00:00:04
[EERIE MUSIC] My first impression of him was a nice clean cut guy. KEN OUELLETTE (VOICEOVER): We crossed paths twice.
00:00:27
We were both in music at the high school. I played the trumpet and he played the trombone.
00:00:31
And he says, I was wondering, is your dad home? And I'm like, no. DENISE KEENA BARNES (VOICEOVER): I saw his mannerism,
00:00:38
his look, his intensity. Then it became aware that this guy is dangerous. At that point, he reached around me and put a knife right
00:00:47
to my neck and said be quiet. When he looked me in the eye and said I'm not gonna hurt you, I believed him.
00:00:57
When I found out that he was a serial killer was when I was in the hospital. [THEME MUSIC]
00:01:43
Back in 1978, four women came up missing in the Lansing area, near the Michigan State University campus.
00:01:51
There was a genuine concern and a palpable fear in the mid-Michigan area. KEN OUELLETTE (VOICEOVER): These women
00:01:59
just absolutely disappeared. You know, how many more are going to disappear? And is this a serial killer?
00:02:07
The women, they were scared. They didn't wanna go out. They almost thought, you know, who's gonna be next?
00:02:12
I don't wanna be the next one. I was getting ready to call my stepmom, because, every day,
00:02:34
we called her when we got up. And then, we called her at 3:00 in the afternoon to check in,
00:02:40
basically, to make sure that everything was OK. My brother, Randy, went out back fishing in the pond.
00:02:46
RANDY GILBERT (VOICEOVER): I should've been home with Lisa, but I was just out doing my thing, just playing.
00:02:54
And something-- something just told me, go home. It's time to go home. LISA ASHER: I went outside the garage door
00:03:03
and went around-- out the garage and around the house to call Randy. And then there was a car in the driveway.
00:03:12
And there, when I walked through the garage, a gentleman was coming out of our back door,
00:03:17
out of the kitchen area. And I said, can I help you? He says, yeah. He says, I was wondering, is your dad home?
00:03:25
And I'm like, no. He's at work. And he's like, can I get a phone number to get a hold of him?
00:03:29
And I'm thinking, OK, this has to do with something in repairing for the home. He didn't look like he was a mean person.
00:03:37
So I said, yes, just a minute. And I went back into the house and went to the kitchen, the drawer that we had paper and pencils.
00:03:45
When-- I did not know he was behind me, came in behind me. And then, at that point, he reached
00:03:52
around me and put a knife right to my neck and said be quiet. And-- and you won't get hurt.
00:04:02
And then, he proceeded to walk me into my parents' bedroom, which was on the same floor, and proceeded to take
00:04:10
all my clothes off and rape me. He also did fondling, a few other things, and then proceeded to take the belt from my shorts
00:04:23
and choke me. And that belt broke. And then, after that, he was using his hands and trying to choke me.
00:04:33
I got to the point where I was blacked out and starting to see stars. And then, my brother walked in.
00:04:41
When he did, he went and left me and went to my brother. So I just walked into the house, like normal.
00:04:49
And it was eerie quiet in there. I di-- I didn't hear anybody. I didn't know where anybody was.
00:04:55
And I see a guy walking out of my father's bedroom. And I think he said something like how are you?
00:05:02
Or whatever as he's walking towards me. And I'm just-- I'm-- I'm just standing there.
00:05:07
And then, when he got close enough to me, he-- he grabbed me and-- from behind, and he put a knife to my throat.
00:05:18
He said, just be quiet. I'm not gonna hurt you. Where's your bedroom? And then, you know, scared, not knowing what to do,
00:05:27
I com-- you know, I said my bedroom's upstairs. He was very calm and quiet and--
00:05:36
and that's-- that's probably what threw me off most. You know, he wasn't-- he didn't rush me.
00:05:42
He didn't-- you know, he spoke very softly. He wasn't a scary-looking guy. You know, he wasn't that big.
00:05:53
But to me, you know, being a 13-year-old boy, he was bigger. But he wasn't intimidating at all.
00:06:04
We walked up the stairs, still with a knife to my throat, still holding me. Boom.
00:06:09
There we-- you know, we stepped into my bedroom and he put me down on the floor, face first.
00:06:17
And he sat on my back. And I had one arm behind my back. And at that point, he started cutting my neck.
