00:00:03
NARRATOR: On the 16th of
August, 1978, a man strolled into a house in Eaton County,
Michigan and violently
00:00:11
attacked two children
in their family home. He sliced the throat of
13-year-old Randy Gilbert
00:00:18
after assaulting Randy's
14-year-old sister, Lisa. LISA ASHER: I've had
a fear from day one
00:00:23
and still do that he'll come
back and he'll try to find us. NARRATOR: The assailant
was 23-year-old Don Miller,
00:00:31
a serial murderer who'd
killed his fourth victim just two days before the
attack on Lisa Gilbert.
00:00:37
ROD SADLER: After he
was done raping her, Don Miller sat on her
back and took a small belt
00:00:43
that she had had on her
shorts and wrapped it around her throat and
began to strangle her.
00:00:48
NARRATOR: Amazingly,
both Lisa and Randy managed to survive at the
hands of the killer, who
00:00:53
was a respected member
of the local church. RICHARD WESTGATE:
It never leaves you.
00:00:58
I will never forget this case. I think a lot of people
in East Lansing community
00:01:03
never forget this case either. NARRATOR: Don Miller, a
supposedly heavenly man with a hellish
lust for blood, had
00:01:11
been revealed as one of the
world's most evil killers. [music playing] In July 1979,
24-year-old Don Miller
00:01:40
led investigators to the bodies
of three of the four women he'd killed. Detectives were only
just beginning to learn
00:01:48
about his murderous career. The true extent
of Miller's crimes was only revealed after the
supposed Christian was arrested
00:01:57
for the attempted murder
of 13-year-old Randy Gilbert and the rape and
attempted murder of Randy's
00:02:03
14-year-old sister, Lisa. LISA ASHER: My true belief is
if you are a true Christian
00:02:11
like he explains that he
is, he would have never even thought of doing what he did.
00:02:19
To me that is not
a true Christian. And I don't care how long you've
gone to church, what you've
00:02:25
done in church, you do not
commit the crimes like he committed and be a Christian.
00:02:31
RANDY GILBERT: My sister
and I don't even really talk about it to each other. It's just something that I
know what happened to her,
00:02:37
she knows what happened to me. I don't deal with it very well. I carry such a guilt
of this whole thing
00:02:48
that if I had been home
where I was supposed to be, none of this may have happened.
00:02:57
NARRATOR: Miller's story
fascinates former local police officer turned
author Rod Sadler,
00:03:03
who's written a book all about
the quiet but deadly killer. ROD SADLER: Don Miller took
the lives of four women.
00:03:14
Don Miller raped
a 14-year-old girl and then tried to strangle
her and her brother.
00:03:22
Don Miller is a psychopath. NARRATOR: The
story of this saint turned sinner begins in
East Lansing, Michigan.
00:03:33
Don Miller was born
in December 1954. As the oldest of
three siblings, he was raised by his
churchgoing parents
00:03:41
to be an upright, highly
principled young man. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: There isn't
anything in his childhood.
00:03:47
He doesn't appear to experience
any abuse, any neglect, anything like that that we very
commonly see in the backgrounds
00:03:53
of serial killers. He seems to be a God
fearing Christian. He seems to be somebody who
has that moral high ground.
00:04:02
NARRATOR: After
graduating high school, Miller began studying at
Michigan State University
00:04:07
in the autumn of 1973 where he
would eventually end up taking a course in criminal justice.
00:04:15
At a time of
fashion flamboyance, Miller was a square
peg in a round hole. GEOFFREY WANSELL:
There were no t-shirts
00:04:23
and jeans and free love and he
always wore a jacket and tie. He looked incredibly upright.
00:04:29
He looked like a choir boy. ROD SADLER: His hair
was slicked back. He carried a trombone with
him everywhere that he went
00:04:35
because he was in the band. And that made him unusual,
and that made him noticeable,
00:04:40
because he was actually a
very non-noticeable type of a person. ELIZABETH YARDLEY:
He also didn't
00:04:48
really have many close friends. His sister appeared to
be his closest friend. So he was one of
those kids who was
00:04:57
really not part of the crowd. He was excluded in away
from his peer group. NARRATOR: Despite his social
awkwardness, by the winter
00:05:06
of 1976, 21-year-old
Miller was engaged to fellow MSU student and
churchgoer Martha Sue Young.
00:05:16
ROD SADLER: She was a
very outgoing person and Don Miller was
essentially a homebody.
