Dateline NBC S32E09 On the Hunt for the Zombie Hunter H 264

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00:00:09Tonight, on Dateline.

00:00:12Angela went out for a bike ride around dusk.

00:00:14She never came back.

00:00:17We thought it was someone she knew at the time.

00:00:20That she was living with?

00:00:21A boyfriend, yeah.

00:00:23Then, details started coming.

00:00:25It was surreal.

00:00:27What did you find out about the zombie hunter?

00:00:30That really caught our attention.

00:00:31It said zombie hunter on the vehicle.

00:00:34The zombie hunter car.

00:00:35The zombie hunter car, yeah, with the dummy in the back.

00:00:38You had everything there.

00:00:39Bars, handcuffs.

00:00:4217-year-old Melanie was riding her bike.

00:00:45She was later found floating in the canal.

00:00:47The way she was killed just traumatizes you.

00:00:51There is a madman on the loose.

00:00:54I thought we would never know who did this.

00:00:57Everybody wanted to find this guy.

00:01:01Does either of you think that there are more murders that we don't know about?

00:01:05I do.

00:01:06The FBI profile said killer would not stop.

00:01:11The zombie hunter.

00:01:12It sounds like a Halloween costume, but was this one worn by a killer?

00:01:16I'm Lester Holt, and this is Dateline.

00:01:28Here's Keith Morrison with On the Hunt for the Zombie Hunter.

00:01:41It was a Sunday evening in November, Phoenix, Arizona.

00:01:45A wash of cool air, finally, as the sun dropped behind the valley's mountains.

00:01:51She loved this time alone, as she pedaled the long path by the canal that snaked through the city, and

00:01:59out along the valley floor.

00:02:00She could think on her bike, prepare.

00:02:05But, of course, we can't really know what she was thinking.

00:02:10Can only imagine, all these years later.

00:02:14Can only remember.

00:02:17That has burned into my brain.

00:02:19I'll never, ever forget that.

00:02:23No, not that horror.

00:02:28Or the fear that went with it.

00:02:32I was really scared.

00:02:34I always thought that he was hiding around my apartment, like, waiting in a bush to kill me.

00:02:39It still gives me goosebumps and a pit in my stomach.

00:02:47What was it haunting the Arizona Canal?

00:02:54I think it's just evil and deep, and more than we know.

00:03:12But now, back up.

00:03:14Months before that bike ride by the canal, when life was still normal, better than normal, exciting.

00:03:22It was 1992.

00:03:24Technological innovation was exploding everywhere.

00:03:28Phoenix, eager to be a leader,

00:03:30had become a magnet for young, ambitious people ready to make their mark.

00:03:34People like Jill Kelly, who worked for a company called Cintillect.

00:03:39They were one of the first companies to do interactive voice response,

00:03:45which back then was, you call your bank, and you wanted to find out your balance,

00:03:50and so you'd enter your account number over the telephone,

00:03:53and it would speak the balance back to you.

00:03:56Was this all kind of new, cutting-edge stuff at the time?

00:03:59Yeah, it was.

00:04:00When I started working there, it really started booming, and...

00:04:04What did it feel like to be working for a company on the cusp of all new things?

00:04:09It was fun and interesting, and most of the people there were young and smart.

00:04:14In that talented crowd, the new hire stood out.

00:04:19Her name was Angela Brasso.

00:04:22It was going to be her very first grown-up job.

00:04:26What were your impressions of Angela when she came on board?

00:04:28She was just very composed and very intelligent,

00:04:33and could really portray herself well,

00:04:37which you need to be able to do in front of a classroom full of customers.

00:04:44Classroom of customers?

00:04:46Um, yes.

00:04:47Companies that bought the technology had to learn how to use it,

00:04:51and bright young Angela was just the person to teach them.

00:04:55Or so Cintillect decided.

00:04:57She was brought in to develop a class for a new product,

00:05:02and she worked diligently for four months,

00:05:06and her first class with customers flying in from all around the country.

00:05:12That must have been a very big thing that she was looking forward to.

00:05:16Oh, yeah.

00:05:17Yeah, I mean, we were all helping her get ready, and it was a big thing.

00:05:23Was she nervous?

00:05:24I'm sure she was a little nervous, yeah.

00:05:28Sunday evening, the eve of her big day,

00:05:31Angela put on her white sneakers, her Walkman, and her headphones,

00:05:35and left the apartment she shared with her boyfriend.

00:05:39He was baking a cake for her birthday, her 22nd, the very next day.

00:05:45She needed time alone.

00:05:48It was going dark by the time she got on her bike.

00:05:51She loved that bike.

00:05:53Loved the long ride up and down the canal.

00:05:56Loved the solitude, the peace, time to think.

00:06:01Maybe the time to settle her nerves.

00:06:04The next morning was going to be the most important of her young professional life,

00:06:07and she had to be ready.

00:06:09And so she rode.

00:06:14And then, Monday morning, November 9th, 1992.

00:06:20We were waiting for her to come in for this class to begin.

00:06:25We had customers sitting there, and no Angela.

00:06:30Deb Littlejohn was Angela's boss.

00:06:33And she didn't show up, didn't show up, didn't show up.

00:06:38Finally, one of the others stepped in to teach Angela's class.

00:06:42But where was she?

00:06:44She'd been so looking forward to this.

00:06:47Angela's workstation, as it happened, was right next to Jill's.

00:06:51The phone on her desk rang, and I just automatically picked it up.

00:06:56And it was her mother.

00:06:58And she asked to speak to Angela.

00:07:02And I said, she's not here at the moment.

00:07:05And her mother just really didn't say much more.

00:07:10But it was, it was chilling.

00:07:13So you could tell her mother was looking for her, and it was pretty freaked out.

00:07:19Yeah.

00:07:21And so it began a decades-long mystery.

00:07:24Though the first part, where was Angela, was not a mystery for long.

00:07:29No.

00:07:31That was when the horror began.

00:07:35Are you sure this is happening?

00:07:38It's unbelievable.

00:07:57Angela Brasso's workmates knew right away that Monday morning in 1992, this was no ordinary absence.

00:08:05Not a case of nerves.

00:08:06No sudden, unannounced resignation.

00:08:09Something was up, and it couldn't be good.

00:08:13She never would have, you know, not come in on time on this particular day.

00:08:20It was her 22nd birthday, and Jill Kelly knew she had worked hard to prepare for her very first class

00:08:27as an instructor.

00:08:29So where was she?

00:08:32Angela's mother, thousands of miles to the east, could only phone, and phone, and phone.

00:08:39It wasn't like Angela not to pick up.

00:08:42And she was really concerned.

00:08:49Angela's boyfriend had called her mother the night before, told her Angela left to ride her bike, but didn't come

00:08:56home.

00:08:57He got so worried he called the police to report her missing.

00:09:01She'd gone on a bike ride, which was somewhat routine for her.

00:09:05Kevin Robinson was the spokesperson for the Phoenix police back then.

00:09:09She would always come home in time enough to watch a particular show on television.

00:09:13So it was so unusual when she didn't come back.

00:09:17Angela's boyfriend, Joe, told police he had stayed home Sunday night to bake Angela a birthday cake.

00:09:22But after an hour or so passed, he went out on his bike to look for her at 8.30,

00:09:28at 9.30, and again just before 11 p.m.

00:09:32No sign of her.

00:09:33And that is when Joe called 911.

00:09:37But police noted this.

00:09:39After he reported Angela missing, he called another woman who came to their apartment just before midnight.

00:09:46He said he didn't want to be alone.

00:09:48There were some strange things about it, most definitely.

00:09:51And so obviously it drew the attention of the detectives, who may want to just find out a little bit

00:09:57more.

00:09:57Police learned that Angela and Joe had been dating for more than a year and a half.

00:10:01They rented an apartment together when she moved to Phoenix in June of 92.

00:10:07They'd even bought matching 21-speed Diamondback Topanga mountain bikes.

00:10:12Angela's was her favorite color, purple.

00:10:15She loved life, and she enjoyed riding her bike, and she was, you know, 22 and fearless.

00:10:25Angela had always been bold.

00:10:27She grew up in a small Pennsylvania town called Camp Hill,

00:10:31but moved across the country to study at the DeVry Institute of Technology in Los Angeles.

00:10:37And she was a good student, eager, ambitious.

00:10:41Deb Littlejohn was impressed.

00:10:44Her genuineness came through in her interview, and she had a sense of humor, you could tell.

00:10:52She'd always make you laugh or smile.

00:10:55We kind of got there at the same time.

00:10:58Chuck Fitzgerald was a co-worker.

00:11:00He and she were both assigned to the new interactive voice response system.

00:11:05It was new stuff that no one else was ever doing.

00:11:08So it was pretty exciting to be involved in all that, both for me and I think for her as

00:11:13well.

00:11:13And she figured it out?

00:11:14Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. She figured it out.

00:11:16Yep, she was bright.

00:11:17No way Angela would miss teaching her first class.

00:11:21Unless she couldn't show up.

00:11:23All that day, they waited and worried.

00:11:27And then late afternoon, detectives showed up at the door.

00:11:31A woman's body had been found by the canal.

00:11:35And they knew now, this was Angela's.

00:11:40She had been murdered, sexually assaulted, and stabbed to death.

00:11:47Now, that was horrific.

00:11:50First, she's missing, and you don't know where she is.

00:11:53And then you find out that she was killed.

00:11:57And it just affected us incredibly for just months and even years.

00:12:04And even now, when I think about it, I feel the same way that I did way back then.

00:12:11You have a lot of people who work for you that come and go.

00:12:15But when you have something like this go on, it really kind of cements you in the moment.

00:12:24Chuck was at a sales meeting halfway around the world in Thailand when he heard what happened, bit by bit.

00:12:30I remember sharing every one of those conversations we had with the Cinelex CEO and just what that did to

00:12:40the atmosphere of the sales meeting, learning what had happened.

00:12:44What did that feel like when you heard it?

00:12:46It was just bizarre.

00:12:48This can't be happening.

00:12:51Angie, really?

00:12:52It just couldn't be happening.

00:12:57Oh, but it was.

00:12:59And it was about to get worse.

00:13:03And then details started coming.

00:13:06It was surreal.

00:13:08A lot of detectives who had been on the department for a very long time and seen a lot of

00:13:13things had never seen anything as bad as this.

00:13:30On the afternoon of November 9th, 1992, William Herman got the assignment he will never forget.

00:13:38Herman had been following an unusual career path.

00:13:41A year earlier, he had left his job as a school principal to work for the Arizona Republic newspaper.

00:13:48I got a call that day and they said, we need you to come in early and go out.

00:13:53And they told me we're up by Cactus Road and the I-17.

00:13:57They said, you'll figure it out when you get there.

00:13:58And I did.

00:14:00It was serious.

00:14:01There could be no doubt about that.

00:14:03Just based on the area the police had cordoned off.

00:14:07How bad, though?

00:14:08He couldn't tell.

00:14:10He couldn't see the crime scene.

00:14:12So he turned to a friend.

00:14:15A television reporter I knew had a long lens on it.

00:14:20And he let me take a look.

00:14:22And it was about as bad as it gets.

00:14:26What did you see?

00:14:27It was of a woman's naked body.

00:14:30She had shoes and socks on, I believe.

00:14:32But the head was gone.

00:14:33Hers, she'd been beheaded.

00:14:35Oh, my God.

00:14:35I tell you, obviously my blood froze and she was eviscerated.

00:14:41That is burned into my brain.

00:14:43That is burned into my brain.

00:14:45I'll never, ever forget that.

00:14:47It was a extremely horrific, gruesome murder.

00:14:52For those who knew Angela, the news was simply unbelievable.

00:14:58We, as a group, the whole group of us, got together and went over to where they found her.

00:15:06We couldn't believe it.

00:15:08We were all shocked and, of course, distraught.

00:15:12I can't imagine what that must have felt like.

00:15:15It leaves you kind of numb.

00:15:17I sat down in the dirt and wrote my story and called it in to my editor.

00:15:21But I stayed out there looking and trying to get police to talk to me.

00:15:26And they were under orders not to talk to the likes of me, I can tell you that.

00:15:35No one could understand the sheer brutality of it.

00:15:39In something like a state of shock, reporter Herman joined others in a macabre and fruitless search.

00:15:47As I was looking for Angela Brasso's head, there was a feeling of the horror of the thing.

00:15:53And there were other people out there, you know.

00:15:55And someone would pass me, a police, firefighter.

