Jury: Miller murdered 81-year-old neighbor

MARION - A 12-person jury found a woman guilty of murdering her 81-year-old neighbor Friday.

Jacqueline R. Miller, 52, was found guilty of murder and possession of cocaine, a fifth-degree felony, in connection with the June death of Howard Biederman, who lived a few doors down from his killer.

The trial began on Tuesday in Marion County Common Pleas Court and was handed over to jurors at about 1:30 p.m. Friday following three days of testimony. The verdict was issued just after 4 p.m.

Some members of Biederman's family were in tears when the verdict was read.

"That was a big relief," son Mike Biederman said. "He was the greatest guy there ever was. He wouldn't even cuss at anyone. ... Dad wouldn't hurt a flea."

Miller, who took the stand Thursday, admitted to hitting her neighbor over the head with a pair of vise grips and killing him June 7 at his house at 303 Uncapher Ave.

However, Miller alleged Biederman tried to sexually assault her and she hit him in self-defense. Miller told the jury she "blacked out" during much of the killing and that she had flashbacks to past instances when she was raped as a teenager.

Biederman's family members said the 81-year-old would never do such a thing.

Why Miller killed Biederman was a central question in the case.

Prosecutors argued in closing statements Friday that Miller killed him for money so she could buy drugs, pointing to testimony from his daughter-in-law, Karla Biederman, that Biederman had said earlier this year he was planning on “cutting off” Miller, to whom he had lent money before.

Marion County Prosecutor Ray Grogan, for whom this case was his first murder trial since taking over the job less than two months ago, argued in closing statements that Miller knew what she was doing when she hit him over and over again with the pliers.

"If it wasn't (purposeful), then what is?" he said.

Grogan picked up the vise grips that were used to kill Biederman and slammed them on the witness box before counting to 18 on his fingers and repeating, "And she did it again," each time.

"You don't hit somebody 18 times with a pair of vise grips ... and land at least 14 of those blows on their head, unless it is your purpose for that person to die," he said.

Deputy Coroner John Daniels, of the Franklin County Coroner's Office, conducted the autopsy on Biederman and told jurors that the 81-year-old suffered skull fractures, bruising and tears to his scalp, arms and body after he was hit with a blunt object at least 18 times, 14 times to the head.

But the defense argued that Miller was not in her right mind, pointing to testimony from a psychologist who evaluated Miller, finding that she had post-traumatic stress disorder and saying that an episode could be triggered by something like an unwanted sexual advance.

Carlos Crawford, an attorney of Miller's defense team who delivered the closing arguments, tried to cast doubt on the prosecutions' line of argument, saying that it didn't make sense that Miller would kill Biederman for the $20 she took from his pocket after the beating and suggesting there must be some other explanation for her actions.

"They expect you to believe that my client killed someone who was consistently lending her money and taking care of her for $20. What person in their right mind would cut off their cash flow for $20?" he asked of jurors.

Likewise, the prosecution tried to call into question the defense's account of what happened leading up to Biederman's death.

"They want you to believe that an 81-year-old man recovering from surgery who ... was 5-foot 6-inches tall, only 117 pounds, ... who's a father figure to her, the man who gives her money, the man who's known her since she was a little girl and, according to her testimony, had never done this to her before, they want you to believe that all of a sudden ... he decided then and there he wanted to be sexually intimate with her to pay off her loans," Grogan said.

Miller is scheduled to be sentenced at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. She could be sentenced to a maximum of life in prison.

svolpenhei@gannett.com

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