Aug. 11, 2007
Dangerous Reunion
Two Women Fight To Keep A Killer Behind Bars
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Play CBS Video Video Wesley Wayne Miller Deposition See more of Wesley Wayne Miller's deposition, taken in Montgomery County, Texas.
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Video 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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Interactive Forensics 101 Find out more about forensics, DNA and some cases in which DNA has made a difference.
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Interactive Crime Beat Statistics and specifics on crime in America.
Their protests forced the board to move Miller three times, finally to Wichita Falls.
His adversaries got there first, remembers District Attorney Barry Macha. "They just wanted me to know that that was the kind of individual who was comin' to our community on parole," he recalls.
Macha filed that away. Then, one summer night about a year later, a woman named Laura Barnard was startled by a stranger, running toward her, as she was unloading her groceries.
Laura was not hurt and her husband Charlie raced outside to confront the guy. "I told Laura to go get the keys to the car. So I run and jump in the car, and we take off down the street," Chalie remembers.
The stranger headed for his truck. The attacker got away, but Laura got his license plate number, and wrote it on her grocery list. The next morning, Charlie, an attorney, called his pal the District Attorney Barry Macha.
The pick-up was registered to a Morris Miller, Wesley’s father. But after looking at a photo line-up, Charlie Barnard had no question who was driving. "It took me three or four seconds to ID him. And I'll never forget his eyes. He had very piercing, evil eyes," Charlie remembers.
The district attorney charged Miller with attempted assault and even prosecuted the case himself. A guilty verdict in the Barnard case landed Miller back in prison for five more years, but in 1998, the same old story happened and he was released again.
This time, thanks to Rona and Lisa, it wasn’t much of a release: they got officials to force him to wear a GPS monitor 24 hours a day, even though he was housed in the most secure location they possibly could come up with, the Tarrant County Jail.
Having someone paroled from state prison to a county jail was a first for Sheriff Dee Anderson.
Anderson says Miller spent 23 hours a day in his cell, which was "grim by design, grim by necessity."
So grim, Miller even held a press conference claiming he was being treated unfairly. Not only did his parole board disagree, it ordered him to take sex offender counseling, which for Miller was the most unfair requirement of all. "I refuse because I've never been convicted of a sex crime," he said in 1998.
True, no jury convicted him, but remember that after his murder trial, Miller did plead guilty to that one rape, the one where police found his fingerprint.
Why does Rona think he refused? "That acknowledges that all those crimes that he thinks he got away with. Like Lisa's and the rest. That he was never even charged with. That it associates him back with those," she reasons.
Over the years, his steadfast refusal to go to sex offender classes has cost him dearly, since it always means returning to prison, where he insists he doesn’t belong.
"I've done whatever's required to do, by law. And I've done my time. And there's no reason to be afraid of me," Miller has said. "I would hope to just be able to get out and to live a normal life, and spend some time with my family."
Rona and Lisa concede they’ve taken great satisfaction in thwarting that homecoming. "Knowing that we were the ones doing this to him. That was sweet. That was the best thing ever," Lisa says.
But now the clock is ticking – the state soon will have set him free, with no strings attached, unless his two adversaries succeed in a last extraordinary move to stop it.
Wesley Miller’s 25-year sentence was about to end, but Chief Prosecutor Joey Robertson was determined Miller wouldn't simply walk out of prison.
"My job is to prove that Wesley Miller is a sexually violent predator," he explains.
Because if Miller meets that legal definition, the state can put him under what’s called civil commitment, so that when he finally is released, he’ll be subject to the same intense monitoring as the worst sex offenders.
Rona was instrumental in getting this law passed. The law they helped pass requires two convictions for sex crimes, before someone can be committed.
Produced By Ian Paisley and Jenna Jackson
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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I 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.
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
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.
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...
good riddance to that problem
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.
- by beadazzle August 12, 2007 4:51 AM EDT
- I'm glad these women got what they wanted. I know all to well what it's like to go through life after being raped,only to see that person again some years later,walking freely amongst us wearing one of those monitor bands.
- Reply to this comment
See all 13 CommentsWe 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.