Serial killer Don Miller is denied parole; won't be eligible again until 2027

Serial killer Don Miller, who admitted to killing four women in the late 1970s, has been denied parole, according to a news release issued today by Eaton County Prosecuting Attorney Doug Lloyd.

Lloyd's office was informed of the state parole board's decision Thursday, it said.

"...Miller will not be considered for parole again for 5 years," said the release. "Miller’s next parole eligibility date is August 29, 2027."

Miller was interviewed by a parole board official earlier this month, according to Michigan Department of Corrections spokesperson Chris Gautz.

Admitting to murders

Miller, 67, is currently a prisoner at the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility in Jackson. He admitted to killing four women — Martha Sue Young, Marita Choquette, Wendy Bush and Kristine Stuart — in East Lansing between Jan. 1, 1977, and Aug. 14, 1978.

In the summer of 1978, he also stabbed Randy Gilbert three times and choked him after raping Gilbert's sister Lisa, then 14, in their Delta Township home.

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Legislation giving the state's parole board flexibility to delay its review of a prisoner's potential parole, prompted by Miller's annual reviews, was signed into law in March.

Reforms approved by the legislature in 2018 meant the state parole board had to review prisoners' parole requests every one to two years, Lloyd said in February.

The new legislation allows the state's parole board to extend the period between hearings for up to five years. Such a move would require a majority vote of the board and a written opinion regarding the decision.

Release possible in 2031

"I would like to thank Randy Gilbert as well as his sister Lisa for their tireless efforts to keep this serial killer behind bars," Lloyd said in the release.

If Miller serves his full sentence for his conviction in the Gilbert case, he is scheduled to be released in 2031.

An indictment against Miller in Ingham County on second-degree murder charges in the deaths of two of his victims — Stuart and Young — never went to trial.

Miller pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter in exchange for leading police to Young's and Stuart’s bodies. He was sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison.  He later revealed details of Choquette's and Bush’s deaths.

In 1994, prison officials found a garrote, a strangling device, made from a shoestring and barrel buttons, in Miller’s cell at Kinross Correctional Facility in Chippewa County. A jury convicted him of possessing a weapon in prison, adding another 20 to 40 years to Miller's sentence.

Contact Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @GrecoatLSJ .