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Dennis "Chubb''
Miller showed no emotion when he was formally sentenced to die for
the rape and murder of his wife, Sherry, in 1995.
In imposing the
sentence, Chester County Court Judge Howard F. Riley Jr. said he was
troubled that Miller showed a lack of remorse for the killing.
In a letter
Miller wrote to the court, he placed the responsibility for the
murder on his wife, Riley said. Miller was convicted of first-degree
murder, rape and related charges after a non-jury trial that ended
Oct. 1.
Riley announced
that Miller would get the death penalty, but he held off on the
formal sentence so appeal periods from other related charges would
run together.
Miller served
jail time in 1995 for holding a gun to his wife's head. While there,
his cell mate, Michael D. Torres, testified during the trial, Miller
told him that he planned to kill his wife.
Sherry Miller
wrote a letter asking a judge to parole him early. Dennis Miller was
released in September 1995. Two months later, his wife was found
murdered.
According to an
account Dennis Miller gave to a clinical psychologist, the couple
returned to their Chatham home from a tavern about 12:30 or 1:00
a.m. He had about 12 beers that day, and he and Sherry Miller had
taken methamphetamines.
Then his wife
said she wanted him to move out the next day because her boyfriend
was moving in. He went into a rage and "everything went black,''
until he found himself sitting on top of his wife, who appeared to
be dead.
Dennis Miller,
who was featured on America's Most Wanted, spent five months on the
run before he was arrested in Florida in May 1996. Miller's lawyer
has 30 days to appeal the sentence. There are still appeals pending
and this execution is not likely to take place on this date. |