00:05:21
And the only place that Don
Miller ever took Martha Sue Young would be to prayer
groups through the church
00:05:29
that they attended. NARRATOR: But
during the holidays, 19-year-old Martha decided
to end the engagement,
00:05:36
much to Miller's annoyance. GEOFFREY WANSELL:
He feels let down. He feels spurned.
00:05:43
He feels rejected. And he doesn't take
rejection well. But nevertheless, he pleads
with her for another chance.
00:05:53
And on New Year's Eve
1976, he persuades her to let him go with
her to a babysitting
00:06:01
job she's got that night. ROD SADLER: And after
they finished babysitting, Don Miller took Martha Sue
Young back to his house
00:06:10
and they watched a movie and
they had some pizza and pop. And Don said he was going to
take Martha Sue Young home.
00:06:19
And they left at about
10:30 or 11 o'clock, and that was the
last time that Martha
00:06:24
Sue Young was ever seen alive. NARRATOR: Martha's
desperately worried parents call the police.
00:06:35
Detective Richard Westgate
was assigned the case. RICHARD WESTGATE: We received a
call at the East Lansing Police
00:06:42
Department that Martha Sue Young
supposedly never arrived back at her house in East Lansing by
the boyfriend's father, Eugene
00:06:55
Miller after Martha Sue
Young's mother, Sue Young, had called the
Miller house wanting
00:07:03
to know where her daughter
Martha Sue Young is. We became involved in that
case right after that.
00:07:09
From our conversations
with Martha Sue's mother, she felt Don was a very
controlling person, controlling
00:07:18
to the point that
Martha Sue Young wanted to not be engaged anymore. NARRATOR: Richard's
next port of call
00:07:28
was Martha's former
partner and the last person to see her before she vanished. RICHARD WESTGATE:
Don Miller stated
00:07:35
that he had dropped Martha Sue
Young off at her porch step and that she sat down
on the porch step
00:07:42
in very, very freezing, frigid
temperatures and he drove home. GEOFFREY WANSELL: He
shows not a flicker
00:07:53
of guilt, remorse, concern. No, no, I had nothing
to do with it. He perfectly encapsulates
for me that wonderful phrase,
00:08:05
a wolf in sheep's clothing. He looked for all the world
like a choir boy, but he wasn't.
00:08:13
NARRATOR: Martha Sue Young
would never return home. The police didn't know it yet,
but Martha had been strangled
00:08:21
to death by her former
fiancee and fellow church member, Don Miller. ROD SADLER: They
suspected that Don
00:08:27
Miller was responsible
for her disappearance. They had no proof of that. They had some indicators
that he was a suspect.
00:08:36
They had found some blood in
his vehicle on the morning that she was reported
missing, January 1, 1977.
00:08:45
RICHARD WESTGATE: He was
never able to be prosecuted on the disappearance
of Martha Sue Young
00:08:50
because we had no body. We did not find a body. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: They
have this missing woman
00:08:59
and they know that
in many cases they need to look at the
ex-partner or the partner, who
00:09:04
has very often something
to do with that. But there was no evidence. Martha was just missing.
00:09:10
RICHARD WESTGATE: It was
very frustrating to the point that we were not able to
get any straight evidence
00:09:16
or deem evidence worthy
enough to bring prosecution. So it was very frustrating.
00:09:24
NARRATOR: Almost 10 months
later in thick woodland, two hunters made a discovery.
00:09:30
The clothes that
Martha Sue Young was wearing on the night
of her disappearance.
00:09:36
ROD SADLER: Martha Sue Young's
bra was inside of her sweater. Her sweater was
inside of her coat.
00:09:42
Her pants were laid at
the base of her coat. Her panties were
inside of her pants.
00:09:48
Her shoes were at the
base of her pant legs. And it was as if she had laid
down and simply disappeared.
00:09:55
ELIZABETH YARDLEY: Her purse
was also there as well. This is a really grim discovery,
because I think this confirms
00:10:01
for her parents and indeed
for the police that she's most definitely come to harm.
00:10:07
NARRATOR: Still without
a body, the police were unable to arrest
Don Miller even
00:10:12
though he was the
most obvious suspect in Martha's disappearance. ELIZABETH YARDLEY:
Miller killed Martha Sue
00:10:19
Young because she
compromised his feelings of control over her. She called off the engagement.
00:10:26
And for somebody like Miller,
women don't get to do that. For someone like Miller,
the men call the shots.
00:10:33
The women are subservient. They are passive. And this chimes very much with
some of his religious beliefs.
00:10:40
So at this point, he
changes the project. So he stops trying to
control her by keeping her
00:10:46
in a relationship with
him and instead he switches to controlling her by
destroying her for leaving him.