00:15:59And we'd exchange looks of, you know, the looks of, good God, this is the word, you know.

00:16:06And some few murmured words.

00:16:12Nor did the horror end.

00:16:14For more than a week, police searched for the rest of Angela Brasso.

00:16:19And finally, on the 11th day, a local drifter called the Fisher King,

00:16:24for his habit of fishing the canal,

00:16:26found her head in the water.

00:16:29Said he just came upon it.

00:16:32But police said it seemed preserved somehow,

00:16:35as if refrigerated.

00:16:38And the whole city seemed to shudder.

00:16:41It caught hold of everyone.

00:16:43It was in the air.

00:16:46There was something else in the air, too.

00:16:48Fear.

00:16:50My God, there is a madman on the loose.

00:16:54You know, there is a bad guy out there.

00:16:57Everybody wanted to find this guy.

00:17:00This is somebody who identified a victim,

00:17:03attacked that victim, killed that victim.

00:17:06And were they capable of doing that another time?

00:17:09Or have they done it already?

00:17:10Were there any obvious things,

00:17:12like any clues or any witnesses who may have seen something happen?

00:17:17No, there wasn't.

00:17:19When you talk about starting at ground zero,

00:17:21that's truly where the detectives started.

00:17:24But why Angela?

00:17:26Either she was just an unlucky random victim,

00:17:29or, well, there's a kind of killing that is sadly more common.

00:17:33A killing that often involves overkill,

00:17:35a huge amount of rage,

00:17:37the domestic kind.

00:17:40And Angela's friends began wondering

00:17:42about the boyfriend, Joe,

00:17:45who said he was at home, baking a cake.

00:17:49We thought it was someone she knew at the time.

00:17:52That she was living with?

00:17:53A boyfriend, yeah.

00:17:56Police said that friends and co-workers told them

00:17:59the couple may have been on the cusp of breaking up,

00:18:02that he could be jealous,

00:18:03and her mother didn't approve of him.

00:18:05You go about talking to people who were close to her.

00:18:09In this case, the boyfriend, most definitely.

00:18:12That's always, that's always something that has to be done.

00:18:15Later, Joe spoke by phone to NBC affiliate KPNX in Phoenix.

00:18:20They went through my whole apartment.

00:18:22You know, they found this knife in my kitchen sink

00:18:25that had this pinkish-red material on it.

00:18:28And he's like, uh, can you explain this?

00:18:30And I'm like, yeah, it's for the birthday cake,

00:18:32didn't that's icing.

00:18:33Three times they interviewed Joe.

00:18:36Three times he swore he didn't do it.

00:18:38And then, less than five months after Angela was killed,

00:18:41the DNA found on her body ruled out Joe altogether.

00:18:45Though, didn't feel like it to him.

00:18:47In the media's, or in the public's eye,

00:18:50there are probably people that swore I did it.

00:18:54But there was someone else in Angela's life

00:18:56who caught the attention of detectives.

00:18:59One of Angela's professors at DeVry.

00:19:01Police believed he had a crush on her.

00:19:04Could he be angry that she didn't return his feelings?

00:19:08They traveled out to DeVry in California to speak to him.

00:19:12You're going to look at people closest to the victim

00:19:15to make sure there wasn't something,

00:19:17something nefarious, something going on there

00:19:20that you're unaware of.

00:19:21The professor told police he'd seen Angela in L.A.

00:19:25just days before she was murdered.

00:19:27They had drinks, he said,

00:19:29and then she flew back home to Phoenix.

00:19:32Investigators were also chasing down a lead

00:19:34about Angela's purple Diamondback Topanga mountain bike.

00:19:37A clerk at a Circle K near Angela's apartment

00:19:40had tried to sell a bike that looked similar.

00:19:44Was he the killer?

00:19:45Or did the killer keep the bike discarded somewhere?

00:19:50There was a chance at least that the bike might lead them to the killer,

00:19:53so they distributed a photograph.

00:19:55Crime reporter William Herman kept a copy of it in his pocket.

00:19:59To show it to people, you know,

00:20:01and the police thought if maybe that bike had been abandoned somewhere,

00:20:04oh, I saw a bike just like that,

00:20:06that would have been invaluable to the police.

00:20:09Did it seem like the police were working as hard as they should have been

00:20:12at this to solve the case?

00:20:14Oh, yeah.

00:20:15We talked to them several times.

00:20:18They came to work and, of course, interviewed everybody at work.

00:20:23But all their efforts produced, no break at all.

00:20:26Oh, there were still persons of interest.

00:20:29The professor, the Fisher King who found Angela's head.

00:20:32They both insisted they were innocent.

00:20:36And then, ten months after the killing of Angela Brasso,

00:20:40a woman named Charlotte took a ride on the bike path beside the canal.

00:20:45All of a sudden, I noticed there were drag marks,

00:20:47and it went right around here.

00:20:49And my feet were right on the edge of this canal here,

00:20:52and I saw nothing but just drag marks of blood going into the canal.

00:21:14It was early when they climbed on their bikes that September morning,

00:21:18almost a year after Angela was killed.

00:21:21As usual, Charlotte Fottle, her sister, and their kids

00:21:25took the canal path, racing along, wind in their hair,

00:21:28toward a local playground near the canal.

00:21:30So that particular day, we came up here pretty fast,

00:21:35and right as I got up here, there was a big puddle.

00:21:40Odd.

00:21:41Not the sort of thing you'd expect to see on the path

00:21:44on a hot September morning.

00:21:46The reflection was hard to tell what color it was.

00:21:49And so I just assumed it was a puddle of water or something.

00:21:53Right here, right?

00:21:54Right up here.

00:21:55A little farther up.

00:21:57She shook it off.

00:21:59No big deal.

00:21:59And on they went.

00:22:02But as she pushed her daughter on the swing,

00:22:04she wondered about that puddle.

00:22:06What was it?

00:22:09I was very uneasy.

00:22:10And so we hurried back on our bikes

00:22:12and started heading back home this way.

00:22:14So once the sun was to my back,

00:22:16I could see right where the puddle was, right up here,

00:22:20that it had a red tint to it.

00:22:22And it was pretty big.

00:22:25And so I stopped, and I had my sister hold the bike,

00:22:28and I got down and looked at it really close

00:22:30to see, is it what I really think this is?

00:22:33Sure.

00:22:34But still in my mind, logically,

00:22:35trying to make excuses for it.

00:22:37Like, this isn't blood.

00:22:39This isn't...

00:22:40Well, you wouldn't think it could be, right?

00:22:42Right, right.

00:22:42It had to be a mistake.

00:22:43Right.

00:22:44But I...

00:22:44All of a sudden, I noticed there were drag marks.

00:22:47And it went right around here.

00:22:49And so I followed over to the drag marks,

00:22:52walked around the tree,

00:22:54and then it led me back right here.

00:22:56And then I noticed the drag marks went off right here.

00:23:01You just have this eerie feeling about you, like...

00:23:04Eerie, I would think.

00:23:05Yeah, you need to get out.

00:23:06Need to get out of here.

00:23:08And so we quickly hopped on our bikes

00:23:09and struggled with the thought,

00:23:13that was a big mall at the time,

00:23:15and we had to use pay phones.

00:23:16And I really struggled with,

00:23:17do I stop and call 911 at a pay phone,

00:23:21or do I just hurry and get home

00:23:23and decide from there?

00:23:25And still all the way home,

00:23:27trying to rationalize,

00:23:28did I really see what I saw?

00:23:29Is that really...

00:23:30What else could it be?

00:23:32And should I call the police?

00:23:35She did.

00:23:37And before long,

00:23:38investigators were following those drag marks

00:23:40to a young woman's body

00:23:43floating in the canal.

00:23:45Oh, my heart just sunk,

00:23:46and just that sick feeling.

00:23:48Crime reporter William Herman

00:23:50heard about it on a police scanner

00:23:52and made his way back to the canal

00:23:54and found a contact with Phoenix Police.

00:23:57And he said,

00:23:58we found the body of a young woman in the canal,

00:24:01profound injuries to her chest.

00:24:04And I said,

00:24:05was she riding a bike?

00:24:07And he said,

00:24:08you guessed it, buddy.

00:24:09And the bike's gone.

00:24:11And I just,

00:24:12you know,

00:24:13my heart sort of sunk.

00:24:14I said,

00:24:15Jesus God,

00:24:16here he is again.

00:24:17He said,

00:24:18I'm not saying that,

00:24:20William.

00:24:21We are not saying yet

00:24:22that this is our guy.

00:24:24But of course it had to be.

00:24:26Again,

00:24:27there were signs of sexual assault.

00:24:29Again,

00:24:30he'd used a knife.

00:24:31And again,

00:24:33seemed to know very well

00:24:34how to use it.

00:24:35One particular wound

00:24:37was delivered

00:24:38that may have incapacitated her,

00:24:41you know,

00:24:42killed her right then

00:24:43toward the back.

00:24:43So there was a thought,

00:24:45maybe this person

00:24:46really understood

00:24:47that type of thing,

00:24:48what could incapacitate

00:24:50someone immediately

00:24:51with one type of blow.

00:24:53He'd carved letters

00:24:54into her skin

00:24:55as if sending

00:24:57some kind of

00:24:57sickening message.

00:24:59And then police discovered

00:25:01his victim was a teenager,

00:25:03just 17 years old.

00:25:05A high school kid

00:25:07named Melanie Bernis.

00:25:09I believe I found out

00:25:11at school.

00:25:11Rachel Schapmaker

00:25:13was her close friend.

00:25:14It just,

00:25:15it was hell,

00:25:16you know.

00:25:17They let her friends

00:25:18come together

00:25:19and just

00:25:19kind of grieve together.

00:25:24They brought counselors in

00:25:26for whoever wanted

00:25:27to talk

00:25:28and I think my mom

00:25:30just picked me up

00:25:31and took me home

00:25:31but I remember

00:25:32I wanted to be

00:25:33with Melanie's friends

00:25:35who all loved her closely

00:25:38but it was horrible.

00:25:39What does that do to you

00:25:40when a friend

00:25:42who's that close to you

00:25:42just suddenly

00:25:43is killed that way?

00:25:44The way she was killed

00:25:47just traumatizes you.

00:25:48It's not like she,

00:25:49you know,

00:25:51it's not like something

00:25:51innocent happened to her

00:25:52and she felt,

00:25:53she died in her sleep.

00:25:54She was brutally

00:25:55attacked and murdered.

00:25:57Some information

00:25:58was withheld of course,

00:26:00things only the killer

00:26:01would know.

00:26:02Well police

00:26:03started from scratch

00:26:05again.

00:26:05For one thing,

00:26:07piecing together

00:26:07Melanie's last hours

00:26:09starting with the night

00:26:10before

00:26:10when she went out

00:26:11for an evening bike ride

00:26:13and didn't come home.

00:26:15Her mom had called

00:26:16our house frantically

00:26:18at 11 p.m.

00:26:19trying to find her

00:26:20and my mom just said

00:26:21no, she's not,

00:26:22she's not here.

00:26:24Rachel's in bed sleeping.

00:26:27Thing was,

00:26:28Melanie had planned

00:26:29to go riding

00:26:30with a friend

00:26:31but then her friend

00:26:32had to work late

00:26:33so Melanie climbed

00:26:35on her bike

00:26:35and struck out

00:26:36on her own.

00:26:40They found her body

00:26:41more than 10 miles

00:26:42from home.

00:26:44And the first thought

00:26:45that came to my head

00:26:45was how the heck

00:26:47did she get

00:26:47all the way out there?

00:26:48Daphne Marcus

00:26:49was a neighbor

00:26:50back then.

00:26:51She could be shy

00:26:52at first

00:26:53and a bit quiet

00:26:54but once you had

00:26:55an opportunity

00:26:55to get to know her

00:26:56and get, you know,

00:26:58in kind of her inner circle

00:26:59that's when she opened

00:27:00up quite a bit more

00:27:01and she was energetic

00:27:03and happy.

00:27:05Melanie had just

00:27:06started her junior

00:27:07year at Arcadia

00:27:08High School.

00:27:09She wasn't

00:27:10a party animal

00:27:11and distracted

00:27:13by the social scene.

00:27:15She had her close

00:27:15circle of friends

00:27:16and she just

00:27:17took her school

00:27:18seriously.

00:27:19William Herman,

00:27:20a former principal,

00:27:21remember,

00:27:22happened to know

00:27:23one of Melanie's

00:27:24teachers

00:27:24and spoke with him.

