Police cars and yellow crime scene tape are not normal sights in the 2100 block of Carolina Street, but late last week, residents in the area saw plenty of both.

Saturday neighbors and acquaintances of Martin Kenneth Miller were reeling after learning he had been arrested by Lawrence Police on suspicion of murdering his wife in their home at 2105 Carolina St.

“It’s a shock,” said Jim Eckler, who along with his wife, Penny, lives a block from the Millers. “This is a very quiet little neighborhood.”

Gary Finch, another neighbor, agreed.

“I never in a million years would have predicted this situation,” said Finch, who knew the Millers not only as neighbors but also because of their involvement in the Centennial Neighborhood Assn.

Martin Miller, 45, a self-employed carpenter and woodworker, was arrested Friday evening on suspicion of first-degree murder. He was booked into the Douglas County Jail, where he continued to be held Saturday after bond was set at $150,000. He is to appear in court to be formally charged at 3:30 p.m. Monday.

Three-day investigation

Prosecutors were reviewing the case Saturday and will meet again with police Monday morning to see if there is any new information to be considered, Dist. Atty. Christine Kenney said. She said she expected formal charges to be filed Monday.

Neither police nor Kenney will say how Mary Miller died.

Mary Miller died at her home at 2105 Carolina St., where she lived with her husband, Martin Kenneth Miller, who faces charges in her death.

Wednesday morning, Martin Miller called for help after finding his wife lying in bed not breathing, police said. Police and a coroner called to survey the scene saw nothing to indicate foul play, but police routinely treat an unattended death with caution if it involves a young person with no serious medical history, they said.

Crime scene tape was put up around the couple’s house, and police were seen Wednesday, Thursday and Friday coming and going from the area, neighbors said. Many neighbors were watching as the investigation unfolded.

“No one thought to put out the trash Thursday because everybody was caught up in the drama of it all,” said Julie Trowbridge, who lives across the street from the Millers.

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Friday the results of an autopsy and inconsistencies in Martin Miller’s statements to police led to his arrest, police said.

Martin Miller is chairman of Veritas Christian School’s board of directors. School officials Saturday either couldn’t be reached or were not commenting about the Millers. The school is a nondenominational, private K-12 school at 256 N. Mich.

Children left behind

The Millers have two children, a son, Matt, and a daughter, Melodie, both in junior high school.

Melodie, the oldest, sang in the Lawrence Children’s Choir. Matt was in Choristers, a group for younger children. The parents also helped with the choir as volunteers. Children’s Choir artistic director Janeal Krehbiel spoke highly of Mary Miller.

“She was just an incredible parent who gave a lot to the organization,” Krehbiel said.

The children are being cared for by friends, said the Rev. Leo Barbee, minister at Victory Bible Church, 1942 Mass. The Millers are members of the church, but Barbee said he would not comment about them.

“We are just trying to administer to the family the best we can,” he said.

Active in neighborhood

Martin Miller worked at his business, the Carpenter Shop, located in a building next door to his house. Last December some furniture he made was on display in a woodworking exhibit at the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 N.H. Mary Miller was a Kansas University librarian.

The Millers were known for their involvement with the Centennial Neighborhood Assn., association members said. Martin Miller was one of the organizers of the association about 10 years ago. He played a key role in working with the city to save trees along the east side of the street from drainage line installation. The drainage pipes were instead placed under the middle of the street, association members said.

Mary Miller had been the editor of the association’s newsletter.

The couple lived on Carolina Street for at least 10 years, neighbors said.

“It’s just incomprehensible what has happened,” said Janet Mody, another neighbor. “There is no word to describe it.”

Mody recalled talking to Martin Miller in his shop on July 1.

“He said they had just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary the night before, and he seemed very excited about that,” Mody said.

Other neighbors, such as a Al and Winnie Gallup, said they didn’t talk much to the Millers but often waved at them from their yard.

“They seemed to be a close-knit family,” Winnie Gallup said.

Todd Johnson, who has lived across the street from the Millers the past two years, said he didn’t know them well.

“I kind of keep to myself, and they are a real quiet family,” Johnson said. “This is really unfortunate for the two kids. I feel really sad for them.”