00:10:53
NARRATOR: Don Miller had
got away with murder. Over the next 19 months,
the evangelical killer
00:10:59
would claim the lives
of another three women before he turned
his lethal attention
00:11:04
towards two innocent children. By the summer of 1978,
23-year-old Don Miller had killed four women
in Lansing, Michigan,
00:11:16
but the police were unaware. Miller was about to strike
again, this time on Canal Road
00:11:22
at the home of teenage siblings
Randy and Lisa Gilbert, whose parents were at work.
00:11:28
LISA ASHER: It was
during the summer and I don't remember what he
did, but Randy was grounded.
00:11:33
And every morning, we would have
to call my stepmom when we got up and at 3 o'clock in the
afternoon to check in with her,
00:11:43
make sure everything was OK. And I was ready to call
Donna for the afternoon, and I wanted him right beside
me because I didn't want
00:11:52
to lie and say, yeah, he's
here and then her want to talk to him and he's not here.
00:11:56
He liked to fish in the
pond behind the house, hang out with some friends. So I went outside to call him.
00:12:03
And then when I came back
around the front of the house to go back inside, which
is through the garage,
00:12:09
there was a car parked
in the driveway. NARRATOR: The Gilberts' house
had only recently been built,
00:12:15
and 14-year-old Lisa
assumed the driver was one of the construction
workers who regularly came to make repairs.
00:12:23
LISA ASHER: So I proceeded
to walk into the back door. And this guy was in my house.
00:12:27
So he walked out the house. And he says, is your dad home? I didn't think anything
of it and I said,
00:12:33
no, he's working right now. He won't be home
until 6:00 or 6:30. And he's like,
can I get a number
00:12:38
so that I can talk to him? And I said, yeah, sure. So I went over to a cupboard
to get a paper and pencil,
00:12:47
not knowing that he
walked in behind me. And then he proceeded
to pull out a knife
00:12:54
and hold it to my throat. And he told me not to speak. And he said, don't
scream or don't yell.
00:13:03
NARRATOR: The
petrified 14-year-old had no option but to
comply with the stranger.
00:13:09
Don Miller was on the verge
of claiming a fifth victim. LISA ASHER: I didn't
want to get hurt,
00:13:14
so I just did what
he asked me to do. I'm not saying I
wasn't smart enough to figure out ways to get out.
00:13:21
But at that age, that's the last
thing you're thinking about. Then he proceeded to take
me into my parents' bedroom
00:13:31
and told me to face
down on the floor. So I did. And he went into the closet
and was gathering up things.
00:13:38
So he stuffed knee highs in my
mouth and put a tie around it and then tied my arms behind my
back and then tied my ankles.
00:13:50
And there he
proceeded to rape me. And then he took the belt
that was in my shorts
00:13:59
and proceeded to start
strangling me with it. Well, the belt was
wore and it broke.
00:14:06
After that, he just proceeded
to choke me with his hands. And then I was blacking out.
00:14:13
I didn't see anything. It was like pitch black. So I know I was
ready to black out.
00:14:19
And that's when Randy walked in. August 16, 1978 was a
normal summer day for us.
00:14:34
We were on summer
break from school. I was off playing,
just out doing the things that a
13-year-old boy would do.
00:14:41
That day kind of changed,
though, when out of the blue, something told me to go home.
00:14:49
And I just stopped what I
was doing and went home. NARRATOR: When Randy
entered the family home,
00:14:57
everything was not as it seemed. RANDY GILBERT: It
was really quiet. I didn't know where
my sister was.
00:15:04
I saw a strange man come
out of my father's bedroom. And I just stopped and
kind of looked at him
00:15:10
and he locked eyes with me
and said, hi, how you doing? I said hi back. And he kind of just
walked around me
00:15:22
and he quickly
grabbed me from behind and put a knife to my throat. And he said, I'm not
going to hurt you.
00:15:32
And at that point, I'm
obviously confused and scared. Then he asked me
where my room was.
00:15:41
I said my room's upstairs. And he said something to
the effect of take me to it.
00:15:47
NARRATOR: With a knife to the
throat of the 13-year-old, Miller led Randy up the
stairs and into the teenager's
00:15:55
bedroom. RANDY GILBERT: And put me
down on the floor and he sat on my back with my
left arm behind my back.
00:16:04
He was holding me there. And at that point,
scared as I was, I started to scramble a little
bit, as much as I could.
00:16:11
I really couldn't move. He had me in a good hold. NARRATOR: The older Miller
overpowered the youngster
00:16:17
and began to try and
end Randy's life. RANDY GILBERT: That's
when he started slicing my throat with a knife.