00:06:27
He started slicing my throat. Here's where the struggle starts. You know, here's where--
00:06:34
I gotta do something here, you know? I gotta fight back. I heard my brother scream.
00:06:40
So at that time, I did not know where he was, what he was doing. RANDY GILBERT: I thought I would play dead, get him to run away,
00:06:48
because I thought he was gonna kill me. NARRATOR: Meanwhile, Lisa was planning how
00:06:52
she could escape and get help. I had a tie-- necktie around my neck, because he had put knee highs in my mouth to muzzle me and then
00:07:02
tied a necktie around my mouth. So I was still-- and I went to the front door and I unlocked the front door,
00:07:09
with my hands behind my back. And then, proceeded to just run out in the street,
00:07:15
with no clothes on, blood coming from my nose, my arms and my hands still tied. So I jumped in front of a car.
00:07:22
I told him that somebody was inside trying to kill my brother. I was able to get the knife away at that time,
00:07:28
but the stab wounds, I took two to the chest. One had punctured a lung and the doctors say that the other stab
00:07:38
wound actually was close enough to my heart that it barely scratched it. What I think if my brother didn't come home
00:07:48
is I wouldn't be here right now. NARRATOR: Having stabbed her brother Randy in the neck
00:07:53
and chest and strangled him unconscious, the attacker leaves him for dead and flees the scene.
00:07:59
When he walked outside, he was cool, calm, and collected. He casually walked out of Randy and Lisa's house,
00:08:08
spoke to the first individual who showed up, who had just seen Lisa running down
00:08:15
the street, naked and gagged, and he acted like nothing had happened and then drove away.
00:08:23
RANDY GILBERT (VOICEOVER): I became unconscious. Next thing I remember, there was an awful lot
00:08:28
of blood coming out. I panicked. I remember we used to have a telephone. Upstairs was my bedroom and Lisa's bedroom
00:08:38
and a full bath between us. And in that bathroom, we had a telephone. I remember going for that.
00:08:46
And I picked up. Nothing was there. I remember trying to dial, I think back then, just 00--
00:08:51
anything. I probably was hitting a million buttons. I don't know, but I was getting nothing.
00:08:56
So I thought, I gotta get out of here. This is where-- where it happened. That's the front door that I collapsed in.
00:09:04
And that-- at that moment, is when I also saw, out of the corner of my eye, leaving in his car.
00:09:12
And he drove around. That big rock wasn't there at the time. But the driveway was still designed that way.
00:09:18
And he drove across the lawn and came out through the ditch and headed that way.
00:09:26
Next thing I remember, I hear sirens and police cars and ambulance coming. DAVE BANKHEAD (VOICEOVER): I was working a one-man patrol
00:09:35
car in Delta Township. I was about two miles from the location that they gave me.
00:09:41
So I immediately turned my car around and started heading towards the response on Canal Road.
00:09:49
It was absolute chaos when I arrived. There was a man walking in a circular motion
00:09:54
in the driveway, the chief. He said, I want you to look at this young lady. And I did.
00:09:59
I could see that she had been assaulted. Her face was a-- a beet red color, much more so than it should be,
00:10:08
as if someone had probably tried to strangle her. And her eyes were bloodshot to the extreme.
00:10:15
And her hands were still bound with what appeared to be, perhaps, nylon stockings.
00:10:20
LISA ASHER: You know, I was just upset, very upset and just, like, freaking out.
00:10:23
And he's like-- my-- my brother's dying. My brother's dying. You know? At that time, I could see Randy half in and half out
00:10:30
of the front doorway of the residence, bleeding profusely. And I bolted to the door where Randy was laying.
00:10:37
I was fearful that he might not live very long. His upper body was covered with blood.
00:10:44
I remember lifting my head and opening my eyes. And I'm-- I'm covered in blood. And I jumped up and then-- and I looked down
00:10:54
and I could see blood just gushing from my chest. And before I knew it, before I left in the ambulance,
00:11:02
this street was police cars from our house almost all the way down to the pond, that I can remember.
00:11:10
LISA ASHER: And then, finally, they put them in the ambulance. And he's like, sister I'm OK.
00:11:14
I'm OK. I'm OK. And then, I just kind of, like, you know, relief. And we both went to the hospital.
00:11:23
DAVE BANKHEAD: We secured the scene. At that point in time, I passed the gentleman.
00:11:27
He was walking in a circle, repeating this license plate number. So I quickly copied that down from him.
