35. Decades of Mystery: The Cold Cases of Two Idaho Women

Join hosts Dani and Stephanie on The Lethal Library as they dive into the intricate true crime tales of Marilyn Hickey and Cheryle Barratt. These chilling cases, spanning Washington and Idaho, remained unsolved for decades until advancements in DNA technology and the perseverance of investigators brought justice. Listen in as the story unfolds—complete with false leads, wrongful accusations, and the ultimate breakthrough that connected the dots. Delve into the frustrations and triumphs of cold case investigations and find out how one discarded cigarette butt led to the arrest of a long-elusive killer.

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Transcript

Stephanie: 0:30

Hello and welcome back to The Lethal Library. I am your host Stephanie. And I'm Danny. And today we're back again to tell you another story of True crime in Idaho. we are a True Crime podcast. We like to focus on cases in Idaho, in the Pacific Northwest. if you're hearing this after our break, thank you for. Letting us have a little bit more summer. we're so excited to be back and we hope you had a great summer too, and now it's the start of spooky season, so let's cheers to that. Hell yeah. Sis love us some spooky season. Yes. So Danny, what are we in store for today in 1992, police in Bremerton, Washington, were called to check on 57-year-old Marilyn Hickey. Friends hadn't seen her in a few days, and when officers entered her apartment, they found her dead. She had been murdered and investigators believed she was last seen leading a local tavern with a man that nobody could identify. Nearly two years later on April 21st, 1994. In Boise, Idaho, 49-year-old Cheryl Sherry Barratt was found stabbed to death inside her North End home. Oh my God, like Marilyn's case investigators struggled with limited evidence. Shifting witnesses and no clear suspect. For decades, both cases went cold. It wasn't until advances in DNA technology and a lucky break that detectives would finally connect the murders of two women, hundreds of miles apart to the same man. Oh my gosh. And you know what? Yeah, that's what, I don't know if you guys are like me, but I love Datelines. Even the classic ones. You know, I'm sure we all have our little podcasts that we like to listen to, but when it's in this time period before DNA and, and before cell phones, it just, you can see how difficult some of these cases were. Without those advancements.'cause I all the time, sometimes they'll, they'll go into like their intro and not say what year it is and I'm like, oh, if you just got DNA it would be so easy. Or just get people's phone records and you're like, oh, it's 92. It wasn't that time. And so I feel like these ones took a lot more police work. Not to say that it doesn't, even with DNA and phones. But to catch someone, if there, if it was obscure or someone that wasn't a suspect, you can see how much more difficult it was. So I really like these cases and I love when the technological advancements come to fruition. Yeah. And so people that thought they got away with something, Nope, we're coming back to get you. So I'm excited to hear, hopefully, about some justice in this case. resources used in today's episode are the Idaho Statesmen, my Gal Thank You, and the Kit Sun on September 10th, 1992 in Bremerton, Washington. Police were contacted at 4 25 in the afternoon. Friends of Marilyn Hickey were concerned they hadn't seen her in days. And something didn't feel right. When officers arrived at Marilyn's apartment, they knocked and there was no answer. Eventually, they entered the unit and discovered Marilyn. Age 57 dead investigators determined that Marilyn had likely been murdered the previous day between 10:00 AM and noon on September 9th. There was no forced entry into her apartment, which suggested she had either let her killer in or had known them right the same day. Police learned that Marilyn had last been seen at the Drift in Tavern. That sounds like my jam. It sounds like a place I'd like to go. Yeah, the drift in. I'd love to drift in. Let me just drift in. I would be a drifter for the day. Yeah. We love a good dive. I, I heart a good dive. Dive bars, let's go. Witnesses reported she had been with a young man. Mm-hmm. Believe bet to be between 22 and 25 years old. Get it Cougar. Right. he was about 5 8, 5 10 with a medium build weighing approximately 160 pounds. He's a skinny dude, and he had, color length, reddish brown hair. A cab driver later confirmed that he had driven