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Thread: Bryan Patrick Miller - Arizona Death Row

  1. #41
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    Zombie Hunter’s ex-wife testifies he had notepad of women he wanted to kill

    By AZFamily Digital News Staff

    PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — The penalty phase is underway for the convicted killer known as the Zombie Hunter. Bryan Patrick Miller faces the possibility of the death penalty for the murders of Angela Brosso and Melanie Bernas in the early 1990s. During Thursday’s hearing, Miller’s ex-wife testified he often talked about wanting to kill people who he found attractive.

    Amy was married to Bryan for nine years after he murdered Brosso and Bernas. She testified about a notepad her then-husband kept with the names of people he thought were beautiful.

    “Did he ever talk to you about wanting to harm people he found attractive?” asked the prosecutor. “Yes he did,” Amy said. “Uhm, and that is actually part of what is in the notebook.” “What do you mean by that?” the prosecutor asked. “The, I believe it’s the stars that he put beside some of them,” Amy replied. “What did the stars mean as you understood them?” the prosecutor asked. “That when he had seen them he had wanted to harm or kill them,” Amy said.

    Prosecutors are trying to show that Miller remains a danger even though the murders occurred 30 years ago. The killings were referred to as the Phoenix Canal Murders because they took place near a canal that runs through the city. Bryan was found guilty of first-degree murder last month. It’ll be up to Judge Suzanne Cohen if Bryan lives or dies.

    https://www.azfamily.com/2023/05/18/...e-wanted-kill/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  2. #42
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    'Canal killings': Bryan Miller speaks at last, but offers no apologies or new clues

    By Lane Sainty
    Arizona Republic

    Bryan Miller addressed a Phoenix court on Monday, three decades after he murdered Angela Brosso and Melanie Bernas.


    "I am not looking for sympathy today," Miller told Judge Suzanne Cohen, who must decide whether to sentence him to death or life in prison for the two murders committed in the early 1990s.


    He said he could not imagine the pain experienced by the family and friends of Brosso and Bernas. But this acknowledgment of their suffering — and a stated desire that his words not compound it — was as far as Miller went.


    He accepted the verdict, he said, and hoped it provided "some measure of relief."


    But he did not apologize for killing Brosso and Bernas.


    Nor did he shed any light on the circumstances of their deaths. With no known witnesses to either murder, all that is known about each young woman's final moments is what has been pieced together from forensic evidence.


    "I wish I could provide answers to the questions you have," Miller said. "I have learned new things about myself in this process, and while I don't have all the answers, I hope to find some."

    The two murders, 30 years ago

    Miller was convicted of murdering the two women 10 months apart, killing Brosso in November 1992 on the eve of her 22nd birthday and Bernas, who was a 17-year-old high school student, in September 1993.

    Each young woman was out cycling along Phoenix canals when they were attacked. They both died from a forceful stab wound to the back and were mutilated and sexually assaulted after death.


    Brosso's body was found on the morning of Nov. 9, 1992, in a field just east of the apartment block where she lived with her boyfriend. She had been decapitated and subject to a knife attack so frenzied her torso was all but cut in two. Her head was found 11 days later in the Arizona Canal where it flows by Metrocenter.


    Brosso's body was also found in Arizona Canal, not far from where Brosso's head was located, on the morning of Sept. 22, 1993. She had carvings across her chest and a cut across her neck and had been dressed in a turquoise bodysuit.


    DNA evidence suggested the same man was responsible for both murders, but with no suspect to match it to, the case ran cold for two decades. Miller was arrested in January 2015 after new forensic analysis led police to him.


    He pleaded guilty for reasons of insanity and told experts he could not recall the murders.


    But after a lengthy bench trial, which ran in fits and starts in the Maricopa County Superior Court, he was found guilty last month.


    In the weeks since, the state has pursued the death penalty, while Miller's attorneys have sought to persuade Cohen he should receive a life sentence.


    'I know I am different'


    On Monday, Miller spoke for just over 2 minutes.

    He stood flanked by his defense attorneys as he addressed Cohen from the lectern, his voice firm and, for the most part, unwavering.


    His words were an allocution statement — an opportunity to address the judge prior to sentence — not testimony. Miller was neither sworn in nor questioned by anybody.


    He said he was sorry with regard to his daughter, who was 15 when he was arrested and charged with murder in 2015. Miller raised her as a single father after gaining full custody around 2008.


