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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
February 21, 2013     Shelton Mason County Journal
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February 21, 2013
 
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Jury finds Anthony Miller, 37, guilty of first- degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder By NATALIE JOHNSON natalie@masoncounty.com A jury found Anthony R. Miller of Shelton guilty Wednesday afternoon of first-degree murder and first-de- gree conspiracy to commit murder in the shooting death of Barbara Giles. The jury also returned special ver- dicts stating that the crime involved a firearm, that the crime was related to his relationship with Giles and that her children were in the house during the crime. Mason County Prosecutor Mike Dorcy said he plans to seek a sen- tence of 50 years or more at Miller's sentencing hearing, scheduled for April 8. Miller, 37, took the witness stand in his own defense Friday, deny- ing any involvement in the shooting while being questioned by his attor- ney, James Foley. However, he did admit some knowledge of the crime under cross-examination. Foley asked Miller whether he asked his daughter and her boyfriend to kill Giles, his former girlfriend, as the prosecution has argued. "I would never ask anybody to do that," Miller said. Before Foley called his client to the stand, Dorcy rested his case Friday after playing several hours of video of interviews and interrogations of Miller by Detective Jeff Rhoades of the Mason County Sheriffs Office. The prosecution maintains that Miller planned the shooting of Giles during a custody dispute over their adopted 2-year-old daughter and af- ter disagreeing about the ownership of a Jeep Cherokee that they both used. In his interrogation, Miller re- peatedly denied any involvement in the crime. In the video, Rhoades confronted Miller with text messages between himself and his daughter, Asaria Miller, 17, allegedly planning Giles' shooting. At that point in the interroga- tion, Miller ad- mitted knowing that his daughter and her boyfriend James "Jimmie" Hartfield, 18, went to Giles' Miller house to talk to her in the early morning hours of Nov. 21, but said he didn't know they planned to kill her. Asaria Miller and Hartfield tes- tified against Anthony Miller in exchange for plea deals last week, saying that he did ask them to shoot Giles and gave them the money to buy a gun. Asaria Miller testified Feb. 13 that her father told her, "Don't get caught." Hartfield has agreed to plead guilty to first-degree murder, first- degree burglary and first-degree conspiracy to commit murder, all with firearms enhancements, with a possible sentence of 45 years. He ad- mitted shooting Giles three times at point-blank range with a .32-caliber handgun. Asaria Miller, who is several months pregnant, has agreed to plead guilty to murder in the first degree with a firearm enhancement and serve 30 years in prison. During questioning from Foley on the witness stand Friday, Miller again denied any knowledge of the crime, and said that his daughter, who has a juvenile conviction for as- sault in the first degree, planned it all herself because she didn't like Giles. Much of the prosecution's case hinges on text messages between Miller and his daughter arranging to get his "roof' fixed by a "handyman" with a "special tool." Miller testified Friday that his daughter was helping him find some- one to fix the roof in the house he rents in Shelton. He also testified that the roof n~ver got fixed. The prosecution argues that they used these code words to plan Giles' death. Dorcy has also argued the two used Anthony Miller's cat's name as a stand-in for Giles'. "I never talked about killing any- body," Miller said Friday. Dorcy asked, "But you talked about your roof, didn't you?" '~(es I did," Miller responded. Because the text messages refer- ence meeting to fix the roof at 2 a.m. Nov. 21, an hour and a half before the shooting happened, Dorcy asked Miller if people could work on a roof in the middle of the night. Miller re- sponded that they couldn't. Dorcy has also argued that the text messages show Miller originally planned to have Giles shot Nov. 17, the Saturday before the shooting, as she left the Pine Tree Restaurant and Lounge in Shelton after celebrat- ing her birthday, but Asaria Miller questioned doing it in public. Miller explained the messages to Dorcy by saying he was going to serve Giles with legal documents in response to her parenting plan that Saturday, but admitted after Dor- cy questioned him further that he hadn't filled out any paperwork at that time. Miller admitted that he traveled to Olympia in the days leading up to the shooting to talk to his daughter, but said they talked about his cat getting spayed, not to plan the crime, as the prosecution argues. During much of Dorcy's cross- examination, Miller denied under- standing the meaning of text mes- sages he sent to his daughter, or what she meant in response. Miller eventually admitted to Dorcy that he knew his daughter and Hartfield were going "to talk to Barbie (Giles)" in the early morning hours of Nov. 21. After six days of testimony, the prosecution and defense gave clos- ing statements yesterday. The jury is considering verdicts on charges of first-degree murder and first-degree conspiracy to commit murder. : Complete this form, clip it and mail to RO. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584 You can order by phone (360) 426-4412 with your credit card. $37 (Mason County address) [~ $51 (Elma or Bremerton address) [~ $51 (in Washington State) ~ $61 per year out of state Please check: ~ New ~] Renewal Please charge my subscription to my credit card $ .... [~ Visa ~ MasterCard Card Number: Signature: Expires: Name: City: 3 digit security code Phone: Address: State: Zip: / your Sports Subscribe to Jo 'r r a! Classifieds 227 W. Cote St. • Shelten, 98584 360-426-4412 Community As part of the Transit-Community Center project, ® Mason Transit Authority (MTA) saw the opportunity to have the Center open to Shelton's malt, street, Railroad Avenue, with the purchase of the Radich Optometry property located at 536 West Railroad Ave. Decades prior, the land in this area of Shelton had been owned and used for railroad activities by Simpson Lumber Company. Due to this usage, a portion of the land was found to have environmental issues which nearly derailed the valuable Transit- Community Center connection. Few companies thrive for more than a century with- out a commitment to the future, and Simpson is one of those companies. Simpson stepped-up, did the right thing, and cleaned up the property. Simpson takes the long-term view in everything they do in their operations and supporting organizations in the communities they call home. Shelton is one of those communities, and Simpson's commitment to its future as home to our Transit-Community Center is admirable. We at Mason Transit Authority thank Simpson for being a good neighbor, partner and supporter of the Transit-Community Center project!! g Mason County Journal - Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013 : Page A-3