Marilyn and this man back to her apartment after the Bard closed. Wow. So confirmed. Yeah. The cabby days. Remember those? Honestly, I've had some great Ubers and some bad Ubers. I've never had a bad cab experience. Maybe'cause it was more rare. I don't know. I had a bad Uber this weekend. No shit. Yeah. What happened? well, I was ready to go home. Mm-hmm. Jared wasn't. Yeah. Okay. Beep, beep, beep. Let's, it's not even beep, beep, beep. It's tap, tap, tap. Or to my Uber. I could have written my name in the dust. Look, I'm not expecting. Perfect. Literally could have written my name in the dust. Mm-hmm. On on the dash. There was some, I even took a picture of it. I am thinking it's Buffalo sauce. I just want to show you, you didn't taste it to check. No, I did not lick. It was just not even for science. No, not even for science. Here you go. That could be anything, honestly. Okay. And then, the guy was just kind of aggressive and, His window was down. I look, I, I'm a smoker. I can smell smoke. I don't think as an Uber you're allowed to smoke in your car. So when he picked me up, the window was down. So if the wound bothers you, let me know. Yeah, dude, the wind is bothering me'cause I'm Well, and you know how it blasts you in the backseat. Yeah. It always literally was blasting me. But I knew his car stunk, so I'm like, I'm down, I'm cool. At least there's some fresh air I guess I'll deal, deal with like the wind turbine. It was in my face. We've had some good Uber rides together. Yes, we have. It was just that. And we also for the record, have great Uber ratings ourselves, so we know that we're good passengers. Yeah. So, um, anyway, it was not just speaking of that anyway, sidetracked. But, but yeah, I never had a bad cab experience. And it was literally, I feel like they're the professionals and they just are the don't fuck around. I'm doing my job. I'm gonna get you there as fast as I can. This guy just seemed very unprofessional. Yeah, that's, no, I want, you wanna have a little bit more clean dude, if this is your part-time job. I mean, some people do it full-time. Mm-hmm. Cool. If this is a little effort. Can you dash your dad? Yeah. If anything do DoorDash then no one sees your car. No one's the wiser, right? Maybe that's how we got the buffalo sauce on the back door. Alright, here we go. Buffalo sauce. Questionable. We don't know what that substance was, Witnesses also stated they had seen Marilyn with him before. Oh, but no one knew his name. Fingerprints were found in her apartment, but investigators when were unable to match them, and Marilyn's case soon went cold. Oh, that sucks. Getting a fingerprint is such a good sign. But even back then, there were so many things that people even didn't get. Fingerprinted for at all or no, DNA. Mm-hmm. And so, mm-hmm. It's nice that people's stuff, if you start getting in trouble, you're probably going some form of identification. Fingerprints. DNA is gonna be saved. Yeah. Herman should have thought about before he bit that pizza crust and threw it away. Exactly. I'm glad they found that fucker. He is a dirty bitch. Such a motherfucker. Almost two years later in Boise, there is another brutal murder. On April 21st, 1994, just after 10:00 PM 49-year-old, Cheryl Sherry Barrett was found dead in her north end home on sixth Street only blocks from the Boise co-op. Do you know the area? I do, yes, I do. Cool old houses. I love It was a cottage. It was so, it's cute just driving around this area of Boise, there's several of them. Pockets of just historical homes and they're, so, it's just so, they're all different. So fun to drive by them and dream and just be like, they're not cookie cutter. No, they're all different. I love the character. an acquaintance discovered her body upstairs in a bedroom. Oh no. Sherry had been stabbed through the heart and her throat had been slashed. Brutal. Brutal. It was a brutal murder. Court records later revealed that Sherry had a history of run-ins with the law. And let me, I'm gonna tell you all this stuff because I just feel like this. You're gonna see this play out, okay? Right. Police are victim blaming here. Oh yeah, not we've seen, we've seen that yes. Before. So she'd had, a history of run-in with run-ins with the law. She had been charged in 1986 with a felony drug possession. She had been charged with three DUIs and a marijuana charge. The marijuana, god forbid. at the time of her death, she was wanted for failing to appear on her 1992 DUI charge. Sis, I don't blame you. Right. No. And these are