00:27:26He said,

00:27:27we're not allowing

00:27:28any media on the

00:27:29campus,

00:27:29meet me,

00:27:30and he named

00:27:30a sandwich shop

00:27:31by Arcadia High School.

00:27:33So I went out

00:27:34and my friend

00:27:35was in tears.

00:27:36He said,

00:27:37we loved her,

00:27:38and all the students

00:27:40loved Melanie.

00:27:42What was it

00:27:43about this path

00:27:44and bicycles?

00:27:46That the killer

00:27:47was horribly depraved

00:27:48was just all too

00:27:50depressingly obvious,

00:27:51but was he

00:27:53a serial killer?

00:27:56Plainclothes police

00:27:57officers wandered up

00:27:58and down these paths

00:27:59as decoys

00:28:00for months,

00:28:01looking for what

00:28:03they didn't

00:28:03exactly know.

00:28:04Even as regular folk

00:28:06increasingly stayed away,

00:28:07the man

00:28:08had struck twice.

00:28:10Might he do so again?

00:28:13You just couldn't believe

00:28:16that,

00:28:17that it could happen

00:28:19to another person.

00:28:20It must have seemed

00:28:21like there was a monster

00:28:22out there somewhere.

00:28:23Absolutely.

00:28:25Absolutely.

00:28:27A monster who knew

00:28:29how to use a knife.

00:28:31Well, at least the police

00:28:32knew that.

00:28:33It might be a way

00:28:34to find him.

00:28:52Phoenix wasn't the same

00:28:54after the murders

00:28:55of Angela Brasso

00:28:56and Melanie Bernice.

00:28:57It just changes

00:28:58the way you live.

00:29:00Melanie's friends,

00:29:01Rachel and Daphne.

00:29:02It changed me instantly.

00:29:03I stopped walking

00:29:05the canal.

00:29:06I stopped.

00:29:08I would not exercise alone.

00:29:09I wouldn't pretty much,

00:29:11I wouldn't walk anywhere

00:29:11alone or, you know,

00:29:13do anything.

00:29:14Always looking

00:29:14over your shoulder.

00:29:15I think during that time,

00:29:17you know,

00:29:17for most of us,

00:29:18you know, young women,

00:29:19you were more self-aware

00:29:21of everything,

00:29:22everybody that was around you

00:29:23because you never know

00:29:24what could happen.

00:29:25People very quickly realized

00:29:28that there was someone

00:29:30out there who was now

00:29:31responsible for the death

00:29:32of two women,

00:29:33two women who were

00:29:34on the canal.

00:29:35So now everything

00:29:37starts back up again.

00:29:39If it had died down

00:29:40a little bit

00:29:40from the first incident,

00:29:42it definitely heightened

00:29:44back up right away.

00:29:46Kevin Robinson,

00:29:48Phoenix police spokesperson

00:29:49at the time,

00:29:50said the department

00:29:50had to walk a fine line

00:29:52between warning the public

00:29:53about a potential serial killer

00:29:55while not jeopardizing

00:29:57the investigation.

00:29:57You're going to release

00:29:59a little bit more information

00:30:00than what you normally would

00:30:01so that someone might identify

00:30:04or remember seeing something.

00:30:07The Phoenix police went public

00:30:09with a piece of evidence

00:30:10they hoped might actually

00:30:11produce a breakthrough.

00:30:13The killer had thrown

00:30:14Melanie's clothes

00:30:15in a nearby trash bin

00:30:17but had dressed her

00:30:18in an ill-fitting

00:30:20lycra bodysuit

00:30:21post-mortem.

00:30:22Might anybody recognize it?

00:30:25I think the assumption

00:30:26was that he put that

00:30:28on her after.

00:30:30Whoever killed her

00:30:31must have done that.

00:30:33That adds a layer

00:30:34of something, doesn't it?

00:30:35Yeah.

00:30:37So what do you wonder about?

00:30:39You have to turn your brain

00:30:40off at some point

00:30:41and not keep on thinking

00:30:43like what was she thinking?

00:30:45How is she feeling?

00:30:48My prayer is that she

00:30:52blacked out right away

00:30:53and doesn't know.

00:30:54that she was mentally

00:30:57emotionally saved

00:30:58a little bit

00:30:59from all the trauma

00:31:00that he put her through.

00:31:02Whoever killed Melanie

00:31:04began his assault

00:31:05with a single

00:31:06carefully placed thrust

00:31:07of a very sharp knife

00:31:09just as he had done

00:31:11to Angela.

00:31:12So police thought

00:31:13maybe the killer

00:31:15had specialized training

00:31:16maybe military.

00:31:17Remember Angela's professor

00:31:19from DeVry

00:31:20who police had interviewed?

00:31:21Turned out he'd been a major

00:31:23in Army Special Forces

00:31:25so police kept him

00:31:27on their list

00:31:28and kept looking

00:31:29literally everywhere.

00:31:31They were looking

00:31:32all over the world

00:31:33for similar crimes.

00:31:35How much concern

00:31:36was there that this

00:31:37guy would strike again?

00:31:39There was plenty

00:31:40of concern.

00:31:41But no evidence

00:31:42to tie any of their

00:31:45persons of interest

00:31:46to the murderers.

00:31:48Pressure had to be

00:31:49just enormous.

00:31:51Yeah, that's in the

00:31:51back of your mind.

00:31:52You know, they've done

00:31:53it twice, at least twice.

00:31:54And are they capable

00:31:56of offending again?

00:31:58The odds will tell you

00:31:59yes.

00:32:00Experts will tell you

00:32:01that in a lot

00:32:02of these cases

00:32:03the only thing

00:32:04that stops

00:32:05these folks

00:32:06is either getting

00:32:07arrested and going

00:32:08to prison

00:32:08or they die.

00:32:11They don't just

00:32:12stop cold turkey

00:32:13in most cases.

00:32:14Disturbing.

00:32:15Extremely disturbing.

00:32:17But you have to realize

00:32:18that we have people

00:32:21like that

00:32:21that are out there.

00:32:22People who are capable

00:32:23of acting on

00:32:25those types of instincts.

00:32:26And it was incumbent

00:32:28upon the homicide

00:32:30detectives

00:32:31to identify

00:32:32anybody

00:32:33who could be

00:32:34responsible

00:32:35for these crimes

00:32:36and to get them

00:32:37apprehended

00:32:37and convicted

00:32:39as quickly as possible.

00:32:40And yet

00:32:43it didn't lead anywhere.

00:32:44I mean,

00:32:45the case went cold.

00:32:47Unfortunately,

00:32:47it did.

00:32:49What more could they do?

00:32:51And years went by.

00:32:54But there were no more

00:32:55similar murders

00:32:56along the canal.

00:32:57And gradually

00:32:58the assumption

00:32:59hardened

00:32:59that the killer

00:33:01was gone.

00:33:01Maybe left town.

00:33:03Maybe was dead.

00:33:05That's what

00:33:05the police

00:33:06told the families

00:33:07and friends

00:33:07of Angela

00:33:08and Melanie.

00:33:09I was disappointed

00:33:10that they hadn't

00:33:11found anybody

00:33:12to make them pay

00:33:12for what they did.

00:33:13I thought we would

00:33:14never know

00:33:15who did this.

00:33:16I gave up.

00:33:17I thought,

00:33:18we'll never know.

00:33:20Until

00:33:20this guy

00:33:21came along.

00:33:22I remember

00:33:23reading word for word

00:33:25and I was traumatized

00:33:26by what I read.

00:33:28It was almost

00:33:29as if I was reading

00:33:30about something

00:33:31truly evil.

00:33:33Somewhere

00:33:34in all this,

00:33:35there was an answer.

00:33:37Just had to be.

00:33:38All he had to do

00:33:40was find it.

00:33:42It became kind of

00:33:43an obsession

00:33:44to keep researching

00:33:46what is this.

00:34:04Anniversaries came and went.

00:34:06Anniversaries of the killings

00:34:08by the canal.

00:34:09Those who loved and missed

00:34:11Angela and Melanie

00:34:12were left to wonder

00:34:13if they would ever know

00:34:14who killed them

00:34:15and why.

00:34:17Did it seem like

00:34:18the police were

00:34:19investigating all the while

00:34:21or like they'd maybe

00:34:23given up?

00:34:23I thought they gave up

00:34:24for sure.

00:34:25I think they tried

00:34:25their hardest

00:34:26for so many years

00:34:27and leads were just

00:34:29ending and so

00:34:30they have to move on

00:34:31to the next case.

00:34:32And then reporters

00:34:34looking for stories

00:34:36and anniversary dates

00:34:37would write a story

00:34:39and they tell it

00:34:40over again

00:34:41and the police

00:34:42are glad for that

00:34:42in the hopes

00:34:43of waking it up.

00:34:45But nothing did.

00:34:47Until 2011

00:34:48when a sergeant

00:34:50named Troy Hillman

00:34:51who headed up

00:34:52the cold case unit

00:34:53opted to take on

00:34:54the ultimate challenge.

00:34:56Almost 20 years

00:34:57after the murders

00:34:58he would try to give

00:34:59the family

00:35:00some answers.

00:35:02We didn't want

00:35:02to give them

00:35:03false hope.

00:35:04We didn't want

00:35:04to say hey

00:35:05we're definitely

00:35:05going to prove this

00:35:06and find our killer

00:35:07but we're going

00:35:09to give it

00:35:10one heck of a shot.

00:35:12William Shira

00:35:13and Dominic

00:35:14Rostenberg

00:35:15had joined the unit

00:35:16too and

00:35:16first things first

00:35:18pulled out

00:35:19the old case file.

00:35:20It was a room

00:35:21full of files.

00:35:22We had

00:35:23probably 800

00:35:24people that had

00:35:26been interviewed

00:35:26that had been

00:35:27questioned.

00:35:28800 people?

00:35:29At least.

00:35:30Wow.

00:35:31A lot had changed

00:35:32since the early 90s.

00:35:34For one thing

00:35:35DNA.

00:35:36The science

00:35:37had certainly

00:35:38advanced

00:35:38even as the case

00:35:39grew cold.

00:35:41One thing the DNA

00:35:42could confirm

00:35:43was what they

00:35:43had long suspected.

00:35:45The male DNA

00:35:46sample matched

00:35:47both the girls

00:35:48so we knew

00:35:49it was the same

00:35:50person.

00:35:51One man

00:35:52two murders.

00:35:54The killer's

00:35:55DNA profile

00:35:56was uploaded

00:35:57to CODIS

00:35:57the National

00:35:58DNA Database

00:35:59back in 2000

00:36:00but no matches

00:36:02meaning the killer's

00:36:03DNA was not

00:36:04in the system.

00:36:05Of course

00:36:06Phoenix police

00:36:07had received

00:36:07hundreds of tips

00:36:08after the murders

00:36:09and some led them

00:36:10to persons of interest

00:36:11who had provided

00:36:12blood samples

00:36:13but many

00:36:14and there were

00:36:15many

00:36:15had not.

00:36:17Just seeing

00:36:18the amount of

00:36:19people that were

00:36:20contacted along

00:36:21the canal banks

00:36:22and how many

00:36:22dangerous predators

00:36:23it was a lot

00:36:24of people.

00:36:25So where

00:36:27to begin?

00:36:28It happened

00:36:29that Hillman

00:36:29was an accountant

00:36:30first and then

00:36:32a cop

00:36:32so we approached

00:36:33the case

00:36:34like an audit

00:36:35line by line.

00:36:37We cast a

00:36:38wide net

00:36:39to make sure

00:36:40that we

00:36:41get everything

00:36:42because there could

00:36:43be just that

00:36:44morsel in there

00:36:46so getting

00:36:47organized was

00:36:48priority one.

00:36:49First they came

00:36:50up with a long

00:36:51list of people

00:36:52the original

00:36:52detectives had

00:36:53looked into

00:36:54but from whom

00:36:55they had not

00:36:56collected DNA.

00:36:57There were a host

00:36:58of names that

00:36:59we saw and

00:37:01were intrigued

00:37:02by and needed

00:37:03to rule out.

00:37:05And how did you

00:37:05go about doing

00:37:06that?

00:37:06We put two

00:37:07detectives on

00:37:07a plane to

00:37:09basically get

00:37:10their blood

00:37:10samples so that

00:37:11we could do

00:37:12DNA comparison.

00:37:14Just tracking

00:37:14them all down

00:37:15must have been

00:37:15rather difficult.

00:37:16Yeah, we

00:37:17traveled all over

00:37:18the country.

