Sharee Miller

Summary

Snapped: Women Who Murder — The Sharee Miller Case

Date: March 25, 2026
Podcast: Snapped: Women Who Murder (Oxygen)
Episode Theme:
This episode delves into the pioneering internet-facilitated murder case of Sharee Miller, whose online manipulation led to the shocking murder of her husband, Bruce Miller, in 1999. The story unravels a tale of lies, seduction, and deadly intent—showing how emerging chatroom culture became a tool for real-world crime, and examining how investigators navigated new digital terrain to find justice.

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Main Theme and Purpose (02:29 – 03:18)

The episode focuses on the 1999 murder of Bruce Miller in Flint, Michigan, and how his wife, Sharee Miller, masterminded the crime by luring Jerry Cassidy, a vulnerable former police officer working security at a casino, into killing her husband through an intense online relationship. This case marked one of America’s earliest “Internet murder” crimes and set a precedent for digital evidence in homicide investigations.

“Now, nearly 20 years later, there is more to the fascinating story of the Internet’s first murder case. An investigation that helped usher in the modern age of true crime.”
—Narrator (02:29)

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Bruce Miller’s Life and Murder Discovery (03:18 – 06:54)

• Bruce Miller was a hardworking, honest auto salvage business owner in Flint, MI.
• On November 8, 1999, he was discovered murdered at his business by family.
• Initial scenes suggested a robbery, but a closer inspection revealed death by shotgun.

“When officers arrive...lying behind the counter in a pool of blood is 48 year old Bruce Miller.”
—Narrator (04:42)

2. Sharee and Bruce’s Relationship, and Sharee’s Background (07:44 – 09:49)

• Sharee, a young, charismatic woman, was hired as Bruce’s bookkeeper.
• Despite their 20-year age gap, romance blossomed; they quickly married in April 1999.
• Sharee had been twice-divorced, raised in Flint, and lived on her own since 16.

“She was super personable, easy to get along with. She was a go-getter.”
—Investigator (07:59)

3. Digitally-Driven Motive: The Internet as a Weapon (09:49 – 11:12)

• Sharee used chatrooms initially for Mary Kay sales but soon for personal, romantic pursuits.
• Bruce was planning for retirement; everything seemed stable—until seven months into the marriage.

4. Investigation: Early Theories and False Leads (11:12 – 35:00)

• Police considered robbery and close-contacts as motives.
• Sharee supplied names: two suspicious men and a former employee (John Hutchinson), both plausible at first.
• John Hutchinson, caught in a VIN-switching investigation, became primary suspect after a failed polygraph, but his alibi was confirmed, and the case soon went cold.

“John admitted to owning three shotguns. His home was searched, and those guns were found…It didn’t look good…But…his alibi checked out.”
—Investigator (29:16–34:22)

5. The Breakthrough: Jerry Cassidy’s Suicide and the Briefcase (35:46 – 48:26)

• Months later, Missouri attorney John O’Connor contacted police: Jerry Cassidy had committed suicide and left a briefcase full of evidence, including a confession and digital/physical records tying Sharee to the murder.
• Cassiday’s background as a lawman, his downward spiral after job loss/divorce/addiction, and the genesis of his online relationship with Sharee are explored.

“Cassidy said that he had done it, and he had done it in conjunction with a girl named Cherie Miller. It blindsided us.”
—Investigator (41:45)

“That briefcase was a treasure trove of information.”
—Investigator (44:57)

6. The Seduction and Manipulation: Unraveling the Online Affair (49:16 – 55:14)

• Chat logs, photos, and videotapes demonstrated Sharee’s use of sexual and emotional manipulation to gain Jerry’s devotion and, ultimately, cooperation in murder.
• Sharee deployed false tales of pregnancy, abuse, and danger, crafting evidence (e.g., cosmetic ‘bruises’).

“She attracted him with her looks...But then she really needs him to become her savior...she feeds him these awful stories...”
—Investigator (54:15)

7. Sharee as Suspect: Evidence Mounts (55:28 – 60:23)

• Investigators become suspicious of Sharee’s quick move for financial gain, socializing right after Bruce’s funeral, and romantic entanglements with others.
• Sharee denied everything—until confronted with irrefutable evidence, after which her story shifted.

“That is not even right. I did not write that stuff...I want my car and I want to leave because this is nuts.”
—Cherie Miller (54:51, 59:57)

8. Motive and Manipulation: The Heart of the Case (61:08 – 68:16)

• Sharee’s relationships, lies, and claims unraveled under scrutiny—she had a documented history of fabricating backgrounds and manipulating others.
• The abuse, mafia stories, and pregnancy were all invented; her tubes had been tied.

9. Trial: Technology Meets Justice (71:01 – 78:24)

• The trial was broadcast nationwide, gaining huge attention as the “first Internet murder case.”
• The case hinged on digital (chat/email) evidence—novel at the time.
• Sharee’s own testimony on the stand undermined her defense, admitting the emails as accurate.

“She thought her charm was going to get her out of it…the most damning messages are those sent the night before the murder…”
—Expert/Analyst & Juror (77:23, 75:30)

• Cherie was convicted of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder; sentenced to life without parole.

10. Aftermath: Prison, Appeals, and More Manipulation (78:51 – 83:50)

• Sharee continued manipulating from prison, entering a pen-pal relationship that escalated to engagement and, once she briefly won an appeal and was released, re-enacted her patterns by dropping her new suitor.

“She said, everything’s for me and screw everybody else…I’ll move on to the next person.”
—John, Pen Pal/Fiancé (83:00)

• Legal maneuvers reinstated her original sentence, and further statements (including a possible confession letter) only added to the impression of her as a chronic manipulator.

11. Legacy and Reflection (85:11 – 86:43)

• The case impacted many lives, leaving deaths, ruined reputations, and enduring pain for the victims and their families.
• Cherie’s actions are described as leaving behind a trail of destruction, with her “class A taker” persona unchanged even after years in prison.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the novelty of the crime:

  “This was the first Internet murder case.” —Investigator (31:31, 53:00)

• On Sharee's power of manipulation:

  “She was the master manipulator, and she’d been working on this plan for quite a while.” —Jerry Cassidy’s Colleague (67:32)

• On the digital evidence trail:

  “That instant message…stepped out everything…line by line how to get to Flint, what roads to bring into the junkyard.” —Expert/Investigator (45:29)

• On Sharee’s disastrous courtroom hubris:

  Interviewer: “Are all these exhibits true and accurate?”
  Sharee: “Yes, they are.” (77:36-77:53)

• On Jerry Cassidy’s emotional devastation:

  “She just absolutely twisted him up emotionally to the point where he didn’t see any other out.” —Jerry Cassidy’s Colleague (43:01, 69:04)

• Pen pal John’s regret:

  “She’s diabolical. She’s probably the most evil person I ever met.” —John, Pen Pal/Fiancé (83:50)

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Important Timestamps

• [03:18–06:54] — Discovery of Bruce Miller’s body and assessment of the scene.
• [35:46–44:26] — Jerry Cassidy’s suicide, the critical Missouri briefcase, and its contents.
• [49:16–55:14] — The full extent of Sharee’s digital manipulation exposed through chat and video.
• [71:01–78:24] — The Internet’s first murder trial: proceedings, courtroom challenges, Sharee’s disastrous testimony, and verdict.
• [78:51–85:11] — Aftermath: prison behavior, pen-pal/fiancé, appeals, and ultimate sentence reinstatement.
• [85:35–86:43] — Reflections on the enduring impact for families and the wider community.

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Episode’s Tone & Language

The episode blends straightforward police procedural with emotional witness accounts and expert analysis, moving from step-by-step investigation to evocative descriptions of manipulation and the tragic fallout. The language is clear, direct, and at times tinged with the disbelief and sorrow of those touched by the case.

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Conclusion

Sharee Miller’s case is a landmark in true crime history, not just because it marked the first high-profile "internet murder," but also due to the chilling psychology at its core. It’s a tale of exploitation in the digital age—and a haunting reminder of the new kinds of danger online worlds can hold.

“Her whole life is about getting attention…her appeals had run out. How do you become relevant again? I may as well admit I did it and again, get the focus on me.”
—Expert/Analyst (85:20)

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If you missed this episode, you now have a detailed roadmap of how a digital love affair turned to murder and how justice came—piece by digital piece.