things that, although important in an investigation, sometimes, I mean, I don't know if this is where this is going, but we, we have seen it before where it's like people lose their care for it. Or like, well, clearly they got busted for pot one time for possession of a tiny amount, so they must be in a drug ring with the cartels and doing dangerous things. So who knows what happened? We just can't figure it out. And I, I feel the same way that this was even, reported on in the papers. it's like, yeah. And especially this, this time, like why would you even mention it? Like she's still a murder victim. Yeah. So does it really fucking matter what she was? Charged with before. Oh, she had a DUI. So it's okay for her to get murdered, like, that's so asinine. Yeah. So, police begin searching for suspects and focused on two men, seeing, leaving the area in a light yellow four door, 1979 Ford. Pretty specific. Yeah. The light yellow, not a common color, witnesses described them as white males in their forties, one with a full beard, pockmarked face and medium length brown hair. The other clean shaven and possibly armed with a knife. Around eight 30 to 10 o'clock that night, a dark blue, silver, full-size van was also seen in the area with two men entering it. That's a lot of detail. I'm just telling you I've been watching, is that the innocent files, I think I've heard on Netflix, look at, I don't care how good you are, they have done studies on this. I eyewitnesses suck. They can be extremely un like they've done those studies where they'll have like 20 people at different vantage point. Observe a staged crash and people yelling or an officer screaming, put the gun down, blah, blah, blah. And the eyewitness accounts vary so strongly. There's some, some people will say, well, the officer shot four times and then said, put the gun down and the other four say it the other way and it's just our minds. you would like to think that you, your memory. Mm-hmm. I saw this because it's your reality. but it's so heavily influenced the, the one on, I wish I had the episode. A guy was, It was a, go, not a luxury. What? I know these words hung jury. Thank you. Jeez. A hung jury because the witnesses had contradicting stories. Mm-hmm. And all this stuff. So by the time, the second time it came around, those witnesses were so well prepped that, so they made sure they had their ducks in a row. Yeah. Not by the prosecutors Exactly. Telling them what they need to say, but they were molded in such a way that the second trial was way different than the first. Mm-hmm. And then. Years later. Everybody recanted. I wish I had that written down, but yeah, eyewitnesses, gimme some, I want some science. People are influenced and how you remember things. Your brain tries to rationalize things and, and say, oh, it certainly happened this way. It definitely, that's why we have bystander effect that's not happening in front of me. You could have heard your neighbor say, oh yeah, did you see that yellow Ford? Yep, that's what I saw. There was a yellow Ford in this neighborhood and it could have been a red one. Mm-hmm. Like that's how easily your mind can be. Yeah. Just, you just need a confirmation. So I think eyewitness is an important part. Yeah. But especially cases where it's the only part and there's no other factors. That's tough. Even for me. And back in the day that. Really? Yes. A lot of what they had. And there's been wrongful death sentence convictions overturned because of it. Yes. so Sherry's, murder drew immediate suspicion toward Floyd Edwin Parker. 43. A man with violent history in both Idaho and North Carolina. Damn. On April 24th, 94 police, Boise Police arrested Parker at the Boulevard Motel on Capitol Boulevard. This is a cutie Petie hotel. Oh. I'm like, it seems a little seedy, but what is it? It's cute now. No, it's like a cottage style. It's all brick. Anyways, it, it's, I looked it up. I'm like. That's good. It's by Boise State. It might've been seedy back in the day. I'm sure it's very nice now, but it's cute. Yeah, it's it's a very cute little hotel. it's all brick. Anyway, I was like, I'm down with that. Parker's record was extensive originally from North Carolina. He had been incarcerated as early as 1974. After attacking a man with a paring knife. A pairing knife, an assault that required 1500 stitches. Oh my God. He got to work with that. Pairing knife is one of the smaller knives there are. It's just for a potato. Yes. Or for like getting a peel off of an orange. You know, like some of them have a little curve to them for like cocktail decoration, a pairing knife. 