Fraud of the Month - October 2008
Home arson leads to murder charges
William Craig Miller torched his swanky home for insurance money in November 2005. But if Arizona prosecutors are right, the fiery scheme burned tragically out of control. The Scottsdale man allegedly shut up two witnesses by shooting them gangland style. But the suspected plot went so awry that three more people, including two children, died because they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, prosecutors say.
On the surface, Miller seemed a successful community man. He was a young father, an entrepreneur who owned a home and business restoration company, and held season tickets to the NBA’s Phoenix Suns.
But his spiral into the criminal world began with the house fire that killed one of his family’s dogs.
Possessions missing
Allstate paid out more than $440,000 on his claim. But investigators quickly suspected Miller was responsible. A big screen plasma television, assorted guns and Miller’s Toyota Tundra all were suspiciously missing from the charred home.
Other clues also mounted. “Several pour patterns were found throughout the house and gas cans were located inside,” the Scottsdale police report says. The only room in the house where gasoline wasn’t found was in his young son’s bedroom.
A few days after the blaze, one of Miller’s employees named Tammy Lovell told Scottsdale police that Miller had enlisted another employee named Steven Duffy plus her own live-in boyfriend to help Miller burn down the home.
Duffy soon confessed to police. He even told them where Miller’s missing television, guns and Toyota were stashed.
Taped cell phone calls among Duffy, Lovell and Miller also were incriminating. Police quickly collared Miller as he drove his silver Audi into his company’s parking lot.
SWAT team finds bodies
The murders that tragically happened next aren’t in dispute. Who’s responsible still is. Miller was out on bail and wanted to silence Lovell and Duffy so they couldn’t testify, prosecutors allege.
He entered Lovell’s home at 2:40 a.m. on Feb. 21, 2006, police say. Shortly afterward, alarmed neighbors called Mesa police, saying they’d heard gunshots inside. A SWAT team discovered the bodies of Lovell and her two children (Cassandra, age 15 and Jacob age 10). The Duffy brothers also were dead. All had died of bullet wounds, including three with bullets to the head.
Miller claimed an alibi: He and a buddy were out drinking until 2 a.m. -- 45 minutes before the murders -- until Miller passed out.
But then he apparently switched stories in an interview from his jail cell with the Mesa Tribune. Miller and an unnamed crony entered Lovell’s home after offering Steven Duffy’s brother $10,000 to leave the door ajar, he told the Tribune.
He and the mysterious accomplice only were trying to recover Miller’s personal items that were stored in the Lovell’s home after the fire, Miller insisted. “Nobody was supposed to get shot,” he said.
Says he shot back
Miller said he stood at the top of Lovell’s staircase reviewing court documents about his arson case. Steven Duffy suddenly rushed out of the bedroom and shot at Miller, who returned fire with his 9 mm revolver, Miller told the Tribune. Tammy Lovell may have been shot while fleeing to safety, Miller said. His accomplice may have hunted down the other people in the house and shot them dead, Miller said.
He also said he’d paid someone $20,000 to hunt down and kill Duffy, according to the interview.
But Miller actually offered four different men money to kill Duffy, the Scottsdale district attorney’s office says. Miller’s administrative assistant Misty Cooper even had helped Miller place a GPS tracking device on Duffy’s car and bought the gun that killed Duffy, police reports say.
Miller received 5 1/2 years related to the insurance scheme, and faces possible death penalty if convicted of the murders. His murder trial is scheduled to start in late May 2009.
Ironically, Miller wanted to be convicted for the blazing insurance fraud.
He languished in county prison while awaiting trial. He couldn’t stand the food there. He was desperate for the better cuisine in state prison, where it’s also easier to have visitors. For now, at least, the fraud conviction got him transferred to his prized state cell.
"It's amazing he gets to chose what he wants and the court gives it to him," said Luhanna Chesley, Tammy Lovell's sister.
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