Transcript

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[Narrator/Documentary Host]

In 2005, a twisted case was featured on the second season of Snapped. This was the first Internet murder case.

[Investigator/Detective]

Back in 1999, our department was in the infancy stage of learning about the Internet.

This captured the nation's attention.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

It begins with a mysterious shooting.

[Judy Miller (Witness/Family Member)]

My brother in law, he's laying on the floor in there's blood.

[Investigator/Detective]

The money was missing, in his wallet was missing.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

But the investigation unearths a sinister plot orchestrated by a master manipulator using the Internet to lure in victims.

[Investigator/Detective]

The first chats that they had, pretty mundane, but they quickly turned sexual.

[Expert/Analyst]

Her screen names included. Just hot to see you horny 7249.

[Investigator/Detective]

It blindsided us. We're going holy. Where did this come from?

That was part of her game, playing on his emotions.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Now, now, nearly 20 years later, there is more to the fascinating story of the Internet's first murder case. An investigation that helped usher in the modern age of true crime.

[John (Pen Pal/Fiancé of Cherie Miller)]

I watched a lot of Snap. There was something in her eyes. I thought she was innocent.

[Investigator/Detective]

Her conviction was appealed. The court ruled she should get a new trial.

[Expert/Analyst]

She had a hook, line and sinker and she just kept on getting away with it.

[John (Pen Pal/Fiancé of Cherie Miller)]

She's Diablo. Probably the most evil person I ever met.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

It's the fall of 1999 and residents of Flint, Michigan are hoping the new millennium will bring positive change to the area.

[Investigator/Detective]

Flint was coming out of a recession. There was a lot of people that were struggling at the time. General Motors had just picked up and moved. There was a lot of poverty in our area. There was a lot of drugs. When you have the drugs comes the violence and the robberies. There was a lot of that at this time in the Flint area. In early November of 1999, the deputies received a call about a man down at the salvage yard.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

The 911 crew call comes in just after 9:30pm on Nov. 8. A woman named Judy Miller is on the line.

[Interviewer/Detective]

County 9101.

[Judy Miller (Witness/Family Member)]

Yeah, I need a police and ambulance at D Auto sale or auto salad. My brother in law, he's laying on the floor and there's blood like it's going underneath him too. Just try and stay calm. He was supposed to have left at like a little bit after six to go pick up food.

[Interviewer/Detective]

So you're supposed to have left work

[Judy Miller (Witness/Family Member)]

at 6, a little like about 20 after 6, I guess. He talked to his wife last and he was going to go pick up food. They're on the way right now. Okay, okay.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

When officers arrive, Judy and her husband Chuck rush them inside. Lying behind the counter in a pool of blood is 48 year old Bruce Miller.

[Investigator/Detective]

One of the deputies that was there was a paramedic and he quickly assessed him and determined that he had passed away.

He's very cold to the touch and it's obvious that Bruce had been laying there for more than a short period of time. We were talking hours at that point. His chair had been tipped over. It actually broke a wheel off. The telephone was sitting next to him. The way the blood pooled around the head and the chest area, at first it looked like he might have smacked his head on the cement floor having a heart attack.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

As officers begin documenting the scene, closer inspection reveals the true cause of his injuries.

[Investigator/Detective]

There was numerous pellet holes in him. It was obvious that it was a gunshot with a shotgun. Chuck and Judy obviously were very upset at first. They had no inkling of what had occurred. They stayed there that night so they could be interviewed. They were the ones that kind of gave us the background on Bruce Miller.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Bruce Miller was a lifelong resident of Flint, Michigan. Born in 1951, his early years were a testament to his blue collar roots.

[Investigator/Detective]

Bruce grew up north of Flint. He married his high school sweetheart in 1970. They had two kids together. They had a good life.

[Expert/Analyst]

Bruce worked at General Motors, which is very common in this town. And the people that work there work hard. And they're honest, decent people. And that's what Bruce was. Bruce was quiet, kind, didn't spend a lot of money, didn't need a lot of frills.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

While Bruce enjoyed success as an autoworker and a father, the same couldn't be said for his marriage.

[Investigator/Detective]

About six years into that, things went sideways. They divorced.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Bruce tried again with a second marriage in the 1980s. But that relationship also ended in divorce. By the time he was in his 40s, Bruce had embraced life as a bachelor.

[Investigator/Detective]

He became enamored with NASCAR and wrenching on cars. He was the kind of guy that would buy a junker to fix up and just that would be his hobby. That's why he ended up buying B and D auto salvage.

People would want to fix up a car, maybe the auto parts store didn't have it. So they would go to salvage yards like Bruce's.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Bruce's salvage yard was soon doing well enough for him to take on employees. One of his first hires was 26 year old bookkeeper Cherie Tribbest.

[Investigator/Detective]

Cherie was well liked by her group of friends. She was super personable, easy to get along with. She was a go getter.

Cherie was born and raised in the Flint area.

She moved out when she was about 16. Was on her own, got married, started having kids. Ended up being married once more. Before she met Bruce Miller.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

After her second marriage ended in divorce, Cherie was ready to move on. Despite their 20 year age difference, Bruce and Cherie found they had a lot in common.

[Investigator/Detective]

She was kind of enamored with him. He was the kind of guy that she'd been looking for. Somebody that was steady, stable, the kind of person that would be good to her and her kids.

[Expert/Analyst]

I think Bruce was drawn to Sherri because she's young, she's vivacious, she's charming. Also, she may have complimented him better because she was talkative. He was not.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

What began as a working relationship quickly grew into something more.

[Investigator/Detective]

They were just like school kids. They were in love. Within a very short period of time, they were already talking marriage. He moves her into his house, moves the kids in.

[Expert/Analyst]

Sherry and Bruce started dating in late 1998. And then very quickly thereafter, in April of 1999, they were married in Vegas.

[Investigator/Detective]

Bruce's family was a little bit surprised, but they were going to let him live his life and they saw that he was pretty happy with her.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

In addition to bookkeeping, Cherie supplemented their income by selling Mary Kay cosmetics. In early 1999, Cherie turned to chat rooms on the emerging World Wide Web to expand her network of customers.

[Expert/Investigator]

Cherie had had a computer Bruce bought for her. She got into it. AOL was really what she was using at that time and she was into it.

Computers were not new, but they were just making it to the homes. So it was fairly new technology.

[Expert/Analyst]

Up until that point we tend to forget, but we didn't have a lot of communication on the Internet. Chat rooms were new. So it was a whole different ball game back then.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

By late 1999, Bruce and Cherie found themselves doing well enough for Bruce to start making plans for retirement.

[Expert/Analyst]

Bruce was on the end of his General Motors career. He had a small business where he could engage in a hobby that interested him, yet make some money, still be involved. And he had a young, somewhat good looking wife. Things were looking up for him.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

But just seven months into their whirlwind marriage, their love story would come to a sudden and violent end. Bruce has been found shot to death at his salvage yard. And Michigan police are at the scene collecting evidence.

[Investigator/Detective]

The crime lab was called, the on duty detectives were called and they headed in and started the timeline of everything and the interviews of those people involved so far. The detectives started with Chuck and Judy that there.

Why were you here? How did you get in? What circumstances led you to come here in the first place? They were super cooperative. They opened up everything in their lives that we asked them about. This crime occurred between 6 and about 8 o' clock at night. Chuck Miller had been called by Sheree Miller saying that Bruce hadn't come home yet. Chuck Miller and Judy Miller got in their car, drove out to Klaus, opened the gate, went back there and Chuck discovers his brother. He instructs Judy, his wife, to call 91 1.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

As detectives take in the scene, they observe telltale signs of a potential motive.

[Investigator/Detective]

Just on its face, it had all the earmarks of an armed robbery. The reception desk is right at the front door and he didn't have a chance to tell anybody what was going on or call 911. So it looks to look like they came in, shot him and robbed him. The money was missing, his wallet was missing.

[Expert/Investigator]

Bruce was known to carry about $2,000 in his shirt. Pocket. He used that to buy parts and whatnot. And that was missing.

[Investigator/Detective]

So your clientele for that type of business is usually lower income. So you had people that were of low means financially coming out there on a regular basis. It was an all cash business. And if you're a guy that's just scraping by and you know that you can go get two or three grand in one shot, that's a pretty good what we call lick.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

But as compelling as the robbery theory sounds, there's a problem.

