Miracles Still Happen

[sharron0925]

Our family, who has experienced the violent death of a loved one, has been forever changed into a ‘new normal,'" "We can never go back to how things were, we have to integrate this tragic loss into our lives and move on without our loved one.

Our brother Marine Sgt. William Miller, was murdered in Jacksonville N.C.
on September 16, 1972. His case went cold for 36 years until a miracle
happened. 36 years after William's death, two people are arrested and sitting in Onslow County jail, thanks to Sherriff Ed Brown, Detective Hardy and NCIS, they all worked together for this result. The person accused of firing the shots was a fellow Marine at the time and a personal friend, who went on to retire from the Marines and become a Police Chief. What a disgrace to Proud Marine brothers, shooting a defenseless man in the back, that really took guts! This marine that he shot, served two tours of Viet Nam, had two brothers David and Charley, also Marines serve in Viet Nam and a dad Bill who served in IwoJima as a Marine. A proud family of Marines. Justice will be carried out for these two cowards.

www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/two_charged_in_1972_death_of_m.ht

http://miraclesstillhappen36yearslater.blogspot.com

[One2Snoop]

Welcome to CL and thanks for sharing your story - I'm so glad they were able to bring closure to this situation and those responsible have been arrested.

For your brother ~ :patriot:

I wasn't able to get the first link in your post to work - I hope this one links to the story....

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/two_charged_in_1972_death_of_m.html

[sharron0925]

Our family, who has experienced the violent death of a loved one, has been forever changed into a ‘new normal,'" "We can never go back to how things were, we have to integrate this tragic loss into our lives and move on without our loved one.

Our brother Marine Sgt. William Miller, was murdered in Jacksonville N.C.
on September 16, 1972. His case went cold for 36 years until a miracle
happened. 36 years after William's death, two people are arrested and sitting in Onslow County jail, thanks to Sherriff Ed Brown, Detective Hardy and NCIS, they all worked together for this result. The person accused of firing the shots was a fellow Marine at the time and a personal friend, who went on to retire from the Marines and become a Police Chief. What a disgrace to Proud Marine brothers, shooting a defenseless man in the back, that really took guts! This marine that he shot, served two tours of Viet Nam, had two brothers David and Charley, also Marines serve in Viet Nam and a dad Bill who served in IwoJima as a Marine. A proud family of Marines. Justice will be carried out for these two cowards.

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index...eath_of_m.html

http://miraclesstillhappen36yearslater.blogspot.com
more links are at this web address-

[sharron0925]

:seeya:Potential witness in 1972 slaying upset suspect is out of jail

November 15, 2008 - 5:45PM
A potential witness in the 1972 homicide of a Camp Lejeune Marine is not happy the man accused in the crime is out of jail.

Former Cape Carteret and Belhaven Police Chief George Hayden, 57, of Portside Lane in Belhaven, was released on a $350,000 bond Nov. 7. He is charged by the Onslow County Sheriff's Department in the 1972 shooting death of William Miller. Miller's wife at the time, Vickie Miller Hayden Cooper Babbitt, 58, of Ponderosa Loop Drive in Bend, Ore., has also been charged with first-degree murder. She is still in pre-trial confinement.

All three were Marines at the time of Miller's death.

"Hayden, William Miller and Vickie Miller were engaged in a domestic situation that involved a divorce, a custody battle and possible criminal charges against Hayden and Vickie Miller for financial card fraud," according to a search warrant affidavit signed by Sheriff's Sgt. Jack Springs.

Bonnie Sharp, the babysitter of the Miller's infant daughter Wendy in 1972, confided in Sheriff's detectives information she had kept to herself for 36 years. She said she was prompted to come forward after reading an article in the Aug. 10, 2008, edition of The Daily News about the unsolved homicide.

That information led to investigators to an eyewitness to Miller's death, according to an affidavit attached to a search warrant of Hayden's Portside Lane home.

The affidavit states a witness admitted "he was at the crime scene when Vickie Miller flagged William Miller down on Western Boulevard and when George Hayden ambushed and shot William Miller with a rifle."

Authorities initially refused to identify Sharp, but she said she chose to speak to The Daily News because she knew the defendants in the case knew who she was. She will not be called to the stand by prosecutors during trial, authorities said. But that does not preclude the defense from subpoenaing her.

Sharp told The Daily News on Thursday that she is afraid of Hayden and is dismayed that he has been released on bond. She said she broke down when she saw a report of Hayden's release on a WITN-TV newscast.

