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Paroled burglar charged with killing journalist
By JOEL CURRIER, DAVID HUNN and JEFFREY TOMICH, Courier Lee News Service
ST. LOUIS --- A recently paroled burglar was charged Sunday with first-degree murder in the rape and slaying of former St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer and editor Nancy Miller in her home in Chesterfield, Mo.
Brian Michael Walters was staying with his parents in Claymoor Court, near where Miller lived, and stabbed her to death, officials said.
"Whether or not they knew each other, I couldn't tell you at this point," said St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch.
Walters, 27, also was charged with armed criminal action, first-degree burglary and rape in warrants filed Sunday. He was held without bond in the county Justice Center in Clayton.
McCulloch did not describe how Walters got into Miller's home except to say it was "unlawfully." He said the suspect had been released from a Missouri prison about 10 days ago. Officials said Walters was sentenced in 2003 to serve seven years in a case from Maryland Heights.
The charges say Walters admitted that he entered Miller's home without consent for the purpose of stealing, confronted and raped her, then stabbed and cut her with two knives. Neither the charges nor officials made mention of any possessions being taken.
McCulloch said a neighbor provided information that led to Walters' arrest.
Miller, 59, who retired from the newspaper in June, was found dead about 6 p.m. local time Friday, after friends and relatives became concerned at not being able to reach her. She was last known to be alive Wednesday night.
The Major Case Squad was assembled to assist Chesterfield police, and announced an arrest -- giving no details -- Saturday night.
Reached Saturday afternoon in Arkansas, Miller's brothers and sisters were grief-stricken, trying to cope with the loss.
"We're still in the numb stage," said her brother, Ben Nix, of Benton, Ark. "We were and are a very close family."
The reaction was the same in her Chesterfield neighborhood and among friends and former co-workers at the Post-Dispatch.
"This is just tragic. We all feel horrible about it," said Arnie Robbins, editor of the Post-Dispatch. "Nancy was a dear. She was smart, a skilled editor and journalist, a great colleague, a warm and sweet and funny and caring friend. I think we all have an empty feeling today. Our hearts go out to her family and her many friends."
Miller was born in El Dorado, Ark. She earned a degree in journalism from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, and moved to St. Louis and the Post-Dispatch in 1977 after a stint as an assistant city editor at the Arkansas Democrat in Little Rock.
Miller spent the last eight years as Lifestyle editor at the Post-Dispatch, also overseeing the Let's Eat, Explore and Healthy & Fit sections. Before that, she'd been a copy editor, St. Charles bureau chief, suburban editor and assistant metro editor.
As a columnist, she frequently wrote about the subjects she knew best, and cared most about -- her family and friends. Her work often displayed a subtle, self-deprecating brand of humor, such as a column in December 2004 when she described removing the cover from a book that she felt was too embarrassing to be seen with in public.
"She would bring (readers) into the fold and give them a level of comfort that put them at ease," Nix said. "And she would share some of the e-mails she got with us. It was quite touching."
Miller was known among colleagues as graceful and caring, with an easily recognizable Southern lilt.
They remember her as a patient teacher and a role model in a profession that too often breeds ego and cynicism.
"Her columns were a true window to the type of person she was," said reporter and columnist Aisha Sultan. "I aspired to be that sort of writer and person."
Beneath the politeness and demure exterior was a "newshound" with a passion for writing and the pursuit of a good story, said Bob Duffy, a Post-Dispatch editor and architecture critic who retired in 2005.
Susan Hegger, a close friend of Miller's and a former assistant managing editor of features at the Post-Dispatch, said: "She was exceptional. She was one of those Southern steel magnolias: gracious, charming and strong. And she had a wicked sense of humor."
Outside the newsroom, Miller's passion was entertaining, cooking and traveling, whether it was taking a trip to Big Cedar Lodge with girlfriends or taking family to Ted Drewes or the Hill when they visited St. Louis. She treated friends like family and her nine nieces and nephews as if they were her own children, her brother said.
"She had a heart of gold," Nix said. "Her job was to take care of people."
Never was that more true than a few years ago when her mother was battling cancer. Almost every weekend for eight straight months, Miller would hop on a Southwest Airlines flight to Little Rock and spend the weekend with her ill mother, who died in May 2005.
"She was kind of our mother hen, and became the family matriarch after Mom died," said brother Richard Nix of Little Rock. "She was just always there."