[Investigator/Detective]

It wasn't like a 711 where people can come off the street and rob them of cash. This was off the beaten path. You had to know where this business was at.

They start processing the scene and find it. There was no signs of a struggle. It appeared that the person may be standing on the other side of a counter. Seemed like they may have had some knowledge of the building.

It almost seems that he would have recognized his person robbing him. So we wanted to see if maybe this was someone who had known how the business operates and maybe even had been in there before. We needed to investigate that further.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Coming up, a grieving widow provides detectives with a potential suspect.

[Investigator/Detective]

They had dated, had sexual relationship.

[Interviewer/Detective]

You're looking at the wrong person. I don't think so, but I've been wrong before in my life. You're wrong now.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

But just when it seems the case is nearly solved, bombshell revelations launch the investigation into cyberspace.

[Investigator/Detective]

They were like teenagers playing, building this relationship, having a ball.

They're having online sex. She's frequently coming back.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

But to separate the truth from the lies, investigators must root out a duplicitous swindler.

[Investigator/Detective]

She sent photographs of sonograms.

She said that he was part of the mafia and was abusive.

[Jerry Cassidy's Colleague/Friend]

He did what she wanted him to do and then dropped him like a hot potato.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Authorities in Flint, Michigan are investigating the murder of 48 year old Bruce Miller. Already spoken to Bruce's brother and sister in law. Now police need to pay a visit to his widow.

[Investigator/Detective]

Early November 9, after midnight, officers went to the house. Sri had family already there. They knew something was wrong because Judy and Chuck had told them something was wrong. Thinking that it was a heart attack, however, they informed her that the death was a homicide. Upon hearing that news, Cherie Miller started screaming, falling on the floor. Family kind of rushed in and got around her, but she was unconsolable.

She was very upset, crying. Everyone felt that her reactions were normal of someone that had lost a husband to a homicide.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Once Cherie regains her composure, she agrees to tell detectives everything she remembers before the shooting took place,

[Investigator/Detective]

Sri had been home with the kids. She had a friend over, Laura Ewald. They were supposed to have a Mary Kay cosmetic meeting. Six o', clock, which would be Bruce's normal time of getting off work. She called him. They talked on the phone. She tells him that she's going to order food from Big Brutus, which is a business that would be an easy stop on his way home.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

But Cherise says that in the middle of their conversation, Bruce suddenly cut the call short.

[Investigator/Detective]

Bruce told her that there was a car pulling in the lot. Bruce thought it was one of his employees returning to work that might have forgot something. He was going to hurry up and deal with it and told Cherie that he would pick up the food.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Cherie became concerned when two hours passed and Bruce still wasn't home.

[Investigator/Detective]

Cherie was in a panic that she couldn't find Bruce. He wouldn't answer the phone.

She told Lori that she was gonna go check and see if he picked up the food at the restaurant. Laurie Ewald had actually blocked in Cherie Miller's car, and so it was just more convenient for Cherie to take Laura Ewald's car. It was a restaurant that he frequented, and so they knew Bruce and said, no, your order's still here. Now she's becoming nervous.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Cherie decided to check on Bruce herself by driving to the auto shop less than 10 minutes away.

[Investigator/Detective]

She drives up to the Bnd Auto Parts, observes that the gate next to Saginaw Road was secure, but she didn't have her keys with her because those were on her car key ring, which was back at the house.

The gate was locked when they got there, which would indicate that Bruce had probably left the building and locked when he left.

Sheree gets home with Laura Ewald's car. Then some more calls are made. She had actually called 911, the local hospitals, local police departments, to see if something had happened to Bruce. But she's also calling Chuck Miller at the time, almost demanding that he goes check on him.

She knew at that point that something was wrong.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Laura confirms Cherie's timeline, leading detectives to question who else may have had access to the salvage yard. After hours,

[Investigator/Detective]

we started questioning Sheree Miller about, is there anybody that had a problem with him? At that point, she started pointing out suspects

Sheree worked up at the salvage yard the day of Bruce's murder. She said that a couple fellas come in that she'd never seen before, made some comments about her and about her wedding ring, looking Expensive to the point that she was very uncomfortable and asked them to leave.

She gave us a brief description of them and a description of a van they might have been in.

She didn't know who they were and did not get a license plate.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

The lead fits the theory of a robbery gone wrong. But when investigators suggest that Bruce may have recognized the shooter, Cherie offers up a different name. Bruce's former employee, John Hutchinson.

[Expert/Analyst]

There was one other person, John Hutchinson, who had worked with Bruce, that Sherry Miller had kind of pointed the finger at.

[Investigator/Detective]

Cherie told us that her aunt, John Hutchinson, had dated and had a sexual relationship several years earlier.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

According to cherie, even though the relationship ended before she got together with Bruce, there was still bad blood between the two men. But her past with John wasn't the only source of tension.

[Investigator/Detective]

Cherie mentioned that John had borrowed $2,000 from Bruce and he was slow to pay it back.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Cherie says Bruce also resented John for jeopardizing his business.

[Investigator/Detective]

The police had been there to the salvage yard prior to the homicide concerning some stolen parts or stolen vehicles.

We actually talked to the auto theft team, and they did advise that there was a vin switching investigation going on there, that John Hutchinson was their primary suspect at that time. A VIN switching scheme is where you go get a car that's wrecked, you pay two or three hundred dollars for it. You get a title, and you get the actual vin plate with the vehicle. Then you go out and steal a car that's similar, maybe a couple years newer, maybe less miles. You take the vin plate off the junk car, you put it on the stolen car, you have a title to that vin plate. And sometimes these are luxury cars. They take their $70,000 cars, and they can get it for 1,000 bucks, and then they sell it for 40,000. It's all profit. John Hutchinson actually wasn't working for Bruce anymore, but his brother Harold was still there. So the logical place for the auto theft team was to go to the business, start checking the books. We thought maybe Bruce was mad at John Hutchinson, and we said, hey, I'm trying to run a clean business here. I don't need any of this.

There was a theory that maybe Bruce was about ready to call the police on him and turn him in.

We had to obviously go down that road and see, well, maybe the motive wasn't the $2,000. Maybe he wanted to siles him. So we set out to find John Hutchinson.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Less than 24 hours after the murder of Bruce Miller, his wife Cherie, has handed investigators their first solid lead. A Former employee named John Hutchinson.

[Investigator/Detective]

When she started mentioning John Hutchinson, Owen money and he was a suspect in a VIN switching. We don't know at that point if the murder was robbery or was robbery in addition to silencing or witness.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Since the shooting occurred around closing time, detectives need to determine if any of the salvage yard employees saw John arrive before they left work.

[Investigator/Detective]

We know who the last person that talked to Bruce was on the phone, but we didn't know who the last person was to see Bruce that night.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

The last name written on the schedule catches everyone's attention.

[Investigator/Detective]

The last employee that left for the day was Harold Hutchinson.

[Expert/Analyst]

We found out that Harold was John Hutchinson's brother.

[Investigator/Detective]

On November 9, myself and another detective, we went out to Harold's location. We got there, knocked on his house, he let us in.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

When investigators tell Harold they want to talk about Bruce Miller's death, they get another surprise.

[Investigator/Detective]

When we talked to Harold Hutchinson early morning of the 9th of November, which was probably about 10 o' clock in the morning, he already knew. So our first inclination. Well, how do you know this happened when it's not been out there?

Harold said he had talked to John and John had said that he had taken care of Bruce.

And then that's when he starts to go into the story about how his brother disposed of him. He explains that the word disposed to him means homicide.

[Expert/Analyst]

Harold Hutchinson had said that his brother told him something, you know, kind of ambiguous, where Harold didn't have to worry about getting his tools or a new job or something like that, and that Bruce wasn't going to be a problem.

[Investigator/Detective]

We're liking what we're hearing, but we had to take all that with a grain of salt. We didn't know what we had at that point.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Despite the vagueness of John's wording, Harold tells investigators what he thinks his brother was implying.

[Interviewer/Detective]

It means that he was gone. And gone means what that means. Did your brother tell you how he killed him? No, he did not. Did he allude to how he killed him? No, he did not. The company had been being investigated for bin switching vehicles, right? Yes. And your brother was the one actually doing it. Yeah. Not only was your brother working for Bruce, but he's also stealing from Bruce. Yeah.

