In 2014, a genealogist who uses ancestry databases in her research was given access to the DNA gathered in the investigations and eventually came up with the last name Miller. The Phoenix Police Department’s cold-case unit was on the cases again in 2011, according to court records. The killings faded from public attention after police were unable to link the DNA profile collected from the scenes to a specific suspect. Authorities said semen evidence collected in the aftermath of both crimes showed the attacks were linked to the same suspect. Ten months later, Bernas’ body was discovered floating in the canal. Brosso was found nude and decapitated in a field near a bike path that’s adjacent to the canal. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.īrosso and Bernas disappeared in north Phoenix near the Arizona Canal. Miller has maintained he is innocent and pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, kidnappings, and attempted sexual assault. Police said Miller denied any involvement in the killings but acknowledged living in the vicinity at the time and said he rode his bike on bike paths in the area. who was charged with sexually attacking and fatally stabbing Melanie Bernas and Angela Brosso nearly 30 years ago near a canal system in metro Phoenix, is mentally fit to stand trial.Īuthorities said DNA evidence links Miller to the deaths Brosso and Bernas. Parker, one of Miller’s attorneys, didn’t return phone messages seeking comment on the mental fitness ruling.Ī judge has found that Bryan Patrick Miller. The expert conceded Miller might be been faking amnesia, the judge wrote. In an evaluation conducted by a defense expert, Miller denied having amnesia and appeared annoyed by the suggestion that he may have dissociative amnesia. In ruling on Miller’s current mental fitness, Cohen wrote, "other than the claimed inability to remember the charged offenses, defendant presently has a rational understanding of the charges against him and the nature of the proceedings."
Arizona zombie hunter trial#
In a court filing in September, Miller’s attorneys denied trying to delay their client’s trial and said another expert working with the defense team will offer an opinion that Miller has dissociative amnesia, a mental disorder in which a person can’t remember traumatic events.
A prosecutor has characterized Miller’s insanity defense bid as a delay tactic, saying Miller’s lawyers didn’t bring up such a defense until six years after the case was filed.
0 kommentar(er)
