Donald Miller (1941 – October 14, 2005) was an American serial killer who murdered one woman and later four gay men in Los Angeles County, California, from 1977 to 1981. He was convicted and sentenced to death for four of these killings in 1983, but died awaiting execution in 2005.
Early life and crimes Very little is known about the early years of Miller's life. He was born in 1941 in Los Angeles in a family with several other brothers and sisters. He grew up in Compton, where he attended the local high school. Despite the fact that his father left the family in 1952 and the family subsequently experienced financial difficulties, Miller did well in school and at the time did not exhibit any aggressive behavior.People v. Miller (1990)
After graduation, Miller learned a number of specialties in construction and manufacturing, but soon turned to stealing, for which he was convicted in 1962. In the 1970s, Miller began to show signs of mental illness and started to become more aggressive towards women.
Initial attacks In April 1975, Miller picked up an underage hitchhiker named Bettina Grodman in Los Angeles, introducing himself as "Robert". During the trip, Grodman asked him to drive her home, but Miller refused and instead threatened to harm her. For four hours, he drove around aimlessly through the streets of Los Angeles, after which he took Grodman to his home, where he raped her. At one point, when Grodman screamed, Miller began choking her and threatened to kill her, but later let her go. Grodman immediately went to the police and testified against Miller, who was arrested. He cooperated with police and accepted a plea deal, and because Grodman had previously been involved in prostitution, the rape charge was dropped and replaced with assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
In March 1979, Miller was arrested on charges of attempted assault against his co-worker, John Harmon. Harmon claimed that he got into an altercation with Miller at the railroad station where they worked at. On the day of the incident, Miller provoked him in every way possible and spray painted his arm, and when Harman started getting angry, Miller threw a cup of hot coffee in his face and a fight ensued. Harman claimed that after their shift had ended, Miller chased him in his automobile and threatened to kill him by waving a piece of steel pipe, but the case never went to trial.
In August, Miller brutally beat Linda Lee in the freight elevator of a downtown Los Angeles hotel where she was staying. During the attack, Lee suffered a broken jaw in two places, a fractured ankle, and lacerations above her ear and eye that required twelve stitches. Lee lost consciousness during the attack and also dislocated her wrist in the fall. She was hospitalized for thirteen days and underwent several surgeries, but could not identify her assailant until after Miller's 1981 arrest.
Characterization In the late 1970s, Miller found work as a welder for the Southern Pacific Railroad, where he worked until his arrest. He was unmarried and was seen visiting gay bars located throughout the Los Angeles area, but claimed that he was not bisexual.
Acquaintances and relatives had mixed emotions regarding Miller. His mother, brothers and sisters stated that he maintained close ties with them and was never violent. Several of his acquaintances and co-workers stated after his arrest that he never showed signs of antisocial behavior, but also noted that he had no close friends, did not maintain trusting relationships with them, and liked to keep to himself.
Murders From July 1980 to February 1981, Miller perpetrated at least eight attacks on gay men, all but one of which occurred in the western part of Hollywood on weekends or holidays. Each attack happened at midnight near roads or dark alleys, after most of the victims had left gay bars.
Miller's first fatality was 32-year-old florist Michael Thomas, who was killed in the early morning hours of July 12, 1980. His body was found on a street with severe head injuries, and while he was still alive when located, he succumbed to his injuries at a hospital only hours later. An autopsy determined that Thomas had been struck about 4 times with a heavy blunt object. Thomas' body was found near the home of Pam Kobak, who told police that she was awakened after midnight by her dog barking, then looked out her front window and saw two men leaning against the driver's side of a dark-colored sports car parked across the street. She claimed the car was a Datsun 280Z with wide silver side moldings and louvers on the rear window. Kobak then sat down to watch television, but soon returned to the window due to the continued barking of her dogs, through which she saw the car drive away with the driver in it. As the vehicle drove away, Kobak noticed the silhouette of a body lying on the road near where the car was parked. The investigation revealed that shortly before his death, Thomas, along with a friend named Tim White and another man, were seen at a gay bar called "The Spike". White testified that Thomas, a gay man, was heavily intoxicated and then disappeared when he and his buddy went to the restroom. Police officers found a pool of blood near Thomas' body, as well as two coins and a matchbook, but no wallet or other forms of identification. Miller's second victim was 36-year-old hair stylist Robert Sanderson, who was killed on November 30. At 1:30 AM, a security guard spotted Sanderson at the corner of Melrose Avenue and Crescent Heights Boulevard, about six blocks from a gay bar called "The Rusty Nail". The officer testified that Sanderson appeared conscious but badly beaten, and although he was visibly dazed and confused, the officer was able to learn his name and that he had been struck several times in the head with a steel object, after which he finally fell into unconsciousness. Sanderson received medical attention, but fell into a coma and later died on February 12, 1981. An autopsy determined that the cause of death was several strikes to the head with a blunt object. At the scene, investigators found bloodstains on the curb and on a telephone pole at the corner of Melrose and Crescent Heights. It was determined that Sanderson managed to walk nearly a block after the attack, bleeding out with a shaky gait, before being discovered by the officer. Police also found several small items at the scene where the attack took place, including a lighter, a small piece of metal and a piece of paper with the license plate number and the words "yellow Ford" written on it. Investigators learned that shortly before his death, Sanderson had gone to a gay bar called "The Rusty Nail" with his friend, Clinton Lawler. Sanderson's apartment was six and a half blocks away from The Spike, where Michael Thomas was last seen, and just a block away from The Rusty Nail. Lawler told police during questioning that he left Sanderson at The Rusty Nail around 11:30 PM, but returned half an hour later to find that his friend was no longer there. He searched for Sanderson at his apartment and then at several nearby bars, but could not locate him.