00:37:19But Hillman

00:37:20decided he needed

00:37:21to go beyond

00:37:21traditional methods

00:37:22so he sought out

00:37:24the Vedox

00:37:25Society in

00:37:26Philadelphia.

00:37:27Forensic experts

00:37:28and investigators

00:37:29who volunteer

00:37:31to review

00:37:32difficult cases.

00:37:33They call

00:37:34themselves the

00:37:35modern day

00:37:35Sherlock Holmes.

00:37:36The Vedox

00:37:38Society gave

00:37:38Hillman possible

00:37:39characteristics of

00:37:40the killer,

00:37:41a man still

00:37:42living in the

00:37:43area who had

00:37:44committed earlier

00:37:45crimes, perhaps

00:37:46set fires or

00:37:47acted out

00:37:48fantasies.

00:37:49They agreed with

00:37:50that earlier

00:37:51theory that the

00:37:51killer likely had

00:37:52a military

00:37:53background, but

00:37:55added they were

00:37:55looking for a

00:37:56sexual sadist

00:37:57motivated by

00:37:58people's pain.

00:38:00One of the

00:38:01biggest nuggets

00:38:02they taught us

00:38:02was they kept

00:38:03saying, in a

00:38:04case like this,

00:38:06he's in your

00:38:06files.

00:38:0795% chance,

00:38:09he's in your

00:38:10files.

00:38:10So Hillman and

00:38:11the detectives

00:38:12took another look

00:38:13at men who had

00:38:14attracted suspicion

00:38:15early on,

00:38:16including the

00:38:17professor who

00:38:18police heard had

00:38:19a crush on

00:38:19Angela.

00:38:20We had received

00:38:21an anonymous tip

00:38:22that every time

00:38:23somebody mentioned

00:38:24Angela, he would

00:38:25go into a

00:38:25hysteria and an

00:38:27emotional rage.

00:38:28And he just made

00:38:29some really kind

00:38:29of odd statements

00:38:30that we found.

00:38:31And the fact that

00:38:32he was a major

00:38:33in the Special

00:38:34Forces, we said,

00:38:35we need to go

00:38:35talk to this guy

00:38:36and we need to

00:38:37get his DNA.

00:38:38Off they went

00:38:39to Maryland to

00:38:40knock on his

00:38:40door and collect

00:38:41his DNA.

00:38:42I think every

00:38:43time that we

00:38:44would get excited,

00:38:45we'd get the

00:38:46DNA, we'd wait.

00:38:48But once the

00:38:49results came in,

00:38:50he was ruled

00:38:52out.

00:38:52It was like a

00:38:54punch in the

00:38:54stomach.

00:38:55You get frustrated

00:38:56and you get upset

00:38:57about it for a

00:38:57minute and then you

00:38:58just kind of get

00:38:59back on the

00:39:00bandwagon.

00:39:01They went back

00:39:02to that theory

00:39:03that the killer

00:39:04might have been

00:39:04trained for combat

00:39:05and tracked down

00:39:07former U.S.

00:39:08Air Force pilots

00:39:09who'd been stationed

00:39:10at nearby Luke

00:39:11Air Force Base

00:39:12back in the early

00:39:1390s.

00:39:14It's not too far

00:39:15from the crime

00:39:16scenes, so we

00:39:16thought maybe he's

00:39:17hiding in plain

00:39:18sight.

00:39:19These are people

00:39:19who would be

00:39:20based there for a

00:39:20little while and

00:39:21they might be

00:39:21based somewhere

00:39:22else.

00:39:22They could be

00:39:23scattered all

00:39:24around the world

00:39:24really.

00:39:25Absolutely.

00:39:27Detectives even

00:39:28contacted authorities

00:39:29in Europe when

00:39:30they heard of a

00:39:31similar crime there.

00:39:33Two young women

00:39:34that were killed

00:39:34in the early 90s

00:39:36in a similar fashion.

00:39:38One was in

00:39:38Amsterdam and one

00:39:39was in Germany.

00:39:40But no connection.

00:39:44My wife can

00:39:45attest that I

00:39:46truthfully became

00:39:46obsessed by this

00:39:48case.

00:39:49I desperately wanted

00:39:50to figure this out.

00:39:52And maybe that's

00:39:54why Hillman agreed

00:39:55to meet with a

00:39:56woman from California

00:39:58who had been

00:39:59pitching an idea

00:40:01that sounded crazy.

00:40:02It's new technology.

00:40:04It's unproven.

00:40:05There's a little bit

00:40:06of fear behind it.

00:40:07Fear, resistance,

00:40:09and a big gamble

00:40:11and a world

00:40:12changing result.

00:40:30Sergeant Troy Hillman

00:40:32and his cold case

00:40:33detectives had been

00:40:34dealing with the

00:40:34ups and downs of

00:40:35their investigation

00:40:36into the Arizona

00:40:37Canal murders

00:40:38for three long,

00:40:40frustrating years.

00:40:42I always describe it

00:40:43as a rollercoaster

00:40:45ride.

00:40:46Their most promising

00:40:47leads had been

00:40:48ruled out by DNA

00:40:49and they were no

00:40:50closer to an arrest

00:40:51than they were

00:40:52when the murders

00:40:52happened more than

00:40:5320 years ago.

00:40:55And that's when

00:40:56one of his detectives

00:40:57left him a voicemail.

00:40:59And she said,

00:41:00hey boss,

00:41:00he's like,

00:41:01I got this strange

00:41:03phone call from a

00:41:04woman that says

00:41:05she's a forensic

00:41:06genealogy.

00:41:07Would you take a

00:41:07listen?

00:41:08But why not?

00:41:10They tried

00:41:10everything else.

00:41:12Which is how

00:41:13Troy Hillman

00:41:14found himself

00:41:14on the phone

00:41:15with this woman,

00:41:17Colleen Fitzpatrick,

00:41:19Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick.

00:41:22She is a

00:41:23forensic genealogist,

00:41:25which means,

00:41:26she told the detective,

00:41:27that she uses

00:41:28a person's DNA

00:41:29profile,

00:41:30that unique

00:41:31sequence we all

00:41:32have,

00:41:32to figure out

00:41:33not exactly who

00:41:35they are,

00:41:35but who they're

00:41:36related to.

00:41:37A similar process

00:41:39people use to find

00:41:39distant relatives

00:41:40on Ancestry DNA,

00:41:42or 23andMe.

00:41:44It became very

00:41:45common for an

00:41:46adoptee to test

00:41:47with one of those

00:41:48companies and find

00:41:50their birth parents.

00:41:51Dr. Fitzpatrick said

00:41:53she'd figured out

00:41:54a way to reverse

00:41:54the process and

00:41:56use genealogy databases

00:41:57to work her way

00:41:59toward the owner

00:42:00of that unknown male

00:42:01DNA, or Y-DNA,

00:42:04police had collected

00:42:06from the crime scenes.

00:42:07I could get DNA

00:42:08from cold cases,

00:42:10Y-DNA,

00:42:11and compare them

00:42:11to the genetic

00:42:12genealogy Y-DNA

00:42:13databases,

00:42:14and maybe come up

00:42:16with a last name

00:42:16for killers.

00:42:17It's not that you

00:42:18can say it was

00:42:20individual A

00:42:20or individual B,

00:42:22but that it was

00:42:23this family,

00:42:24which includes

00:42:25A, B, C, and D,

00:42:26and so look into

00:42:28those guys and you

00:42:28might find your killer.

00:42:29No, it was even

00:42:30simpler than that.

00:42:31I supplied a name,

00:42:32the last name,

00:42:33for their killer.

00:42:34Remember, this was

00:42:35back in 2014.

00:42:36It was four years

00:42:38before the arrest

00:42:39of the Golden State

00:42:40Killer.

00:42:40The mystery surrounding

00:42:42an infamous killing

00:42:43spree that confounded

00:42:44investigators for decades.

00:42:45That case, widely

00:42:47celebrated for using

00:42:48a very similar technique.

00:42:50But no one knew

00:42:52about that when

00:42:52Dr. Fitzpatrick

00:42:53traveled to Phoenix

00:42:54and told the detectives

00:42:55what she thought

00:42:56she could do.

00:42:57It was quiet in the room

00:42:59amongst the team members,

00:43:00and we were trying

00:43:01to absorb what

00:43:03she was talking about.

00:43:04Of course,

00:43:05they were eager

00:43:05to try anything,

00:43:06but this was brand new.

00:43:08Nothing police

00:43:09had ever used before,

00:43:10and they'd have to share

00:43:12the killer's DNA profile

00:43:13with someone outside

00:43:14the investigation,

00:43:16Dr. Fitzpatrick.

00:43:17Plus, it wasn't cheap,

00:43:19which became

00:43:19the next challenge.

00:43:21It was about

00:43:21three months

00:43:22on trying to push

00:43:24the upper chain

00:43:25of command

00:43:26to approve this

00:43:27because they thought

00:43:29they had fears of it

00:43:31endangering

00:43:31our investigation.

00:43:32my team and I

00:43:33tried to say,

00:43:34there's no downside risk.

00:43:35We spend more money

00:43:37traveling across the country

00:43:38looking for DNA

00:43:39than we do on this.

00:43:40So this is worth a shot.

00:43:42I think at one point

00:43:43we almost took up

00:43:44a collection

00:43:44and just kind of

00:43:46went rogue

00:43:46and did it by ourselves.

00:43:47Is that how it eventually

00:43:48got paid for?

00:43:49No.

00:43:50Eventually,

00:43:51a chief decided

00:43:52to sign it.

00:43:53What'd you do?

00:43:54How did you work with her?

00:43:55We didn't provide her

00:43:56really any details

00:43:57about the investigation

00:43:58other than

00:44:00we provided her

00:44:01with some type

00:44:01of DNA sequence.

00:44:04Dr. Fitzpatrick

00:44:05went to work.

00:44:07Weeks went by.

00:44:09Nobody heard a word.

00:44:11So,

00:44:11was it a waste of money?

00:44:13Another dead end?

00:44:15No,

00:44:16it was not.

00:44:18She had a result.

00:44:20I came up with

00:44:22the name Miller,

00:44:22turned it in

00:44:23to the police.

00:44:24I remember getting

00:44:25the call

00:44:25and I was

00:44:26with extended family

00:44:27and she said,

00:44:28hey Troy,

00:44:29I think his surname

00:44:30is Miller.

00:44:31Did that make any sense

00:44:32to you that somebody

00:44:32would come up

00:44:33with a name?

00:44:34At this point

00:44:35in the investigation,

00:44:36it made enough sense

00:44:37for me to

00:44:38want to rush out

00:44:40and go check

00:44:41our files.

00:44:42So,

00:44:43one of his detectives

00:44:44went to the basement

00:44:45and pulled files

00:44:46with the last name

00:44:47Miller.

00:44:49And he threw them

00:44:50on my desk,

00:44:51I shut the door,

00:44:52I started looking

00:44:53through the Millers

00:44:54and when I got

00:44:55to a certain file,

00:44:56I was interested

00:44:59and it sent chills

00:45:04up my spine.

00:45:05The name on the file?

00:45:08Brian Patrick Miller.

00:45:10It was about

00:45:11half an inch thick file

00:45:13and on the top of it,

00:45:14it said anonymous tip.

00:45:17It was an old tip,

00:45:19decades old.

00:45:21It had to do

00:45:22with the turquoise bodysuit

00:45:24Melanie Burness

00:45:25was wearing

00:45:26when she was found.

00:45:27An anonymous person

00:45:29called in

00:45:29and said

00:45:30a roommate of Brian's

00:45:31had seen

00:45:32that same bodysuit

00:45:34that was found

00:45:35on Melanie.

00:45:36That tip was

00:45:36looked at

00:45:38and based on

00:45:39Brian's age

00:45:41and the circumstances

00:45:42that they felt

00:45:44at the time,

00:45:45he was too young

00:45:47to have been the one

00:45:47that had done this.

00:45:49And there was more.

00:45:51Back in 1990,

00:45:52a few years before

00:45:53Angela and Melanie

00:45:54were killed,

00:45:56Miller's mother

00:45:56told the police

00:45:57she was afraid

00:45:58of her teenage son.

00:46:00She gave them

00:46:01something he had written,

00:46:02something ghoulish,

00:46:04awful.

00:46:06He had called it

00:46:07the plan.

00:46:11And there it was,

00:46:13still in the old file.

00:46:15It described

00:46:16step by step

00:46:19what the author

00:46:20intended to do

00:46:21to this woman.

