Phoenix Canal Killer /// Part 2 /// 776

Summary

Podcast Summary: True Crime Garage — Phoenix Canal Killer /// Part 2 /// 776 (July 24, 2024)

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Episode Overview

In this second part of True Crime Garage’s dive into the Phoenix Canal Killer, hosts Nic and the Captain meticulously trace the investigation that connected the murders of Angela Brasso and Melanie Bernas in early 1990s Phoenix to serial killer Brian Patrick Miller. With their trademark mix of banter, deep research, and candid analysis, the duo explores the crime scenes, police responses, and the long road to justice. The episode unpacks how dogged detective work, forensic advancements, and even criminal profiling societies converged to finally unmask the killer, while also spotlighting the aftermath for the victims’ families and the lingering mystery of other possible victims.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Melanie Bernas: The Canal Connection

• Case details: On September 21, 1993, 17-year-old Melanie Bernas’ body was found in the Arizona canal, just 100 yards from the site where Angela Brasso’s head had been discovered the previous year (03:09).
• Similarities: Both Bernas and Brasso were young women, stabbed in the torso, attacked while biking, their bikes stolen and never recovered.
• Investigative shift: Media and police initially hesitated to link the cases but quickly saw the "similarities are far too similar to ignore" (06:49).
  • Quote (Nic, [06:49]): “They are outright saying these similarities are far too similar to ignore.”

2. Heightened Fear in Phoenix

• Public anxiety: The lack of an arrest incited local fear, with people avoiding solo exercise in the canal paths.
  • Quote (William Herman, via Nic, [08:06]): “No women went out walking alone. Exercise along the canal dropped off. People jogged in pairs.”
• Police warning: Authorities confirmed both victims were killed by the same man, advising women to avoid being alone and to use well-lit, public areas (09:17).

3. Forensic Breakthrough & Cold Cases

• DNA evidence: In 1994, lab tests showed the same man was responsible for both Phoenix murders, but not for a similar case in Tulsa, Oklahoma (09:17, 15:00).
• Controversies in related cases: A suspect in the Diana Vacari (Tulsa) case was convicted but later exonerated amid a problematic trial (17:56).
  • Quote (Nick, [18:27]): “That trial sucked butt, and there’s some slippage.”

4. Criminal Profiling & the Vidocq Society

• External help: Early on, Phoenix PD involved the FBI for a criminal profile, and later, the Vidocq Society (cold case experts) for advice (18:21, 20:58).
  • Quote (Nic, [21:34]): “We are extremely confident that your killer is in your case file.”
• Scope of suspects: The case file swelled to around 600 persons of interest.

5. Genealogy & The Miller Surname Twist

• Genealogical forensics: Renowned genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick used familial DNA to narrow the suspect pool, providing detectives with the surname "Miller" (27:54).
  • Among 12-14 Millers in the file, Brian Patrick Miller became the top focus.
• Investigative sting: Detectives obtained Miller’s DNA via a glass at a Chili’s during a undercover sting disguised as a job interview (34:53).

6. Brian Patrick Miller: Background & Apprehension

• Criminal history: Miller had a violent juvenile record for stabbing, exhibited disturbing fantasies about abduction and murder, and was implicated in a similar attempted assault in Washington State (30:40).
  • Quote (Nic, [31:35]): “There’s a very disturbed individual, to say the least.”
• Zombie Hunter persona: By his arrest, Miller was known locally for a cosplay persona ("Zombie Hunter"), attending parades and events in a modified police car (36:45).
  • Quote (Captain, [37:54]): “It kind of reminds me of something you would see out of True Detective Season 1.”

7. Ex-Wife’s Chilling Testimony & More Potential Victims

• Confession: Miller told his ex-wife he had killed a girl who knocked on his door around the time 13-year-old Brandy Myers went missing in 1992 (39:31).
  • Myers was never found; Miller allegedly dismembered her and disposed of the remains with the trash (42:05).
• Prosecutorial challenges: Without a body or direct evidence, bringing charges in the Myers case remains difficult despite the confession (43:20).

8. Justice, Sentencing & Victims’ Aftermath

• Long wait for trial: Miller was arrested in 2015, but his case didn’t go to trial until 2022 due to court delays (including COVID) and legal maneuvers.
• Sentencing: In 2023, he was found guilty and received two death penalty sentences plus 24 years for related crimes (47:39).
  • Quote (Judge Suzanne Cohen, via Nick, [47:39]): “Miller also received an additional 24 years for two counts of kidnapping and two counts of attempted sexual assault…”
• Victim impact: Emotional statements from the victims’ families underscore enduring grief and the hard-fought journey for justice (48:12, 49:24):
  • Quote (Jill Canetta, Melanie’s sister, [49:24]): “Words cannot begin to explain the level of excruciating pain we experience every single day since her murder.”
  • Quote (Linda Brasso, Angela’s mother, [49:56]): “The defendant stole my angel from the earth... He ripped my heart and I will never, ever be the same.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the canal path fear:
  • Nic (quoting William Herman, [08:06]): “Exercise along the canal dropped off. People jogged in pairs.”
• On case linkage:
  • Captain, [06:49]: “We think this is connected and we think this is a serial killer.”
• On narrowing the suspect pool:
  • Nic, [29:58]: “Now armed with all this information... he starts looking at each one of them.”
• On Miller’s dark persona:
  • Captain, [37:54]: “It kind of reminds me of something you would see out of True Detective Season 1.”
• On justice and sentencing:
  • Nick, [47:39]: “He received two death penalty sentences for the first degree murder of Angela Brasso and Melanie Bernas...”
• On the weight of loss:
  • Jill Canetta, [49:24]: “We live without her smile, her hugs, her companionship... We live without her love.”