    "She means the world to me and if there's anything I can do to make this part of her life easier, I will do it," he said. "I was not a perfect father, but I tried my best."


    "I am sorry for the damage this experience has caused her. I miss her."


    Miller also talked about his childhood and experiences with his mother, a topic that dominated the trial, and declared he "wanted to learn more" about himself.


    "I know I am different. I didn't understand completely why. I thought it had to do with what my mother did to me," he said. "Growing up, I was scared. I was lost. I was confused. I was not allowed to express myself."


    "I want to get help in trying to open up the parts of me I know I have shut out."


    There was more he could say, he added, but "this has gone on long enough".


    Closing statements on Miller's sentence will begin Wednesday.

    https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2023/05/22/canal-killings-bryan-miller-finally-speaks-court/70245734007/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  3. #43
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    Bryan Patrick Miller's defense team argues for life in prison over death penalty

    By Marissa Sarbak
    Fox 10 News

    PHOENIX - Bryan Patrick Miller, known as the "Phoenix canal killer," is facing the death penalty for the brutal murders of two young women during the early 1990's.

    The sentencing phase of the trial is almost over as closing arguments began on May 24.

    Maricopa County Judge Suzanne Cohen will decide whether Miller lives or dies. On Wednesday, Miller’s defense team made closing arguments in their effort to spare his life.

    "I know for certain one thing, though. You do not have to kill Bryan in order to see justice done. I urge you to see Bryan … he is a kind guy. He is a caring guy. He is a loving guy. His life absolutely has value," a lawyer for Miller said.

    It's a seven-month-long murder trial coming to an end.

    Miller was present while his defense team delivered an hour-long summation, pleading with the judge to not sentence him to death, but instead to life behind bars.

    "When I speak about mercy, I am not asking the court to excuse Bryan’s actions. Your honor has found him responsible. There are no excuses, there are no justifications. Mercy means accepting that Bryan has done horrible things, but recognizing that he is a human being whose life has value," a lawyer said.

    Miller was convicted of mutilating and murdering two young women, 22-year-old Angela Brasso and 17-year-old Melanie Bernas, in 1992 and 1993.

    The defense attorney explained to the judge that Miller’s actions were the result of a traumatic and abusive childhood.

    "He is a vulnerable individual, and you should not use your power to kill vulnerable people. Bryan is somebody who cannot escape these experiences that he went through," his attorney said.

    Prosecution on May 25 will push for the death penalty for the sake of Angela's and Melanie's families.

    https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/br...-death-penalty
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  4. #44
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    Canal killings trial: Miller deserves death sentence for brutal murders, judge told

    By Lane Sainty
    The Arizona Republic

    It's possible, prosecutor Vince Imbordino said Thursday, that he was was about to try to persuade Judge Suzanne Cohen to make a decision she didn't want to make.

    It might be true, Imbordino said, it might not be.

    "Obviously," he told the judge, "none of us know what you're thinking."

    Cohen's face gave nothing away.

    The decision Imbordino was referring to is whether Cohen will sentence Bryan Miller to death for the murders of Angela Brosso and Melanie Bernas in Phoenix 30 years ago.

    The judge is in the unusual position of deciding alone if Miller will receive the death penalty, a decision whose moral weight is typically borne collectively by jurors.

    He was found guilty of the two murders in April after a six-month bench trial, at which he pleaded not guilty for reasons of insanity.

    Imbordino said Miller's defense attorney Richard Parker had argued the day prior that a death sentence wasn't necessary for justice.

    "(He argued) that the defendant is a broken man and that he doesn't deserve to be executed," Imbordino said. "My response to that is, who deserves to be executed depends upon what they did."

    What Miller did deserved execution, he said.

    Brosso was stabbed in the back on the evening of Nov. 8, 1992 as she cycled along a bike path close to her apartment home by Cactus Road and Interstate 17.

    After inflicting the fatal wound, Imbordino said, Miller, then 20, dragged her off the path to a darker area and "butchered" her.

    "I know we don’t like looking at these pictures, but this is what he did to Angela," he said, as he displayed a photo to Cohen, the image hidden from the public.

    "Just think of the time and the effort that was required to butcher this young woman, to have to turn her over side to side in order to try to transect her body and her lower spine," he said. "And take off her head."

    Brosso's body was found where she was mutilated, and her head located 11 days later in the Arizona Canal.

    Imbordino said it was unknown if Miller had carried her head to the canal the night he killed her or kept it somewhere for a period of time.

