Posted on 01/14/2005 11:34:55 AM PST by Graybeard58
Maybe Joe Miller is coming clean - or maybe he's still a reprehensible sack of human garbage.
I hope I'm wrong, but I'd bet on the latter.
In the 1970s, Miller killed two Cook County women. After 15 years in prison, he came to Peoria and killed more women.
Police directly tied Miller to four slayings. But they suspected him of more.
He was convicted of murder and sent to death row. But his sentence was reduced to life imprisonment in Gov. George Ryan's mass commutations.
Last year, Miller started yapping to reporters. He said he also killed Stacey Morrison, 23, of Pekin and Valerie Slone, 18, of Peoria - whose bodies never have been found.
Since then, every few months, his professed confessions have gleaned media attention, from Peoria to Chicago. Last week, this paper and a Peoria TV station did another update on Miller's babblings.
As you can imagine, the survivors of the missing women want to recover the bodies. Morrison's mother has been very vocal in asking for continued investigation, just like any decent parent would.
That's why Miller riles me.
Miller claims he's ill and wants to come clean. That's possible - anything's possible.
But don't get caught up with the idea of a "confession." Some people think he must be telling the truth, as a murder confession could bring execution. Why risk death to lie?
But he's 59. If sent to death row, he'd likely die of natural causes long before appeals would run out. His confession risk is minimal.
Why lie? The same reason many murderers do: attention. If you spend your life behind bars with other convicts, a few minutes gabbing with cops or reporters is a great big party.
Convicted killers have confessed numerous murders to me. Ho-hum: It's all bull.
But last year, an Illinois State University student did a project on killers. The student did a prison interview with Miller, who sang his confession song. The student called a suburban-Chicago newspaper, which repeated the confession.
When I first heard this report, I wondered if Miller had cracked. Police first had suspected him in the Slone and Morrison cases. But cops later also suspected another serial killer, Arlie Ray Davis.
So, I tuned in to see a Peoria TV-news interview with the college student. I immediately let out a huge sigh of skepticism.
The student is female. And very attractive.
Think of Miller's excitement when a cute coed dropped by for a little chit-chat. Do you think he might tell a tall tale to keep her coming back?
Yet for months, Miller insisted his confessions were sincere. So cops asked him to reveal where he'd buried the bodies.
Recently, he doodled a map. But nothing was found.
"He's a zero," Peoria County Sheriff Mike McCoy says with disgust. "His day of fame is over. ... All he wants to do is string people along."
Police say they'll review any new information. But Miller is growing less credible.
Maybe he's just getting forgetful. All that killing might've worn down his brain.
Or, maybe he's gleefully sparked a wild goose chase and falsely boosted hope of recovering bodies.
As sheriff's Capt. Dave Briggs says, "Only one thing is worse than if he did (the murders): if he's putting these mothers through an emotional roller coaster."
PHIL LUCIANO is a columnist with the Journal Star. He can be reached at pluciano@pjstar.com, 686-3155 or (800) 225-5757, Ext. 3155.
Some People Just Need Killing™.
All I could think was "why are these people even alive?"
Imagine working in that environment for 25 or 30 years. That would really shape your perspective.
Imagine working in that environment for 25 or 30 years. That would really shape your perspective.
Put some underwear on his head and see how much more attention he gets. It's a sick world we live in when scum gets treated better than the good people.
??? ... okay...
I understand the reasoning. They consider the murders to be a fact. Whether or not this guy did it is unknown. If he did he should know where the bodies are. If he didn't he should shut up and not give those parents false hope of finding them.
I guess it's just the way he said it.
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