00:11:34
I went back to my patrol car and ran the license plate number on the vehicle. The registration came back to a Donald G. Miller.
00:11:43
At that time, the dispatcher came on and he said, do you realize who you're dealing with there?
00:11:47
I said, no. NARRATOR: They were dealing with Don Miller, a young man already suspected of murder.
00:11:56
When I heard what happened to Lisa and Randy, I drew, in my mind, the conclusion
00:12:01
that Don Miller was a predator. NARRATOR: Don Miller is not sociable. He is inconspicuous at high school,
00:12:19
preferring to spend his time at Lansing Methodist Church, where his family are dedicated worshippers.
00:12:25
And it's here, where a pretty college student devoutly prays and where Miller would tell his friends
00:12:31
he'd met his soulmate, Martha Sue Young. BRIAN FREDERICK: Miller meets this girl.
00:12:36
She attends the same church. So they share the same beliefs. Miller's beliefs, it seems, were a bit more devout
00:12:45
than this girl that he was attracted to, that he saw as his perfect mate. Don, basically, fell in love.
00:12:53
They spent a lot of time together. Most of the time, when they went out, it was to prayer meetings.
00:13:01
They didn't go to movies. They didn't do-- go dancing or anything like that. NARRATOR: An entry in a friend's yearbook
00:13:08
reveals the disturbing train of Miller's thoughts when it came to women. Miller proposed to Martha.
00:13:19
Two weeks after accepting his proposal, Martha cancels the engagement. BRIAN FREDERICK: Martha Sue Young is a friend
00:13:26
of Miller's younger sister. He proposes to her and she accepts. Now, what we know about stressful events in life,
00:13:34
right, marriage is a stressful event. So she accepts his proposal, but then turns around and rejects him.
00:13:41
Outwardly, Miller is accepting of-- of her-- her not wanting to get married. In fact, he tells her to keep the ring as a gift.
00:13:49
He told her that she could keep the engagement ring, because they were still friends.
00:13:54
On New Year's Eve of 1976, Martha had a babysitting job that she had to do. And Don asked if he could go along with her.
00:14:05
And they did. They went and babysat. They went back to Don's house. Don lived with his parents in East Lansing.
00:14:13
And when they got back to the house, they watched a movie. They had some pizza and pop.
00:14:20
And then, at about 11:30, Don left with Martha to take her home. And Martha never made it home.
00:14:29
NARRATOR: It was the first day of 1977. And Martha Sue Young's mother, Sue, was about to discover her daughter was missing
00:14:37
and to suspect Don Miller. Sue Young woke up on New Year's Day, 1977, and went to Martha's bedroom and saw that her bed had not
00:14:48
been slept in and she panicked. She contacted the Miller family immediately. My first involvement was on January 1,
00:15:00
1977, New Year's Day. Somewhere shortly after 7:00, I was assigned to the road patrol.
00:15:07
And I had my gear and I was just getting ready to walk out to the patrol car and the front desk phone rang.
00:15:13
And on the other end, there was an individual that said "Ken-- Ken, this is Gene, Gene Miller."
00:15:20
I said, hi, Gene, because I had known him from before. And I said, well, what's-- what's going on?
00:15:26
And he goes Martha's gone. And I had no idea who Martha was at that time. And I said, well, who's Martha?
00:15:33
And he goes Well-- well, Donny's girlfriend. She had just, apparently, disappeared.
00:15:39
We realized that something just wasn't right. It was kind of a gut feeling. They lived about-- about a mile apart.
00:15:47
And they were very religious, both families. And it just didn't seem quite right
00:15:52
that there was no legitimate reason for Martha not showing up. NARRATOR: Detectives brought Miller in for questioning,
00:16:01
where he underwent a polygraph test, even failed it, but they did not immediately suspect him.
00:16:07
KEN OUELLETTE (VOICEOVER): He was very calm, very willing to help. He was not evasive in any way.
00:16:13
He never said the word no, as far as cooperation. In fact, he was quite the opposite.
00:16:19
I'll never forget it. It's like, you know, Don, do you wanna get something to eat?
00:16:23
Do you wanna get something to drink? And he'd say, oh, no. No. He said, I-- I just wanna help you find Martha.