"I feel like I am in a bed of red ants," Sharp said, adding that she was disappointed in the Sheriff's Department for releasing Hayden.

Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown told The Daily News on Saturday that his department has to release people in pre-trial confinement when they meet their bond requirements.

"Mr. Hayden met the court's demands, and he was released," Brown said.

Neither Hayden nor his lawyer, Jacksonville attorney Bob Coxe, returned messages for comment.

Sharp said she feels bad for her former fiancé, the witness the state plans to use in court against Hayden and Babbitt.

"I have gotten a dear friend in serious trouble," she said. "I feel like I have opened a can of worms."

Sharp said she is nervous about Hayden being out on bond and has had to change her daily routine out of fear.

"My doctor and my family want to put me in Brynn Marr," Sharp said, speaking of the Jacksonville behavioral health hospital. She said she has been in treatment three times over the past several years.

Sharp said she spends $113 for a monthly supply of anti-depressant pills.

"And that is after my insurance, and that is just one pill. I have to take six different pills a day," she said.

She said keeping the secret of what happened Sept. 16, 1972, has taken a toll on her mentally, emotionally and physically. But when asked whether she would she still come forward if she had it to do all over again, Sharp said she would.

"For Wendy," she said.

Wendy Miller-McGee was a year old when her father was shot on Western Boulevard. Authorities say he was lured there in a trap set by Miller-McGee's mother and sprung by the man who would become her stepfather.

Hayden and Babbitt were married in Jan. 1973 - four months after Miller's shooting - according to the Onslow County Register of Deeds. They were later divorced.

"I would for Wendy," Sharp said. "When I read about her in the newspaper, I thought, ‘I don't want her to suffer her whole life like I have'."

[sharron0925]

All three co-defendants in the 1972 William Miller homicide case entered a plea of “not guilty” Monday during their arraignments - THIS IS A BIG SURPRISE!!


April 21, 2009 - 2:59 PM
LINDELL KAY
One by one, three co-defendants in the 1972 shooting death of a Camp Lejeune Marine entered pleas of "not guilty" during their arraignments Monday.
Rodger Gill, 56, George Hayden, 57, and Vickie Babbitt, 58, recently indicted on charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy in the death of Sgt. William Miller more than 36 years ago, each said they were innocent.
Investigators say Babbitt, now of Bend, Ore., and Miller were married at the time of Miller's death. Authorities say Hayden, now of Belhaven, moved in with Babbitt while Miller was deployed overseas. When Miller returned to Jacksonville in September 1972, he forcibly tossed Hayden out of his home and Babbitt went with him, according to court records.
Miller was found gunned down on Western Boulevard on Sept. 16, 1972. He had been shot once in the back and once in the head.
Investigators say Babbitt lured Miller to his death and that Gill, now of Athens, Ill., was present when Hayden - a former police chief in Carteret County - allegedly shot Miller with an M-16.
Gill's attorney, Kinston lawyer Bill Gerrans, provided The Daily News on Monday with a statement from his client.
In the statement, Gill says that he and Miller were friends and coworkers, and that Gill lived with him and Vickie in 1972.
"I did not shoot Bill Miller," Gill said in the statement. "I was not involved in any plan or conspiracy to harm Bill Miller, nor did I participate in any such act."
Gill said he has had no contact with Hayden or Babbitt in more than 35 years.
"I hope and pray that the justice system in Onslow County, North Carolina, is fair as I am innocent of these charges," Gill said in his statement. "I did not harm Bill Miller in any way."
Gill reentered the scope of local investigators after his fiancée, the babysitter of the Miller's toddler child in 1972, came forward and told authorities Gill was there the night Miller was killed. She later told The Daily News she felt she had gotten a dear friend in trouble.
Babbitt's sister-in-law, Jan Babbitt told reporters that she flew to Jacksonville to support her sister-in-law, who she believes is innocent. She described her sister-in-law as "confident and caring."
She said she wanted to see evidence in the case.
"So far, all it's been is talk and innuendo," she said.
All three defense lawyers have been sorting through the prosecution's evidence in the last week - more than 6,000 pages of documents, statements and electronic recordings.
Hayden and Babbitt have been released on bail. Gill is being held in the Onslow County Jail without bond. His attorney asked Onslow County Superior Court Judge Charles Henry to set Gill's bond low because his client does not own property for the court to hold in collateral.
Henry said he would make a decision by Monday.
State law precludes prosecutors from seeking the death penalty in the case since capital punishment had been declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court at the time of the homicide.