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Key Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|----------------------------------------------| | 03:09 | Discovery of Melanie Bernas, canal connection to Brasso | | 06:49 | Media and police acknowledge possible serial killer | | 08:06 | Local fear; safety measures, community impact | | 09:17 | Police confirm same killer, DNA discussed | | 15:00 | Police deny link to 1992 Tulsa case (Vacari) | | 18:21 | FBI profile, consults with Vidocq Society | | 21:34 | Vidocq Society: “The killer is in your case file.” | | 25:31 | 600 case suspects; challenges for investigators | | 27:54 | Genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick identifies surname “Miller” | | 29:58 | Detective sifts through “Miller” suspects | | 34:53 | Undercover DNA collection at Chili’s | | 36:45 | Miller’s “Zombie Hunter” persona | | 39:31 | Ex-wife’s testimony about Brandy Myers | | 42:05 | Miller’s confession to ex-wife, disposal method | | 47:39 | Sentencing—two death penalty sentences | | 49:24 | Family impact statements |

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Tone & Approach

• Direct, candid, and at times irreverent, the hosts blend detailed case breakdowns with wry asides (“We are the dumbest boys in the whole school.” – Captain, [14:03]), keeping the gravity of the material balanced with their trademark humor.
• Genuine empathy for victims and frustration at legal shortcomings is evident throughout.

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Conclusion

This episode of True Crime Garage gives listeners an in-depth, accessible account of a decades-long investigation where persistence, science, and a bit of luck finally brought a serial murderer to justice. It reminds us of the enduring pain for victims’ families, the challenges inherent in cold case work, and the evolving power of forensic genealogy in the fight against unsolved crimes.

Transcript

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[Nick (Host)]

Welcome to True Crime Garage wherever you are, whatever you're doing. Thanks for listening. I'm your host Nick and with me, as always, is a man with a reminder that it's probably just all in your head. Here is the Captain.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Yeah, just like the Cranberry song Zombie, it's good to be seen and good to see you. Thanks for listening. Thanks for telling a friend.

[Nick (Host)]

We are still sipping on some cool and refreshing Dos Equis. This is a beautiful golden pilsner style beer with a nuanced blend of malts, spices and earth tones. Flavorful yet light and smooth. ABV 4.2% garage grade three and three quarter bottle caps out of five and let's give some cheers and praise to our smooth friends. First up a shout out to Johnny Oliver and Baum, Alabama and a big

[Captain (Co-host)]

we like your jib goes out to Travis from Maumelle, Arkansas.

[Nick (Host)]

And last but certainly not least we have Abby in Vincennes, Indiana. Everybody we just mentioned, they helped us out with this week's beer fund for the beer run by going to our website truecrimegarage.com and clicking on the pint glass and for that we thank you.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Yeah BW Double R U N Beer run. Go to our website, check out the swag and while you're there sign up on the mailing list. Also go to the youtubes and subscribe there cuz I'm releasing all the old episodes of off the Record and you're going to love them. And that's enough of the business.

[Nick (Host)]

All right, everybody gathered around. Grab a chair, grab a beer. Let's talk some true crime. On September 21, 1993. Now remember everyone, that is less than one year, one year after the Angela Brasso murder. This is when the body of Melanie Bernis, age 17, was found in the Arizona canal. This is approximately just 100 yards from where Angela Brasso's head had been found. Melanie Burnis rode her bike to the approximate area of where her body was eventually found. Melanie lived not too far from this location. She lived with her mother. Now, when she didn't come home that night, we get an angry mother situation. She assumed that her typically really good and really responsible teenage daughter was just out with some friends, maybe up to no good, breaking curfew, horsing around. But after a couple of hours, and this poor mother, she started calling all of her daughter's friends, trying to track her down. She eventually reports her missing. It turns out that in all likelihood poor Melanie Bernis in all likelihood was just out on a bike ride. Just went out to get some exercise on a rather great evening night and never comes home. The following morning, a woman riding her bike with a baby on board was horrified when she rode her bike through a puddle of blood. Then upon further discovery, she located more blood, unfortunately, and this included some drag marks. Someone had successfully moved something rather heavy and bloody from that location right there near the canal, off of the bike path walking paths. Police were called and reported some of the findings to the media saying that the 17 year old Melanie Burnas rode her bike from her home near 40th street and Osborne Row to the bloody puddle and drag marks. Her body was recovered from the Arizona canal alongside the bicycle path. We were talking about two cases prior to the Burnas homicide. The local media was looking for a connection. Police said they would not rule it out, but did not see a connection that between the Vicari and Brasso case. But when police compared the Burnas killing to the November 92Brasso murder, the comparisons were far more similar. Both women had been stabbed in the upper torso. Both victims were young women killed while out on a evening bicycle ride. Both victims, bicycles were taken, neither has been recovered. Both slayings occurred in the same geographic area, a quite precise area. We should, we should really underline that point noted. Authorities intensified their search for similar cases. Right now this is one where prior they're saying we don't see a connection to the case. 120 miles away the Vicari case to the Brasso murder, this one, they are outright saying these similarities are far too similar to, to ignore.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Yeah, they're basically telling the community, we, we think this is connected and we think this is a serial killer.

