Dad serves "brief sentence" for contract on mom; son goes into law enforcement (Dallas, Texas)

Fascinating story about dad DAN MILLER, and his plot to kill his wife for insurance money back in 1969. The plot was foiled when the hired gun squealed, and the dad later served a "brief sentence." One of the couple's sons channeled his anger about his father and his crime into a career in law enforcement. Just recently, the son went public with his past.

Of course, nowadays the son would be accused of having parental alienation syndrome (PAS), even though the mother--as if in staggering shock by her husband's attempt to put a contract out on her life--"reconciled" with her husband by his trial.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-miller_31met.ART.State.Edition2.2977df3.html

Dallas lieutenant's secret has a purpose

02:22 PM CDT on Monday, May 31, 2010
By SCOTT GOLDSTEIN / The Dallas Morning News
sgoldstein@dallasnews.com

At first, the murder-for-hire plot that Dallas police Lt. Craig Miller is discussing does not seem much more alarming than some of the hundreds of investigations he oversees as commander of the homicide unit.

"Dan," a Tennessee clothing plant manager with a wife, four kids and an eye for women, wants his wife dead so he can collect on her life insurance policy. He proposes a brutal murder plot to a television repairman, who reports the plan to authorities, leading to "Dan's" arrest and conviction and the dismantling of a family.

But there's a twist: "Dan" is Miller's dad.

For the first time in his 28-year career, the police commander who oversees Dallas murder-for-hire investigations as part of his job is speaking publicly about the 40-year-old crime that tore apart his family and impacts his work today.

"It's not something I'm proud of. It's not something I had any involvement in," Miller said during a workshop at a crimes against women conference. "It does give me an enhanced perspective of what victims go through."

At 10 years old, Miller was living a comfortable life in 1969. His father, James Daniel Miller, was an executive at a women's clothing company. The family owned horses and participated in horse shows.

That life ended suddenly.

Under financial pressure, Dan Miller thought of his murder plot as he drove home from a Knoxville horse show in October 1969, he admitted during his trial the next year.

An acquaintance he spoke to about the plot went to state police investigators, who sent an undercover agent posing as an "out of town hoodlum" willing to commit the crime. Dan Miller gave the agent $500 up front, along with specific instructions:

Wait until the Miller children leave for school. Shoot Patricia Miller once in the head. Douse her with gasoline and burn the house down.

For his services, the killer would get another $1,000.

Instead, Dan Miller went to jail.

Time of turmoil

Craig Miller remembers the four agents in dark suits and sunglasses who greeted him at home the day the plot was supposed to have gone off. His mother was in tears. "Murder Plot Laid to Hendersonville Man," read the Oct. 14, 1969, headline in The Tennessean newspaper.

By the time the case went to trial the next year, the couple had reconciled. Patricia Miller was described in a newspaper story as "petite with red hair." She stood by her husband's side during court recesses and after he served a brief prison sentence.

Two years later, Dan Miller left his wife. Craig Miller went to live with his grandparents, who became the guiding force in his teenage years.

"They were just incredibly loving, caring, common-sense folks," said the Rev. Paul Frank, a Lutheran minister in Tennessee who mentored Miller and later presided over his wedding. Frank said Miller mentioned his family turmoil but did not let it define him.

"He never dwelled on it or lived in the past or felt like he should be given special privileges because he had a hard early childhood," Frank said.

Still, the anger toward his father was always there. When Miller got word his father was en route to his high school graduation, he called the police and had him arrested for failure to pay child support.

He coped by cutting his dad out of his life. He worked his way through college at Memphis State University, where he was assisted by financial aid and a partial scholarship as a cheerleader.

Miller graduated, moved to Dallas and joined the Police Department in 1982. Two years later he married his wife, with whom he has two daughters and one son. Miller's mother battled depression in her later years and died in 2002 during heart bypass surgery. His father died a few years later of heart-related problems. He told few people about his past until he saw an opening to use it as a teaching tool this year.


Assisting families

Dallas police investigate roughly five or fewer murder-for-hire plots every year and Miller has supervised about a dozen in his three years in the homicide unit.

They are unique in part because investigators generally don't have enough information to immediately arrest the perpetrators. Instead, they have the challenge of quickly building a strong criminal case without risking the safety of the potential victim.

They are also unusual in the destructive impact they can have on a family even if no violence occurs. That aspect always strikes a chord with Miller.

"I think he understands the ramifications of those cases on everybody," said recently retired Assistant Chief Ron Waldrop, Miller's former boss. "He will think more about the police response and other things we can do to assist the family through it."

That seems to be true in regular homicide cases, too. He talks often about cases involving innocent victims and the impact they have on surviving relatives.

Hours after a Dallas Morning News contract delivery driver was fatally shot, the victim's relatives stood behind Miller as he spoke to reporters. Miller was later seen embracing them.

Miller says he long ago came to terms with what happened in his family. But he does not pretend to have found forgiveness. There is emotion in his voice when he tells his audience at the March conference that he is one of "Dan's" children. He is blunt.

"I hated the guy, and when he died I didn't give a rat's ass," Miller said.

Those close to him insist that he uses his emotional scars as a form of motivation.

"Adversity can tear someone down or can make him stronger," said Clarence "Buck" Jones, Miller's father-in-law. "In his case, he used it as a building block."

Lt. Jeff Cotner has been Miller's best friend since they met in the police academy. In the past, he has encouraged Miller to let go of the anger toward his father.

"He has his reasons for still carrying that," Cotner said. "I don't think that's negative when you really spin it. He really does have a soft side to him. He really loves his family and he'll do damn near anything for his children. There's a father side to him that he didn't have."