00:16:29
And of course, later, I found that, when I interrogated him and interviewed him, he had murdered his girlfriend,
00:16:36
you know, some six or seven hours before that. I-- it was-- it was hard to believe
00:16:42
that somebody could do that. NARRATOR: During the first investigation into Don Miller,
00:16:47
investigators, including rookie, Ken Ouellette, get permission to search Miller's
00:16:51
car, a distinctive chocolate brown Cutlass. And something immediately grabs their attention.
00:16:57
KEN OUELLETTE (VOICEOVER): And there was what appeared to be a mild bloodstain in the middle
00:17:02
of the front seat. So that was certainly concerning. And then, on the right side, the passenger side door panel,
00:17:10
on the inside, I could see, it looked like maybe a foot had scraped itself across the door.
00:17:18
ROD SADLER (VOICEOVER): He first said that he might've had a bloody nose. And he had taken a polygraph test.
00:17:24
But he eventually changed his story and said that the blood could have been caused by Martha
00:17:31
Sue menstruating when they were out, because they had engaged in some foreplay. And if she was menstruating, that could've
00:17:40
caused the blood to be there. KEN OUELLETTE (VOICEOVER): No longer did one and one equal
00:17:44
two. 1 and 1 now equaled three or four. And there were things that just didn't add up
00:17:49
as we were building the case. NARRATOR: Ouellette suspects foul play. But his team of detectives are missing
00:17:56
one crucial piece of evidence. KEN OUELLETTE (VOICEOVER): We didn't know where the body was.
00:18:00
We contacted Lansing Police Department, who had a helicopter unit. And we asked for their assistance.
00:18:07
And I went up in a helicopter. And we searched an area. And there was absolutely no doubt in my mind
00:18:14
that the areas that we searched, she was not at. There was no doubt, because of the recent snow.
00:18:21
I mean, we could see animal tracks. We could see car tracks. And there was absolutely no doubt
00:18:27
that, had she been in that area, we would've located her. Looking back, if we would've just expanded
00:18:36
the search another couple of miles, literally, no doubt in my mind, we would have found her clothes
00:18:44
and we would've found her body. You know, he would definitely have been on the radar
00:18:49
and could have possibly prevented or would have prevented three additional homicides
00:18:55
and the egregious assault and attempted murder out in Delta Township. NARRATOR: But the extra miles were not scoured.
00:19:04
So Donald Miller remained a free man. Don Miller certainly believed that he got away with murder.
00:19:11
And that became evident, as time went on, when he began taking more chances. There's no doubt in my mind.
00:19:19
NARRATOR: The trail goes cold. Martha's family offers a huge reward for information,
00:19:24
but the lines remain quiet. Three months later, Martha's mother receives a bouquet of flowers.
00:19:31
The bouquet reads "Martha was a rose, Don Miller." Well in retrospect, he was an absolute cold-blooded,
00:19:40
ruthless murderer. And he had no conscience. NARRATOR: On October 22nd of the same year,
00:19:48
two pheasant hunters come across a set of women's clothes. They are neatly laid out with the undergarments inside
00:19:54
of the outer clothes. Nearby, they find a purse and, inside, Martha's MSU identification card.
00:20:01
But there's no body and nothing linking Miller. So he was free to kill again. They couldn't connect the dots that were
00:20:10
necessary to get a warrant. NARRATOR: But in the months that immediately followed Martha's
00:20:14
disappearance, Martha Sue was officially missing and Don Miller was free. But his license plate number was recognized
00:20:22
by pedestrians outside of the home of Lisa and Randy. But can he be connected to the disappearance of four women?
00:20:39
As cops chase down Don Miller after his attack on Lisa and Randy, they are also investigating the disappearance
00:20:45
of three other women. It was 17 months after Martha Sue Young went missing, with Don Miller a suspect, when another young woman went
00:20:54
missing. ROD SADLER (VOICEOVER): Marita Choquette was an employee at Michigan State University.
00:21:01
She was working at WKAR, the public broadcasting radio station on campus. She actually lived in a small town called Grand Ledge.
00:21:12
And her father called the Grand Ledge Police Department and asked them to check her apartment,
00:21:18
see if-- if she was there. And they began the initial missing person investigation.
00:21:26
NARRATOR: Don Miller lived a 10-minute drive from the University radio station. And Marita knew Don Miller.
00:21:32
She is a divorcee with a tangled love life. ROD SADLER (VOICEOVER): She had been married at one point
00:21:37
and divorced. Her and her husband had different ideas about what they wanted to do in life.