00:16:24
Once I saw a little bit of
blood, I kind of panicked, fought back a little bit more.
00:16:30
Somehow I was able to grab
the knife out of his hand with my free hand and
threw it across the room.
00:16:39
And at that point, I recall him
strangling me with his hands. NARRATOR: Randy blacked out
and was helpless to stop
00:16:48
Miller's brutal attack. RANDY GILBERT: I
was unconscious. So there was no fighting back.
00:16:55
There was nothing I could do. I mean, his intent was
to kill me, obviously. But once I passed out is
the time that he recovered
00:17:06
the knife that I
was able to throw, stabbed me twice in the
chest, punctured a lung,
00:17:12
and scratched my
heart, they say. It was that close to my heart. There's not a whole
lot I really could do.
00:17:22
I couldn't get away. I couldn't run. He left me for dead, so. NARRATOR: Downstairs, Randy's
sister Lisa had miraculously
00:17:38
regained consciousness and
managed to find her way into her parents' bathroom. LISA ASHER: They
had a little space
00:17:46
underneath the bottom shelf
that they put dirty laundry in. I'm like, oh, I could
sneak in here and hide
00:17:51
and he won't find me. So I crawled under there. Don't ask me how
my size of my body
00:17:59
could fit into a small
area, but I made it. And then as I'm in there, I'm
realizing, you can get out.
00:18:07
You can get out
and get some help. What are you doing
sitting, laying here? NARRATOR: Summoning up the
courage to look for help,
00:18:13
Lisa managed to loosen her
shackles and make a run for it. LISA ASHER: My
ankles became untied,
00:18:21
but my hands were still
tied behind my back and the tie had fallen
from around my mouth.
00:18:28
So when I got to
the front door, I unlocked the door with
my hands behind my back
00:18:34
and proceeded to basically
run out in the street with no clothes on. When I ran to the first
car, he just slowed down
00:18:45
and then he just went around me. And I'm like, I'll be
damned if the next one's going to get past me.
00:18:50
So when it got closer,
I jumped in front of it. He stopped and then
I went on to his side
00:18:55
of the truck screaming help,
please help my brother, please help my brother. Somebody is inside trying
to kill my brother.
00:19:01
NARRATOR: The driver pulled over
and headed towards the house to confront the attacker,
who'd left Randy for dead.
00:19:08
Upstairs, the 13-year-old
had somehow survived the vicious attack and was
lying in a pool of blood
00:19:14
on his bedroom floor. RANDY GILBERT: The next
thing I realize is I woke up and I'm covered in blood.
00:19:23
I ran downstairs and I was
going to the front door of the house, which was near
the bottom of the stairs.
00:19:30
And I threw open the front
door to get out of the house. I saw that car that I saw
earlier in the driveway
00:19:39
tearing out of the yard out
into the road and taking off. NARRATOR: Miller had
evaded the kindly driver
00:19:48
who'd stopped to help Lisa,
but not before the man had memorized his license plate.
00:19:54
LISA ASHER: The police came. The ambulance came. And then the last
thing I remember
00:19:59
was getting in the
ambulance upset saying, is my brother going to die? Is my brother going to die?
00:20:06
Is my brother going to die? RANDY GILBERT: This whole
time, I didn't see my sister.
00:20:11
I didn't hear my sister. I had no clue
where she even was. But once I got into the
ambulance, I heard her crying.
00:20:20
Didn't know what happened
to her at this point. But I knew we were
both in a safe place.
00:20:26
LISA ASHER: And he kind of
like lifted up off the gurney and said, sis, I'm OK. We're going to the hospital.
00:20:32
I'm OK. And I said, all right. So then I sat right next to him
until we got to the hospital.
00:20:38
NARRATOR: Lisa and
Randy Gilbert's lives would never be the same again. But ultimately, Don Miller
had failed in his attempt
00:20:46
to kill for a fifth time. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: The attack
on the Gilbert children was so different from
the previous attacks
00:20:53
that he'd made. It tells us how emboldened
he was, how confident he was. He felt completely untouchable.
00:21:00
He's killed multiple people
at this point in time and he hasn't got caught. There have been no consequences.