Miller's brothers said she was just beginning to enjoy retirement, but it hadn't slowed her down. Since leaving the Post, Miller had been an adviser for the student newspaper at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park and had been teaching journalism classes.
Services for Miller are pending.
Brian Michael Walters was staying with his parents in Claymoor Court, near where Miller lived, and stabbed her to death, officials said.
"Whether or not they knew each other, I couldn't tell you at this point," said St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch.
Walters, 27, also was charged with armed criminal action, first-degree burglary and rape in warrants filed Sunday. He was held without bond in the county Justice Center in Clayton.
McCulloch did not describe how Walters got into Miller's home except to say it was "unlawfully." He said the suspect had been released from a Missouri prison about 10 days ago. Officials said Walters was sentenced in 2003 to serve seven years in a case from Maryland Heights.
The charges say Walters admitted that he entered Miller's home without consent for the purpose of stealing, confronted and raped her, then stabbed and cut her with two knives. Neither the charges nor officials made mention of any possessions being taken.
McCulloch said a neighbor provided information that led to Walters' arrest.
Miller, 59, who retired from the newspaper in June, was found dead about 6 p.m. local time Friday, after friends and relatives became concerned at not being able to reach her. She was last known to be alive Wednesday night.
The Major Case Squad was assembled to assist Chesterfield police, and announced an arrest -- giving no details -- Saturday night.
Reached Saturday afternoon in Arkansas, Miller's brothers and sisters were grief-stricken, trying to cope with the loss.
"We're still in the numb stage," said her brother, Ben Nix, of Benton, Ark. "We were and are a very close family."
The reaction was the same in her Chesterfield neighborhood and among friends and former co-workers at the Post-Dispatch.
"This is just tragic. We all feel horrible about it," said Arnie Robbins, editor of the Post-Dispatch. "Nancy was a dear. She was smart, a skilled editor and journalist, a great colleague, a warm and sweet and funny and caring friend. I think we all have an empty feeling today. Our hearts go out to her family and her many friends."
Miller was born in El Dorado, Ark. She earned a degree in journalism from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, and moved to St. Louis and the Post-Dispatch in 1977 after a stint as an assistant city editor at the Arkansas Democrat in Little Rock.
Miller spent the last eight years as Lifestyle editor at the Post-Dispatch, also overseeing the Let's Eat, Explore and Healthy & Fit sections. Before that, she'd been a copy editor, St. Charles bureau chief, suburban editor and assistant metro editor.
As a columnist, she frequently wrote about the subjects she knew best, and cared most about -- her family and friends. Her work often displayed a subtle, self-deprecating brand of humor, such as a column in December 2004 when she described removing the cover from a book that she felt was too embarrassing to be seen with in public.
"She would bring (readers) into the fold and give them a level of comfort that put them at ease," Nix said. "And she would share some of the e-mails she got with us. It was quite touching."
Miller was known among colleagues as graceful and caring, with an easily recognizable Southern lilt.
They remember her as a patient teacher and a role model in a profession that too often breeds ego and cynicism.
"Her columns were a true window to the type of person she was," said reporter and columnist Aisha Sultan. "I aspired to be that sort of writer and person."
Beneath the politeness and demure exterior was a "newshound" with a passion for writing and the pursuit of a good story, said Bob Duffy, a Post-Dispatch editor and architecture critic who retired in 2005.
Susan Hegger, a close friend of Miller's and a former assistant managing editor of features at the Post-Dispatch, said: "She was exceptional. She was one of those Southern steel magnolias: gracious, charming and strong. And she had a wicked sense of humor."
Outside the newsroom, Miller's passion was entertaining, cooking and traveling, whether it was taking a trip to Big Cedar Lodge with girlfriends or taking family to Ted Drewes or the Hill when they visited St. Louis. She treated friends like family and her nine nieces and nephews as if they were her own children, her brother said.
"She had a heart of gold," Nix said. "Her job was to take care of people."
Never was that more true than a few years ago when her mother was battling cancer. Almost every weekend for eight straight months, Miller would hop on a Southwest Airlines flight to Little Rock and spend the weekend with her ill mother, who died in May 2005.
"She was kind of our mother hen, and became the family matriarch after Mom died," said brother Richard Nix of Little Rock. "She was just always there."
Miller's brothers said she was just beginning to enjoy retirement, but it hadn't slowed her down. Since leaving the Post, Miller had been an adviser for the student newspaper at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park and had been teaching journalism classes.
Services for Miller are pending.
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