00:21:45
And so Marita was-- was looking for a relationship with a man. NARRATOR: The couple meets at church, Don Miller's
00:21:52
favorite pickup location. BRIAN FREDERICK (VOICEOVER): Marita is the daughter of a reverend.
00:21:57
How much more devout can you get, than to have the daughter of a reverend as your wife?
00:22:06
This appeals to Miller. NARRATOR: After Marita's disappearance, a search turns up nothing.
00:22:13
But two weeks later, a discovery at a patch of woods on a farm, the body of Marita Choquette
00:22:18
is found, buried under concrete slabs that were used to build a farm silo. ROD SADLER: She was partially nude.
00:22:25
She had been stabbed 19 times. At the time, the police thought that it could be some sort of a ritualistic murder, the fact
00:22:35
that her hands had been severed and they were, literally, in sort of a praying position, if you will,
00:22:43
like this. BRIAN FREDERICK: This is the daughter of a reverend, not seeing his devoutness.
00:22:50
Not only does he murder her, he removes her hands and puts them in a praying position.
00:22:55
This is indicative of Methodist Church's belief in sanctification. He could've been trying to sanctify her, drive
00:23:04
the evil spirit out of her body and put her in a penitent position, so that she would be forgiven
00:23:10
for doing what she did to him. NARRATOR: Was this perverse interpretation of religion driving Don Miller?
00:23:18
Marita's father was the church pastor. He arrived on the scene. He sees the hands and a body that seem to have been kneeling
00:23:25
and what looks like an altar. The cleric tells police this could be the work of a serial killer.
00:23:32
ROD SADLER (VOICEOVER): He described the person as being a very religious person,
00:23:36
with an intense rage for women. And he was surprisingly close to describing Don Miller.
00:23:46
NARRATOR: The same day Marita's body is found, back at MSU, University employee Wendy Bush has just finished her shift
00:23:53
at the college cafeteria. She is met by a handsome stranger. His name Don Miller.
00:24:00
He offers her a ride home and she is never seen again. ROD SADLER (VOICEOVER): Wendy Bush was sort
00:24:05
of a free spirit on campus. She could talk to anybody. She didn't show up for work one day.
00:24:11
And so her supervisor called the Michigan State University Police. And they took a Missing Person Report
00:24:19
and they began to check into her disappearance. They thought she might've just left campus,
00:24:25
because of Wendy's personality. The interesting thing about Wendy Bush's disappearance
00:24:30
is that she was epileptic. And she didn't take her medication or any of her belongings from her dorm.
00:24:36
So while they were convinced that she was a missing person, they weren't sure that it was related
00:24:43
to any type of foul play. NARRATOR: Two months later, another woman disappears, Kristine Stuart.
00:24:50
Police Officer Denise Keena Barnes was new to the job in 1977. DENISE KEENA BARNES (VOICEOVER): I
00:24:55
was a brand new police officer in Eaton County in September of 1977. I had just been hired.
00:25:04
And then, in summer of '78, I was working patrol in Delta Township. And I heard about the Kristine Stuart missing person.
00:25:15
And that's all we knew at the time was the missing person. Kristine Stuart was a teacher at Lansing's Everett High
00:25:23
School. She was loved by all of her students. She lived in the East Lansing area with her husband.
00:25:30
And about two months after Wendy Bush disappeared, she had to take her sports car to Lansing
00:25:39
to get some repairs done on it. And she had told her husband she was gonna drop her car off
00:25:44
in Downtown Lansing. She would take a bus back to a shopping center near Lansing called Frandor.
00:25:50
And then, she would walk the mile or so up to their home. Her husband left that morning.
00:25:57
She was still in bed. And when he came home that night, she wasn't there. And he called the East Lansing Police Department
00:26:07
to report her missing. And that's when the official report and the official investigation into her disappearance began.
00:26:14
NARRATOR: Discoveries were soon made at the last known place she has been seen. ROD SADLER (VOICEOVER): They found her glasses in the grass.
00:26:21
There was a skid in the roadway. They weren't sure if that was related or not. They certainly suspected foul play right off the bat.
00:26:31
DOUG LLOYD (VOICEOVER): It changed the landscape of the Lansing area. Kids were no longer allowed to just go ride their bikes
00:26:38
or walk around the neighborhoods. The parents were on high alert. People were on high alert.
