Aug. 11, 2007
Dangerous Reunion
Two Women Fight To Keep A Killer Behind Bars
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Wesley Wayne Miller Deposition
See more of Wesley Wayne Miller's deposition, taken in Montgomery County, Texas.
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Rapist Targeted Cheerleaders
Susan Spencer gives Harry Smith a preview of a "48 Hours" story about the murder of high school cheerleader Retha Stratton and the rape of several other cheerleaders.
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In River Oaks, Texas, in 1982, the only thing more shocking than Retha Stratton's murder was the fact that Wesley Wayne Miller did it. "He’s not the kind of person that if you see him walking down the street, you’re gonna cross to the other side of the road for your safety," explains prosecutor Joey Robertson.
But as correspondent Susan Spencer reports, Robertson will try to convince a jury at a hearing that if he's simply freed, Miller will kill again. It's a fear that has driven Retha’s sister Rona and her best friend Lisa Gabbert to fight for two decades to keep Miller locked up.
It all began when Rona and Lisa were just two small-town girls. In 1981, Lisa was a senior at Castleberry High; Wesley Wayne Miller was a pal and captain of the football team, voted best all around during his senior year.
As always in high school, the cheerleaders were at the center of everything; Lisa and her good friend, Retha Stratton were both on the squad.
Like Wesley Miller, Retha Stratton is all over the yearbook, beaming in the cheerleaders' official picture, a picture that over the next year would take on a grim significance.
On January 23, 1981, a girl seen just below Retha in that very yearbook photo, Susan Davis, was sexually assaulted.
"I'm standing there, and he walks in and with a stocking over his head, his face, no shirt on, jeans, with you know, his zipper open. And at that point I realized that something really bad was about to happen," Susan remembers.
She was 16 at the time and home alone. "My instincts took over and I just ran. And he caught me. And at that point, he began to threaten me," Susan recalls.
Her attacker, Susan says, told her to shut up and be quiet. "Don't scream or I'm going to hit you. It became physical, hitting me in the face, ripping my panties off…going at that point it was sexual. I prayed to God, you know, 'Watch over me.' And then at that point, he got up and walked away," Susan remembers of the ordeal.
Having failed to actually rape her, the attacker fled. At the time, Susan says she didn't know who had attacked her.
The man was probably someone she knew, police said, but with no physical evidence or suspects, the case stalled. For them, that was that, but not for Susan. "I had to go back into cheerleading. And I was paranoid all the time about, 'Is this person in the stands watching me?'" she wondered.
At Castleberry High, life went on. Lisa and Retha graduated that May, and then that November, a man raped another young woman in the nearby town of Saginaw. Again, the victim was alone, and like in the Davis case, the rapist wore a mask. He left a fingerprint but police couldn’t identify it. In River Oaks, the case got little attention.
"It's just very much that teenage mentality that 'It doesn't affect my world. That can't happen to me,'" Lisa explains.
But on Dec. 7, 1981, it did, and the attack is as vivid when she visits the vacant house today, as it was back then. Lisa, who was just 18 years old at the time, was awakened when someone opened her bedroom door.
"And when I looked over I saw that someone was standing in the doorway with a mask and a red ski mask and panty hose over the mask," she remembers. "And he leapt on me. And we struggled. There was some choking. And then he tore back the covers. Opened my robe. And we struggled some more. And so he proceeded to rape me."
Lisa was sure her attacker knew her, because he didn’t give a second thought to walking right past her ailing mother, who was an invalid.
"And you’ve always thought that was important, that the person who did this to you knew that your mother who was sitting here a few feet away couldn’t move?" Spencer asks.
"Absolutely, because anyone else would have seen her as a witness," Lisa explains.
Still, she had no idea who the attacker was. Robert Lynn Hicks, then a rookie patrolman, interviewed Lisa that day. He distinctly remembers one telling detail. "She stated, 'If you'll find someone that looks similar to Wesley Miller, it would be, you know, a good place to start as far as looking for a suspect,'" Hicks recalls.
Produced By Ian Paisley and Jenna Jackson
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We just put away a serial rapist murderer called BTK a couple years ago,who started his reign in the 70's then got quiet till the 90's and it turned out it was someone I knew. When he started back up the city of Wichita Ks and Park City KS were on pins and needles once again.
I've learned a lot over the years on how to avoid becoming a victim again,but it's something that the once it happens to you,you'll never get over it,like people tell you to.
To all you women out there,get training in hand guns and martial arts and learn to change your comings and goings routes to places you frequent the most. You will be a lot safer in this world.
Chemical castration makes more sense from an ethical standpoint. I don't want the state finding reasons to get into the business of deliberate maiming, no matter what the provocation. There are cases--Ted Bundy being the poster child--where the death penalty can be argued as the only protection for the community at large. It may well be that this is one of those cases, but the initial prosecutorial decisions rule out that option. Despite miscarriages of justice, the system should err on the side of caution against system abuse. A society's respect for rule of law has a direct effect on preservation of essential liberties. Justifying judicial vindictiveness risks broadening the range of crimes that can be rationalized to trigger retribution by the state. That's why the Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.
good riddance to that problem
I hope nobody in River Oaks was trying to cover for Wesley, being a small town probably very proud of their football team and thier star player...seems very strange that they didn't show the composite to the victims or question him until it was obvious that he was involved...
Why can't we deport our criminals to China? That would free up prison space...
Seriously, I'm so happy for these women for doing what they did. Still, I wouldn't want him within 1,000 miles of me much less 25.
It's injustice like this that makes me people take matters into their own hands when they have been assualted, raped, etc.
God help us all...
Posted by Beadazzle at 01:51 AM : Aug 12, 2007
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Nice thought, but that could not help me when I was nine and raped by my brothers in my own bed.
Yeah, really worked didn't it kids! just pray, too bad it didn't work BEFORE the attack thereby preventing it.
"and then that November, a man raped another young woman in the nearby town of Saginaw. "
I guess SHE didn't PRAY, or she didn't grovel enough maybe!
www.zeitgeist.com
evilbible.com
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by bighdelight
January 30, 2008 2:00 AM PST
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See all 12 CommentsI know it''s difficult to let things go sometimes. I have had 2, yes 2 brothers murdered as well as my mother was murdered by my stepfather. I can tell you unbelieveable stories of crimes you couldn''t imagine possible.
But that is not why I post my comment. I understand Wesley Miller''s sentence might have been light, but that''s the way justice works sometimes. I know a man that killed another totally in self defense and received a 12 year sentence. I know another man that killed a man by stabbing him in the neck 26 times...he was out of prison in 18 months. Is this fair?? of course not, but it is the way the justice system is designed to work.
By backing up the system causes more problems, more money from taxpayers, etc. When your prison term is up, then it is up. I believe this "civil commitmentment" rules he needs to abide by is a violation of his civil rights. Naturally, a prisoner loses many rights, but no one, NO ONE loses there civil rights, unless mandated by a couple of women who think they deserved to make his sentence, not the jury of his peers.