00:46:22It was eerily similar

00:46:24to what happened

00:46:25to our victims.

00:46:27It was in the file?

00:46:29It was in the file.

00:46:31And had been all along.

00:46:32Wow.

00:46:33It had been all along,

00:46:34yes.

00:46:34Did it make you wonder

00:46:35why that was

00:46:36not acted on earlier?

00:46:38To a degree, yes.

00:46:41What Miller wrote

00:46:42in The Plan

00:46:43was certainly disturbing.

00:46:45It didn't prove

00:46:46anything, mind you.

00:46:48Certainly not that

00:46:49he'd committed

00:46:50actual murders,

00:46:51but there was

00:46:53another name

00:46:53in the Miller file, too.

00:46:55And another

00:46:56hair-raising story.

00:46:58I wouldn't doubt

00:46:59that's what he was

00:47:00trying to do,

00:47:01or at least

00:47:02getting there.

00:47:18It was the spring

00:47:19of 1989.

00:47:21Angela Brasso

00:47:22was graduating

00:47:23from high school.

00:47:24Melanie Burness

00:47:25was a carefree kid

00:47:26in middle school.

00:47:28It was three years

00:47:29before the terrors

00:47:30on the canal.

00:47:31I felt very safe.

00:47:33I, you know,

00:47:34I rode the bus

00:47:34all the time.

00:47:36Celeste Bentley

00:47:37was 24 years old then,

00:47:39had lived in Phoenix

00:47:40all her life,

00:47:41and to her,

00:47:42it was easy routine

00:47:44to ride the bus

00:47:45to five miles

00:47:46from home

00:47:47to her job

00:47:48at a store

00:47:48near the Paradise Valley Mall.

00:47:51The drive

00:47:52to Paradise Valley

00:47:53was very short.

00:47:53It was a straight

00:47:54shot to the mall.

00:47:56That morning,

00:47:57the morning of

00:47:58May 17th, 1989,

00:48:00she wore her favorite

00:48:01lime green shirt

00:48:02with white pants.

00:48:05She noticed

00:48:06as she got on the bus

00:48:07a young man

00:48:08sitting near her.

00:48:09Kind of a

00:48:10bookworm-looking kid,

00:48:12and I just

00:48:12acknowledged him.

00:48:13I kind of realized

00:48:14there was someone there,

00:48:15you know.

00:48:16And then

00:48:16she sat back

00:48:17and thought about

00:48:18nothing in particular

00:48:19as the bus

00:48:20rumbled along.

00:48:22And they dropped us

00:48:23off in the front

00:48:23of the mall.

00:48:25It was when

00:48:26she was walking

00:48:27across the parking lot

00:48:28that she sensed it.

00:48:30Someone behind her.

00:48:31I had gotten

00:48:32about halfway across

00:48:33and I realized

00:48:34that he was

00:48:35walking behind me.

00:48:36And I had just

00:48:37glanced over my shoulder

00:48:38and I saw that,

00:48:39you know,

00:48:39he was still

00:48:40walking behind me,

00:48:41but it was a ways back.

00:48:42That nerdy kid

00:48:43must have gotten

00:48:44off the bus too,

00:48:45she figured.

00:48:46Then I was walking

00:48:47and all of a sudden

00:48:48I just felt something

00:48:49hit me in the back

00:48:50and he ran by me.

00:48:51He ran fast

00:48:52right by me.

00:48:52I kind of turned

00:48:53and yelled at him

00:48:54and grabbed my back

00:48:55and I was like,

00:48:55what the heck

00:48:56did you do that?

00:48:56You know,

00:48:57what the heck

00:48:57did you hit me for?

00:48:58And he just kept running.

00:49:00And then I pulled

00:49:01my hand in front of me

00:49:02and realized

00:49:03that there was blood

00:49:03on my hand.

00:49:05And so I started panicking.

00:49:07It felt like

00:49:07you'd been hit.

00:49:08Yeah,

00:49:08it felt like

00:49:09I'd been punched

00:49:09in the back.

00:49:10What was that like?

00:49:11Was it confusion?

00:49:12Was it terror?

00:49:13Was it what?

00:49:14I was very afraid.

00:49:15I was,

00:49:15I couldn't believe it.

00:49:16Why would he punch me

00:49:17in the back?

00:49:17And then when I saw

00:49:18the blood,

00:49:19I couldn't believe it

00:49:20and knew that he had

00:49:20stabbed me or something

00:49:22and I started running

00:49:23to my work

00:49:24and I had to go

00:49:25through that parking lot

00:49:26and I got to my work

00:49:28and started ringing

00:49:28the buzzer to get in.

00:49:30You're bleeding

00:49:30all the way?

00:49:31Yeah, yeah.

00:49:32The manager came

00:49:33and opened the door

00:49:34and let me in

00:49:34and I was like screaming,

00:49:35oh my God,

00:49:36I've been stabbed,

00:49:37I've been stabbed.

00:49:37And everybody was kind

00:49:39of like all in a panic

00:49:40and they were calling

00:49:41911

00:49:43and took me back

00:49:44to the break room

00:49:45and we were waiting

00:49:46for the police

00:49:47and fire to come.

00:49:49Once inside the ambulance,

00:49:51she began to learn

00:49:51more about her injury.

00:49:53It was about

00:49:54an inch and a half long

00:49:56and then they said

00:49:57it had gone in,

00:49:58I believe it was like

00:49:58an inch and a half

00:49:59to two inches in.

00:50:01Whoa.

00:50:01Yeah.

00:50:02She gave the police

00:50:03a description of the person

00:50:04who had attacked her

00:50:06and it didn't take long.

00:50:08They tracked him down

00:50:09at a nearby apartment complex

00:50:11and then they brought him

00:50:13to the ambulance.

00:50:15Is this him?

00:50:16They asked.

00:50:17They had the doors open.

00:50:18They had him standing

00:50:18right at the doors.

00:50:20What feeling went with that?

00:50:21I just was in shock

00:50:23and couldn't believe

00:50:24that this person

00:50:26had stabbed me and...

00:50:27Did he look sorry?

00:50:29No, he looked blank.

00:50:30He looked very blank

00:50:32and very just strange,

00:50:36like not even caring.

00:50:38That's weird.

00:50:40Yeah, it was weird.

00:50:42It was the kid

00:50:43from the bus,

00:50:4416 years old.

00:50:46He had used a steak knife

00:50:48to stab her in the back.

00:50:50The doctors at the hospital

00:50:51had said that

00:50:52had he held the blade

00:50:53flat, horizontal

00:50:55instead of vertical,

00:50:56it would have gone

00:50:57straight through

00:50:57and punctured organs.

00:50:59Yeah.

00:51:00But he had held it vertical

00:51:01and it hit my ribs

00:51:02and slid around inside

00:51:04instead of going

00:51:05through the ribs.

00:51:07Whoa.

00:51:07The small things

00:51:08that make a big difference.

00:51:10Yeah.

00:51:10I mean,

00:51:11it could have killed you.

00:51:12Definitely, yes.

00:51:15And the name

00:51:16of this person

00:51:17who'd almost killed her?

00:51:19Brian Patrick Miller.

00:51:23More than two decades later,

00:51:25Sergeant Troy Hillman

00:51:26read the police report

00:51:27about Celeste's attack.

00:51:28The original investigator

00:51:30had written,

00:51:31I asked Brian

00:51:32if he did it

00:51:33to see what it felt like.

00:51:36Brian said,

00:51:37yes,

00:51:37I guess that's why

00:51:39I did it.

00:51:40One of the officers

00:51:41asked him,

00:51:41hey, Brian,

00:51:42what did this make you feel?

00:51:43And he said it sent

00:51:44chills up his spine.

00:51:45Oh, my.

00:51:46At that point,

00:51:47I was even more

00:51:48hook, line, and sinker.

00:51:49This is our guy.

00:51:50This guy's looking good.

00:51:53Brian.

00:51:55Brian.

00:51:57Brian.

00:51:57Peter eventually

00:51:58pleaded guilty

00:51:59to attempted murder,

00:52:00but as a juvenile,

00:52:02he served only a year

00:52:03in detention.

00:52:04Get here with you,

00:52:05Grandpa.

00:52:05He was released

00:52:06in 1990

00:52:07when he was 17.

00:52:09Hello, camera.

00:52:10For a while,

00:52:11it seemed he had

00:52:12turned his life around.

00:52:14He's real shy.

00:52:15He worked for

00:52:16a religious charitable

00:52:17organization,

00:52:19and here he is

00:52:20in a home movie

00:52:20with family in 1992.

00:52:23This was just months

00:52:24before the first

00:52:25murder at the canal.

00:52:26So anyway.

00:52:27Wow, you're on camera.

00:52:28Yeah.

00:52:29So Brian goes down

00:52:29there and giggle.

00:52:30By 1999,

00:52:31he got married,

00:52:32had a daughter,

00:52:34and moved away,

00:52:35he and his young family,

00:52:36to the Seattle area,

00:52:38where Miller

00:52:39got in trouble again.

00:52:41He was arrested

00:52:42in May 2002

00:52:42for stabbing a woman.

00:52:45He claimed it was

00:52:46self-defense

00:52:47and was found

00:52:48not guilty

00:52:50by a jury.

00:52:51So late 2014,

00:52:52was he easy to find?

00:52:54Was he around?

00:52:55Yeah, he was definitely

00:52:56not hiding.

00:52:58Miller and his wife

00:52:58eventually moved back

00:53:00to Arizona.

00:53:00They divorced,

00:53:02but their daughter

00:53:02lived with her dad,

00:53:04with Brian,

00:53:05in this simple home.

00:53:06Now he was the focus

00:53:08of the cold case unit.

00:53:09It was like

00:53:10a beehive of activity

00:53:12where everybody

00:53:13was researching

00:53:14Brian Patrick Miller,

00:53:15and we began

00:53:17to really unlock

00:53:19Brian Miller.

00:53:20When he started

00:53:20in the Arcadia area.

00:53:22He seemed to be living

00:53:23a normal life,

00:53:25worked at an Amazon warehouse.

00:53:29But at night?

00:53:31At night,

00:53:33he was something else entirely.

00:53:50These bike trails

00:53:52go all the way down

00:53:53to the canals

00:53:53about a mile...

00:53:54Cold case detectives

00:53:55investigating the death

00:53:56of two young women

00:53:58along the canal

00:53:59were looking into

00:53:59one Brian Patrick Miller,

00:54:02whose life

00:54:03appeared unremarkable.

00:54:06Single dad

00:54:06living in a central

00:54:07Phoenix neighborhood.

00:54:09He worked at an

00:54:10Amazon distribution warehouse.

00:54:12A typical guy

00:54:13with a typical life.

00:54:16That is,

00:54:17until you saw

00:54:18what he drove to work.

00:54:21The zombie hunter car.

00:54:22The zombie hunter car,

00:54:23yeah,

00:54:23with the dummy in the back.

00:54:25Dummy in the back?

00:54:26Dummy in the back.

00:54:27You take a left turn

00:54:28and it slides to the right.

00:54:30You take a right turn

00:54:31and it slides back behind him.

00:54:33That dummy was actually

00:54:34a life-size zombie doll.

00:54:37The car was part

00:54:39of a fantasy persona

00:54:40Miller took on

00:54:41called

00:54:42the zombie hunter.

00:54:44He and his friend

00:54:45Keen Azaria

00:54:46would cruise around

00:54:47in the decked out car

00:54:48with props,

00:54:49including the dummy

00:54:50in the back seat.

00:54:52It was his daily driver,

00:54:53was it?

00:54:53It was.

00:54:54He had everything there.

00:54:55Bars, handcuffs.

00:54:57My, my, my.

00:54:59It was a real police car

00:55:00that Miller modified.

00:55:02Instead of red

00:55:03and blue LED lights,

00:55:05the zombie hunter mobile

00:55:07flashed green.

00:55:09Fake blood

00:55:10splashed the doors.

00:55:11Letters on the trunk

00:55:12read zombie hunter.

00:55:14What was it all about?

00:55:17Well,

00:55:18that would go back

00:55:19more than a decade

00:55:20to a meeting of

00:55:21the Arizona Steampunk Society,

00:55:25similar to this gathering

00:55:26in the UK.

00:55:28It's where Keen

00:55:30and Miller met.

00:55:32Steampunk is a

00:55:33science fiction subculture

00:55:34that shares a love

00:55:36for costumes

00:55:36and homemade gadgets

00:55:38inspired by a fusion

00:55:39of 19th century

00:55:41Victorian period

00:55:42and futuristic technology.