1500 stitch. I cannot even imagine. That's, you wanna know. Catastrophic. He was sentenced to three to five years. Again, so many things only'cause he lived. I do not look even in a second degree. Degree murder. In some states he might have got five. Like what? I think the attempted murder charge is so under sentenced. Mm-hmm. Because, oh, they were a fighter and they fucking lived. Yes. So you get rewarded for three to five years. Mm-hmm. Oh, we have first responders that saved this person's life, or Yeah, their roommate came home. And called 9 1 1. Or even if someone is living, but they might be paralyzed. Yeah. Or even in a coma. And still 10 years later, they're not dead. Didn't kill him. No. This shit is crazy to think about. So he was sentenced three to five years, only a year later on Christmas day. What a present He was paroled. Merry Christmas. but just two days later after that, he attacked another man in a pool hall with a pool cue knocking out eight of his teeth. This is brutal, like a pool cue is a very effective weapon, but eight teeth. Eight teeth, yeah. Uhhuh. And this is two days after you're out where you're, listen, your butt hole should be clenched. Of I'm out. I got out on Christmas. I should be good. Let me just do the right thing. No, you're beating people with a pool stick in a bar. Pool cue. What? Yeah, I'm sorry. I wrote pool cue. It's a pool stick. It's Q is the technical term, I'm sure. Parker went to prison for three more years for that at least they were like, okay. So if you were supposed to get three to five and we gave you one shame on you. I bet his parole officer was pissed. I wonder if he served these full three years or were they like, we kind of like you. How's six months? No, he did do those three years, in 1979 after relocating to Boise. To be near his bro. Like I was like, how? How did he end up here? Yeah. His brother was here and he's probably like, I gotta jet outta here because I'm just gonna go beat another man. I'm beating everyone up in bars and causing stitches and teeth gone. I gotta try to go somewhere where nobody lives. Let's go to Idaho. Because, especially back then, no one was moving to Idaho for fun. No, no. For the most part. In 1979, Parker stabbed and killed a man named Stewart Hannah. After a bar fight at the Black Palomino, he needed to move somewhere off grid with no bars and no pool cues, and no pairing knives, or maybe just a prison really was the best place for this. Isolation. Yeah, it was. I'm ready for a Mike Shake. Ready. He was convicted of second degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Despite his violent past prison, social workers claimed Parker deserved another chance, and he was paroled in 1984. See for me that quote that he deserved another chance. Are they just, are they going off vibes? They're like, he's chill. Like we talk about race cars sometimes. Like he always asks about my kids. He was horrible though, so he was paroled, paroled in 84. He violated parole twice. And by December, 1991, he was released. Once again, where is the line? Where are we? Like, listen, if you killed someone this time, not to mention the 1500 stitches, the eight missing teeth. Now there's a human life actually lost plus all the trauma of the previous people. Imagine getting attacked in such a way. You have to get 1500 stitches or get eight of your teeth replaced. That's a lifelong injury And we're just like, but you know, he's kind of a chill dude. He's kind of, everyone here says he is chill and he deserves another chance. So let's, let's do that. But yeah, second degree murder. I was surprised at the 20 year,'cause usually it's like, eh, give him five. But can you believe, so he was paroled in 84. So let's just say that In 1979, it was early in 79, he was sent to prison, you know, convicted in 79, sent to prison still five years, and then disgusted. A convicted murderer violated parole twice, but he was released again. How are, how is your parole officer being like, bro, you are on parole for second degree murder, so any. Sniffing of violating, you're going back. is that not your job, especially knowing the criminal history? Did he have a lot of money to pay people off or was he just No, the vibes must have been so fucking immaculate because how in the hell l When Sherry was killed in 1994, Parker quickly became a suspect, not only because of his history. But also because he had dated her a few years earlier. Oh, so she liked the bad boys.

