Toxic

A Brilliant Scientist Turns Up Dead... Medical Mystery Or Murder?

(CBS)  Lieutenant Chris Morgan was desperate to put Ann Miller behind bars.

"I was sure that Ann Miller was directly responsible for her husband's death." He says for a period of time police watched her around the clock. "She had, in the space of about 6 months, she had completely reinvented her life."

Morgan couldn't believe that so soon after Eric Miller's murder Ann had packed up her life in Raleigh and took Clare 120 miles away to Wilmington, N.C. - far from the reach of the Raleigh Police Department.

She had a new man in her life, musician Paul Kontz, and she had a new job working for an interior designer.

"Is that what you would normally expect from a spouse whose husband has been murdered in such a cruel way?" Morgan asks. An innocent person, he believed, would have been hounding police for answers.

"Ann Miller should have been on a first-name basis with every detective involved in this investigation," he says.

But Ann wasn't interested in talking to anybody and Morgan wondered what kind of person watches her husband die and doesn't look back?

"I think she's a psychopath," he says. "She never felt any guilt. She never felt any remorse."

Morgan feared for what could happen next. Would she harm her own daughter?

"We didn’t know," he says, "but I didn’t want to take that chance."

Morgan turned to his friend, Forensic Psychologist Michael Teague, for help. But Teague said Ann doesn't fit the typical profile of a killer.

Ann grew up in a traditional church-going family, the eldest of three girls. Her mother, a teaching assistant, and her dad, a sales executive, say she is a devoted and loving daughter.

"Most women who kill their husbands are not so highly educated as she is, do not come from a very high-income background," Teague explains.

Teague wondered, did Ann just snap one day or was she the psychopath that Morgan described? Someone who was likely to kill again?

"There’s more to this picture than just your typical murder of a husband by a wife," he tells Troy Roberts.

Needing to see Ann face to face, Teague went undercover, visiting the design shop where she worked. "I didn’t recognize her. She projected meekness and just weak. She came across as so harmless," he says.

Ann had a chameleon-like quality, Teague concluded, a dangerous ability to transform herself and fool people.

"I think Ann is very disturbed, very high risk," he says. "If she had no boundaries to stop her for killing a saint like Eric Miller, I don’t see what will stop her in the future."

New, troubling information was coming to light about Ann everyday. E-mails reveal that at the same time she was having an affair with Derril, Ann was having a romantic relationship with a man from California - all while her husband, Eric, lay dying in the hospital.

And on the day Eric was transferred to the ICU, Ann chose not to spend the day with him, but at the beauty salon, where a hairdresser tells "48 Hours", "She did say she was ready for something new, something fresh."

Another time, Eric's sister, Leeann, says left Ann left his hospital bedside to clean house.

"She threw away all of Eric's soiled clothing from his first night of being ill. She threw away all of the bathroom rugs instead of just washing things like any normal person would do. She threw everything away."

At the time, Eric's sisters believed Ann was just overcome with stress. In retrospect, they believe she was "covering her tracks" and "getting rid of evidence."

And that's not the only evidence she destroyed. After Eric's death, and against his family's wishes, Ann insisted that her husband be cremated.

"We did not want him cremated. We did not want it," says Verus. "It's like he died and then they were going to destroy him again."

But Ann begged for Eric's ashes to be interred at a Catholic church in Raleigh so she and Clare would be able to visit every Sunday.

"She just knew how to play on your heartstrings," Verus adds. But, just weeks later, Ann would move away from Raleigh and leave Eric's ashes behind.

The Millers were furious and concerned. Morgan and Teague asked child protective services to remove Clare from Ann's care.

"They told us flat, unless Ann gets arrested, we’re not gonna do anything looking into this case," Teague says.

Both Morgan and Teague believed that an arrest was imminent.

"We thought we were going to be getting a call at any minute saying, 'Pick Ann Miller up. Arrest her.'" But Morgan says the call never came. "The District Attorney's office wasn't quite ready to move at the same pace that we were."

District Attorney Colon Willoughby wanted hard evidence, especially if he was going to square off against Ann's high-profile defense attorneys. "It was necessary to have solid proof," he says.

Morgan had no one who could place the arsenic in Ann Miller's hands.

