RESIDENTS of Phoenix, Arizona, were shocked when a local celebrity turned into a murder suspect.
Known as the Zombie Hunter, Bryan Patrick Miller became a suspect more than 20 years after two young women were murdered in the area.
Who is Bryan Patrick Miller?
Bryan Patrick Miller is a convicted killer from Phoenix.
A divorced father of two, he worked for Amazon as a packer prior to his arrest.
"I have worked many years in customer service in retail, entertainment, and end user support. I take pride in my work and strive to do things to the best of my abilities," he wrote on his LinkedIn page.
Before Amazon, he had stints with Walmart and McDonald's, among other corporations.
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Why was he called the 'Zombie Hunter'?
Before Miller was known for his crimes, he was widely recognized by residents as the "Zombie Hunter."
He gained the nickname because he would often participate in parades and festivals in the area dressed like a comic book character, according to CBS News.
"He wore this long trench coat with these goggles and helmet and had this large Gatling gun," Briana Whitney, a true crime reporter for CBS affiliate KPHO, recalled, via CBS News.
Miller would often go all out in his costume, and he "tricked out" an old police car to go with his act.
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What did Bryan Patrick Miller do?
To most people, Miller was just a father and a local celebrity. It was not until 2015 that his true identity was revealed.
That year, he was arrested and charged with first-degree murder after DNA linked him to the deaths of Angela Brosso and Melanie Bernas.
Brosso had been killed on November 8, 1992, while riding along a canal in Phoenix, and almost a year later, Bernas was murdered in the same area.
The canal murders had gone unsolved for more than 20 years, making Miller's arrest bittersweet.
"A very joyous moment of 'Oh my gosh, this is what we've been waiting for, for decades upon decades,'" Bernas' friend, Rachel Schepemaker, told CBS.
Miller's case went to trial in October 2022, but his defense wasn't arguing that he didn't do it, instead, they claimed that he was not guilty by reason of insanity.
His lawyers argued that he had been tortured by his mother as a child, exposed to "pornography and extremely violent films," which later formed "severe mental health problems."
Miller's defense ultimately didn't work, and a judge found him guilty on both counts.
When was he sentenced?
After Miller was found guilty, Judge Suzanne Cohen sentenced him to death in June 2023.
He has since been sitting on death row at the Eyman Prison Complex in Florence, Arizona, pending appeal.
"It is better than county jail, but it is obvious that isolation has taken its toll on many people here," Miller wrote in a letter to a 48 Hours producer when asked about life on death row, via CBS News.
"From what I saw of people in county jail compared to here, the majority of the people here are by far not what I would consider the worst of the worst. It is by far safer than anywhere else in prison even though they have nothing really to lose anymore."
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He continued: "…it is far from great, as I am even more isolated from those I care about and also my legal team, the food is still not great and the cells are getting very cold now that temps are falling."
While his lawyers might've claimed insanity at trial, Miller continues to say that he did not kill Brosso and Bernas.