Dani: 23:19

So Parker was arrested and he was charged with first degree murder.

Stephanie: 23:25

Okay?

Dani: 23:27

Which fair? You're already a murderer. You dated this lady and now she dead at his preliminary hearing. Magistrate Charles Hay dismissed the case against Parker. Wow. prosecutors explained they did not yet have DNA evidence. And the key eyewitnesses had recanted their statement. Oh, identifying another man. Instead, prosecutors requested additional time to pursue DNA testing, but magistrate hay refused dismissing the case. So this is early days of DNA. Yes. also the prosecution. This is Idaho. They're banking on other things than DA. We didn't even have a place to test DNA in Idaho, at the time. but they didn't send off the shit. Anyway, I'm gonna tell you about it,

Stephanie: 24:32

which I can appreciate that from a judge being like, if you don't have something more to give me. Then we're not holding this. Try again when you've got it right, because people, we've talked about the cash bail system. Mm-hmm. How you can be, if you don't have the bail, you're sitting there forever, you're

Dani: 24:50

losing your whole fucking life. Your life. You literally are losing your job, your apartment, your house, your wife, your girlfriend, your kids, because you're sitting in jail for nine months and you haven't done shit.

Stephanie: 25:04

And it has happened multiple times. So I mean, this guy is, if it was a open and shut, if someone saw him, physically murder her, that's a different story than saying, I saw her leave with someone maybe and I recanted it and maybe she left with someone else. So holding someone. It's the, it is the job and the duty of prosecution to have enough to hold someone and enough reasons for a judge to not say, you don't have enough, try again. And even

Dani: 25:34

sadly enough, even if they are previously a convicted murderer.

Stephanie: 25:40

True. Because that doesn't mean by the you murdered again. Yeah. So I just, and it's just. I know that people get sticky about this and sometimes, sometimes this happens when everyone knows what's going on. So to, for an example, the Emmanuel case that's in the news, which we all know now that the child is deceased. and all of us could tell by the interview that it was fake that isn't necessarily enough to hold someone. And what it will do if a judge. Bows to the will of the people that are screaming. It's so clear. Is that that's just gonna open it up for appeals. Yep. And mistrials. Yep. And so it just, we've gotta just follow what we can to not have problems in the future. So it sucks sometimes. But in this time, I can totally see why the judge was like, yeah, give another shot. You don't even have

Dani: 26:38

the dna. N backes are not Yeah. Picking this guy. also wanted to let you know a fun fact. Ooh. Because I really, and maybe I'm just not intelligent,'cause I looked this up, so I wanted to know, most of our cases that we talk about have judges. Mm-hmm. This was a magistrate. Do you know the difference between a magistrate? I do not. Okay. I feel so much better about myself.

Stephanie: 27:09

Yeah. Why would you feel not smart? Okay. For those of you that do props to you, props to you true crime girls. So

Dani: 27:16

I looked it up and our fun fact for this episode is that magistrates often handle preliminary hearings and decide if there's enough evidence for a trial. While judges generally oversee more serious and complex cases. In this instance, the dismissal was made by a magistrate because he's like, you don't even have enough to go see a judge. Stop. I did bring this to the judge.

Stephanie: 27:43

I'm, I will be. So, he's almost like the underwriter for the judge. Like, yeah, I gotta see some more documentation. No, we're

Dani: 27:50

not even gonna bother the judge with this. Yeah. So, okay. Okay. I was

Stephanie: 27:57

like, what is the'cause a lot of, a lot of my, I thought it was just a semantic thing and they both meant the same thing.

Dani: 28:04

Mo Wow. Yeah, two. so I was like, what is the deal? Because I haven't seen that come up. So anyways, fun fact, we're always learning here. Always open

Stephanie: 28:15

to learning.

Dani: 28:16

I'm like, I don't know what this, let, let just really, and you guys, if

Stephanie: 28:19

you hear us, if you were to hear us saying. referring to a magistrate, like a judge and you're like, I wonder if they know, do you even email? Do you even understand what you're talking about? We'll go research it further.'cause I truly thought it was just this two words meant the same thing

Dani: 28:36

I did too. So anyways, the more you know, ding, we

Stephanie: 28:43

need the shooting. I know.