00:21:06
So he feels that he can
do whatever he likes now. NARRATOR: Miller was on the run
while Lisa and Randy were still
00:21:13
coming to terms with
what had happened at their home on Canal Road. RANDY GILBERT: I didn't find
out until later, after we were
00:21:22
in the hospital, that she
had also been strangled and she was raped. I didn't quite understand that
as a 13-year-old boy what all
00:21:32
that really meant at that time. But I'm thankful that
she's still with us. I feel if-- if I hadn't--
00:21:49
if I hadn't come
home like I did, I don't know what would
have happened to her. LISA ASHER: I believe
that my brother came
00:22:00
in just at the perfect timing. Because if not, I
would have been gone. And if it wasn't
for me getting out,
00:22:07
we both would have been gone. NARRATOR: Don Miller had
left behind two survivors
00:22:12
and his license plate
number had been recorded. The game was seemingly up. But first the police
needed to track him down
00:22:20
before he could kill again. On the 16th of August,
1978, 23-year-old Don Miller had
attempted to murder
00:22:31
two teenagers at their home
in Eaton County, Michigan. Before fleeing the scene,
Miller's license plate number
00:22:40
had been taken and
passed on to the police. The East Lansing
Police Department were familiar with
Don Miller because he
00:22:49
was obviously the
suspect in Martha Sue Young's disappearance. They knew where he worked.
00:22:56
They knew where
his parents lived, and they knew where his
new girlfriend lived.
00:23:01
NARRATOR: Detective
Richard Westgate had worked on the
Martha Sue Young case since her disappearance
on New Year's Day 1977.
00:23:08
He'd always suspected
Miller of foul play but could never prove it. RICHARD WESTGATE: The license
plate number was put out.
00:23:16
As soon as I heard that
it was Don Miller's car, I went along with
other investigators
00:23:23
to Don Miller's new
girlfriend's house, basically just waited, and then
I saw his car pull up.
00:23:32
And I pulled my car
behind him, ordered him out of the car at gunpoint,
and his reaction was,
00:23:42
what's going on? I've just been shopping. Why are you doing this? And other officers
then came to assist.
00:23:50
We put him in handcuffs
and secured him to the East Lansing Police Department. NARRATOR: Miller was
interrogated about the attack
00:23:59
on Lisa and Randy Gilbert. ROD SADLER: Detective Norm Kelly
interviewed him and confronted
00:24:06
him with the fact that witnesses
had gotten his license plate number, had picked him
out of a photo lineup,
00:24:14
had described him to a T. And
yet Miller maintained that he didn't know how that
could possibly be,
00:24:22
because he wasn't involved. NARRATOR: The information
gathered by witnesses was enough for
detectives to arrest
00:24:31
Miller, Much to the relief
of 14-year-old Lisa. LISA ASHER: I don't quite
remember when I was told,
00:24:38
but when I was, I was
happy that he was caught. And I'm like, are you sure
you got the right one?
00:24:43
Are you sure you
got the right guy? Are you sure? NARRATOR: Detectives not
only questioned Miller
00:24:48
about the attack on the
Gilberts and the disappearance of Martha Sue Young. They also quizzed him about
three other crimes that
00:24:56
had taken place in
the Lansing area over the previous two months. 27-year-old Marita
Choquette had vanished
00:25:03
on the 15th of June, 1978. She was taking the trash out
and she bantered back and forth
00:25:12
jokingly with her neighbor. And that was the last
she was ever seen. Marita Choquette's vehicle
was found the next morning
00:25:21
on the Michigan State
University campus, but it wasn't parked
in its usual position.
00:25:27
And when her boss arrived at
work, her boss thought, well, she must be here early.
00:25:34
And as she began
to check around, she realized that
Marita was not there. NARRATOR: Police didn't have any
reason to link Miller to Marita
00:25:42
at the time, but
they knew for sure that she had been murdered. ROD SADLER: It was about two
weeks later when Marita's body
00:25:50
was discovered by a farmer
about 10 miles from the Michigan State University campus.
00:25:56
ELIZABETH YARDLEY: And her
body appeared to be positioned. So it was as if she
had been standing up
00:26:03
and she'd fallen
back, because her feet were tucked underneath her. And also her hands
had been severed
00:26:09
and they were
laying at her side. NARRATOR: Detectives
interrogated Miller about another woman, 21-year-old
Wendy Bush, who disappeared
00:26:18
on the same day that Marita's
body had been discovered, the 27th of June, 1978. ROD SADLER: The
following day, Wendy
00:26:27
was supposed to show up for work
at one of the cafes on campus. And when she didn't show up,
her supervisor became concerned.
00:26:36
And they checked her dorm
and discovered that all of her belongings were there. And so she was reported
as a missing person.
00:26:46
GEOFFREY WANSELL: Wendy
Bush, it was said, was last seen with a
tall white man on campus.
00:26:53
Well, Miller wasn't
a very tall man. So there was really
nothing to connect him with the disappearance
of Wendy Bush either.