[Investigator/Detective]

Obviously, you know, that ties in with what Cherie told us. It all makes sense. But it wasn't enough to run out in a restaurant. It was enough for us to go out and grab him and conduct an interrogation.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

When police arrive at John's house a little after 12pm, he seems unnervingly Calm.

[Investigator/Detective]

By the time we get to John Hutchinson now, it's later in the day. It had already been on the news. And so he already knew that there had been a murder.

His reaction was inappropriate. He was a good friend of Bruce's, and he just didn't seem to be that concerned about it.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

John agrees to talk to detectives and accompanies them back to the station.

[Investigator/Detective]

Once we got him downtown is when we started asking him more poignant questions about the VIN switching investigation.

[Interviewer/Detective]

Was there bad blood over this? Was Bruce mad at you for it? That, you know, he might have said a few things, but not as far as being physically mad. No.

[Investigator/Detective]

He said it wasn't worth killing Bruce over.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

John also confirms what Cherie told them about the money he owed Bruce and their past relationship. However, John claims they already cleared the air.

[Interviewer/Detective]

Tell me about your affair with Cherie Miller.

[Judy Miller (Witness/Family Member)]

Oh, I.

[Interviewer/Detective]

Her one time. How long ago? Oh, we slept together a couple times. And me and my wife split up. Went out to eat at a motel, played hooky on goes up a year and a half. Before or after she got with Bruce? Before. Nothing's happened since she's been with Bruce? No.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

John's account of the affair continues to line up with what Cherie told police.

[Investigator/Detective]

He was straightforward with his answers. He remained confident.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

However, John's easy answer seems suspicious to detectives.

[Investigator/Detective]

I think that there was a couple of the detectives that thought this was the guy. You know, this looked real good. Anytime you're being questioned by the police for a murder, you're going to be nervous. And he wasn't. And he had an answer for everything that come along.

At that point, we started talking about the murder. We just let him tell us, you know, that he's not involved in everything.

[Interviewer/Detective]

After I took a shower. Kid was still watching tv. Wife went to the store, came back. So you never left the house again? Nope.

[Investigator/Detective]

We call it locking you into a lie. And now we start hitting them with, hey, Harold saying that you called him.

[Interviewer/Detective]

There's a few phone calls in between here, too. I talked to bdc. I talked to Harold. You know what Harold told us? I haven't got a clue. Harold told us that you thought that Bruce was taken care of. So could you have said something like that or no. This is pretty serious stuff. I could have, but I felt like I said if I did. What I meant by taking care of is he's already been paid. Cause he wanted me to pay him back. You're looking at the wrong person. I don't think so. But I've been Wrong before, my lord, you're wrong now.

[Investigator/Detective]

His denials were super, super weak. Like, you were talking to a six year old about stealing a cookie and there's cookie dough on their face. Weak, like, oh, I didn't do it.

John admitted to owning three shotguns. His home was searched, and those guns were found and taken into evidence. It didn't look good for him with all the other information that was coming about him.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

John tells investigators he's willing to do all anything to prove his innocence.

[Investigator/Detective]

He said, listen, I'll take a polygraph. We kind of halted the interview at that point and set up the polygraph for him. You strike why the iron's hot.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

That evening, the polygraph operator leads John through a series of questions.

[Investigator/Detective]

They start out with, what's your name? How old are you? You know, so they get a baseline of when he's telling the truth, and they ask him, did you kill Bruce Miller?

Do you know who killed Bruce Miller? Were you there when Bruce Miller was killed? He's answering them, no, but he's shaking his head yes. Which sometimes means that the person's subconsciously trying to tell you the truth.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

After an assessment, investigators receive the test results.

[Investigator/Detective]

The operator felt that he failed the polygraph. So I think it was some excitement for the detectives that are working on, hey, we're on the right track here. We've got the right guy.

John Hutchinson was no doubt our number one person, and he was the person we had focused on at that point.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Coming up, a funeral becomes the site of a volatile confrontation.

[Investigator/Detective]

Sheree went crazy, screaming, that's the guy who murdered my husband.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

And a tragic suicide leads to a stunning piece of evidence.

[Investigator/Detective]

He had told him, if something should happen to me, look underneath my bed for a briefcase.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Less than two days into the investigation of the murder of Bruce Miller, detectives believe they have a prime suspect. However, they fear a rushed arrest might weaken their case against John Hutchinson.

[Investigator/Detective]

Polygraph is maybe one of the last things you want to use in investigation because they're not admissible in court.

The way the business was set up were numerous people coming and going. There wasn't a lot of forensic evidence to take. There was no shell casing left. We have Harold statement, and that's it. We have no physical evidence. We can't physically prove that he's there. So there's just no advantage to law enforcement to arrest him at that point. Until we gather more evidence, we end up taking John Hutchinson home.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

As investigators continue building their case, Bruce's loved ones gather for his funeral.

[Investigator/Detective]

There's Hundreds of people coming to the funeral home pay their respects. Bruce had all his friends from the shop, from the business he ran. It was a small town, everyone kind of knew Bruce. As the day goes on, John Hutchinson and his wife show up to pay their condolences.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Bruce's widow, Cherie, is none too pleased with the surprise guest.

[Investigator/Detective]

Cherie went crazy screaming, mommy, mommy, daddy, daddy. That's the guy who murdered my husband. Screaming in a group of people at her funeral, screaming it out.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

With emotions boiling over, Cherie's brother in law asks John and his wife to leave.

[Investigator/Detective]

His group of friends all knew that we had interrogated him, we'd interviewed him, we'd polygraphed him. So all these people that were close to Bruce are starting to push John away after the funeral, thinking that he really is the killer. It's just a matter of time before he's arrested.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

However, detectives struggle to find any physical evidence to connect Hutchinson to the murder.

[Investigator/Detective]

It's difficult to do ballistics with a shotgun. You're going to be able to tell the gauge, and that's probably the extent that you're going to know.

We secured weapons from John Hutchinson's house. None of them were 20 gauges. None of them had been fired. It was a dead end.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Investigators follow up on the alibi John provided in his initial interview, hoping it might provide a window of opportunity.

[Investigator/Detective]

Anytime you try to validate an alibi and confront a guy, gotta go back, track that and see if he can validate those things, see if he's telling the truth. He, you know, gives an account of what he did that evening, where he'd been, who he was with, and it was confirmed by his wife and his alibi checked out.

You can't ever eliminate anyone 100%. But we stopped pursuing him at that point because we knew where he was at at the time of the murder. And we also was able to confirm

everything when things with John went cold, the whole case kind of went cold for a while.

It becomes frustrating when you know you have a grieving family and you have no answers. You take it personally when you can't help. That's why you get into police work, is to help people through life. And it's like you have a personal failure if a case goes nowhere and you can't solve it.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Three and a half months into the investigation, the only other lead, the two men who harassed Cherie Miller on the day of the murder, has gone nowhere.

[Investigator/Detective]

There was concern that we may not find out who killed this, especially with some of the information we had about the two men that could have been people passing through town. And when the argument took place, they killed him, got in a car and drove away. Have no tie to the community. We'll never see them again.

Four investigators at that point, they were back to square one. They had no leads, no suspect, no known motive.

[Expert/Investigator]

Most definitely, it's frustrating. We were four months into the case before we actually got a break.

[Investigator/Detective]

In February of 2000, we get a call from Missouri, an attorney down there, John o'. Connor.

[Expert/Investigator]

He basically called and said, did you have a homicide involving Bruce Miller? And I said yeah. He says, well, I've had a suicide here and it has some evidence for you.

[Investigator/Detective]

And once we got the information that we needed, we immediately formulated a plan. We flew detectives down to Kansas City and that started the whole ball rolling. With things starting to fall into place,

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

The investigation into the murder of Bruce Miller had seemingly stalled out until a surprise call breathes new life into the case.

[Investigator/Detective]

John o' Connor was the attorney for a man named Jerry Cassidy. Jerry Cassidy had committed suicide and left a note that he should go to authorities with this information.

Jerry Cassidy didn't exist to any investigators in Michigan.