It was 2002, and more than a year had passed since Eric Miller was murdered.

Frustrated, Morgan re-read the case file again and again. And then, late one night while looking at the file for what felt like the hundreth time, Morgan says he saw it plain as day: the key to solving Eric Miller's murder.

[csi-lover]

sassalin31,

Thanks for the kind words. Besides CSI, I do enjoy watching 48 hours, NCIS, Dateline, etc.

Do read the book.

CSI-Lover

[sassalin31]

csi-lover,

Good points. I may have to read the book. You should watch all the other crime shows on TV. CSI is so inacurate but sometimes does have good plots.

[csi-lover]

For anyone interested in knowing what my 5 star word is which was deleted, it starts with a "W" and refers to a profession for women in Las Vegas who perform sex for money.

[csi-lover]

I read Amanda Lambs book 'Deadly Doses' cover to cover in one day. My eyes were tired and seeing stars, but it really was worth it. I saw the 48 hours special on this, so I could relate to the story. Here's the deal; Ann Miller is basically a ***** and an extremely sel-centered, selfish person. Of course she took the plea bargain, what a deal for someone who has no remorse, or a psycopath as referred to by Morgan. Any one who hasn't read the book will find more details about this case and Ann Miller than 48 hours had in its broadcast. Here's what struck me the most; prior to being with Eric, a former boyfriend went parachuting in front of her and hit the ground without his parachute opening. Yes, he died. And what about her neighbor who died from an alledged poisoning? Since we know she was a serial adulterer, how about a serial killer too? Even worse (this is why I call her a *****), she was having sex with a man in San Francisco when she was pregnant with Clare from Eric in her first trimester. Eric even asked her to stop seeing this guy and she said "We are just friends. Don't worry, I just love you". Heard that line before? And yes, she was having sex with Derril as well after Clare was born. Couldn't get enough Ann? Or is she a sexual predator? But the best part of all is seeing her without her makeup on, so you can see who she really is; quite plain to be nice to her. And the evil in her is more evident to see, especially in her eyes. The makeup helped to create a mirage, or a fake persona, making her someone she really wasn't. But certainly something to hide behind. The only redeeming quality for this woman is she did ask for forgiveness when she was sentenced by way of her attorney. However, we will never know why she did it. Morgan tells us this unfortunate fact in the book; it's up to her to do that. From what I hear, Ann Miller is still denying she had anything to do with Eric's murder accept pleading guilty to the crime so she could save her ass from the death penalty. Did Derril have more to do with this than just putting arsenic in his beer once at the bowling alley? According to Morgan, this isn't the case. Therefore, until she comes clean and out of denial, we'll probably never know. For true crime lovers, see the movie Fractured starring Anthony Hopkins. If there's anyway to keep this psycopath, Ann Miller, away from society, this might be our only chance.

[geena5]

especially the New Testament

[geena5]

lostreef, she could have believed being a widow was more respectful than being a divorcee. that's the main connection I was making with the catholic church, it is one of their teachings and ann miller was even teaching a class with them so she probably was thoroughly indoctrinated. it is too bad she used her talent as a scientist for such evil. and it is better to read the bible than go to church, especially bad ones, I highly recommend

[problem09]

im glad this has ended in this woman going to jail. she has no right to be free in this world. i think that she has no respect for her religon or any concept of the 10 commandments which the cathloc religion holds so high. even when she gets out of prison she will have nothing, her daughter will be brought up knowing what happened and most likely not want anything to do with her. i hope that she rots in her cell while thinking about why she is in there.

[cliffps]

She is ONE.... SCARY..... WOMAN!

[48hrzfanz]

Has anyone ever watched those 1940's classic NOIR movies? The women in those films are cold and heartless, yet come on nice and sweet. Ann Miller is those women. Evil to the core. I'd call her a Black Widow. Ann poisoned her husband long before he drank that glass of beer.
I guess the Mystery here is why? I don't believe the Perfect Life scenario. I don't believe her Catholic belief had anything to do with it either. She had no Faith what so ever. I think she was just a cold blooded killer who thought she could get a way with murder. Ann Miller almost did.

[desertpro]

rnbwprsm01:

It's time to take your meds dear. As to the article it is well done. Hopefully this evil person will never get out to darken the lives of those she betrayed so.