[Nick (Host)]

Yeah, they, they weren't outright saying that at this moment, but what they were doing behind the scenes, and this is how, you know, that they, they firmly believe that they're connected. They're calling other agencies and other jurisdictions to see if they have cases that would mirror these two.

[Insurance Advertiser]

Right.

[Nick (Host)]

So they intensified their search for similar cases elsewhere. They didn't find any that were strikingly similar. They were hoping, they really hoped here that with these two cases being less than a year apart and a large part of this that comes into play is the location of where the bodies are found and where the attacks must have happened. They were really hoping that somebody would come forward with some form of information having seen something, heard something, or anything, because the bodies in each of these cases had been left in very visible locations. One was a park near a busy street and a large apartment complex, and the other the canal along a freeway near a popular shopping mall for a while. Herman. Remember the reporter we were talking about in part one, William Herman?

[Captain (Co-host)]

Mr. Herman. Paging Mr. Herman.

[Nick (Host)]

He said that the lack of an arrest unnerved the people of Phoenix, especially the people that lived in this area nearby. He said, quote, no, no women went out walking alone. Exercise along the canal dropped off. People jogged in pairs. Then let's go to March 13, 1994 from the Arizona Republic newspaper. They had this to say. The slayings of bicyclist Angela Brasso and Melanie Burnas were so savage that police knew that publicly linking them could terrify the Valley. Well, the Valley can now be terrified. Police are nearly certain the same murderer claimed the lives of both women 10 months apart in the same area of the Northwest Valley. A Phoenix police spokesman said time consuming lab tests of crime scene evidence recently were completed and they indicate the same male individual had contact with both victims at the time of each homicide.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Meaning that law enforcement has DNA in this case.

[Nick (Host)]

And then this announcement by Phoenix police that the killer may strike again. Police warn Canal killer may strike again. Phoenix PD would not say exactly what evidence was analyzed at the crime lab and why the comparative analysis took almost six months. But they acknowledged that such analysis of semen was blood. Hair, fingernails and skin is about the only kind of evidence test that take so long. The tests were done by the crime lab of the Arizona Department of Public Safety. Despite the crime lab Results Police had no suspects to announce, adding that they don't know if the killer lives in the valley and that they continue to need the public's help. Because the same person almost certainly killed both women and remains at large. Police hope the public will take precautions and offering the following advice. Females should find someone to join them when walking, jogging or bicycling. People out exercising should choose well lit areas, public areas. Tell a friend where you are going and who you are going with. When you go out for exercise, this person is out there. They say care needs to be taken.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Yeah. Our first victim is found decapitated. Now our second victim. We don't have any dismemberment of the body, do we?

[Nick (Host)]

The details of the second victim are not abundant, let's say. But what we do know, what's interesting about the similarities is the first one that they point out with the, the stabbing to the torso and in fact I believe this was almost in an identical spot on both victims bodies. But yeah, you're right, there doesn't appear to be the same level of dismemberment or attempts. Remember the attempted skinning and even the statement of the killer may have attempted to cut the victim in half. We don't have those statements with the

[Captain (Co-host)]

Burnis victim, but with Braso it seems like. Or the evidence points to the dismemberment and the mutilation of the body took place at the crime scene.

[Nick (Host)]

Yeah.

[Captain (Co-host)]

She wasn't removed and then dismembered at somebody's house. Correct. So it becomes a thing again. Like you were saying, both victims are found in the wide open. So is it just a, a simple thing where the, the killer got spooked and they had to.

[Nick (Host)]

Well, I think you're right with that thought because seeing what we saw in the Brasso case. Yeah, I, I can't believe that all of a sudden. And we have the police. So let's forget about any debate here. We have the police telling us the same guy did the Brasso and Bernis case. I don't, I don't think that this guy in 10 months time decided, oh, all this stuff that I was into 10 months ago, my experience with the Brasso murder, I decided I don't want to do all these things anymore. No, he went out there and killed another person and attacked another person because he probably wanted to do all of those same things or similar things. And I think you're right. If those, if that, that stuff didn't occur here with the Burnas case, then that means something likely interrupted him or something happened that caused him to not do that. Yeah.