00:27:00
It was a mystery. NARRATOR: Miller denied knowing
anything about Wendy Bush, but detectives
are certain he was
00:27:08
responsible for the
disappearance of another woman, 30-year-old Kristine Stuart.
00:27:14
Kristine had disappeared
on the 14th of August, just two days before Miller
had attacked the Gilberts.
00:27:22
ROD SADLER: Kristine Stuart was
a teacher at Lansing's Everett High School. She was adored by her students.
00:27:30
She was a very well known,
very well liked teacher. She was married to a
contractor, and they
00:27:37
lived in the East Lansing area. RICHARD WESTGATE: She and her
husband got along very well.
00:27:43
She would not disappear
for any reason at all. So it was unlike Kris
Stuart to just vanish.
00:27:53
NARRATOR: Investigators had
been searching for Kristine for the past two days. RICHARD WESTGATE: We
secured every police
00:28:00
officer available in the
area of East Lansing. We used the helicopter to try
to see if there was a body
00:28:09
or anything we could see. We had bike patrols. We had all the
cars that were out.
00:28:14
We did everything we
could possibly to see if she was just missing in the
area and we did not locate her.
00:28:23
NARRATOR: Fortunately
for detectives, a witness had seen Kristine's
abduction firsthand
00:28:29
and gave a statement
to the police. She would later
pick out Miller's photo in an identity parade.
00:28:36
ROD SADLER: There was a
woman who was traveling north on Coolidge and a car
turned in front of her
00:28:43
and she saw a man
that was wrestling, basically, with a woman, trying
to force her into a vehicle.
00:28:50
And she saw the man thrust
a knife three times down into the car and she was
able to describe blood
00:28:59
dripping off of the knife as Don
Miller stabbed Kristine Stuart. GEOFFREY WANSELL:
At that point, you
00:29:06
would have thought
had Donald Miller been as clever as he thought
he was, he would have stopped.
00:29:14
He would have simply
said, well, there's nothing to connect me with
any of these disappearances.
00:29:19
There's nothing to connect me
with the one body they've got. I won't do anything.
00:29:24
But he didn't. NARRATOR: Just two
days after Miller had been seen stabbing
Kristine, he'd attacked
00:29:34
Lisa and Randy Gilbert. He was now in
custody but refusing to admit to any of the attacks.
00:29:41
Nonetheless, a grand
jury was impaneled and Miller was charged
with the crimes that detectives
could link him to.
00:29:49
ROD SADLER: That grand
jury indicted Don Miller in two of the disappearances. One for the disappearance
of Martha Sue
00:29:58
Young and the disappearance
of Kristine Stuart. And he was indicted for second
degree murder in those cases.
00:30:06
The prosecuting attorney's
office felt they could prove second degree murder. There's no way without a body
they can prove premeditation.
00:30:14
And so he was indicted for
two of the disappearances and eventually charged
in those murders.
00:30:23
NARRATOR: Miller would
first stand trial for the horrific
attack on the Gilberts.
00:30:27
The two children that he
had left callously for dead would have to look into the eyes
of the killer one last time.
00:30:37
In May 1979, Don
Miller was on trial in Berrien County, Michigan. The 24-year-old was charged
with a rape and attempted murder
00:30:46
of Lisa Gilbert
and the attempted murder of her brother, Randy. Miller was a devout
Christian, but his story
00:30:53
was far from holy. ROD SADLER: During
his trial, Don Miller claimed that he only went
into the Gilbert home
00:31:02
to rid the home of demons. He used a demon defense. Not that he was
possessed, but that there
00:31:11
was some sort of an
occult inside the home and that he went in to
rescue the people in there.
00:31:18
NARRATOR: Lisa and Randy both
testified in the courtroom and had to face their
attacker for the first time
00:31:24
since their ordeal. RANDY GILBERT: I
remember looking at him and they had him, he
was wearing a suit.
00:31:31
I remember thinking as
an angry teenage boy is, why does he get to wear a suit? Why is he not in jail clothes?
00:31:39
I had to see him, though. I had to testify
that he was the one. And I clearly knew he was.
00:31:48
And it was really difficult
for my sister as well. LISA ASHER: I was scared. I was nervous knowing that I
was in the same room as him
00:31:56
and that I was facing him. A lot of things were kept hush
hush, because we were young.
00:32:04
They didn't want to hurt
us any more than what we were already going through. NARRATOR: On the
9th of May, 1979,
00:32:12
Don Miller was found
guilty on all three rape and attempted murder charges. He was sentenced to 30
to 50 years in prison.
