Suvechha Sarkar
On the quiet evening of November 8, 1999, an act of violence sent shockwaves through the community of Flint, Michigan. The 48-year-old businessman, Bruce Leroy Miller, was found dead at his workplace on that fateful day. It left his loved ones completely grief-stricken and searching for answers. ABC’s ’20/20: You’ve Got Jail’ dives deeper into the investigation, which revealed a complex web of lies, infidelity, and a murder plot. It also features interviews with his loved ones and the law enforcement officials who helped crack the case and bring the truth to light.
Bruce Miller Was Found Dead From Gunshot Wounds at His Salvage Yard
George Leroy and Ruth Margaret Miller were overjoyed to welcome their son, Bruce Miller, into the world on July 26, 1951. He grew up in a loving household in Flint, Michigan, along with his brother, Chuck, and sister, Nancy. Bruce was often described as a kind person who held his family close to his heart. According to Chuck, Bruce had always been a huge car lover. Hence, after completing high school, he decided to take up a job at General Motors. After honing his skills there, Bruce finally became the owner of his own local auto scrapyard, named B & D Auto Parts. Chuck stated that in his adulthood, Bruce thought that he had found love three times, which led to his three marriages by 1998.
It led Bruce to welcome his children, Jeff and Julie, into his life. Eventually, Bruce hired Sharee Miller as a Bookkeeper at his salvage yard. Sharee already had three children from her previous two marriages. However, Bruce gladly accepted them as his own, and a relationship soon blossomed between the two of them. On April 23, 1999, they tied the knot at a chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada. They continued living at Bruce’s home in Flint. Everything seemed to be going well in his life until it took a dark turn on November 8, 1999. According to reports, Sharee called Chuck to check on Bruce, as he had not come home that evening.
When Chuck and his wife, Judy Miller, arrived at the scrapyard and entered his office, they found Bruce lying in a pool of blood, face down on the floor. They promptly called 911 to report the situation. Upon arrival, law enforcement found Bruce dead from two gunshot wounds. Although initially they considered the possibility of a robbery gone wrong, they soon discovered that there were no signs of ransacking. However, they were unable to find any significant evidence from the scene. According to court records, the experts uncovered that he was shot with a 20-gauge shotgun in the upper back and neck. The autopsy determined his cause of death to be the fatal gunshot wounds.
New Suspects Emerged After a Shocking Suicide Miles Away From Michigan
Once the investigation began, detectives questioned Bruce’s wife, Sharee, who claimed that she had called Bruce that evening to let him know when the pizza she had ordered would arrive. However, when he didn’t return, she allegedly grew concerned and called Chuck. According to court records, she alleged that Bruce had a problem with his employee, John Hutchinson, since he owed Bruce $2000. When investigators questioned John’s brother, Harold, he claimed that a day after the murder, John had called him and allegedly admitted to killing Bruce. Reports state that during his interrogation, John emphasized that he was not involved in the crime. Due to a lack of evidence, he wasn’t arrested. Things changed on February 11, 2000, after the death of a man named Jerry Cassaday from Odessa, Missouri.
Officials from Missouri reached out to the detectives in Michigan and reportedly informed them that Jerry had died by suicide. Official reports state that he had left behind a suicide note, in which he admitted to visiting the scrapyard and shooting Bruce. The detectives shockingly learned that Jerry had also written in the letter about having an online affair with Bruce’s wife, Sharee. According to court records, Sharee claimed to Jerry on chat twice that she was pregnant with his children. Official records indicate that she claimed to have miscarried both times because Bruce allegedly assaulted her after knowing about him and Sharee. In his letter, Jerry reportedly spoke about how he and Sharee had planned the murder and reportedly met her before heading to Bruce’s scrapyard.
An Unexpected Briefcase and Online Messages Helped Solve the Case
According to reports, Jerry’s family turned in a briefcase to the investigators, containing the records of the online chats between Sharee and Jerry planning the murder. Court records specify that it also contained records of airline flights, emails, and hotel rooms, revealing details of when Sharee used to visit Jerry at the casino where he worked. Investigators reportedly searched Jerry’s computer, which uncovered several other text messages between him and Sharee. Those messages indicated that she had told Jerry where to park his car, where to meet him, and how to contact him using a mobile phone that she would give him, as per the reports.
Ultimately, Sharee was arrested in February 2000 and charged with second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. During her interrogation, Sharee insisted that she only had a friendship with Jerry and alleged that the chats left behind by him were fake. Investigative reports state that she claimed not to have any involvement in the murder. Her jury trial began in December 2000, and the jury found her guilty of both charges in the same month. Sharee was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murder on January 29, 2001.
Sharee also received a consecutive term of 54 to 81 years for conspiracy. In August 2008, a federal district court judge overturned Sharee’s conviction, ruling that a suicide note from Jerry should not have been admitted as evidence and ordered a new trial. In July 2009, she was released from prison on bond before the subsequent trial. In July 2012, the Michigan Court of Appeals reinstated Sharee Miller’s original convictions from her 2000 trial, following which she was taken back into custody. In March 2016, Sharee reportedly admitted to conspiring in the murder of Bruce and lying about her pregnancies to Jerry.
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