In the early morning hours of January 23, 1981, Miller killed 22-year-old Danny Harman, whose corpse was found in Compton after an anonymous tipster notified local police. Harman had been hit several times on the head with a blunt instrument, due to which the right side of his skull was cracked and his ear was damaged. No wallet, money or identification for Harman was found at the crime scene, and his pants' pockets were turned inside out. A red plastic comb and shoe shine brush were found next to the body. Investigators later learned that Harman was a vagrant from Kentucky who had arrived in Los Angeles just months prior. A gay man, he engaged in intimate relationships with several men before meeting a man named Robert Wertz, who soon became his boyfriend and invited him to live at his place. The night prior to his murder, Wertz invited Harman to have dinner at a restaurant near their apartment - they arrived at approximately 9:30 PM, but Wertz soon felt ill and went home an hour later. According to him, Harman promised him that we would also come back after finishing his dinner, but ended up staying at the restaurant until midnight. Joseph Morris, a waiter at the restaurant, told police after the finishing his shift, he and Harman went to a gay bar called "Woody's Hyperion", which was in Silver Lake. Morris claimed that Harman went missing from the bar when he met some acquaintances there and went to play pool with them. Within minutes, Morris began searching for him both inside and outside the bar, but could not find him. On February 13, Miller attacked 28-year-old hairdresser Ernesto Ramirez after he met him at The Rusty Nail. One of the last people to see Ramirez alive was his friend, Mario Aguirre, who told police that they had been at the New Town Saloon gay bar in Hollywood. Aguirre said that they arrived at The Rusty Nail at around midnight, where they met Miller, who offered Ramirez a ride in his car, after which they left. Miller then drove Ramirez six blocks away from the gay bar, where he struck him several times with a steel pipe. Ramirez was found on the next body, having suffered massive injuries to his skull and facial bones, as well as lacerations to his right ear and surrounding area. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he remained in a coma until his death on April 20. During an examination of the crime scene, investigators found a partially smoked marijuana cigarette in the grass. On February 20, Aguirre appeared at the police station where he gave a statement that led to a sketch being drawn of the supposed killer. Aguirre told law enforcement officers that he had previously encountered the perpetrator several times at The Rusty Nail, after which police officers convinced him to accompany him on a stakeout in hopes of finding the man who had accompanied Ramirez. That evening, Aguirre, accompanied by two law enforcement officers, saw Donald Miller on the street on his way to a gay bar. After Aguirre identified him as the man who had taken Ramirez away, Miller was apprehended. While searching him, the officers found some keys, including a car key - Miller then led them to his car, which was a black Datsun 280Z with silver side moldings and grilles on the rear window, similar to the one seen by Pamela Kobak on the night of Michael Thomas' murder. While examining the interior of the car, police found a piece of metal pipe, at which point Miller was officially arrested and charged with the murders.
Discovery of other assaults After Miller's arrest, investigators attempted to find out if he was involved in any other unsolved crimes. To this end, they reviewed existing crime reports, sent inquiries to law enforcement agencies across California, published information in the media and distributed flyers in gay bars across Hollywood and other areas of Los Angeles. The flyers contained a general description of the crimes and Miller's appearance, with a request that anybody with pertinent information come forward.
Not long after, information surfaced that allowed investigators to link Miller to four non-fatal assaults dating back to May 1980.