[Expert/Analyst]

They're like, what information do you have? He's like, I have a briefcase that details directions and information and perhaps a motive for why Jerry may have driven out and killed Bruce.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

On February 18, 2000, Flint detectives meet with Jerry's family, including his brother Michael at oconnors law office in Kansas City.

[Investigator/Detective]

We learned that Jerry Cassidy had committed suicide in the basement of a home in Missouri. Shot in the head and with the bible sitting in his lap, he left this briefcase with a note for John o' Connor to make sure it got to the authorities. And in that briefcase was information about the murder of Bruce Miller.

Jerry Cassidy grew up in a well loved family in Kansas City. He decided that he wanted to be a policeman, then got hired by the Cass county sheriff's department. Because he was so smart, he was quickly promoted to lieutenant in charge of homicides.

[Jerry Cassidy's Colleague/Friend]

He loved the job. It was what he really wanted to do. That was his life's ambition.

[Investigator/Detective]

He was married, he had a child. Then life kind of hit him. He fell at work and at that point got addicted to prescription medication.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Then in 1995, 34 year old Jerry fell on even harder times

[Investigator/Detective]

during that time also, he believed a sheriff of the Cass county was committing a fraud in a homicide investigation. The hardest thing in the world is to go tell on a powerful sheriff. And he went, told the authorities, stood up to the sheriff and eventually he loses his job.

[Jerry Cassidy's Colleague/Friend]

That was the job that he always wanted. But he knew that he couldn't go back out because he couldn't guarantee that anyone would have his back. That was kind of his identity, you know, that and being a husband and a father that, you know, that really defined who he was as a person. And when that part went away, it's like, oh, okay, now what do I do?

[Investigator/Detective]

He kind of just spirals out of control until he talks to an ex FBI agent that he knew from working for Cass County. And he was a big wig at Harris Casino and hired Jerry to do security there.

[Jerry Cassidy's Colleague/Friend]

He'd moved his family to Reno, but his wife didn't find it as appealing as he did. And she just said, our relationship is done.

[Expert/Investigator]

Jerry was very lonely. His wife divorced him. You know, he was having a hard time seeing his kids, and. And he just drank, drank, drank, drank.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

In 1999, Jerry came back to Missouri seeking the support of his family. But on November 9, his downward spiral came to a dramatic climax.

[Investigator/Detective]

Jerry calls his brother, says, listen, I'm going to the hunting cabin. I just got to have some time to think.

Jerry told him, if something should happen to me, you should look underneath my bed for a briefcase.

Michael Cassidy's curiosity was up. Like, what happened? What? Saying what was going on. Jerry tells him, at that point, I've done something that can't be undone.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

On February 11, 2000, Michael got tragic news that his brother was found dead from an apparent suicide.

[Investigator/Detective]

After Jerry was found from his suicide, Michael knew to go get that briefcase.

There was a note on the outside of the briefcase. It said, call John o'. Connor.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Michael followed the instructions and called John o', Connor, Jerry's lawyer. Nothing could have prepared them for what they found inside.

[Expert/Analyst]

There were three letters with the briefcase. One was to Jerry's biological son, one was to his ex wife, and one was to his mother and father. The one to his mother and father detailed why he was doing what he was doing.

[Investigator/Detective]

Jerry Cassidy left a suicide note and basically said that he had killed someone in Genesee county named Bruce Miller. Cassidy said that he had done it, and he had done it in conjunction with a girl named Cherie Miller. It blindsided us, and we're going, oh, where did this come from? You know, he was concerned about his own welfare because being a former police officer going to prison, what would happen to him when he was there? And it was evident that this is why he had committed suicide.

He basically wanted the family to tell the authorities that he believed that there was Enough information in that briefcase to convict Sheree.

Jerry Cassidy knew what he wanted to do when he ended his life. And that was to make sure Sri Miller didn't get away with this.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Still to come, an explicit tape offers a crucial connection.

[Investigator/Detective]

She's masturbating on camera.

[Jerry Cassidy's Colleague/Friend]

She just absolutely twisted him up emotionally to the point where he didn't see any other out.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

And new evidence reveals a mastermind who'll stop at nothing to get what she wants.

[John (Pen Pal/Fiancé of Cherie Miller)]

She said, everything's for me and screw everybody else.

[Jerry Cassidy's Colleague/Friend]

She had thoroughly convinced him and anyone else that she had the money.

[Cherie Miller (Defendant)]

I want my car and I want to leave because this is nuts. You guys have completely lost us.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Authorities in Flint, Michigan have spent just over three months investigating the murder of junkyard owner Bruce Miller.

[Expert/Investigator]

Bruce had been shot in the chest by a shotgun.

[Investigator/Detective]

This crime occurred on November 8, 1999, between six and about eight o' clock at night. Sri Miller gave us two or three suspects right off the bat. That made sense in the context that we saw the crime scene.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

No leads panned out and the case nearly went cold. But now a posthumous confession has led to a stunning revelation.

[Investigator/Detective]

A suicide 800 miles away would fall right into their laps as a solution to the unsolved murder.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

In his suicide note, the self proclaimed killer, Jerry Cassidy implicates Bruce's bereaved wife, Cherie Miller.

[Investigator/Detective]

They basically said that he actually did the killing, but Cherie set him up to do the killing.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

The note is attached to a briefcase full of evidence.

[Investigator/Detective]

It was full of computer printout, messages and hard drives and letters that Jerry had written and apologies that he had

written as a former investigator himself. He had everything laid out perfectly. That briefcase was a treasure trove of information.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

The contents describe an apparent murder for hire, beginning with an online chat log.

[Expert/Analyst]

The instant message found in the briefcase was probably about three pages long and it was printed out.

[Investigator/Detective]

That instant message kind of stepped out everything that happened on November 7th and November 8th. And when he was leaving to come

[Expert/Investigator]

to Flint, it was line by line how to get to Flint, what roads to bring into the junkyard.

[Investigator/Detective]

She told him where to park. She gave him directions of how to get there.

[Expert/Analyst]

It also said for him to get out of there quickly. And about the gunshot not being too loud, that's damning.

[Investigator/Detective]

I mean, that's it right there. Right in a nutshell. The planning of the murder, the conspiracy.

Once we started getting all this information from the instant message message, it's like we've taken something with probably one of the best alibis of A homicide that I've ever had, and now making that person our number one suspect. It was crazy to think about that a person 800 miles away had been talked into coming up here, Committing a murder, Going back, and leaving no evidence. How did she get him to commit this murder?

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Investigators must now piece together how a former cop could have been convinced to commit such a heinous crime.

[Investigator/Detective]

It was pretty shocking to the whole group of guys. The information that was in the briefcase Was massive amount, and there was many, many pieces.

You understand? No one had a lot of knowledge of how computers worked in 2000. Apparently, yes, the incident message could be faked. If you had some computer knowledge, it wouldn't be that hard. So we had to prove that the incident message was true.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

With such serious claims made against cherie, Investigators must be certain of her involvement before moving forward with an arrest.

[Investigator/Detective]

They get permission to go back and search the residence of where jerry cassidy killed himself. They find two tapes in the garbage. Back then, if you wanted to send somebody a video of yourself, you, had to physically make it, Put it in the mail, and send it.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

When detectives play the tape, they find more than they bargained for.

[Investigator/Detective]

One was sheree miller showing jerry the house. Her kids saying, you know, can you live with you? These kids are rambunctious. I love you so much. And the other one was called for jerry's eyes only.

And it's cherie masturbating on camera.

Now we have a direct connect from this Jerry cassidy to actually sherry miller. That's without question. They know each other. We would have never been able to put this connection together. That 800 miles away was our suspect, who now is deceased. Without this briefcase.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Coming up, Sheree's true colors emerge.

[Investigator/Detective]

And it turned to her husband about how abusive he was.

She was in a dark place in her life.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Police get to the heart of what could make an honest man kill.

[Investigator/Detective]

She said she was pregnant with his child.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

And in the modern age of online scammers, Investigators zero in on a conniving

[Cherie Miller (Defendant)]

culprit that is not even right. I did not write that stuff. I did not write that stuff.

[Expert/Analyst]

Every time. She bamboozled him, lied to him, manipulated him. It worked.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Michigan authorities have discovered evidence that cherie miller used the Internet to seduce a casino pit boss named jerry cassidy and convinced him to kill her husband. Their printed online correspondence reveals how the deadly affair began.