[Captain (Co-host)]

When first looking into this case, my thought was he would try to do what he did with the first victim, is take some kind of souvenir with him, just like he did with the

[Nick (Host)]

first case, which could be the bike. In both cases, we have the bike that's missing. The bike, from my understanding, in both cases has never been located, never been found. The interesting thing to me was years later, when these cases became popular on Arizona message boards, on the Internet, it was interesting to go back and read some of those thoughts that people were. Were suggesting and even particulars that people were citing on there because there were. There was so much discussion about the bicycles. People coming forward saying, hey, I spotted this person or this person that I know by name, I believe is in possession of one of these bikes. And so there was a lot of thought about these bicycles. And I'm not saying that this happened. I have. We have no clue. I mean, I have no idea. For all I know, the killer just simply rolled the bike down into the. To the canal and it was never found.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Well, we are the dumbest boys in the whole school.

[Nick (Host)]

Or the killer hopped on the bicycle and rode at home and kept it forever. Who knows? But we've reviewed a couple of cases where we have a victim who was attacked or abducted off of a bicycle. The bicycle was simply left where the attack or the abduction took place. And by happenstance, somebody else just grabbed the bike and decided to take it or decided to hop on it and ride it to wherever they were going and leave it there.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Yeah.

[Nick (Host)]

Which caused all kinds of ways to muck up an investigation. I believe it was the. I believe there was a Pennsylvania case that we. That we covered that there was something like that. It might have been the Alphabet murders. And I want to say that happened as well in the Oakland county child killings case with one of those victims.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Well, on these douchebags, they steal the bike, they rip the seat off, they sit on the post and they call it an old pleasure ride.

[Nick (Host)]

The following day, after these news reports from in 1994. Right. So we have. We have our two victims that we now learn that 100% per the Phoenix Police Department, are connected. Brasso and Burnas, we learned that in 94, the murders take place in 92, 93. And then in 94, we learned that they're absolutely connected. The following day, we learn this from police statements to local media. The statement says, though test tie the Phoenix women's murders together, police deny any connection to. To the 1992 dismemberment slaying of Tulsa victim Diana Vacari. They're saying there is no indication that the Phoenix cases are related to the 92 dismemberment slaying of Diana Vacari. And detectives are no longer investigating that as a possibility. So no connection at all. Now, what we don't know and what they do not tell the media, and they obviously would not tell the media, this is around the Same time in 94, the police are really honing in on a suspect in the Vicari case. So we don't know this for certain, but it would stand to reason that potentially that person, they had that. That individual's DNA, he was actually serving time in Utah at this time.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Right.

[Nick (Host)]

And that they may have had his DNA and compared it to the DNA that they found or the physical evidence. Remember, they're not telling us at this time what, what they tested, but. But they obviously got DNA from whatever they tested that they compared it to that DNA and it didn't match up with the Brasso or Burnis case.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Yeah. But again, a scarier story you have now, two serial killers that are doing something that's pretty abnormal for killers in general is dismemberment of the body.

[Nick (Host)]

Well, and if you're okay with it, I'd like to wrap up this Vicari case a little bit. We should continue on with it since we brought it up. But we are here to investigate the Phoenix Canal Killer. And we now have, in our timeline a definitive statement from police that's almost 100%. They're not saying 100%, but they're saying we're no longer investigating that as a possibility. So something must have moved them off of it. I'm here to tell you that behind the scenes, they had a good suspect for that. In fact, they had such a good suspect for the Vicari case that they charged an individual, he was convicted of the murder, and then it eventually was exonerated or the conviction was overturned. Because I reviewed some of that. That trial and I don't even. I don't even feel very comfortable saying the individual's name because the trial was really kind of sucked.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Sucked.

[Nick (Host)]

But they. They let a lot of things slide at that trial that made him look very guilty. I'm not saying that he's not guilty. There are things to suggest that he is responsible and they had the right guy. They just didn't go about it the right way. At trial, the judge let some things slip that should not have occurred. So anyway, that Guy, he's. He's no longer serving time for the Vacari murder.

[Captain (Co-host)]

So our official statement to wrap up that case is that trial sucked butt, and there's some slippage.

[Nick (Host)]

Back to the Brasso and Burnas homicide cases and the continued hunt for the Phoenix Canal Killer. We mentioned Robert Ressler earlier on. The Phoenix PD did submit the case file to the FBI. This was in November or December of 1992. So early on in the investigation, they sent this information, everything they had to the FBI to write up an official profile of the killer.

[Captain (Co-host)]

The motherfucking FBI.

[Nick (Host)]

Now, I. I've not seen that actual profile that was produced, but. But we do know that they were. I point this out, that they are. Were actively seeking outside help on these cases. They understood right away when they found Brasso's body before even getting victim number two.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Right.

[Nick (Host)]

We need to get some experts in here on this. This is not your typical homicide. This is not something that we are used to dealing with and working on.

[Captain (Co-host)]

But what would be interesting to me is we have a profile from the FBI in 92, so we only have one victim. But then to get a second profile in 93, once we have two victims, if their profile would change at all.

