A Long Island man charged with murdering his father, a retired Suffolk County cop, admitted “he shot his father four times with a shotgun before driving the pointed end of the weapon into his head to finish him off”, prosecutors said Thursday.
Christopher Miller, 43, appeared in Suffolk County First District Court, charged with the murder of John ‘Jack’ Miller, 75, a retired Suffolk County Police detective.
Miller, wearing a white Tyvek suit and handcuffs, told the judge he wanted a different lawyer to represent him before he blurted out he was “not guilty by insanity”.
“Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” replied Judge Eric Sachs.
John Miller reported on Tuesday that his son, who works for the Suffolk County Water Authority, was missing — not realizing the younger man had been involved in a car crash the day before, on St. Patrick’s Day, and then was hospitalized after a fight with the other motorist, police said.
When Miller was released from the hospital and went home the next morning he and his dad got into an argument during which the son killed his father, prosecutors said.
Assistant District Attorney Eric Aboulafia said after John Miller was “gunned down” in the kitchen of the home father and son shared on Bruno Lane in Dix Hills Wednesday morning the suspect ran.
“Video surveillance from the block captured the sound of those four gunshots, as well as this defendant fleeing the home moments after he took his father’s life,” Aboulafia said. “This defendant then made efforts to steal a landscaping truck and when unsuccessful, hid in a shed on a residential property on Seaman Neck Road, just down the block from the home.”
Prosecutors said the cop that responded to the home where Miller was spotted by its owners taking cover in the shed was the same officer who had spoken to Miller’s father the day before when the dad made a report that his son was missing. The officer had told John Miller his son had been in the wreck on St. Patrick’s Day.
“The victim was relieved and was thankful as he had been worried about his son’s welfare, a man who would take his life the following day,” said Aboulafia.
The responding officer, recognizing the man in the shed as Miller, told him his father was worried about him and offered him a ride home in his squad car.
“Little did that officer know that he’d be driving to a murder scene with a killer in his vehicle,” said Aboulafia.
Body camera footage captured Miller and the officer’s arrival at the house on Bruno Lane and the moment the officer discovered John Miller’s body on the floor in a pool of blood, prosecutors said.
John Miller worked for the Suffolk Count Police Department for 24 years before retiring in 1995, authorities said.
Miller was immediately arrested and later made a videotaped confession to the killing, telling police he had laid out the shotgun and an AR-15 on his bed the night before, Aboulafia said.
Miller was ordered held without bail.
Dan Russo, Miller’s defense attorney, said that it was unusual for a client to attempt to plead guilty due to insanity during his first court appearance. “It’s rare for anybody to say anything at an arraignment,” he said.
When approached after the arraignment, the Miller family declined to speak to reporters.
Miller is due back in court March 24.