00:32:21
He was due in court again soon
after to answer second degree murder charges for his
part in the disappearance
00:32:28
of his former
fiancee, Martha Sue Young, and 30-year-old
teacher Kristine Stuart.
00:32:34
But while he was behind
bars, he suddenly appeared willing to talk
about the other crimes
00:32:39
he'd committed. ROD SADLER: The
prison warden noticed that he was very
withdrawn and felt
00:32:48
that possibly some regressive
psychotherapy could be used or some hypnosis. And in those regressive
psychotherapy interviews,
00:32:59
Don Miller admitted to the
murder of Martha Sue Young and the murder of
Kristine Stuart
00:33:08
and the murder of Wendy Bush and
the murder of Maria Choquette. NARRATOR: During a
search of Miller's home,
00:33:15
investigators had already
uncovered some damning evidence in the Marietta Choquette case.
00:33:22
RICHARD WESTGATE: In
a drawer in his room, I found the handcuffs
that obviously he had used
00:33:31
to handcuff Marita Choquette. And he must not have had
a key, because that's why he severed the hands off.
00:33:39
So we found the handcuffs
in the drawer in his room. There were blood samples inside
the handcuffs which were traced
00:33:48
back to Marita Choquette. ELIZABETH YARDLEY:
It certainly isn't enough for Miller at this
point to just kill his victim.
00:33:56
His victim is his possession. He owns her and he's going
to do what he wants to her.
00:34:02
And by severing her hands,
by leaving her in this state, he's essentially
dehumanizing her.
00:34:08
He's completely possessing
and controlling her. NARRATOR: But Don Miller would
never face a trial for murder.
00:34:15
In a bid to find closure for
the families of his victims and as he was already
facing 50 years in prison,
00:34:22
he was offered a
deal by prosecutors. ROD SADLER: Don Miller
accepted a plea deal
00:34:27
with the prosecuting
attorney's office. And in that plea
deal, he was allowed to plead to two
counts of manslaughter
00:34:37
and the original two counts
of second degree murder would be dropped. But in exchange for
that plea, within a week
00:34:47
he would have to
lead authorities to the bodies of the
remaining missing three victims, Martha
Sue Young, Wendy
00:34:56
Bush, and Kristine Stuart. NARRATOR: In July 1979,
Miller led detectives to the remains of each of
the women he'd killed, one
00:35:07
after the other, beginning
with his former fiancee and first victim,
Martha Sue Young.
00:35:13
ROD SADLER: Martha
Sue Young's body was found at a park in Bath
Township northeast of Lansing,
00:35:20
a park called Prigooris Park. It had been 18 months or more
since she had come up missing
00:35:30
and it was basically a skeleton
when she was discovered. NARRATOR: Wendy Bush's body
was the next to be found.
00:35:41
Miller told detectives
he'd once gone canoeing with the 21-year-old. He choked her to
death in a parking lot
00:35:48
at Michigan State University. RICHARD WESTGATE:
And then we went and found Kris Stuart's remains
in a ditch in a farm field.
00:35:58
And he pointed them out. He didn't even get
out of the car. He just said to her remains
are right over there.
00:36:05
And I was walking with one of
the prosecutors at the time and actually discovered
the remains at our feet
00:36:14
in a little water dish. So she had been there for quite
a few days until we found her.
00:36:24
NARRATOR: Miller said he'd run
down Kristine Stuart in his car before strangling her to
death because he was convinced
00:36:31
she was Martha Sue Young. Kristine was Miller's
fourth and final victim. Because of the plea
deal, Don Miller,
00:36:39
who was already serving 30
to 50 years for the attack on the Gilberts,
was sentenced to 10
00:36:45
additional years
for the manslaughter of Martha and Kristine. GEOFFREY WANSELL: He's
killed four young women,
00:36:54
dumped their bodies,
done dreadful things, and yet he gets 10 years. Oh, I suppose everyone
was thinking, well,
00:37:02
he's already serving
30 to 50 years. Well, it's not
another 10 at the end. It's 10 concurrently.
00:37:08
So he's still only going
to serve exactly the same as he did for the
rape and attempted
00:37:13
murder of Lisa and Randy. NARRATOR: Don Miller could
have been released by now, but in 1994, he was given
another 20 to 40 years
00:37:22
on his sentence because
a homemade weapon was found in his cell. I think it's
important for the public
00:37:29
to understand that
Don Miller is not in prison right now
for murder or for rape or for attempted murder.
00:37:37
Don Miller is only
still in prison for possessing a
strangulation device or garrote in his prison dorm.