[Nick (Host)]

Yeah, I would be very confident in saying that that phone call happened after the, you know, we have a second victim, guys. What does that tell you? Here's the information. Now, police were still, you know, working the case, and I point that out with the 92 FBI involvement to. To point out exactly how much effort they were putting into those cases. But unfortunately, the. The Burnis case, the second homicide here went as cold as the first one, you know, for over a year. We know that from the information that came out in 94. And then five years go by, 10 years go by, and then 20. And of course, police are still working the cases during that time. One of the many actions taken, and I love this approach because it would prove to be even more helpful to the case than some of the other tactics, was a meeting with the VDOC Society. So the Vidocq Society is out of Philadelphia, and they pride themselves as being a sort of a collective of Sherlock Holmes's, if you will, and these very seasoned experts through all different fields of detective work, inspectors and forensics work, they meet the third Thursday of each month, and they review cases that are. That are presented to them by law enforcement from different jurisdictions throughout the entire country. Now, they do kind of hand pick, like, you know, you submit your case, and they look through them and they go okay, we'll, we'll, we'll take a look at this one. We'll take a look at that one. They took a look at this case. Now we don't have that full report that they came up with that's never been made public. But what the one thing that stood out and the one thing that was made public was the VDOX Society told Phoenix Police Department, we are extremely confident that your killer is in your case file. His name is is in your case fil.

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[Captain (Co-host)]

All right, we are back. Cheers, mates. Cheers to you. Colonel, we have two homicides, I believe 10 months apart. We now have law enforcement saying we believe that they're connected and we believe that we have evidence to connect them. But the cases still go cold.

[Nick (Host)]

The case went cold for, for many years. We get that information from the VDOC Society saying that we believe that the killer's name is already in your case file. That can be helpful. Would prove to be helpful. However, we should point out that that case file contained approximately 600 persons of interest.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Yeah. When the new lead detective takes over the case, he's taken over over 600 suspects. So my question to you would be, if you're going to take over a cold case knowing that there's 600 suspects, where do you even start?

[Nick (Host)]

You know, I don't know if they were already prioritizing certain persons as suspects compared to persons of interest.

[Commercial Announcer]

Right.

[Nick (Host)]

You would have to believe that if you trust the previous investigators work, that if you wanted to try to create some kind of shortcut because the case is drug on for so long that you would want to look at who was prioritized and start there. The other place that would make a lot of sense is to just unfortunately start at square one and look at it. You know, just erase your memory and emotions and start at square one and see where the file and the evidence takes you. You always want to invest, sorry, interview persons again that are in that file, that 600 names could be persons of interest. Not because they're suspects, they're persons of interest. You're interested in talking to them again. You're interested in interviewing them again and seeing if they say the same thing or if their memory has changed. So you always want to go about it that way. And there's. There's several different ways to go about it. This, you're right, though. This is going to be overwhelming to anybody that has to take a look at this case. Now, this is a little happenstance here. Colleen Fitzpatrick. Some people may be familiar with that name. She's does excellent. She's almost world renowned for her work in genealogy, detective work. Okay. So she happens to have some interaction with Phoenix PD or the lead detective on this case at some point on our timeline. And she says to them, if you got DNA in these two cases, if you give it to me, it's going to take some time, but I can give you a surname. And so they decide, all right, well, let's give this a shot. Let's see. Let's see if she can make this magic happen. I do want to point out to Colleen Fitzpatrick has helped us out at the Porchlight Project, in particular with the Barbie Blatnick case. So she's done very good work for many years in this realm. And here's where she does some even more good work. She comes back to the detectives. Of course, it's going to take considerable amount of time, but she comes back to the detectives and she says, the person that you're looking for has the last name of Miller. Okay, well, now we got something.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Yeah, because maybe this turd stain is

[Nick (Host)]

on our list, but we have 600 persons of interest in the last name. Miller is a rather common one.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Yeah, but again, out of the 600 people, I mean, how many millers do you have? Five? 10. Well, five or 10 is a lot easier.

[Nick (Host)]

I think they had 12 or 14 in that file at the time when she came back with that information. Somewhere like 12 or 14.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Yeah, but still a lot less to sift through than 600.

[Nick (Host)]

Absolutely.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Start.

[Nick (Host)]

And, but you're also factoring in that the V Doc Society was correct that the name would be in their file. I mean, there's a chance that, that Miller is not in your file right now. Armed with all this information. Right. The, the, the, the thoughts from the V Doc Society and the information provided to him by Colleen Fitzpatrick, the lead detectives, does exactly what you're suggesting there, Captain, and prioritizes all of those Millers in his file, which, as said, was either 12 or 14 persons, he starts looking at each one of them. And I believe that he, he singled out one individual and said, this is the guy that we should talk to first. Because really, who gives a fly about talking to these individuals at this time? Right. Like, you really just want to collect their DNA.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Yeah.

[Nick (Host)]

And let's collect. Let's start checking Millers off of our list until we arrive at the right one. So if you're presenting this to the brass, you're probably saying, look, we got to find, get creative on ways that we can get these individuals DNA. Or we could just approach him and ask him to give it to us. But that doesn't seem like a great idea, seeing how whoever did this got away with murder for decades.

[Captain (Co-host)]

You know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna invoke the John Cougar Mellon camp way of getting DNA. Do you know how that is?

[Nick (Host)]

I don't know.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Suck it on an old chili dog. Behind the.

[Nick (Host)]

Behind the tasty Freeze.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Yeah, just present them with a chili dog and ask them if they would mind sucking on a chili dog.