00:26:44
They had no idea how or why these women were coming up missing. NARRATOR: At the time, the missing women's cases
00:26:51
were not linked to any potential serial killer. The job given to the young Officer Barnes
00:26:57
was not to help find a serial killer. The possibility that such a person was on the loose
00:27:02
was not on the investigative agenda as the search was on for Kristine. Kristine Stuart, from what I understand though,
00:27:09
was a coincidence. NARRATOR: Inquiries did turn up a witness. So this is the intersection of Wolf Court and Coolidge.
00:27:19
And Kristine Stuart was walking along Coolidge when she turned onto Fair Oaks. But there was a witness.
00:27:25
And she turned onto Coolidge. And a car turned in front of her. So she had to lock up her brakes.
00:27:32
And she looked over and she saw a man and a woman arguing. And then, she saw the man thrust a knife
00:27:40
three times into the woman as they wrestled inside the car. And as it turns out, it was Don Miller
00:27:47
murdering Kristine Stuart. NARRATOR: But investigators did not discover that for some time to come.
00:27:55
Having killed Kristine Stuart, Miller lets two days go by and then attacks again, this time
00:28:01
at the home of Lisa and Randy. The attack on Lisa was days after he disposed of Kristine Stuart's body in Delta Township.
00:28:11
And I believe that him passing by and seeing Lisa Gilbert out in front, or coming around the corner,
00:28:19
he took the opportunity. The opportunity was there. If Randy had not come home that day,
00:28:24
Lisa became victim number five. NARRATOR: Donald Miller had now claimed the lives of four women.
00:28:32
Two weeks after claiming the life of Kristine Stuart, he attacks again. This time, Lisa is in his sights.
00:28:39
Randy was a victim too of an attack that has left him scarred in many ways. I tried my best to put it into words.
00:28:46
But you know, this-- it's more horrific than-- than I can ever explain. Randy and I are--
00:28:59
we have a bond, a special bond. Like I said, there-- doesn't a day go by. You know, I've got physical scars.
00:29:07
You know? I see them every single day. I get, you know, memories that come back every single day.
00:29:15
There's-- you know, you can't shut it off. He takes it hard. He used to keep it bottled up inside him.
00:29:25
You just-- I just-- I'm learning to deal with it. He's finally coming out and being comfortable
00:29:31
with discussing things. And I'm proud of him. I'm proud of who he's become since this.
00:29:50
NARRATOR: Don Miller had fled the scene of his latest brutal attacks. A witness has memorized his license plate.
00:29:56
So detectives swiftly move on Don Miller. And as soon as that information was sent via radio
00:30:04
to all of the police agencies in the mid-Michigan area, the East Lansing Police already knew where Miller lived.
00:30:11
And Don Miller was arrested two hours after he raped Lisa Gilbert. It really didn't surprise anybody.
00:30:17
And it was like, we finally got them. NARRATOR: After 18 months of terror, Donald Miller is in custody.
00:30:29
Detectives don't know it yet, but they have arrested a serial killer. Miller is charged with the rape and attempted
00:30:36
murder of Lisa Gilbert and the attempted murder of her brother Randy. But can he be connected to the disappearance of four women?
00:30:50
Four detectives, a challenge. Arrested for the attacks on Lisa and Randy, suspected in relation to the still missing Martha Sue Young,
00:31:00
was Don Miller responsible for three other women going missing? Marita Choquette, Wendy Bush, and Kristine Stuart.
00:31:08
Detectives began to delve into the past to understand what drove Donald Miller. Miller was raised in a family that's described as devout.
00:31:18
They attended Central Methodist Church. He cut himself off from society. He preferred to be at home with his family.
00:31:26
He saw himself as being devout in his faith, in his religion. NARRATOR: Donald Eugene Miller was born December 28th,
00:31:34
1954, the eldest of three children to Christian religious parents. In an interview in 1994, digitally
00:31:42
restored and never heard before, Don Miller told detectives about his parents. KEN OUELLETTE (VOICEOVER): Don and I were-- we crossed paths
00:32:10
twice, two different times. We were both in music at the high school. I played the trumpet and he played the trombone.
00:32:18
I was a senior and he was a freshman. I would describe him as very introverted, nondescript, very mundane.
00:32:30
And I think a way to sum it up would be, probably, socially awkward. NARRATOR: Miller appeared most comfortable at his church.