00:55:44Who is an Arizona

00:55:46zombie hunter?

00:55:47Arizona Society members

00:55:49dressed up

00:55:50and sometimes

00:55:50showed off their creations

00:55:52in steampunk fashion shows,

00:55:54like this one.

00:55:55Thank you for keeping us safe.

00:55:56Right.

00:55:57Here is Miller

00:55:58on the catwalk.

00:56:00What fires a steampunk gun?

00:56:02Steam?

00:56:02Gunpowder?

00:56:03That's,

00:56:04I'm not sure.

00:56:05I think it's,

00:56:06it's a funny

00:56:07yet kind of ironic

00:56:09subculture

00:56:10celebrating one of the most

00:56:11innovative times

00:56:13in the world.

00:56:14Yeah.

00:56:14You know,

00:56:15just all aesthetics.

00:56:16It's fun

00:56:16and you meet

00:56:17some good people in it.

00:56:19people like Mike Seifert,

00:56:21who told us steampunk

00:56:23appealed to his creative side.

00:56:25This is Pauly Styrene.

00:56:27He hosted costume

00:56:28and gadget workshops

00:56:29in his dining room.

00:56:30I bring all the stuff

00:56:32and teach you

00:56:32how to paint a gun

00:56:34or make a pair of goggles

00:56:36or, you know,

00:56:37whatever it is

00:56:37for your costume.

00:56:39Miller and his daughter

00:56:40were frequent visitors.

00:56:42The first time

00:56:42I ever saw him,

00:56:44he was with his daughter.

00:56:45I think she was

00:56:46about 10 at the time.

00:56:48Mike said

00:56:49Miller developed

00:56:50his character gradually.

00:56:52How did he develop

00:56:53this zombie hunter persona?

00:56:56It started with the gun.

00:56:58It was a bit of fakery

00:57:00that Mike made

00:57:01and that became

00:57:02the centerpiece

00:57:03of Miller's costume.

00:57:04How'd you make it?

00:57:06What are the components

00:57:07made of?

00:57:07Cardboard and wood.

00:57:09You're a creative guy.

00:57:10So,

00:57:11he got this gun

00:57:12and he's like,

00:57:13well,

00:57:13I've got this gun now.

00:57:15I need to build

00:57:15something around this.

00:57:17So I helped him

00:57:17with some ideas

00:57:18and then he found

00:57:19this trench coat

00:57:20at thrift store

00:57:21and he found

00:57:22this mask that he,

00:57:23I think it was

00:57:24one of those

00:57:24paintball masks.

00:57:25Okay.

00:57:26And then,

00:57:27like,

00:57:27a hard hat

00:57:28that he glued

00:57:29the mask

00:57:30into the hard hat.

00:57:33The transformation

00:57:34from warehouse worker

00:57:35to midnight cruiser

00:57:37was complete.

00:57:38But the car

00:57:39stole the limelight.

00:57:41At events

00:57:41like the Phoenix

00:57:42Comic Con

00:57:43and annual zombie walk

00:57:47and so on.

00:57:49Miller even posed

00:57:50with Phoenix police officers.

00:57:53You know,

00:57:53it's like,

00:57:54oh,

00:57:54that thing's really cool.

00:57:55You know,

00:57:55this car is like,

00:57:56it actually looked like

00:57:57he ran down some zombies.

00:57:58Really awesome.

00:57:59How did he react

00:58:00to this attention?

00:58:02He loved it.

00:58:03But he was under a mask.

00:58:05He is a shy individual

00:58:06until he was able

00:58:08to put that mask on

00:58:11and then he could be

00:58:12a little bit more

00:58:13out in the open.

00:58:15Friends,

00:58:16Keen and Mike,

00:58:16could not help

00:58:17but notice

00:58:18that the zombie hunter

00:58:19and Brian Miller

00:58:21seemed like

00:58:22two different people.

00:58:23Very shy,

00:58:25you know.

00:58:25Wasn't the guy

00:58:26who would

00:58:28make it easy

00:58:29to approach.

00:58:30A seemingly shy,

00:58:32single dad,

00:58:33a warehouse worker

00:58:34and the zombie hunter?

00:58:37Sergeant Hillman,

00:58:38when he picked up

00:58:39the Miller file,

00:58:40had never heard

00:58:41of steampunk.

00:58:42What did you find out

00:58:43about the zombie hunter

00:58:45business?

00:58:46So that really

00:58:47caught our attention

00:58:47for the fact that

00:58:48Brian lived

00:58:49in this fantasy world.

00:58:50Did you get the impression

00:58:52that somehow

00:58:52his behaviors

00:58:54were

00:58:57at least existing

00:58:58side by side

00:58:59with other

00:59:00darker fantasies

00:59:01he may have had

00:59:02and maybe

00:59:03part of that fantasy?

00:59:05Absolutely.

00:59:06I think he was

00:59:06enjoying it.

00:59:09Hillman added

00:59:09this zombie hunter

00:59:10business

00:59:11to a growing list

00:59:12of curious things

00:59:13connected to

00:59:14Brian Miller.

00:59:15But was it enough?

00:59:17No.

00:59:18They needed

00:59:18concrete proof

00:59:20like DNA

00:59:22but how to get it?

00:59:24And then detectives

00:59:26decided

00:59:26to put on

00:59:27a little play

00:59:28of their own.

00:59:31Would Miller

00:59:32take the bait?

00:59:50The Phoenix Police Department

00:59:52cold case unit

00:59:53tried to rein in

00:59:54their excitement.

00:59:55It was early

00:59:55in January 2015

00:59:57and after more

00:59:58than three years

00:59:59crisscrossing the U.S.

01:00:00for a killer

01:00:01they found a convincing

01:00:03lead

01:00:03in a most unlikely place.

01:00:06I didn't know

01:00:07anything about

01:00:08these genres

01:00:08of zombie hunters.

01:00:10Brian Miller

01:00:11had been putting

01:00:11on a show

01:00:12as Phoenix's

01:00:13very own

01:00:13zombie hunter

01:00:14for years.

01:00:16Reporter William Herman

01:00:17was one of many

01:00:18spectators.

01:00:19I've seen him

01:00:20for years

01:00:20driving around town.

01:00:22There was more

01:00:23to Brian Patrick Miller

01:00:24than met the eye.

01:00:26Who was it

01:00:27really

01:00:27behind that mask?

01:00:29Could he be

01:00:30the brutal killer

01:00:31who'd slaughtered

01:00:32Angela Brasso

01:00:33and Melanie Bernis

01:00:34all those years ago?

01:00:36The detectives

01:00:37needed his DNA

01:00:38and so the zombie hunter

01:00:40became the hunted.

01:00:42Obviously we'd follow him

01:00:43from his home

01:00:44to work

01:00:45and then he'd be

01:00:46at work

01:00:46for several hours

01:00:47and we would

01:00:48sit there

01:00:48and watch

01:00:49and see if maybe

01:00:50he would come out

01:00:51on a break

01:00:51or lunch break

01:00:52and you know

01:00:53have a big gulp

01:00:54or something

01:00:54and throw it

01:00:55out the window

01:00:55where we would be

01:00:57able to collect that

01:00:58and get some DNA

01:00:58but he never did.

01:01:00He just continued

01:01:01to sit in his car

01:01:02and would go back

01:01:03after break

01:01:03and then come back.

01:01:05No big gulps

01:01:07and apparently Miller

01:01:08didn't smoke.

01:01:10In fact,

01:01:11though they trailed

01:01:12him everywhere

01:01:12eyes always on him

01:01:14he never did

01:01:16discard anything

01:01:17on which he may

01:01:18have left his DNA.

01:01:20Almost to an unusual

01:01:21degree that he was

01:01:23avoiding the kind

01:01:24of behavior

01:01:25that you could

01:01:25make use of.

01:01:26Yeah, he was just

01:01:27very, very careful

01:01:28individual.

01:01:29So, what to do?

01:01:31I got the call

01:01:32from one of my detectives

01:01:33and he was frustrated

01:01:35and he said,

01:01:36hey, here's my plan

01:01:37what do you think?

01:01:38And I said,

01:01:40green light, I like it.

01:01:41The plan

01:01:43if Miller

01:01:44could play a role

01:01:45well, so could they.

01:01:47The detective

01:01:49called me and said,

01:01:50hey, what about

01:01:51I introduce myself

01:01:52to Brian?

01:01:53Obviously he sits

01:01:54in the parking lot

01:01:55a lot.

01:01:56What we know about him

01:01:57is he kind of

01:01:57is interested in security.

01:01:59Why don't I pretend

01:02:00like I'm a building manager

01:02:02and there's a lot

01:02:03of theft

01:02:03in that parking lot

01:02:04and I'm going to

01:02:05hire him

01:02:05to basically watch

01:02:06for me.

01:02:08Miller took the bait.

01:02:10So, the detective

01:02:11set up a job interview

01:02:12and very intentionally

01:02:14chose a restaurant.

01:02:16The management

01:02:18of this chili's

01:02:19agreed to cooperate.

01:02:20The idea was

01:02:21the detective

01:02:22would buy Miller's lunch

01:02:24hoping he just

01:02:25might leave his DNA

01:02:27on a dish

01:02:28or on a glass

01:02:29or a straw.

01:02:32Is this the chili?

01:02:33So, this is the chili's.

01:02:34This is where we entered.

01:02:36By then,

01:02:37the cold case unit

01:02:38had prepared the place

01:02:39ahead of time

01:02:39and very carefully.

01:02:41I know we had briefly

01:02:42discussed me dressing

01:02:43up as a waiter

01:02:44but then we decided,

01:02:45you know,

01:02:45knowing how clumsy

01:02:46I was that I'd probably

01:02:47drop their drinks

01:02:48and their soup.

01:02:49Instead,

01:02:50before Miller arrived,

01:02:52Detective Rostenberg

01:02:53carefully cleaned

01:02:54anything Miller

01:02:56might touch.

01:02:57I sterilized,

01:02:58you know,

01:02:59the plates,

01:03:00the cups,

01:03:01the silverware

01:03:02that they would be

01:03:02using at the table.

01:03:04I actually ran them

01:03:05through the dishwasher myself.

01:03:07That's being careful.

01:03:08We felt we only

01:03:09had one chance

01:03:10to get it right

01:03:10and we just didn't want

01:03:11anything to go wrong.

01:03:13They took their places

01:03:14and waited.

01:03:16I think all of our hearts

01:03:17were racing.

01:03:19He arrived in his

01:03:20zombie hunter car.

01:03:23Surprise!

01:03:25He wasn't alone.

01:03:26We were

01:03:28taken aback, though,

01:03:30that he brought

01:03:30his 15-year-old daughter

01:03:31with him to the interview.

01:03:33My goodness,

01:03:33his daughter's there.

01:03:34Did you think

01:03:35this is going to

01:03:36mess up the whole idea?

01:03:38We thought,

01:03:39hey,

01:03:39is he on to us?

01:03:41The try-to-act-natural

01:03:43lunch and the

01:03:44fake job interview

01:03:45lasted no more

01:03:46than an hour.

01:03:47Miller ate a sandwich

01:03:48but barely sipped his drink

01:03:49and then he and his daughter

01:03:51left the restaurant.

01:03:52I think he only drank

01:03:53a couple times

01:03:54and so he wondered,

01:03:55hey,

01:03:55is there going to be

01:03:56DNA on there?

01:03:56How'd you get the water

01:03:57out?

01:03:58Destroyed the evidence.

01:04:00Well,

01:04:00I wish I had some

01:04:03fancy way.

01:04:03I probably should have

01:04:04drilled the water out

01:04:05and I just dumped

01:04:06the water out of the side

01:04:07that I believed

01:04:07he had his mouth

01:04:09probably hadn't touched.

01:04:10I mean,

01:04:10it's quite possible

01:04:12you just messed up.

01:04:13Absolutely.

01:04:15Detective Rostenberg

01:04:16sent the mug

01:04:16Miller drank from

01:04:18to the lab

01:04:18and they all

01:04:20waited

01:04:20and waited.

01:04:22Almost two weeks

01:04:23passed

01:04:23and then one day

01:04:25the unit

01:04:25happened to be gathering

01:04:26for one of its

01:04:27regular meetings.

01:04:29We were all

01:04:29kind of going over

01:04:30some boring

01:04:31administrative stuff

01:04:32and the door

01:04:33burst open

01:04:34and it's Kelly

01:04:35and her whole team

01:04:36of DNA analysts.