[Nick (Host)]

And so what they do is they. They're going to set up a sting operation. The person that ends up at the top of their Miller list is a individual by the name of Brian Patrick Miller. And a lot of that has to do based off of his background. He had a very violent juvenile crime where he stabbed a woman outside of a shopping mall.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Yeah. Which he did time for as a juvenile.

[Nick (Host)]

And this is weird, too, when he is. So when he's locked up, right, He. He's a juvenile, he gets locked up for this stabbing, which. Which really, I reviewed that thing. That's attempted murder, 100%. His intent was to kill that woman. He just was young and dumb and didn't know what he was doing, thank God. While he's locked up in juvie, his mom goes to the police and says, look at all this scary shit that I found in my son's room. It's like journals and diaries of him, like, talking about how he fantasizes about killing women and how he wants to kidnap a woman. One in particular piece of shit was released to the public, says that, you know, this. This is the plan. This is the plan. This is how you do it. You abduct. You abduct the woman. Attacker tire up, put her in the truck, cut her up, and he. And he even put like in his notes, like, make sure. Don't forget the videotape it.

[Insurance Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Captain (Co-host)]

I think this is what therapists call a sick fuck.

[Nick (Host)]

So there's a very disturbed individual, to say the least. And so she presents this information to police. Now this is back when he's a juvenile, right? He's. He's locked up. And we know he's certainly capable because he attacked this woman outside of the shopping mall.

[Captain (Co-host)]

A couple years later he attacked another one, but I believe he got acquitted of that one.

[Nick (Host)]

So the police at this time decide, everybody decides because mom says, look, when he turns 18, he's getting out. He, I can't have him come live with me. I'm scared to death of my son, especially after finding all this stuff. He is then sent to a halfway house rather than being returned to his mother's house when he turns 18 years old. And you're exactly right, Captain. He had lived in the state of Washington for a period of time. He was charged with assault up there where he, I, I believe he stabbed a woman. And he picked, he picked up a hitchhiker or offered somebody a ride and then attacked her in his vehicle. She pressed charges and eventually those charges were dropped. I believe it was from the prosecutor standpoint because of lack of evidence, it turned into a he said, she said, and the, the victim didn't present as credible. And the list goes on and on and on. So he slipped through the cracks and got lucky in that situation.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Well, Brian Miller is a sick bag of shit. But he was smart in that case because he claimed self defense. I think he learned something by being locked up. Hey, if, if I can't live out my fantasies, if I can't commit the crime that I'm initially setting out to commit, then I'll just turn it into like you said, he said, she said scenario. And they didn't have enough to prosecute.

[Nick (Host)]

So he gets lucky in that situation. Now, when we get to the point in our timeline where the detective has prioritized setting up a sting on this Brian Patrick Miller, he's, he's been divorced and he's now living back in the greater Phoenix, Arizona area. And so the way that this plays out is the detective sets up a meeting with Miller at a Chili's restaurant. He is presenting himself as a head of security for a neighboring business to where near where Brian Miller is working. I believe he was working at an Amazon warehouse at the time. And so he presents him with this security job that's going to pay, you know, good money and it's, it's a cushy job. So Miller shows up for this, what is to be a job interview at the Chili's restaurant. The whole purpose of this meeting is simply to get his DNA, get him to leave abandoned DNA at that table. So they, he buys him lunch. Eventually Brian Miller takes a, you know, drinks from a glass of water, leaves the meeting. The detective knows he's got a good shot at getting Miller's DNA. Yeah.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Should have made him suck on that chili dog behind the Tasty Freeze.

[Nick (Host)]

It's going to take several months, but eventually it comes back. The tests come back off of that DNA that they pulled off of Miller's water glass from the Chili's restaurant. And turns out that DNA matches the DNA that they had at both murder scenes.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Got him.

[Nick (Host)]

Yeah. And you know what was crazy, though? The detective said his initial reaction after meeting Brian Patrick Miller because Miller showed up to the job interview with his teenage daughter, and he said he saw the interaction between Miller and the daughter and he thought, yeah, I reviewed his background, but I still just didn't think that he was capable of. Of the two murders that I was investigating after seeing that interaction between Miller and his daughter. And he thought, he said that his initial reaction was, it's going to be a different Miller in our case file. Turns out that, like, again, it was about six months later, on a mild Tuesday night in January of 2015. The cases started in 92. In January of 2015, police swarmed a warehouse in southwest Phoenix to pick up an employee named Brian Patrick Miller. And around that same time, miles away, other officers are pulling up in front of a rental house in Sunny Slope, just off of the Arizona Canal. They knock on the door, and there they are met with Miller's teenage daughter, and they begin searching his house. There is a statement in from the search that said late in the evening, officers emerged from a rusty old shed behind the house carrying out an old bicycle. There's never any mention if that was one of the bikes that they had been looking for for all of this time.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Yeah, because detectives thought maybe he was taking the bike as a souvenir.

