DNA connects man to two cold case murders in Bremerton, Boise

PORT ORCHARD, Wash. — The killer who was tracked through DNA is being sentenced to a total of 42 years for two cold case murders.

One case is the 1992 murder of a Bremerton woman. Lee Miller is also tied to a cold case killing in Boise, with detectives in both cities teaming up to crack the case.

Miller appeared Wednesday in the Ada County Superior Court in Boise, Idaho where he was sentenced to 25 years for the 1994 murder of Cheryle Barratt. He appeared on closed-circuit TV at the same time in Kitsap County Superior Court in Washington state where he was then sentenced to 17 years in the 1992 murder of Marilyn Hickey.

“I think it was just,” said Bremerton police cold case Detective Martin Garland. “It’s nice to see that our victim here and victim in Idaho finally got justice after 27 long years. I was in court today because I wanted to see the resolution of this case for the families.”

Miller had been on the run for 27 years, started a family, and is about to become a grandfather. He is also about to become a prison inmate after pleading guilty in the murder of Marilyn Hickey, a former friend of his in Bremerton.

Hickey was found dead in her apartment. She was last seen with a man. They didn't know who it was, but they did have a sketch. The sketch was put together with the help of one of the last people to see Hickey alive, the bartender at the Drift Inn near the ferry terminal. But, the case was never solved.

In 2008, cold case detectives sent the DNA found on her clothes to the national database, but there were no matches.

Then, something huge happened. The DNA in the Bremerton case matched the DNA in the cold case in Boise. It was the murder of Cheryle Barratt, but there still was no name.

Last year, the two departments compared notes again. Bremerton heard the name Lee Miller from a friend of a friend whose name was on a slip of paper in Hickey's purse -- and Boise also had his name on their list.

"He wasn't a suspect in either one of our cases at the time," said Detective Martin Garland with the Bremerton Police Department. "But because he was the only person that was in both of our case files, we identified him as likely the person that was responsible."

They got his DNA from a tossed out cigarette -- the DNA matched.

It is the latest in a string of cold cases solved. "It brings me joy to think of bad guys out there, everywhere that are wondering about that next knock on their door."

Miller is now housed in jail in Idaho and is appearing on video closed circuit for Wednesdays sentencing from a courtroom in Boise. That is where he pleaded guilty to the murder in Idaho and began serving his time in the Idaho state prison system. It was part of his plea agreement to be near his family.

So far, he hasn't told detectives why he did what he did and since there won't be any trials we may never find out.

Miller is still being investigated because when detectives asked him if there were any more murder victims he said, “I don’t know. I hope not.”