[Expert/Analyst]

When the detectives had gone out to missouri, they also had seized jerry's computer and then processed it for information about what could have possibly led to this crime being Committed. And what was the connection?

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

As they search the laptop, a digital narrative unfolds through a string of electronic communications and photos.

[Investigator/Detective]

Our department was in the infancy stage of learning about the Internet. Back in 1999. There was only about 28% of the people that had a computer. So this was new to us.

Chat rooms then were what we have today. Texting on our cell phones. It was instant messaging.

[Jerry Cassidy's Colleague/Friend]

For somebody that moved to town and knew no one and working graveyard, it's kind of tough to meet someone. What else are you gonna do?

During the time that AOL and you've got mail. And all of this was just starting to be available to people. Gerri had somehow stumbled into some sort of a chat room. And had been talking to this woman.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

From the timestamps on the messages, it appears that Jerry and Cherie began their correspondence. And met in the summer of 1999, just three months after Bruce and Cherie were married and four months before Bruce's murder.

[Expert/Analyst]

Jerry's computer contained all of the discussions that he had with Sherri. The courtship was a fast and furious one. We're talking less than six months. So it contained months and months of daily emails that we had to take to prove that, in fact, these were the two parties communicating with each other over the computer. So we had to do some cross checking on whether or not the parties were even on the computer at the time. So, again, that required search warrants, subpoenas, and a lot of investigation. We were cross referencing what the phone numbers were that they were using. We were looking into whether or not certain phone calls were actually made that were mentioned in those documents.

[Investigator/Detective]

We were able to bring in a representative from aol. And he was able to say everything matched up, that they were on together at the same time.

The first chats that they had were pretty mundane, you know, but they quickly turned sexual. And the leader in this was Cherie.

[Expert/Analyst]

Sherri's screen names included just hot to see you, Horny7249. I want to be laid. Love me slowly, Sexy kitten, only for you.

[Investigator/Detective]

There was a lot of playfulness between these two that came out of these chats. They were like teenagers playing, building this relationship, having a ball. Jerry would sign off his messages. Your fool for life, big daddy. Cherie would sign off, love your brat, Cherie.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Before long, they turned their fantasies into reality.

[Investigator/Detective]

Jerry got a message from Cherie that she would fly to Reno under the premise of a Mary Kay cosmetic conference.

It was apparent to us that she was going out there to see and visit him. Not for a Mary Kay conference.

It gets to the point where now they're having sex. She's frequently coming back. They're having online sex. We know in this time frame. She sends them the video.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

As detectives continue reviewing the messages, they observe that by the late summer of 1999, Cherie's messages took on a different tone.

[Investigator/Detective]

All of a sudden, it turned to her husband about how abusive he was and how he's a member of the mafia. How is she going to get out of this?

She attracts him with her looks. She attracts him with her sexuality, with her communications. But then she really needs him to become her savior. And so she feeds him these awful stories about Bruce being abusive and hitting her, bruising her, and sends him the pictures.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

In August, just one month into their courtship, Cherie dropped a bombshell.

[Investigator/Detective]

Cherie told Jerry that she was pregnant with his child. She went on to tell about how Bruce would find out about it.

She tells him the beating caused her to miscarry the child.

[Expert/Investigator]

We found pictures of her tummy all bruised up and stuff like that.

[Investigator/Detective]

All of this convinced Jerry that this woman he loved was in deep trouble. She was in a dark place in her life. He needed to act, and he needed to act now.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

With Jerry Hook, their conversations turned to plotting Bruce's murder.

[Expert/Analyst]

It was why somebody could be compelled to kill for another person. It was proof of the manipulation in order to draw him in.

[Investigator/Detective]

Everything's adding up that Cherie's involved in this.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Police begin to home in on Cherie as such suspect number one. When detectives look into her personal life after her husband's death, they find even more suspicious behavior.

[Investigator/Detective]

We continue to talk to Shuri Miller's friends. She was on our radar at that point, but it wasn't clear what we were looking at. We're gathering information. We're being told that within days of the funeral, Shrew Miller is seen at a small bar in Otisville. And we also come to find out she's gonna get Social Security for herself and for the three minor kids, which was quite a bit of money. It was close to $3,500 a month. That alone. Then we knew that there was a life insurance policy that she was gonna get. Shortly after that, she's already got people coming over, remodeling the house, taking everything of Bruce's out of the house. Then it's quick that they want to hurry up and sell the business.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

It's more than enough to bring Cherie in for questioning. But when police go to her home, she is nowhere to be Found

[Investigator/Detective]

she had flown to Reno, and we found out when Sheree would be returning home. So we figured we'd just meet her at the airport.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

On February 22, 2000, when Cherie's flight lands, investigators are waiting. They tell Cherie they need to ask her a few questions.

[Investigator/Detective]

She's cool as a cucumber. She's relaxed. Okay, let's go. I don't. I've got nothing. I got nothing to hide. Let's go.

She voluntarily comes down to the sheriff's department, where captain Campbell takes her into the interview room and starts talking to her. He's throwing out softball questions. Nothing accusatory at that point. And finally gets to the point, do you know a Jerry Cassidy?

[Interviewer/Detective]

You developed a relationship with Jerry?

[Cherie Miller (Defendant)]

No.

[Interviewer/Detective]

Isn't it true that you and Bruce were having a real difficult time?

[Cherie Miller (Defendant)]

No, we weren't.

[Interviewer/Detective]

Okay. Did Bruce ever get physical with you in any way whatsoever?

[Investigator/Detective]

We learned that she moved in a new boyfriend shortly after his death and turned out to be the swan delivery man that was delivering food to their home. And that raised a red flag, too, that quickly. Moving on to someone new. She denied sending any nude pictures to Jerry. She denied that she told him that she was pregnant. She denied that she was beaten. Every question that was asked her, she denied it. So we let her do that, and then we brought out each piece of evidence. Did you send these chats?

She said, well, I might have met a Jerry Cassidy. I meet a lot of people when I'm out for my Mary Kay cosmetics. What about a masturbation videotape? Now she's trying to backtrack. Oh, he was trying to blackmail me. He was trying to do this, but I didn't do it.

[Interviewer/Detective]

Do you know Jerry Cassidy?

[Cherie Miller (Defendant)]

Yes, I do. I met him out there in television to him online, along with the rest of the people out there.

[Investigator/Detective]

That is always a turning point. In any case, when you catch someone in a lie and they know they've been had, they've been caught.

After admitting that she did know Jerry Cassidy, she went on to say that Jerry became obsessed with her. He wouldn't leave her alone, but he very likely could have killed Bruce but didn't involve her.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

But Cherie doesn't have an explanation for the messages she sent.

[Investigator/Detective]

The only response that she could give was that someone had manipulated and changed all the sentences in the chat from AOL to make her look guilty.

[Cherie Miller (Defendant)]

That is not even right. I did not write that stuff. I did not write that stuff. I don't know who changed that stuff, but I did not write that stuff. You wrote that stuff. No, I didn't. No. This is crazy. No, I want my car and I want to leave because this is nuts. You guys have completely lost this.

[Investigator/Detective]

She has. Can I go? He says, no, you're under arrest. She's real angry. She was over the top. Almost like she was when she was crying at the house, but now mad at us.

The investigation wasn't over yet. We still had to fill in the blanks, but she was charged with murder then.

[Expert/Analyst]

From there, we had to build a case. Basically just checking and cross checking every fact in there to show that she was knowingly lying to Jerry and that her goal in this whole process was to basically just use Jerry and kill her husband. But why would they do it?

[Investigator/Detective]

Why?

[Expert/Analyst]

What is the motive?

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Investigators have poured through hundreds of pages of emails and instant messages detailing a murder plot between Cherie Miller and Jerry Cassidy. But with a confessed gunman dead, they still have their work cut out for them to make the charges stick.

[Expert/Investigator]

Cherie claim that anybody could have done that and printed it out and. And faked it. So we had to come up with some more proof.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Three weeks after Jerry's death, investigators decide to fly to Reno to speak with his co workers and learn more about his relationship with Cherie.

[Jerry Cassidy's Colleague/Friend]

Anyone that worked with him closely was aware of her and said that Cherie was saying that it was by sheer happenstance that they met in Reno, that she was there on a Mary Kay convention and just happened to meet him. And I'm like, oh, no, no, no, no.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Jerry's former colleagues at the casino say it all began seven months earlier, in the summer of 1999.

