken a dancer named Andrea Morris there. He stated that he saw her walking out of the house covered in blood and carrying some of Patrick McRae’s belongings, including clothing, CDs, cassette tapes, and a glass figurine. According to statements Davis made to police, Morris confessed to him that she killed McRae because she was hearing voices in her head. Morris’ DNA also matched the unidentified profile found at the scene, and McRae’s blood was reportedly found in her car five years after the crime. In April 2005, she was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
Andrea Morris is Serving Her Sentence in an Iowa Prison Today
Andrea Morris’ trial began in 2006. She took the stand and testified that she had gone to Patrick McRae’s house for a private dance, but said that it was Mars Davis who had allegedly killed the man. According to her defense testimony, McRae had allegedly tried to assault her, and Davis stepped in and killed him in a jealous rage. However, her theory was not supported by physical evidence. The shoe prints found at the house proved important, as they matched Morris. She was eventually convicted of first-degree murder. In October 2007, Morris was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
Morris applied for a new trial on the basis of the argument that court personnel had smelled alcohol on her lead attorney, and she was not informed about it. In April 2011, she was granted a new trial, and her prior conviction was set aside. However, rather than go through another trial, Morris decided to plead guilty to second-degree murder, willful injury, and first-degree theft in April 2013. She was sentenced to 50 years for the murder charge, up to 10 years for willful injury, and up to 10 years for theft, with the sentences to be served consecutively, for a total of up to 70 years. Morris is now being held at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women in Mitchellville, Iowa. She will be first eligible for parole in 2040.
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