[Nick (Host)]

Anybody familiar with this case will tell you is the zombie hunter angle. This dude was known near the time of his. His capture, not during the time of the murders, but during the time of his capture as the zombie hunter. And he would attend things like these conventions and parades and things. And he had this vehicle that was decked out, if you want to picture, like an old cop car meets the Ghostbusters vehicle, like somewhere in between there. And he would dress up in this. This. I thought it was a rather cool looking outfit. He looks like something out of a video game where he wears this mask and has like this pretend Gatling gun. And he has this alter ego, this character that he portrays as the zombie hunter. And he was kind of, kind of known for it locally, anyway.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Yeah. And he had a Facebook page, Arizona Zombie hunter. It kind of reminds me of something you would see out of True Detective Season 1.

[Nick (Host)]

What's crazy here, Captain? And remember we talked about earlier when the police were. We wouldn't learn this until years later, but they seem to have been searching quietly behind the scenes far and wide for other cases that mirrored the Brasso and Bernis murder. So after the arrest, they decide, you know what, he was married. You know, we want to interview some people that knew this guy really well. We want to know what he was up to because he killed these two women and then successfully remained undetected to police for over 20 years. Right. 92, 93. And then he's not, he's not locked up for these. He's not putting handcuffs until 2015. And I want to be clear here, not putting handcuffs until 2015. We'll get to the other stuff later. But one of the people that they wanted to talk to was his ex wife. Remember, he moved to Washington with his ex wife and they had a child together. And while in Washington, that's when he is accused of picking up the hitchhiker, the attack that happened on the hitchhiker. So after he attacks this hitchhiker, and there's no doubt in my mind that he absolutely attacked this hitchhiker, right? He just got lucky. He gets locked up for several months while he's waiting to go to trial for that. And then that thing gets dropped out and kind of tossed out of court. And they send old Brian Patrick Miller home. Well, his wife says that once he gets home, he was like a changed man, like sexually. He got very strange, very weird, got

[Captain (Co-host)]

really into chili dogs at the Tasty

[Nick (Host)]

Freeze, talking about using knives during intercourse and all kinds of weird stuff. And at some point he says to her that he had killed a young woman or girl who had knocked on his door. His ex wife, who eventually divorces him, leaves him. She leaves him because of the way that he changed, she said, and that she was afraid of him. And she also said, look, I never reported what he said to me because a, I didn't believe it.

[Captain (Co-host)]

There's no name.

[Nick (Host)]

There's no. He didn't give a name. And she also says, I was also. I also, also was afraid of him. So much so that I had to divorce the man. The police become very interested in this statement that they get from the ex wife, of course, and then they start snooping around and they find a case that has some similarities to what he described to his ex wife. And the, the victim's name here is Brandy Meyer, who disappeared in May of 1992. Brandy Myers was 13 years old. She was last seen May 26, 1992 at a store near Cave Creek and Hatcher Roads. So we're going to go to some newspaper reports here. According to earlier Arizona Republic reports, Myers was last seen at about 7pm this is at the Smitty's store near Cave Creek and Hatcher Roads. On evenings, she had been out collecting pledges for a school reading project at Sunny Slope elementary school. She was $6 away from her goal. She disappears. Hundreds of Valley volunteers joined Phoenix police in the search for the missing sixth grader. They fanned out. They spent weeks, they spent months. There were thousands of flyers that were handed out to residents, displayed in business windows. It was almost like she just, poof, just disappeared. The town, the city essentially went down, went on lockdown for kids in the area for a good period of time. Based off of this disappearance, what ends up happening is they find out that the last place that this little girl was last seen is quite near where Brian Patrick Miller was living at the time.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Yeah, less than a half a mile away.

[Nick (Host)]

And one of the details in his story to his ex wife was that this, this girl knocked on my door and she was alone. She just kind of happened upon me and I just, I just grabbed her and pulled her into the house.

[Commercial Announcer]

Yeah.

[Nick (Host)]

That would line up with what detectives knew about the timeline of that missing girl, that she was out going door to door. So he, she went door to door. Only $6 left on her goal. And then she would have been done. But instead, she likely knocked on the door of Brian Patrick Miller and as he told his ex wife, he opened up the door, grabbed her, pulled her in. I don't want to get into too much of the details here, so we'll kind of skip ahead with those. But according to his statements to his ex wife, there was some dismemberment and he simply disposed of her in the trash can. He waited until trash collection day, place the remains in the trash right before pickup. They picked it up and she's never been seen or heard from ever again. And this guy who. It would take seven years, seven years for him to go from being cuffed for two murders to being in court for two murders. He likely committed three murders. It's obvious that he committed three murders. He also had two other strong attempts at murder. I'm hesitant to say that he hasn't done one or two more.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Yeah, the tough thing about the Myers case is we don't have any evidence. We don't have her body. She was never found. And Then yes, they have a confession. So you could argue maybe they could bring this case to trial. Maybe. But the confession is not a solid confession because there's no name. So it.

[Nick (Host)]

And he said a lot of other things to his ex wife that were clearly not true. Right, right.

[Captain (Co-host)]

So that means he was telling the whole world he was a zombie hunter and he never hunted one zombie.

[Nick (Host)]

And so this case takes forever to get to trial. Part of that, you know, Covid, was going on during that seven year period, which certainly put a major speed bump in getting this thing to trial. One thing I want to point out, you know, one thing that gets lost on the public often in these cases. And let's forget about Canada, because Canada is a whole different mess when it comes to truly punishing these horrible people.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Blame Canada.

