Des Moines sports radio host on relationship with Marty Tirrell: '... And Miller' haunts me

Des Moines sports talk radio host Ken Miller shared some of the first-hand frustrations of his on-and-off working relationship with co-host Martin "Marty" Tirrell in a monologue that surpassed 20 minutes Friday, two days after Tirrell's arrest for six federal fraud charges tied to the alleged swindling of at least eight people out of $1.5 million.

Miller, speaking on his "Miller and Condon" show on KXNO-AM in Des Moines, detailed that he was among those interviewed by the Ankeny Police Department and later the FBI to corroborate some of the charges presented against Tirrell, 59, who was to remain in Polk County Jail until space was available and he was accepted to a residential release facility. 

He said he heard the news of Tirrell's arrest Wednesday afternoon among several groups of people who had been communicating and sharing information about progression in a year-long federal investigation of Tirrell.

"As a group, I don't think we were euphoric," he said in his opening segment. "We certainly weren't sad. Not at all. None of us. Nope. None of us.

"We were relieved, maybe."

Tirrell, who hosted popular talk shows for years on stations including KXNO and appeared on Mediacom's local cable shows, told investors that, with their money, he could buy sports tickets and resell them at a profit they could all share, an indictment alleges. 

Tirrell originally paid his financiers back and provided them with VIP access to events, federal court records filed Jan. 23 show. But eventually, the government says, Tirrell began lying to the victims and using their money on personal items, or to pay back other investors.

To placate people wondering where their money was, he would send out checks he knew would bounce and provide victims with false wire transfer information, according to court documents.

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Miller said his relationship with Tirrell stemmed back to the formation of The Jock radio station in 1996.

KXNO was among the stations that hosted some version of the "Marty and Miller" program. And at times, Miller said, the success of the show was undeniable. The needle moved, the sales staff was succeeding. 

That portion of the relationship "hit the fan," as Miller put it, with Tirrell's profanity-laced rant while arguing with late co-host Larry Cotlar in 2009.

"I think he really started to go down a dark, dark path," Miller said.

But it wasn't the last time Tirrell and Miller collaborated. Their show lived on through an ill-fated Mediacom TV simulcast that Miller left in the summer of 2017.

Miller said if he had been "a part of (Tirrell's alleged actions) or even connected in any way, you would have thought it would have been public knowledge by now, that for some reason I'd have been caught up in this thing. And I'm not. I sleep very well at night.

"I sleep better now since the arrest has happened, just because I know (Tirrell) can't continue some of the shenanigans he pulled for so many years."

Miller said on air that throughout his relationship with Tirrell, his knowledge of Tirrell's day-to-day activities ended as soon as the day's program went off the air. Miller said he would race to a job at Prairie Meadows in the early days of his tenure with Tirrell, and that any sales calls or other workplace deals were conducted within the initial runs of a given program to help an iteration of the show get off the ground.

"I had no idea what he was doing when I wasn't with him," Miller said.

Miller said that he has become aware of the identities of six of the initial eight victims of Tirrell's alleged schemes, and that he may speak more after the conclusion of Tirrell's criminal trial, scheduled to begin April 1.

Tirrell wore his signature glasses and a green Polk County Jail jumpsuit at his hearing Thursday, seemingly relaxed as the parties discussed his detention. 

Tirrell has been the defendant in numerous civil lawsuits that alleged similar scams — online Iowa court records include at least 24 small claims and other civil actions against him. He was charged with felony theft for a couple of days in 2017 in connection with not paying for a flight that took him and eight friends to the last game of the World Series between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians the previous fall, but the charge was dropped after Tirrell paid the bill.

"There are more people. $1.5 million. Hmm," Miller said derisively. "You don't know half the story, I don't think, I think it's significantly more than that."

And even though Miller did have some positive experiences on the air with Tirrell — "there was good times, we did good radio" — the connection has come with a personal cost.

"(Thursday) was not a good day. I'll tell you why. It's two words. It's two words. 'And Miller,'" he said, referring to the "Marty and Miller" program name. "I hate those words. I'll always be associated with them.

"... 'And Miller' haunts me. And it was so much fun. Started my career in sports talk radio. 'And Miller.' 'And Miller' left a mark yesterday.

"It's not about me. It's about the victims, the people whose lives were ruined."