00:37:45
ELIZABETH YARDLEY:
This is clearly something that is significant
in terms of the murders
00:37:49
that he committed. Because had he addressed all of
those underlying factors which
00:37:53
led to his offending, he
would have no need to have that kind of thing in his cell.
00:37:58
So the fact that it was
there suggests to me he's reliving these attacks. He's revisiting them.
00:38:04
He's enjoying that. LISA ASHER: So
obviously that's telling you right then and there
that he's not rehabilitated.
00:38:12
He's thinking about
doing it again. And he's still thinking
about doing it again
00:38:17
if they allow him to get out. NARRATOR: Miller's been up
for parole several times
00:38:21
since his incarceration. Leading the fight to
keep him behind bars is Eaton County
Prosecutor Doug Lloyd.
00:38:29
DOUG LLOYD: The
minute we received notice that that individual is
up for parole, it's a process.
00:38:35
My office begins the
process of preparing letters to send to the parole board. We begin gathering individuals
who will send letters
00:38:44
and who will contact
the parole board to let them know that
this individual should not
00:38:48
be released. RICHARD WESTGATE: I've
already written a letter to the Michigan Parole Board.
00:38:55
This is something that never
leaves you as an investigator. This person killed four
people, attempted to kill two
00:39:05
more people, a 14-year-old
and a 13-year-old. I know him better than anybody,
and I'm afraid if Don Miller is
00:39:15
released, he will kill again. NARRATOR: Despite his
crimes, reports from prison suggest that Miller is ready to
be reintegrated into society.
00:39:27
DOUG LLOYD: Don
Miller is a sociopath. In reality, he plays
the part that he knows
00:39:35
he must play within prison. And because of that, he
places himself in the ability
00:39:42
to be viewed for
parole every year, which is why it's so
important to the victims
00:39:49
that the parole board have
that ability to say you won't be reviewed for five years.
00:39:55
Because he's a serial killer. That's what he was when
he was out on the streets.
00:40:00
That's what he is in prison. RANDY GILBERT: To me the
word serial killer and parole
00:40:06
should not even be in the same
paragraph or the same sentence, for that matter. So we sit here today
probably just as scared
00:40:14
as I was back then that this
monster could be walking the streets right now soon.
00:40:25
NARRATOR: In June 2021, Miller's
latest bid for freedom failed. Michigan State law dictates
that the 66-year-old can apply
00:40:34
for parole every 12 months,
making it a constant battle for Doug and the Gilberts.
00:40:41
DOUG LLOYD: Well, you know what
amazes me is the fact that they both get up every day and
they go about their lives
00:40:48
and they both become productive
members in our community. Because they'd have every
right to not want to be.
00:40:56
Because they've been
imprisoned by a serial killer since that day in 1978. RANDY GILBERT: We have
to do this every year
00:41:06
for the next nine years. In the year 2031, he's
able to walk out of jail and his sentence is over.
00:41:19
And that's really tough
to deal with right now. NARRATOR: Miller
committed his crimes
00:41:26
in his early 20's and has
spent the majority of his life behind bars. But Lisa and Randy
have also suffered
00:41:34
a lifetime of pain caused
by their horrendous ordeal in August 1978. RANDY GILBERT: I have
physical scars on my body
00:41:43
that I see every day
that are reminders. I have nightmares constantly. I don't sleep well.
00:41:52
Without getting too emotional,
it's very difficult for me to this day to really
think hard, talk
00:42:00
about what happened to her. If I wasn't off goofing off,
it may not have happened.
00:42:09
It probably wouldn't
have happened. Or if I was home,
Don Miller would have seen both of us
and not just my sister
00:42:20
and he would have kept on going. So I feel that it's
kind of my fault. So I have to protect her.
00:42:34
LISA ASHER: I
don't think I could ever speak to him face to face. But if I could write to him,
I'd write to him and tell him,
00:42:42
may you rot in hell. RICHARD WESTGATE:
He has no remorse. He is not forgiving. You can just see
how he escalated
00:42:53
and how he was going to kill a
14-year-old and a 13-year-old how he had already killed
his girlfriend at the time
00:43:02
and three other ladies. He is a danger. He is a threat. And he does not
need to be released.
00:43:12
NARRATOR: We may never
know why Don Miller chose to end the life of four women. He's never given an
explanation for it.
00:43:19
What we do know is he left
behind four grieving families and ruined the lives
of two children
00:43:26
who are still affected by his
murderous attack to this day. The fact that a supposed
staunch Christian can stoop
00:43:34
to such depravity makes Don
Miller one of the world's most evil killers. [music playing]