[Jerry Cassidy's Colleague/Friend]

His self esteem was not so good, you know, losing his dream job and then losing his wife and, you know, I think he was just. He was ripe for the picking, in my opinion.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Jerry's chats with Cherie seemed to give him a new lease on life.

[Jerry Cassidy's Colleague/Friend]

He told us she was just beautiful and she looked like the woman of his dreams and that she was accomplished and she had several businesses.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Soon enough, Cherie showed up at the casino for a visit.

[Jerry Cassidy's Colleague/Friend]

Jerry was all scrubbed and shined up and had his best suit on. And I'm sure he ironed his shirt five times. He was so excited to walk her around the casino floor and introduce her to all of us. She was all dolled up, and her hair was perfectly positioned. The makeup was perfect, a ring on every finger.

Cherie told us that she was a Mary Kay consultant and that she owned a string of, like, nursing homes for the Elderly, and that she had quite the cash flow. But we really didn't know who she was. All we knew is what she showed us.

Her first trip to reno was two or three days. She stayed in the hotel. He would have the next two nights off. And we didn't see hide nor hair of jerry or cherie. But once she left town, he was back at work. Rumors fly quickly in the casino business. We all knew that they had spent the night together, and they'd had a wonderful time in bed. I'm not sure they ever left the hotel room.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

After that. The relationship appeared to heat up even more.

[Jerry Cassidy's Colleague/Friend]

She was telling jerry that, you know, he deserved an upgrade. And that she was going to make that happen for him. And she was dangling all these wonderful things in front of him, like options or opportunities, or when we get together, we can have this fabulous life.

When she came back the second time, they were house shopping, you know, three, four, $500,000 homes. Well, there's no way that jerry could afford that. She had thoroughly convinced him and anyone else that she had the money. That was, like, no big deal.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

When investigators follow up with a acquaintances from cherie's past, they learn that this was a common pattern of behavior for her.

[Investigator/Detective]

Everyone that we talked to said she was attentive to you, got along with everybody. In fact, I couldn't find anyone in her personal life, other than relatives, that she didn't have some type of sexual affair with all her friends, male or female.

When cherie was first dating bruce, she tried to portray to him that she had a comfortable life, that she was a businesswoman, that she owned a nursing home. In reality, that turned out to be fake.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Everywhere they look, investigators find further evidence of cherie's lies.

[Investigator/Detective]

We did check into the claims sheree made to jerry. That bruce was part of the mafia and was abusive. And we couldn't find anything to confirm that.

[Expert/Analyst]

The photographs that she sent gerry Showing how she had been beaten Were pretty good. I mean, they actually looked like some bruises. But we believe that cosmetics came into play in this case, because you gotta have the different shades of green and brown. And we figured that she probably used her knowledge of cosmetics to make it look like bruises.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

And as investigators keep digging, they uncover something even more shocking.

[Investigator/Detective]

She couldn't have kids. She had her tubes tied. That was part of her game, Playing on Jerry's emotions to get him to do what she needed and wanted him to do.

Her whole life is a lie.

[Jerry Cassidy's Colleague/Friend]

She was the master manipulator, and she'd been working on this Plan for quite a while.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

It all paints a portrait of a woman willing to do anything to get what she wants.

[Investigator/Detective]

Cherie was poor when she was brought up. So when she meets Bruce Miller, he has the semblance of money, stability. And she's got a job that she goes to in the morning. She's got a house to go home to at night.

[Expert/Analyst]

That was not enough for her. She wasn't in the spotlight. She was in a salvage yard. She was taking care of three children. She wanted the razzle dazzle. She wanted to mix things up.

[Investigator/Detective]

Bruce was a stepping stone for her. She probably plotted out, I'm going to get this.

[Judy Miller (Witness/Family Member)]

This guy.

[Investigator/Detective]

I'm gonna kill him. I'm gonna get all of his money and go on and live my life without him being set for life.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

In the late 90s, the Internet was largely untamed and unregulated, and Cherie used that to her advantage.

[Investigator/Detective]

Cherie knew how to push the buttons on the computer. She was a master at chat. But what we saw is she became a master at manipulation in person, reinforcing what she said in the chat.

[Expert/Investigator]

It was a plot that seemed like it was forming with her to suck Jerry in.

[Jerry Cassidy's Colleague/Friend]

I don't think for one minute Jerry would ever willingly just go murder someone. She just absolutely twisted him up emotionally to the point where he didn't see any other out than to defend the woman that he loved.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

But once Jerry did her bidding, it seemed like Cherie had no further use for him.

[Investigator/Detective]

Jerry came all the way to Flint, Michigan to commit this murder. Everything's to plan. He goes back, she's kind of blowing him off now. They went from 50, 60 emails a day to talking on the phone to being in this chat room, to now nothing.

[Jerry Cassidy's Colleague/Friend]

He did what she wanted him to do, and then she dropped Jerry like a hot potato. It was like she wouldn't converse with him online. She wouldn't answer the phones. For her to drop him, I think he just. That was the last straw for him. He just completely fell apart.

[Investigator/Detective]

He realized with more and more intensity Shreya had played him. And he thought he had only one option at that point, with probably intense humiliation, was to end his life.

He left behind a note which led us to the briefcase that had all the information that we were going to need for conviction of Sherry Miller.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

It's a compelling theory, but prosecutors don't know if it will be enough to get a conviction.

[Investigator/Detective]

While they still have this woman in custody and a mountain of evidence against her, they still have to prove it in court.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Coming up, the Internet's first murder trial.

[Investigator/Detective]

This trial was carried coast to coast on Court tv.

[Expert/Analyst]

I was way worried about losing. She didn't pull the trigger.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Cherie takes the stand, compromising her own defense.

[Expert/Analyst]

The emails were wrote, and they were exactly as written.

[Cherie Miller (Defendant)]

Yes, they were.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

And she said sets her sights on a new man.

[John (Pen Pal/Fiancé of Cherie Miller)]

Everything was about money or sex, and I wasn't smart enough to pick up on it.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

In the fall of 2000, growing fascination with the World Wide Web fuels the publicity surrounding Cherie Miller's murder trial.

[Investigator/Detective]

The Cherie Miller case was the first Internet murder case.

[Expert/Analyst]

This case caught people's attention because someone actually used the Internet to persuade someone else to kill their spouse.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

On December 12, 2000, people across the country tune in to watch the proceedings.

[Investigator/Detective]

This captured the nation's attention. This was carried coast to coast on Court tv. It was so new, so unique.

[Expert/Analyst]

It was kind of a sad tragedy playing out in the courtroom. You had two families. One family was Bruce's family. He was just an innocent guy. They lost a good man. But you can also say that about the shooter, which is unusual. They subjected themselves to their son being portrayed as a killer, but yet he's dead because of Sherry too. They're both victims, in my opinion.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

But as public as Cherie's misdeeds have become, prosecutors still have their work cut out for them.

[Expert/Analyst]

I was way worried about losing. It was a circumstantial case. She didn't pull the trigger. It was a hard road.

[Investigator/Detective]

The prosecution had to prove to the jury that this woman sitting in front of them was the real killer. She mastermind plotted the whole thing, and but for her, Bruce would still be alive.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

The task is complex because the case hinges on technology unfamiliar to many in the courtroom.

[Expert/Analyst]

Honestly, when this case started, I had never been on a computer, and so I had to go to aol, experience what it was like emailing, shopping, doing ordinary things.

[Juror]

At the time that I was part of the jury, I didn't know anything about chat rooms. I didn't know anything about meeting people online. And I learned a lot about the Internet and how it works by being in that trial.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

To connect the dots of her sinister plan, prosecutors carefully walk the jury through months of. Of communication between Cherie and Jerry. Although the legitimacy of the emails is still contested by the defense, the story they tell is scathing.

[Expert/Analyst]

When you read the emails between the two, she had him hook, line, and sinker. And every time she bamboozled him, lied to him, manipulated him, it worked. And she just kept on getting away with it

[Investigator/Detective]

when it was all said and done. The most bizarre thing that we saw in this Was Cherie's manipulation. We believe that she faked her body as being bruised. How she sent photographs of sonograms with the actual dates on them. But those sonograms were five and six years old. They were from her previous, his kids.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

The most damning messages are the ones sent the night before the murder.