01:04:38Unheard of.

01:04:39Why not just phone?

01:04:42Well,

01:04:42this news needed

01:04:43to be delivered

01:04:43in person

01:04:44by the full squad

01:04:45with the boss,

01:04:47Kelly Merwin,

01:04:47leading the way.

01:04:49The fact that

01:04:50a whole team

01:04:51of scientists

01:04:51would come over

01:04:52and abruptly

01:04:54open the door,

01:04:56we just,

01:04:56again,

01:04:57we're in shock.

01:04:57The first thing

01:04:58Kelly said is,

01:05:00you did it,

01:05:01he's your guy.

01:05:02You could hear

01:05:02a pin drop

01:05:03in the room.

01:05:04I was in shock

01:05:04after all these years.

01:05:06It was very emotional.

01:05:09Still to this day,

01:05:10we had poured

01:05:11our heart and soul

01:05:12into three and a half years

01:05:13chasing,

01:05:14hunting down this guy

01:05:16and to hear that

01:05:17and for the families

01:05:18just to hear

01:05:19that we got him

01:05:20and we can give

01:05:21that to the families.

01:05:23Detective Shira,

01:05:24who rode a bike

01:05:25along the canal

01:05:26in 1992

01:05:27to assist in

01:05:28the investigation,

01:05:29had just left work

01:05:30when he found out

01:05:31and he needed convincing.

01:05:34One of the other

01:05:35detectives on the squad

01:05:36called me on the phone

01:05:37and told me

01:05:38as I'm driving home,

01:05:39I'm like,

01:05:39I don't feel like

01:05:40playing games today.

01:05:41I'm not in a good mood,

01:05:42so.

01:05:43But he turned his car

01:05:44around and returned

01:05:45to the station.

01:05:47It's a 20-mile ride.

01:05:48By the time I got there,

01:05:50I was still going,

01:05:50this isn't true.

01:05:52But it certainly was.

01:05:54Sergeant Hillman

01:05:55called forensic genealogist

01:05:56Colleen Fitzpatrick

01:05:58with the good news.

01:05:59And I went,

01:06:00oh my God,

01:06:01they got him!

01:06:02I didn't expect the call,

01:06:04I didn't expect,

01:06:05you know,

01:06:05I hoped it would work,

01:06:06but, you know,

01:06:08oh my God,

01:06:09it worked!

01:06:10This was a DNA breakthrough

01:06:12that would eventually

01:06:13change the way

01:06:14cold cases were solved.

01:06:17Hours later,

01:06:18a SWAT team

01:06:19arrested Brian Patrick Miller

01:06:21at work

01:06:21and delivered him

01:06:22to an interview room

01:06:23where Detective Shira

01:06:25was ready.

01:06:27And what happened next?

01:06:29Well, that was a surprise.

01:06:33Complete,

01:06:34complete bull****.

01:06:36I can't even see

01:06:37in the state of blood.

01:06:52It was as brutal

01:06:53as it was perplexing.

01:06:55Two young women,

01:06:5622-year-old Angela Brasso

01:06:58and 17-year-old Melanie Bernas

01:07:00found dead,

01:07:01their bodies mutilated.

01:07:03Finally,

01:07:04after more than 20 years

01:07:06an arrest,

01:07:08Angela's friend Jill Kelly

01:07:10got the news

01:07:10from her niece,

01:07:12who, pure chance,

01:07:14worked in the same warehouse

01:07:15as Brian Miller.

01:07:17She just happened to tell me,

01:07:18oh my God,

01:07:19this guy where I work

01:07:21was just arrested for murder.

01:07:23When you thought about that

01:07:24the first time that hit you,

01:07:25that she has been

01:07:26in close proximity

01:07:28to the very person

01:07:29you've been afraid of

01:07:30for years and years?

01:07:31It was terrifying

01:07:33to think of that.

01:07:36And now Celeste Bentley

01:07:38understood what could

01:07:39have happened to her.

01:07:40I couldn't believe it.

01:07:42I was in shock.

01:07:43Just to put that together

01:07:44that he was the person

01:07:45that had stabbed me

01:07:46all those years ago

01:07:48and now he's the person

01:07:49they're looking at

01:07:50for killing these women

01:07:52was...

01:07:52So horribly.

01:07:53Yeah.

01:07:54I mean,

01:07:54he was practicing on you,

01:07:56apparently.

01:07:57I would believe that,

01:07:58yeah.

01:07:59And Brian's friends?

01:08:01Yeah,

01:08:01and it was a gut punch

01:08:03to say the least,

01:08:04you know.

01:08:05I was just like,

01:08:06what?

01:08:07They can't have the right guy.

01:08:09Are you sure?

01:08:11Sergeant Hillman

01:08:12and his cold case unit

01:08:13were sure.

01:08:14Once Miller was in custody,

01:08:16Detective Rostenberg

01:08:17searched Miller's home

01:08:18for evidence

01:08:19and got another surprise.

01:08:22It was probably only

01:08:23a 1,200-square-foot house,

01:08:25but it was a hoarder house

01:08:27that I've never seen

01:08:28in my 25-year career.

01:08:29I remember

01:08:30one of our SWAT team members

01:08:32coming to me

01:08:33and saying,

01:08:33hey, we can't clear the house

01:08:34because we can't even

01:08:35make entry.

01:08:37Rostenberg and others

01:08:38spent more than five days

01:08:39working their way

01:08:40through it all,

01:08:41collected more than

01:08:426,000 items,

01:08:44among them

01:08:45a hacksaw,

01:08:47a sword,

01:08:48teeth.

01:08:48And this was worrisome.

01:08:51Women's credit cards,

01:08:52driver's licenses,

01:08:54and here in the house

01:08:55where he raised his daughter

01:08:57were magazines, images, videos

01:09:00that Rostenberg wishes

01:09:02he could somehow

01:09:03wipe from his memory.

01:09:04Women, you know,

01:09:05having their heads cut off,

01:09:10stabbed, beaten, strangled.

01:09:12It was, I remember

01:09:13leaving that place

01:09:14every night.

01:09:14I would take a shower

01:09:16and I just had

01:09:17such a difficult time

01:09:18sleeping just trying

01:09:19to get those images

01:09:20and those pictures

01:09:20out of my head.

01:09:22One graphic image

01:09:23hanging in Miller's kitchen

01:09:24stood out from the rest.

01:09:27Not only did he have

01:09:28a large severed head

01:09:29on the front

01:09:30of his refrigerator door,

01:09:32but many of these videos,

01:09:34these photographs,

01:09:35arguably the worst photos

01:09:37I've ever seen.

01:09:38But no evidence

01:09:40in the house

01:09:41seemed to connect

01:09:42directly to the murders.

01:09:43And meanwhile,

01:09:45under questioning

01:09:45by Detective Shira,

01:09:47Miller claimed

01:09:48he had no idea

01:09:49why he might be in trouble.

01:09:52More concerned

01:09:53with what's going on.

01:09:57They wouldn't tell me

01:09:58anything in the car.

01:09:59Your name came up

01:10:00in an investigation,

01:10:01so we have to bring you

01:10:01down to child

01:10:02with you about it.

01:10:03And slowly and carefully,

01:10:05Shira brought up

01:10:06the location of the murders,

01:10:08the bike path

01:10:09along the canal.

01:10:11You know all those

01:10:11little bike paths

01:10:12they have around?

01:10:13Yeah, I know

01:10:14what you're talking about.

01:10:14Those always scared me.

01:10:16That's why I didn't take them.

01:10:17But had you taken them?

01:10:19I may have taken them once

01:10:20and then didn't like it.

01:10:22The detective started

01:10:23to press Miller

01:10:24a little.

01:10:25Did you ever have any

01:10:26sex with any women

01:10:27out on the bike trails

01:10:29or anything?

01:10:29No.

01:10:30So there's no reason

01:10:32that your DNA

01:10:33should be anywhere

01:10:34around out there.

01:10:37Never had sex

01:10:39with any women,

01:10:40anything like that.

01:10:41Then,

01:10:42down to cases.

01:10:44You remember the name

01:10:45Angela Brasso at all?

01:10:47No.

01:10:49Well,

01:10:50she was killed

01:10:51around the bike paths

01:10:53in 1992.

01:10:56And then,

01:10:57in 1993,

01:10:58there's a girl

01:10:59by the name

01:10:59Melanie Burnett

01:11:01who was also killed

01:11:04around the bike,

01:11:05you know,

01:11:05the canals

01:11:06and the bike paths

01:11:07over there.

01:11:08And there's some

01:11:09DNA evidence

01:11:10that kind of links

01:11:12you to those girls.

01:11:13Is there any way

01:11:14you can explain that to me?

01:11:18No,

01:11:19I don't know

01:11:20those names.

01:11:22Sergeant Hillman

01:11:23watched the interview

01:11:24in real time

01:11:24from a nearby room.

01:11:26What were your

01:11:27impressions of him

01:11:28as he sat there

01:11:29answering questions?

01:11:30He's very stoic,

01:11:31really kind of

01:11:32no emotion.

01:11:34Even when the detective

01:11:36pressed him

01:11:36again and again.

01:11:38How can you explain

01:11:39to me

01:11:39that your DNA

01:11:41is there?

01:11:41I can't.

01:11:43I can't remember

01:11:44everything I did

01:11:45back then,

01:11:45but I know

01:11:46I didn't kill anyone.

01:11:47So are you sure

01:11:48you don't want to,

01:11:49you know,

01:11:49now's your chance

01:11:50to kind of come

01:11:50and tell me

01:11:51is there a reason

01:11:52something like that

01:11:53happened?

01:11:57It would help you

01:11:58get it off your chest

01:11:59if you did

01:11:59something like that.

01:12:01I didn't kill anyone.

01:12:02Everyone,

01:12:03as far as I know,

01:12:04everyone that I've

01:12:05ever had sex with

01:12:06is still alive.

01:12:09So you've never

01:12:10killed anybody?

01:12:11Nobody.

01:12:12The only victim

01:12:13Miller was willing

01:12:14to talk about

01:12:15was himself.

01:12:17He claimed

01:12:18he'd been abused

01:12:19as a child.

01:12:20How was your childhood?

01:12:22With me and my mom?

01:12:24Horrible.

01:12:25What made it horrible?

01:12:28Physical abuse.

01:12:30No,

01:12:31there would be

01:12:31no confession

01:12:32from Miller

01:12:32in that room.

01:12:33But that's not

01:12:34to say the interview

01:12:35was a total loss.

01:12:36There were a couple

01:12:38of points

01:12:38in that interview

01:12:41that turned out

01:12:42to be helpful.

01:12:43Vince Imbordino

01:12:44is the deputy

01:12:45county attorney

01:12:45on the case.

01:12:46And those helpful

01:12:48moments?

01:12:49Interestingly enough,

01:12:50one of them,

01:12:51or two of them,

01:12:52were when nobody

01:12:52was in the room

01:12:53but the defendant

01:12:54and he's talking.

01:12:55I can't even

01:12:56stand the state

01:12:57of blood.

01:12:58He knows

01:12:59he's being recorded.

01:13:00I don't know.

01:13:02I'll see

01:13:02but working

01:13:03in my head.

01:13:04No,

01:13:05these were not

01:13:05just ramblings,

01:13:06thought Imbordino.

01:13:07They were a glimpse

01:13:08into Brian Miller's defense

01:13:10and he was worried

01:13:11it just might work.

01:13:29Finally,

01:13:30the long-delayed reckoning.

01:13:32It was October 2022,

01:13:34almost eight years

01:13:36since the arrest

01:13:37of Brian Patrick Miller.

01:13:38Eight years of hearings

01:13:40and legal wrangling

01:13:41and COVID.

01:13:43Here he would face

01:13:45two counts

01:13:45of kidnapping,

01:13:46attempted sexual assault

01:13:48and first-degree murder.

01:13:49The case against him

01:13:51anchored by the

01:13:51unmistakable signature

01:13:53of his own DNA

01:13:54on both

01:13:55his mutilated victims.

01:13:57But Miller pleaded,

01:13:59not guilty,

01:14:00by reason of insanity.

01:14:03The prosecutor

01:14:04had a feeling

01:14:04this was possible

01:14:05after watching

01:14:06Miller's police interview.

01:14:09Please tell me

01:14:10this is just

01:14:10a nightmare.

01:14:12Tell me

01:14:13it's a policy

01:14:14but working

01:14:15in my head.