[Nick (Host)]

The United States is getting almost as bad in many states. In many states, your time that you sit in jail and you wait for trial, if you sit in jail and have to wait for trial, you get a day and a half. Some states you get two days. I think up in Canada, they are now giving you two and a half days credit for every one day that you sit in jail waiting for your trial. So when you look at something like the Delphi case, wouldn't it be in the, and especially in this case, right, with Brian Patrick Miller, who is guilty beyond reasonable doubt. I mean, you don't have to, you don't have to be a judge or even elected to that jury to see how guilty this guy is. We got the DNA and all this other evidence. Wouldn't it be to your client's advantage to drag out and delay getting that thing to trial as long as possible? Right. Because your whole goal, if you cannot get your client acquitted, if you cannot get an innocent verdict in your case, don't you want to get that client out of prison or as short of a sentence as possible? So if you're getting a day and a half or two days credit for every day that your butt sits in jail waiting for trial, that takes seven years to happen. Well, guess what, that seven years just turned into 10 years credit, 11 years credit. And so when we say that life doesn't mean life in prison, 25 doesn't mean 25, 20 doesn't mean 20. 20 usually means 16. Well, if 20 means 16 and your ass sat in jail for five years, it might mean 14. And so that's something we really need to start talking about here. Because you have individuals like this that are getting out way too early when they are still young enough, still Physically capable enough of committing horrible and violent crimes that they committed when they were much younger men. And we talked about that so much on, off the record recently with trying to deny parole with, with, with a horrible rape and murder case that took place in South Carolina. Now in this situation In March of 2022, our defendant here, Brian Patrick Miller, opted for a bench trial, which means that the case is to be heard by a judge with no jury present by the next month, I believe it was until 2023. Okay. So in 2023, April, Judge Suzanne Cohen found Miller guilty on all six charges. So the, the six counts were for obviously the murders. And let's get into the sentence though here because at 50, he's 52 years of age today, he was born in 1972. He received two death penalty sentences for the first degree murder of Angela Brasso and Melanie Burnas. Miller also received an additional 24 years for two counts of kidnapping and two counts of attempted sexual assault related to the same, to those same attacks.

[Captain (Co-host)]

We know he's connected to at least two murders, possibly more. And I think that's what law enforcement is probably doing now is looking into cases. I think the tough thing is going to be that there's going to be missing victims that were never found and will become, and in those cases I think it becomes almost impossible to get charges against this. You know, he's a sicko, that's what he is. Yeah, well, sick loser.

[Nick (Host)]

He was living at, for a period of time in Everett, Washington. And I know that police and detectives were in communication with law enforcement in that general area as well. I'm hoping, as said, it's been reported that they looked far and wide for other victims in similar cases. But you have to wonder, you know, there's a lot of cases that I look at and I go, man, on that route somewhere. How many times did this guy travel to and from Phoenix and Everett? Yeah, over the course of several years, you know, and in those places he, he lived in Phoenix when he committed the murders, he moves to Everett, he attempts to kill again. And then we know that eventually after the divorce, he moved back to Phoenix. So that route must have had to have been traveled frequently by this zombie hunter, whoever the hell he thinks he is. But in the end, after the verdict comes down. Jill Canetta, this is Melanie Burnas older sister. So she told the court, September of this year will mark the 30 year anniversary of the gruesome murder of our beloved little sister, Melanie. Words cannot begin to explain the level of excruciating pain we experience every single day since her murder. We live without her smile, her hugs, her companionship. We live without her love. Linda Brasso, Angela Brasso's mother, added the defendant stole my angel from the earth. Angela was my one and only. I will never be able to plan her wedding. I will never have grandchildren. With his actions on that night, he murdered my angel. He ripped my heart and I will never, ever be the same. What happened to Melanie and Angela were horrific crimes, said County Attorney Rachel Mitchell. It has taken decades of rigorous work by the Phoenix Police Department and the Phoenix Crime Lab to achieve justice, and I commend their detectives, officers and civilian personnel. Likewise, I give my thanks to the prosecutors and staff of my office who worked relentlessly to bring a measure of peace to the families of these two young women.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Foreign. Thank everybody for joining us here in the garage each and every week. Thanks for telling a friend. Thanks for telling your mother. Colonel do we have any recommended reading for the beautiful listeners?

[Nick (Host)]

This week we are recommending Murder and Manteo Seeking justice for Stacy Stanton by John Raley and our friends over at the History Press. Stacy Stanton, a beloved resident of Manteo, was found stabbed to death in her apartment in February of 1990. The slaying was the most horrendous crime the town had seen in years, and a rushed investigation followed. Overlooked leads and racial tension led to the conviction of an innocent man. This riveting narrative, built on access to the state's investigative files and multiple interviews with case insiders, delves into the truth behind the murder. Investigative journalist John Raley explores the mistakes made and finally arrives at the long hidden truth of what happened to Stacy. Check out Murder and Manteo. You can find that suggestion and recommendation, along with many more great ones on our recommended page on our website truecrimegarage.com

[Captain (Co-host)]

and until next week, be good, be

[Nick (Host)]

kind, and don't litter.

[Captain (Co-host)]

Sam.