    "You could take the position that every murder is bad," he said. "This murder was horrific."

    On Sept. 21, 1993, he killed Bernas, by the I-17 underpass near Castles and Coasters, close to where Brosso's head was found.

    The 17-year-old high school student is also believed to have been cycling along the canal when she was attacked.

    Miller stabbed her, dragged her over the asphalt, cut across her neck and carved letters and a cross into her chest before dressing her in a turquoise bodysuit and dumping her into the canal, Imbordino said. The prosecutor suggested the carvings were a deliberate choice to mislead investigators, the bodysuit and disposal of her cut clothing clear signs of conscious planning.

    Bernas, like Brosso, was also sexually assaulted during the attack, Imbordino said.

    "The evidence not clear whether she was alive or dead, but most likely dead. Thank goodness," he said, before adding: "Hard to say that."

    'He did not give them a chance'

    "He did not give them a chance to live their lives," Imbordino said. "He chose to take that from them for his own sexual pleasure."

    The murders were driven by Miller's sexual sadism, Imbordino said, not by anger he harbored toward his mother, whose parenting was a significant focus of the trial.

    "A sexual sadist, and this defendant is such, has the ability to control their urges," he said. "He chose not to control them when he murdered Melanie and Angela."

    Imbordino asked where Miller's humanity and empathy — qualities Parker pointed to on Wednesday — were when he murdered Brosso and Bernas.

    "You may decide that today they're there," he told Cohen. "But they weren't there when it mattered the most."

    In a brief statement delivered to court Monday, Imbordino said, Miller had expressed no remorse for the murders.

    "I didn't hear him say he was remorseful for killing Melanie and Angela," he said. "I didn't hear those words. And somebody could say, 'Well, you have to read between the lines.'"

    But Cohen had to decide if Miller was deserving of mercy, Imbordino said.

    "One might say that if you're asking for mercy, perhaps — perhaps — it might be more warranted if you admitted what you did, if you took responsibility for what you did," he said.

    "Just to say, 'I'm sorry.'"

    Mitigating circumstances questioned

    Imbordino cast a skeptical eye over a list of 86 mitigating circumstances submitted by the defense.

    He suggested it had been inflated, giving as an example that three separate entries — "traumatic death of father", "loss of parental figure" and "death of parent at an early age" — appeared to all address Miller's father dying when he was five.

    "I don’t mean to minimize the loss of your father at an early age," Imbordino said. "My point is they listed three mitigating circumstances for what was one."

    Other things on the list were unproven (Miller's autism spectrum disorder) or irrelevant (his being an only child) or contradicted by other parts of the defense case (the fact he had positive friendships), Imbordino said.

    He wasn't trying to say Miller's childhood was normal, Imbordino said, though he reminded Cohen that Miller's mother Ellen, who died in 2010, has not been able to defend herself against the claims of physical and emotional abuse.

    In a brief rebuttal, Parker said Imbordino seemed to love using the phrase "sexual sadist."

    "They're painting Brian as a sexual sadist because they want you to think of him as a monster," he said. "That's the framing they want you to use when making a life and death decision."

    In fact, Parker said, sexual sadism disorder is a mental health disorder, and one of many reasons for a life sentence.

    "The world is not black and white," Parker told Cohen, as he argued Miller's actions were shaped by his traumatic childhood. "Bryan was not born a sexual sadist."

    'They didn't get to choose'

    Imbordino told Cohen that whatever mitigating circumstances she felt existed, they did not warrant leniency.

    "What he stole from these young women deserves execution," he said. The planning, the thinking, the brutality, the gravity of the murders, the impact on the families — it all had to be considered.

    "This will sound harsh, I'm sure," Imbordino said, as he drew to a close.

    "Angela and Melanie didn't get to choose when they died. They didn't get to choose the day, the hour, the moment."

    "This defendant deserves to know the day, the hour, of his death, for what he did."

    Cohen said she is aiming to hand down the sentence on June 7, but the date may change.

    https://www.azcentral.com/story/news...d/70257102007/
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

  5. #45
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    Fate of the Zombie Hunter in hands of judge

    By Morgan Loew
    AZFamily News


    PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- A Maricopa County Superior Court judge is weighing the fate of the serial killer who referred to himself as the Zombie Hunter. Bryan Patrick Miller was found guilty in April of the murders of Angela Brosso and Melanie Bernas.