01:14:16Our belief

01:14:17was that he was

01:14:18saying things

01:14:18to try to make

01:14:19it appear

01:14:21that he had

01:14:22mental health issues.

01:14:23Oh,

01:14:24it didn't just appear,

01:14:25said defense attorney

01:14:26R.J. Parker.

01:14:28Miller,

01:14:29he said,

01:14:29suffered from

01:14:30a long list

01:14:31of disorders.

01:14:32Autism,

01:14:33depression,

01:14:34hoarding,

01:14:35PTSD,

01:14:36and dissociative disorder.

01:14:39Illness is so severe,

01:14:41said Parker,

01:14:41Miller's brain

01:14:42simply won't let him

01:14:43recall anything

01:14:44about killing

01:14:45Angela and Melanie.

01:14:47He didn't remember

01:14:48killing these women?

01:14:49It's not a process

01:14:51as simple

01:14:52as he didn't remember.

01:14:54it's a more

01:14:55complicated process

01:14:56that involves

01:14:57not having access

01:14:58to very,

01:14:59very deep experiences

01:15:01that fundamentally

01:15:03conflict

01:15:03with his own humanity.

01:15:05So,

01:15:07sanity,

01:15:07or the lack of it,

01:15:09would be the issue.

01:15:10Both sides agreed

01:15:11to a trial

01:15:12by judge alone.

01:15:14She would determine

01:15:15culpability.

01:15:16And if she found

01:15:18him guilty,

01:15:19she,

01:15:19Judge Suzanne Cohen,

01:15:21would decide

01:15:21the punishment.

01:15:22life behind bars

01:15:24or death.

01:15:27Prosecutor

01:15:28Vincent Bordino

01:15:28began with

01:15:29the plan,

01:15:31the one Miller

01:15:32wrote as a team,

01:15:33which described

01:15:34or imagined

01:15:35a killing so gruesome

01:15:37his mother

01:15:37took the note

01:15:38to the police.

01:15:39The plan basically

01:15:40outlined what he did

01:15:42to Angela and Melanie.

01:15:45Prosecutors said

01:15:45Miller's attacks

01:15:46were methodical

01:15:47and precise.

01:15:48He approached

01:15:49both Angela

01:15:49and Melanie,

01:15:50disabled them

01:15:51with a fatal

01:15:52stab wound

01:15:52in the back

01:15:53and then dragged

01:15:54them to a secluded

01:15:55area where he

01:15:56brutalized them.

01:15:58There were more

01:15:59than 20 witnesses.

01:16:01Angela's boyfriend,

01:16:02Joe.

01:16:03I was baking

01:16:04her a cake

01:16:04that night.

01:16:05That was the reason

01:16:06I didn't go on

01:16:07the bike ride.

01:16:08Charlotte Pottle,

01:16:09who discovered

01:16:10the second murder scene.

01:16:12I often would

01:16:13stand up and peddle

01:16:14just to get

01:16:15more momentum

01:16:17and then ended up

01:16:19running through

01:16:19a puddle of blood.

01:16:21There was no doubt

01:16:22who committed

01:16:23the two murders,

01:16:24said the forensic

01:16:25scientist.

01:16:26The probability

01:16:26of selecting

01:16:27an unrelated individual

01:16:29at random,

01:16:30having a DNA profile,

01:16:31matching the DNA profile

01:16:33from this item

01:16:34is at least

01:16:34one in 460 quintillion.

01:16:38No argument,

01:16:39said the defense.

01:16:40Miller did it.

01:16:41but is so overcome

01:16:42by these disorders,

01:16:44they argued,

01:16:45he should be treated

01:16:46for mental illness,

01:16:48not thrown in prison

01:16:49or executed.

01:16:51Brian was treated

01:16:52like a dog,

01:16:53literally made

01:16:53to walk on all fours

01:16:55and eat out

01:16:55of a dog bowl.

01:16:57Defense attorneys

01:16:58told the judge

01:16:58that Miller's mother,

01:17:00Ellen,

01:17:00who has since died,

01:17:02routinely beat

01:17:03and tortured her son.

01:17:05And that wasn't all.

01:17:07The abuse he endured

01:17:08crossed many different lines

01:17:10that included

01:17:11sexual conduct.

01:17:12Parker said Miller's mother

01:17:14walked around the house

01:17:15half naked

01:17:16and gave her son

01:17:18Playboy magazines

01:17:19when he was only seven.

01:17:21It was all so damaging,

01:17:23said Parker,

01:17:24that Miller's mind

01:17:25created two states

01:17:26of consciousness,

01:17:27a normal state

01:17:29and a trauma state.

01:17:31The trauma state

01:17:33was able to harbor

01:17:33rage, anger,

01:17:35resentment,

01:17:36humiliation,

01:17:37a desire for revenge.

01:17:38And Miller was in

01:17:40that trauma state

01:17:41went the argument

01:17:42when he killed

01:17:43Angela and Melanie.

01:17:45As part of this

01:17:46dissociative process,

01:17:47not having access

01:17:48to those experiences

01:17:50or that information

01:17:51means it's fundamentally

01:17:52not a part of his world.

01:17:54It's not something

01:17:55that he can engage with.

01:17:56But he did do those things.

01:17:57He did.

01:17:58His DNA is all over them.

01:17:59But he wouldn't admit

01:18:01in court that he

01:18:01did these things.

01:18:03The case was never

01:18:04about whether Brian

01:18:05could or could not

01:18:07admit to offenses.

01:18:08It was about

01:18:09what recognition

01:18:11within himself

01:18:12he could have

01:18:14about those experiences.

01:18:16A forensic psychologist

01:18:17appointed by the court

01:18:19had an opinion

01:18:19about the trauma state claim.

01:18:21Essentially,

01:18:23baloney.

01:18:24These were sex crimes,

01:18:25pure and simple.

01:18:26I think they were planned

01:18:28and they were

01:18:28carefully executed.

01:18:30He evaded detection

01:18:32and arrest

01:18:34for a long time.

01:18:35That was the battleground.

01:18:36Was he insane?

01:18:38Did he remember doing it?

01:18:40After six months

01:18:41of testimony,

01:18:43it was up to the judge

01:18:44now.

01:18:45At last,

01:18:46an answer.

01:18:48As to count one,

01:18:50first degree murder,

01:18:52Angela Brasso

01:18:53as follows.

01:18:54Guilty.

01:18:56As to count two,

01:18:58first degree murder,

01:18:59victim,

01:19:00Melanie Bernis

01:19:01as follows.

01:19:02Guilty.

01:19:04Guilty on all counts.

01:19:07Angela and Melanie's

01:19:09families had watched

01:19:10the trial

01:19:10on a video call

01:19:11set up for them

01:19:12and now they

01:19:13address the judge.

01:19:15Jill Canetta

01:19:16is Melanie's

01:19:17big sister.

01:19:18Words cannot even

01:19:19begin to describe

01:19:20the level of

01:19:21excruciating pain

01:19:22we experienced

01:19:23with the news

01:19:24of her horrific death.

01:19:25Linda Brasso,

01:19:27Angela's mother,

01:19:28the defendant

01:19:29stole her future,

01:19:30her innocence,

01:19:32her life.

01:19:35Judge Cohen

01:19:35had one more

01:19:36big decision

01:19:37before her.

01:19:38Should Miller

01:19:39get the death penalty?

01:19:41The lawyers

01:19:42faced off

01:19:43for the last time.

01:19:44One trying

01:19:45to save

01:19:46Miller's life.

01:19:47Where would

01:19:48Brian be now

01:19:49if he had

01:19:50a mother

01:19:51who nurtured him,

01:19:52who gave him

01:19:53hugs

01:19:54and showed him

01:19:54affection,

01:19:55who kissed him

01:19:56with love in her heart?

01:19:58The prosecutor

01:19:59on the other side

01:20:00did not mince words.

01:20:03This will sound harsh,

01:20:04I'm sure.

01:20:06Angela and Melanie

01:20:08didn't get to choose

01:20:09when they died.

01:20:10they didn't get

01:20:11to choose

01:20:12the day,

01:20:14the hour,

01:20:15the moment.

01:20:17This defendant

01:20:18deserves

01:20:19to know

01:20:20the day,

01:20:22the hour,

01:20:26of his death

01:20:28for what he did.

01:20:30It's clear

01:20:30that you took

01:20:31this case

01:20:31pretty personally too.

01:20:33It's like you get

01:20:34to know somebody

01:20:34and you want

01:20:35to represent them well.

01:20:37Correct.

01:20:37I can still get

01:20:38emotional about it,

01:20:39as you can probably

01:20:40tell right now.

01:20:42Judge Cohen

01:20:42got ready

01:20:43to read her decision.

01:20:44The question

01:20:45the court

01:20:46must answer

01:20:47is if the totality

01:20:49of the litigation

01:20:49is sufficiently

01:20:51substantial

01:20:52to call

01:20:53for leniency.

01:20:56And there was

01:20:57a pause.

01:20:58I don't know

01:20:59whether she paused

01:20:59on purpose,

01:21:01but during that pause,

01:21:03I wasn't sure

01:21:04what she was going

01:21:05to say,

01:21:05yes or no.

01:21:11The answer

01:21:12is no.

01:21:13Brian Miller

01:21:14was sentenced

01:21:15to death.

01:21:17What'd that feel like?

01:21:19I don't know

01:21:20that I can

01:21:21put into words

01:21:22how it feels

01:21:23to sit next

01:21:25to Brian

01:21:27after all

01:21:28these years

01:21:29and hear the judge

01:21:31sentence him

01:21:33to death.

01:21:34It's

01:21:36an overwhelming

01:21:38experience

01:21:38that carries

01:21:40its own trauma.

01:21:41If you saw

01:21:43the horrendous

01:21:46things that

01:21:46Brian Miller

01:21:47did to those

01:21:47women,

01:21:48death penalty

01:21:48was suitable

01:21:49at that point.

01:21:51We can't bring

01:21:52those girls back,

01:21:52but we can give

01:21:53them some form

01:21:55of closure

01:21:56in seeing

01:21:57Brian Patrick Miller

01:21:58removed from society.

01:21:59Miller is now

01:22:01on Arizona's

01:22:02death row

01:22:02where he has

01:22:04access to email.

01:22:05He wrote to Dateline

01:22:07that he is always

01:22:08denied being involved

01:22:09with the murders

01:22:10and he did not

01:22:12agree with the defense

01:22:13and the opinion

01:22:14of experts.

01:22:15Miller has appealed

01:22:16the conviction.

01:22:17But is the

01:22:19investigating over?

01:22:20No, it is not.

01:22:22Does either of you

01:22:23think that there

01:22:24are more murders

01:22:27out there

01:22:27that we don't know

01:22:27about?

01:22:28I do.

01:22:29I'm hoping,

01:22:30praying,

01:22:31that I can talk

01:22:33to him

01:22:33and hopefully

01:22:34clear some more

01:22:35cases,

01:22:35get some more

01:22:36relief for some

01:22:37of the other families

01:22:37because I do think

01:22:39he did other murders.

01:22:46Thirty years ago,

01:22:48two bright young women

01:22:49each set out

01:22:50for bike rides

01:22:51along the canal

01:22:52and neither came home.

01:22:55Justice has finally

01:22:57been done,

01:22:58but the loss

01:22:59is forever.

01:23:01Well,

01:23:02she'll probably

01:23:02be a mother

01:23:03and have

01:23:06a few children

01:23:08and some dogs

01:23:09and some cats

01:23:10and some rabbits

01:23:11and some animals

01:23:13around her.

01:23:15She would be

01:23:16a person of love.

01:23:17She really would.

01:23:18I think of

01:23:19what she would

01:23:21have been like,

01:23:22what kind of mom

01:23:23she would have been,

01:23:23what kind of career

01:23:25she would have chosen.

01:23:26In our yearbook,

01:23:27she signed it

01:23:28saying,

01:23:29I hope we are friends

01:23:30for the rest

01:23:30of our lives.

01:23:31I think we truly

01:23:32would have been

01:23:33friends forever.

01:23:39That's all

01:23:39for this edition

01:23:40of Dateline.

01:23:41We'll see you again

01:23:42Thursday at 10,

01:23:449 central,

01:23:44and of course,

01:23:45I'll see you each weeknight

01:23:46for NBC Nightly News.

01:23:48I'm Lester Holt.

01:23:50For all of us

01:23:50at NBC News,

01:23:52good night.

01:23:53.

01:23:54.

01:23:55.

01:23:56.

01:24:00.

01:24:01.

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