Dani: 28:45

Can you put that graphic in? Okay. I'll do my best. Without DNA, the case faltered samples taken from beneath Sherry's fingernails were too small for reliable testing at the time. Mm-hmm. And evidence took weeks to

Stephanie: 29:03

even reach the lab in Nevada. Yes. This was a common thing where samples were too small or you could send it to a DNA for one type of testing and you wouldn't be able to reuse it. So for some cases. This one specific sample that they got is their only sample. And if you choose the wrong test, you, it's burnt. You're, you can never review it for ever and ever. It's done. And so it's just crazy to think of that decision, if it was on your shoulders, what you would do.

Dani: 29:33

And one of the big things, with this is that the prosecution, by the time that that magistrate had dismissed it, the charges. They hadn't even sent the DNA off, so someone's not doing the pro their job here. Prosecution was not prosecuting, they were not doing their job. So, by August of 94, prosecutors admitted they would not be able to use DNA to build a case against Parker because they didn't have it. Oh, Sherry's daughter, Maria. Openly criticized the investigation. She pointed out that police failed to test a club found next to her mother's body for fingerprints. Hello, failed to properly search the home and failed to keep her informed. So one of the things that, in my research that I found. Two or three months after police had went in and did the investigation, she found a box in her mother's home that contained all of the gloves. It was like a cardboard box full of gloves and stuff that investigators would use to gather, evidence. Evidence. And. She just felt like that was very uncouth.

Stephanie: 30:57

They left a box there of their leftover gloves.

Dani: 31:01

Yeah. Of bloody gloves and stuff. And she was just like, who is, that's

Stephanie: 31:06

incredibly disappointing. And also just like she was, she's, they might

Dani: 31:10

have to come back. Like it was very hurtful to her to go in and see like it was, it felt sloppy to her. And that is fair.

Stephanie: 31:19

Sloppy. Why would you leave anything? You should be. Listen, I think about respectful and also a bit terrified to touch anything. And so you glove up. Mm-hmm. But then you should be mindful of where you're putting the gloves because you don't want to put evidence somewhere else by brushing up or dropping or dripping or, and so if a box is just left there that screams, we don't know what we're doing,

Dani: 31:46

or we don't care because yes, Maria believed. The police dismissed the case because of her mother's past, labeling it as drug related and therefore not a priority. In her own words, quote, she was my mother. She went into her house and was murdered. It could happen to anyone. Fair sis. Very fair and respect her. I can't even.

Stephanie: 32:20

And she has a good point of this could happen to anyone. Just because someone murdered my mother who had issues with the law doesn't mean that the next victim will have issues with the law and it doesn't matter regardless. Like,

Dani: 32:37

no. did she like to have some cocktails and smoke a little marijuana? Fuck yeah. Let's get down. Yeah. That doesn't make her a horrible person. You're not murder able for it. No. And to just completely dismiss her, drug related. And the sloppiness is drug related. So you know, we'll do what we can, but to me it views

Stephanie: 32:58

as laziness. Yeah, because, and complacency in your position.'cause listen, I know that we can all get complacent in our own jobs. But being a detective or a first responder that is tasked with doing these things, you cannot be complacent.

Dani: 33:13

And I also think this reflects the attitude in the nineties about whether, they were a sex worker or a drug addict. Yeah. Are they worthy of our time? Yeah. I really do think that that reflects So, I am, I feel so bad for her daughter. Well, good on her for speaking up and doing what she could because Yeah. Say something. Say something. Put up a fight. Mm-hmm. Because she was like, it is my mother. She was a human being.

Stephanie: 33:40

Yeah.

Dani: 33:41

Like, what the fuck is wrong with you people? Because you got confused. I know. That's what she wanted to say, sis. Yeah. What the fuck is wrong with you?