00:32:38
He became a youth minister. He also began showing signs of a warped sexuality. Don Miller was sexually repressed, I would say.
00:32:48
NARRATOR: And that's not all. ROD SADLER (VOICEOVER): Don Miller had an incestuous relationship with one of his sisters.
00:32:54
And that went on, until the point when she brought it to her mother's attention and her mother put a stop to it.
00:33:04
So that would've been in Don Miller's early teen years. RANDY GILBERT (VOICEOVER): You know, he looked like the boy
00:33:11
next door, as they say. You know? He didn't look like a criminal. He didn't look like a serial killer.
00:33:19
One minute, he's super nice. Next thing you know, whack. You know what I mean? He's off-- off the walls, killing somebody,
00:33:26
you know, strangling somebody, raping somebody. NARRATOR: Immediately after his arrest,
00:33:31
Miller is charged with the rape and attempted murder of Lisa Gilbert and the attempted
00:33:36
murder of her brother Randy. He is not charged in relation to the missing women.
00:33:41
And I remember looking at Don Miller through the whole trial, watching him. And he always had that--
00:33:49
just the real, almost a victim look. And when everybody left the courtroom and he turned around to look at the back door of the courtroom
00:33:59
and I saw his mannerism, his look, his intensity. And then, it became aware that this guy is dangerous.
00:34:09
He's gonna do what it takes to get out. NARRATOR: The jury finds him guilty and Donald Miller is jailed for 30 to 50 years for the rape
00:34:16
and attempted murders of Lisa and Randy. What of the four missing women? ROD SADLER: Don Miller denied anything
00:34:25
to do with these crimes when he was arrested. He hid behind his religion. He said, how could it be me?
00:34:32
There's no way it could be me. I'm a Christian. There's no way I would ever do this.
00:34:40
NARRATOR: At his house, police have found items linking him to all the missing and murdered women, including
00:34:46
the engagement ring he gave to Martha Sue Young and a pair of handcuffs stained with blood.
00:34:51
Miller will say nothing until a deal is out on the table. He offered to reveal the locations of the bodies,
00:34:58
if he was allowed to plead guilty only to manslaughter to two of the killings. In return, he wants a lenient sentence of 10 to 15 years.
00:35:09
That sentence has to be served concurrently, with the term for rape and attempted murder,
00:35:14
no extra years inside. The deal was accepted. And so he gave the victims back to their families,
00:35:47
after he had just left them, you know, basically, alone, dead in a park. NARRATOR: In a letter from his prison cell,
00:35:57
never before seen on TV, Miller accepts he did wrongfully take the life of Martha Sue Young,
00:36:04
but says he is the one in pain. ROD SADLER: Don Miller never took Martha Sue home.
00:36:09
They went out. And by his own account, they tried talking, but she refused to talk about their problems.
00:36:16
And so he ended up strangling her. At that point, he had to do something with the body.
00:36:24
And so he took her body about a mile or two away, maybe three miles, to a park and left her body there.
00:36:34
We're here at Priggooris Park in Bath Township, north of Lansing. And this is where Martha Sue Young's body was found.
00:36:42
He took a team of investigators and led them to Martha Sue Young's skeleton. And he said, "She's down there," just nonchalantly.
00:36:53
As the investigators went down that trail, he bent down, picked up a-- a little wild flower and kinda began singing to himself.
00:37:03
He gives excuses as to why he got to the way he was, that he-- he victimizes the victims.
00:37:12
He-- he blames them for his crimes. He didn't actually do anything wrong. NARRATOR: A few days later, Miller also led police
00:37:22
to the badly decomposed bodies of Wendy Bush and Kristine Stuart. ROD SADLER: Wendy Bush's remains were skeletonized also.
00:37:31
She'd only been out here two months. And she was completely skeletonized when they found her.
00:37:38
Kids were playing within 20 feet of her body and didn't even realize it. DOUG LLOYD: I think they all knew that Don
00:37:46
Miller was the one responsible. They didn't even have all the bodies at that time.
00:37:51
And so they were trying to prosecute a case without actual bodies. And so it was a way to bring closure.
00:37:58
For Don Miller, it was a way to manipulate the system, for him to manage to commit 4 murders for 10 years.
00:38:06
That was him using the knowledge that he had. And to be honest, I'm sure at that time
00:38:12
that they thought 30 to 50 years seemed like forever. And for a lot of the attorneys that
00:38:21
were involved in that case, they're now retired. So for them, it was forever. Randy and Lisa were 13 and 14.