    Brosso was killed in 1992, the night before her 22nd birthday. Bernas was killed the following year. She was 17 years old. Both women’s bodies were sliced with a knife, showing signs of sexual assault. It took detectives more than 20 years to link the murders to Miller. It was another eight years before the guilty verdict.

    On Thursday morning, prosecutor Vince Imbordino urged Judge Suzanne Cohen to sentence Miller to death. “The brutality of what he did, the impact this had on the family of these young women, what he stole from these young women deserves execution. And this will sound harsh. Angela and Melanie didn’t get to choose when they died. They didn’t get to choose the day, the hour, the moment. This defendant deserves to know the day, the hour of his death,” said Imbordino.

    Defense attorney RJ Parker urged Judge Cohen to have mercy on Miller. He argued that forces beyond Miller’s control when he was a child made it so he would never have a normal adulthood. Parker introduced testimony during the trial that indicated Miller was physically and mentally abused by his mother and suffered from autism and mental illness.

    “I started by saying Bryan’s life is in your hands. No truer words can be spoken at this moment. Please give meaning to the humanity in everything you have learned about Bryan,” said Parker. “His life still has value beyond measure. We ask that you impose a verdict of life in prison.”

    https://www.azfamily.com/2023/05/26/...r-hands-judge/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  6. #46
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    Phoenix ‘Zombie Hunter’ to face sentencing this week

    The judge has reached a verdict in the penalty phase of the trial

    By AZFamily Digital News Staff

    PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - A serial killer who referred to himself as the “Zombie Hunter” will learn this week if he’ll spend the rest of his life in prison or be sentenced to death. That decision will be announced Wednesday afternoon.

    Bryan Patrick Miller was convicted of murdering Angela Brosso in 1992 and Melanie Bernas the following year along the Phoenix canals. Brosso died the night before her 22nd birthday, while Bernas was 17 when she was killed. Investigators found both women had been sliced with a knife and showed signs of sexual assault. Miller was linked to the murders 20 years later.

    Miller’s trial finally got underway last September, and the judge found him guilty in April. The sentencing phase of the trial happened last month, where Miller spoke in court for the first time. “I am not looking for sympathy today,” he said on May 22. “This time is for the family and the friends of the victims. I cannot imagine what pain they have endured for all these years.”

    Judge Suzanne Cohen will announce her decision on June 7 at 1:30 p.m. at the Maricopa County Superior Court in downtown Phoenix.

    https://www.azfamily.com/2023/06/06/...outputType=amp
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

  7. #47
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    'Canal killer' sentenced to death

    Nearly 30 years after the murders, Bryan Patrick Miller was sentenced to death on Wednesday

    By John Tanet
    12news.com

    PHOENIX — Three decades after the shocking murders of Angela Brosso and Melanie Bernas, their killer, Bryan Patrick Miller, was sentenced to death.

    The court found Miller's age and history of abuse at the time of the murders were mitigating factors in the case, but not significant enough to grant leniency.

    The "Canal Murders" that Miller was found guilty of in April were a pair of killings dating back to the early 1990s. The bodies of Melanie Bernas, 21, and Angela Brosso, 17, were found in the Arizona Canal near Metrocenter Mall in 1993 and 1992, respectively.

    Miller was accused of the crime after DNA linked him to both deaths in 2015.

    Miller's trial started in October of 2022 where his defense attempted to argue that he was not guilty by reason of insanity. They said Miller does not remember the attacks and was abused by his mother as a child. According to their arguments, Miller had developed a complex dissociative disorder in response to early childhood trauma.

    After waiving his right to a trial, Miller's case was heard directly by a judge who disagreed with the insanity defense. Miller was found guilty on both murder charges, as well as charges of kidnapping and attempted sexual assault.

    Wednesday's sentencing puts an end to the protracted legal battle, but it could be some time until the execution takes place.

    https://www.12news.com/article/news/...1-8b9e12520258
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  8. #48
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    Excellent. MC is continuing to be one of the best counties for securing a death sentence.
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

  9. #49
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Maybe he would have had better luck getting LWOP had he opted for a jury trial, instead of a judge.
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  10. #50
    Senior Member CnCP Addict one_two_bomb's Avatar
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    Since he used an insanity defense, maybe he thought he was better off with a bench trial. Insanity defenses are pretty hard, because instead of "innocent until proven guilty" and the burden of proof resting on the state, now the burden of proof rests with the defense to convince the jury (or judge) that the defendant was/is insane

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