Martin Miller retrial: Children recall morning of mother’s death; detective says Miller admitted to affair

On the second day of testimony in the first-degree murder retrial of Martin Miller, Miller’s son and daughter testified about their family and the death of their mother, and jurors heard Miller’s testimony from his first trial.

Miller, 56, is charged with first-degree murder in the July 28, 2004, death of his wife, Mary Miller, 46, at the family’s central Lawrence home. A Douglas County jury convicted Miller in 2005 of first-degree murder, but the Kansas Court of Appeals ruled in February 2014 that Miller should get a new trial based on an erroneous jury instruction.

Prosecutors allege that Miller strangled Mary Miller because the family was in difficult financial straits and he was engaged in a four-year affair with former Eudora resident Carrie Parbs. Miller’s attorney, Richard Ney, argues that Mary Miller died of natural causes, not by homicide.

Children testify

On Thursday, Miller’s daughter, Melodie Ozorkiewicz, said she told investigators in 2004 that her mother had been “under extreme stress” prior to her death and that she had high choloesterol. Ozorkiewicz told investigators that when Mary Miller got stressed her father “would calm her down and try to fix it.” Ozorkiewicz also said her mother took “alternative medicines” that Miller would sometimes concoct with natural herbs.

Martin Miller is led away after being convicted of his wife's murder in Judge Paula Martin's courtroom.

Ozorkiewicz, who was 14 at the time, said that during the early hours of the day her mother died she heard her mother let out a noise “between a yell and a scream” and heard her father in the room with her mother. Ozorkiewicz testified Wednesday that her mother had screamed “No, please, don’t, no,” but on cross examination acknowledged that she originally told investigators that she “couldn’t exactly tell” what her mother was saying.

Ozorkiewicz later testified that police eventually told her that her father had murdered her mother, and she said that she didn’t believe the accusation at first.

“Well, no one wants to believe that,” Ozorkiewicz said.

Ozorkiewicz told the court that she changed her mind after reviewing her mother’s autopsy and hearing of her father’s affair with Parbs.

Miller’s son, Matthew Miller, testified Thursday that he also heard his mother struggling during the early-morning hours of July 28, 2004. Matthew Miller, who was 11 at the time, said he woke up to his mother screaming in his parents’ room and that it “sounded really labored like she couldn’t get enough breath in.” Matthew Miller said he heard his father calming his mother, saying “Everything is going to be all right.” Matthew Miller said after that, “it sounded like she could breathe.”

On cross examination, Matthew Miller told Ney that he initially told police that he heard his parents talking in “a normal tone of voice” that morning and that he did not say anything about his mother screaming. He recounted, though, saying “it was a scream, but it didn’t have enough volume.” Matthew Miller said Mary Miller was “wheezing” and “trying to find breath.”

Admission of affair

Lawrence Police Department Detective Jack Cross testified Thursday that he interviewed Miller about two hours after Miller reported his wife dead. Cross said that during the interview Miller admitted to having a sexual relationship with Parbs after he told Miller that it would seem suspicious if they later discovered the affair and Miller had not first told them about it.

Cross said that Miller gave the interview freely and was not under arrest at the time but was considered a “possible suspect.” Cross said Miller said “he was willing to do anything to try to determine how his wife had died.”

Additionally, Cross testified that Miller said he was “blown away” that the children were identifying his voice in the room with Mary’s screaming. He said he was asleep and that if he had heard a scream he would have been up in an instant.


Miller’s previous testimony

Also on Thursday afternoon, the court reporter read Miller’s testimony from his 2005 trial. In it, Miller said that he in fact had heard Mary Miller make noises the morning of her death but didn’t tell investigators “because he was scared.”

Miller said that he was asleep on the toilet in the master bathroom sometime around 3 a.m. when he woke up to “an outburst of sound.” Then, he went into the bedroom and looked at Mary Miller.

“She appeared to be in some type of distress,” Miller said.

Miller said he then put his hand on Mary Miller’s shoulder and asked her what was wrong. Mary Miller then gasped for air and made a “squeak.” Miller said he then told her to “calm down, breathe, breathe deeply” and that Mary Miller seemed frightened. After a few minutes, her distress subsided and Miller asked if she was all right.

“She said she woke up and couldn’t breathe,” Miller said. “She didn’t say anything more after that.”

Martin Miller said he then went to the living room to sleep. Later, Miller said, he woke to Mary Miller’s alarm at 6 a.m. He went to the bedroom and found Mary Miller immobile. He touched her arm to wake her and determined that she was dead.

Miller said he then called 911 and waited for police to arrive. Miller said that when Ozorkiewicz told him he had heard screaming with a police officer nearby he “panicked.”

“I was scared that I had failed Mary. I didn’t call for help in the middle of the night,” Miller said. “I was afraid I would be blamed for not calling for help when I should have.”

Miller said he did not tell investigators about hearing Mary Miller’s “outburst” that night because of that fear.

During afternoon testimony Thursday, two of Mary Miller’s friend testified that Mary had been under an increasing amount of stress over the months leading up to her death because of a change in her job and financial strain. Ney said during opening statements Wednesday that he plans to have an expert doctor testify next week that Mary Miller could have died from a stress-induced heart attack.

Reporter Caitlin Doornbos will be tweeting from the courthouse throughout the retrial. Follow her at www.twitter.com/CaitlinDoornbos.


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