00:38:30
So for them, 40 years later isn't really forever. NARRATOR: Miller was eligible for parole by the '90s.
00:38:39
But as the possible release date approached in 1994, prison staff discovered Miller had
00:38:46
a strangulation device in a cell at Kinross Correctional Facility. The theory was that he was going to use that on one
00:38:55
of the female prison officers that had, I think, written him a-- a ticket in prison.
00:39:02
NARRATOR: With this information, Miller's sentence was extended another 20 to 40 years.
00:39:08
He has already served his time for the deaths of Martha Sue Young and Kristine Stuart in the rape
00:39:16
and attempted murder of the Gilberts. The only reason that he is still in prison
00:39:21
is because he possessed that strangulation device and he got caught. NARRATOR: Despite being refused parole in 2021, by 2031,
00:39:32
the deal Miller got after his crimes means there will be nothing to stop Miller from being released.
00:39:39
Do I know that this is an individual who should not be out on the streets? Yes, I do.
00:39:44
For the protection of our community, this is an individual who needs to stay in prison.
00:39:50
ROD SADLER: Do I think Don Miller should ever be released from prison? No. Absolutely not.
00:39:55
But Don Miller will be released in 2031. Growing up as a young teenager, I thought--
00:40:03
it felt like he was put away forever. But that time's gone by. And he's still dangerous.
00:40:13
He's still gonna be dangerous in 10 years. There is not enough help in this world to, you know,
00:40:20
make him re-- rehabilitated. He never will be. I am a survivor and I can still survive,
00:40:26
whether he's out or in, but I'm gonna be scared. Of course. And so I feel that he is not finished,
00:40:35
that he will come looking. An inmate back when he was first captured and said I should've finished that boy.
00:40:43
I wouldn't have gotten caught. And to me-- that tells me, he's not finished. I just wanna send a message to Mr. Miller,
00:40:55
if he ever thinks he's not finished and-- and he thinks he's going to come after me again,
00:41:02
he needs to know I'm prepared. NARRATOR: With Miller locked up, the question remained.
00:41:14
Why had he done it? Killed four women, raped a fifth, and tried to kill her and her brother.
00:41:20
DOUG LLOYD: I believe that the first one, potentially, was one of just anger. The next three, those were a desire that he was fulfilling.
00:41:31
And then, when he capitalized on it, he realized, I really enjoy this. ROD SADLER: He had an intense hatred for women.
00:41:40
That boiled over to a point where, once he took the life of his fiancee, he continued that, as he described
00:41:49
it, as copycat murders. He would see a woman that reminded him of his fiancee. And he would take her life.
00:42:03
NARRATOR: The reason Miller was stopped from killing others was because of Lisa and her brother, who would've become
00:42:08
victims five and six, teenagers who survived to enjoy a full life. Randy became a school bus driver, as well
00:42:16
as a volunteer police officer. Lisa moved to California 22 years ago, but is back in Michigan to help fight to keep Miller in prison.
00:42:24
For this program, the siblings returned, visiting the house and the neighborhood
00:42:29
where they face their ordeal. This place is so beautiful when it-- in the fall. It's like beaut-- it's just beyond beautiful.
00:42:38
It has all the different colors. Even though horrible things have happened here--
00:42:41
Oh, yeah, yeah. --and still get drawn to come back and-- Yeah. --take care of everyone, if I can.
00:42:47
But you know what, Brother? You know, you-- we gotta-- we gotta look at it this way.
00:42:52
Yes, it was a traumatic time for us. We got through it. We had each other. We have each other.
00:43:02
We-- we need-- you know, like a lot of people say, we do need to look at it as we are heroes.
00:43:07
We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for each other. You know? Oh, look at all these engravings.
00:43:13
We can put in there, "We are survivors." We are, you know-- but, you know, I mean,
00:43:20
you gotta look-- you say you don't think that you're a hero, but we're a hero to stop him.
00:43:26
And hopefully, stopped him for good to not harm anybody else. But we will continue being strong.
00:43:33
At least we know we have each other to do-- to fight this battle. Are you gonna let me speak?
00:43:38
Yeah. No. Oh. - Yeah. - I love you. I love you too. [BITTERSWEET MUSIC] [CREDITS SONG]