[Juror]

They literally wrote out the exact directions on how they were going to murder Bruce miller. They wrote it online.

[Expert/Investigator]

I think she'd have got away with it had she not dumped her boyfriend. A month later, she dumped him and wouldn't talk to him, wouldn't call him back, and that's when he committed suicide and the briefcase was found.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

But according to cherie's defense team, Prosecutors have it backwards. They admit the affair took place, but claim jerry is the one who framed cherie.

[Investigator/Detective]

One of the arguments that was brought up by the defense during the trial Is that this infant message was made up.

[Expert/Investigator]

We had an excellent expert, and he was like, all you've got to do is do this, that, and the other. It could be changed. In reality, it's not that hard at all.

[Investigator/Detective]

In fact, attorney Nicola made up an instant message Using sergeant eyes petrovka's name Just to confuse the jury.

[Juror]

The defense was flinging stuff up against the wall to see what would stick because all he had to do was make sure we could think that. That anything else could have happened other than cherie doing this. And there's a lot of reason for us to have reasonable doubt. She never touched a gun. She wasn't there that night. There was nothing connecting her to that really in a physical sense, other than the Internet, the emails.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Several days into the trial, Cherie stuns the courtroom by taking the stand in her own defense.

[Expert/Investigator]

Against my advice, she took the stand. She was just too stubborn to listen to my advice. And she wanted to roll the dice. She would have a chance. So cherie went for that chance.

[Expert/Analyst]

Sherri got on the witness stand. She thought her charm was going to get her out of it.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

The gamble backfired. When a slip up costs the defense their argument.

[Investigator/Detective]

One of the first questions she was asked under cross examination. Are all these exhibits true and accurate? Yes, they are.

[Expert/Analyst]

Okay. Including the emails? The emails were wrote okay, and they were exactly as written.

[Cherie Miller (Defendant)]

Yes, they were.

[Juror]

The mistake was on her. Once again, that suggests her hubris. She thought she could get anybody to believe her. She thought that she was going to sell that whole jury on her little innocent act.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

On December 22, after two days of deliberation, the jury finds Cherie guilty. She was ultimately convicted of second degree

[Jerry Cassidy's Colleague/Friend]

murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder.

[Investigator/Detective]

She was sentenced to life without parole just as if she had pulled the trigger herself.

[Expert/Analyst]

I was very relieved at the verdict. I think we all were. I think we may have lost the case if Sherry had not testified.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

However, Cherie's prison sentence does little to curb her behavior.

[Expert/Analyst]

Sherri started communicating with somebody when she was in prison and this person wanted to marry her. He could have been the next victim. I mean, that's what you think when you hear something like that. And honestly, I felt like somebody needed to go out and forewarn him. Watch your back.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

After four years behind bars, Cherie Miller's story is told again in 2005. The salacious story is featured on the second season of Snapped.

[Investigator/Detective]

Bruce had so many friends is unreal. I just couldn't believe why someone would,

you know, murder my brother.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Bruce was just totally blindsided by it

[Cherie Miller (Defendant)]

all, you know, here he thought he'd found somebody, you know, the perfect wife.

[Investigator/Detective]

Two days after the death, the murder of her husband that she loved, supposedly she's dancing in a bar in Otisville, Michigan. I mean, that's not a grieving widow.

[Jerry Cassidy's Colleague/Friend]

Shereen would, as far as I've understood, do absolutely anything.

[Investigator/Detective]

In the bedroom, we found videos of Cherie Miller fondling herself.

[Expert/Analyst]

They had this briefcase that had a suicide note from Jerry Cassidy in it, explaining that he had killed Bruce Miller.

[Expert/Investigator]

Jerry Cassidy, in one last desperate act of a life that he had flushed down the toilet. He sought to take, take Sheree down with him.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

The broadcast forever changes one man's life.

[John (Pen Pal/Fiancé of Cherie Miller)]

I watched the last snap and the show by Cherie Miller came on. There was something in her eyes or weight. I thought she was innocent. She looked lonely and sad. So I reached out, wrote a letter. It was in a couple weeks she wrote me that she said she would like to be pen pals and, you know, to communicate with somebody on the outside. And maybe I go up and visit her from time to time, you know.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Their jailhouse correspondence quickly turns into a romance.

[John (Pen Pal/Fiancé of Cherie Miller)]

There's a five, six hour drive from Illinois to Michigan where the person was. You can hold hands. And that's about it. Just sit there for four or five hours, talk. She was lovey dovey and personable and made you feel like you're special. You got serious very quick. So she started asking for money, by the way, So I sent it to her.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

On one of his visits. They decide to make it official.

[John (Pen Pal/Fiancé of Cherie Miller)]

I proposed to her. She said yes. She sent a picture to michigan paper announcing it. We talked about when she got out, we get married, and she would move down to illinois and had this whole life planned out together.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

In July 2009, it looks like those plans might come to fruition sooner than expected.

[Investigator/Detective]

Her conviction was appealed on the grounds that the evidence from jerry and his suicide should not have come in at trial, that that was an error by the judge and prejudicial to the jury. That set her free. Then there was another ruling that said she should get a new trial.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

But as soon as she's released, Cherie drops her new suitor.

[John (Pen Pal/Fiancé of Cherie Miller)]

When she got out, she tried to tell me how much she couldn't have another relationship because she's still in love with her husband. She never once mentioned bruce miller until she got released. And then it was, I miss him, I love him. Bells went off my head that said, oh, my God, she did this. I was wrong. She's guilty. That changed everything. I went back and we read letters before I burnt them. She said, everything's for me and screw everybody else. I usually get everything I can from here, and I'll move on to the next person.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

With fresh eyes. He sees all the red flags he ignored throughout their courtship.

[John (Pen Pal/Fiancé of Cherie Miller)]

Everything was about money or sex. Now we're just smart enough to pick up on it. I would send her, you know, 50, 60 bucks. I couldn't tell you how much total. I'm afraid to say how much total. She's diabolical. She's probably the most evil person I ever met.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Within weeks of the release from her nine year prison stint, investigators discover that cherie is back to her old tricks.

[Expert/Analyst]

When sherri got out of prison, she lived with her daughter. And it wasn't a surprise that she started a facebook page. And that concerned law enforcement. Was she going to be able to recreate her experience with somebody else?

[Investigator/Detective]

After cherie won her appeal to set aside the verdict and order a new trip, the genesee county prosecutor's office immediately appealed that judge's decision. It went to a higher court. That higher court ruled that the lower court erred on the appeal, and her conviction was now reinstated. And she was sent back to prison.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

Back behind bars, and with her original sentence reinstated, Cherie finally seems ready to come clean.

[Expert/Analyst]

Her whole life is about getting attention. Her appeals had run out. How do you become relevant again? I may as well admit I did it and then again, get the focus on me.

[Juror]

She admitted it in a letter to the judge that the Prosecution Marcy Mabry

[Investigator/Detective]

had been right all along.

[Juror]

It was jaw dropping.

[Investigator/Detective]

Cherie also said she wanted Bruce to be killed because she was afraid he would find out about her online secret relationship. He would divorce her, leave her high and dry.

[Narrator/Documentary Host]

But some believe the letter is just another one of Cherie's manipulations.

[Jerry Cassidy's Colleague/Friend]

There's givers and there's takers and she is a class A taker and she doesn't care who she destroys to get what she wants. And so, no, it's like crocodile tears. I don't believe it for one second.

[John (Pen Pal/Fiancé of Cherie Miller)]

She's exactly where she should be. I think she should never get out of prison either. She comes out of prison, she's not. She's going to be the same as always. She's going to look for people to use.

[Investigator/Detective]

Even though Sherrie Miller is going to spend the rest of her life in prison, I still feel for the victims that she left behind. That was unnecessary. The Bruce Miller family are victims that will never forget this Jerry Cassidy. She killed too, left behind his family, his kids, and she ultimately, I believe, ruined John Hutchinson's life also because he never was able to get back into the circle of friends that he had made all those years because he was always out there as the pariah that had killed Bruce. But if she just would at some point in her life, told the truth in the beginning, she could have maybe come out a better person than she did.

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[Narrator/Documentary Host]

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