Stephanie: 33:47

Well, yeah, and someone has a few red checks on the record that like, doesn't mean that you're murder able without any consequences.

Dani: 34:07

the investigation into Sherry's case stalled for years. Understandable. Yeah. 2006. Marilyn Hickey's unsolved, 1992 Murder was reopened in Bremerton, Washington. Let's fucking go. Let's go. That was when unknown DNA evidence from Sherry's murder was reexamined and it matched to the evidence found in Marilyn's apartment in Boise. I

Stephanie: 34:43

love when this happens. Not the murder, but just the evolution to where they're like, we can test it this way, and then they can run it through an actual interconnected database. Because that was another thing. Technology. Oh

Dani: 34:56

yeah.

Stephanie: 34:56

They did not have. Unless you were F-B-I-C-I-A level, there was nothing barely though that shit. There was nothing that you could view other departments and just have a big ass database. So props two, everyone that

Dani: 35:13

fucking made this shit happen. The link between the two women was undeniable. Boom, they got it. Mm-hmm. It would take over a decade before that DNA evidence was connected to a suspect

Stephanie: 35:32

10 years over. Yeah.

Dani: 35:37

They, it wasn't in the system. They, they, so you're

Stephanie: 35:39

basically waiting for someone to fuck up Yeah. Or some other piece of evidence to come from a deck. What, what else are you gonna get at that point? In another eyewitness, which is not that reliable. A note or a, if a weapon is found somewhere, the gun that like if, if a gun was used, if that was found somewhere, but they have to fuck up usually to come up on the database.

Dani: 36:06

In February, 2018, Boise police collected a discarded cigarette butt from Robert Lee Miller. The DNA matched both murder scenes. Sherry Barrett in Boise and Marilyn Hickey in Bremerton got him on January 2nd, 2019. Miller was arrested by Boise Police and charged in both cases,

Stephanie: 36:34

so over a, well, almost a year later,

Dani: 36:36

and a completely different dude. Completely different.

Stephanie: 36:41

Yeah.

Dani: 36:41

Like he was not even on the radar. So I mean, fuck Parker, you're a murderer, but.

Stephanie: 36:48

But Parker is the type of suspect or person of interest that has been convicted of other crimes because of their past. And I'm not saying everyone that's, that's done something before is, but you hear these death penalty cases or even sometimes someone's already been executed and they know you then find out that there's no way they could have done this. And here's the other person. So. Thank goodness to the magistrate that was like, if he could bring me a little more, we'll consider it, but no, not as it is because, which

Dani: 37:23

is surprising because I'm just, I mean, we've watched the legal system in this state and deice, he should have been fucking pro. I mean, he should have went to trial. It's surprising that there wasn't a trial. Yeah, because

Stephanie: 37:37

look it. Level heads prevailing. Thank goodness, because that's been needed for decades in Idaho. And someone,

Dani: 37:47

this guy could have spent 20 or 30 years in prison. He could have spent 10 years just waiting. In April, 2019, Miller entered an Alfred plea in Washington. Good oldford admitting the state had enough evidence to convict him of second degree murder in Maryland, hickey's death, he was sentenced to 17 years, the maximum penalty for second degree murder in Washington. So lemme just tell you.

Stephanie: 38:18

Okay.

Dani: 38:20

Washington was like, yeah, just bring'em over here. Let's get this done.

Stephanie: 38:25

Hey Idaho, can you really seal the deal on this? And Idaho says, hold my bear. Very common occurrence. Well, especially in multi-state cases involving the Pacific Northwest. It doesn't say that in the court records or papers, but it's clear what's

Dani: 38:46

happening. And they were gonna pay for Idaho. They're like, we don't care. You need some funding? Yeah, we'll pay for it. Let's go. That's crazy. Later that August, Miller pleaded guilty in Idaho to the murder of Sherry Barrett. Wow. He was sentenced to 25 years to life Judge Steven Hipler during sentencing. Noted Miller's lack of remorse, stating quote. For 20 years, you were allowed to live the life you wanted. You have not demonstrated that you have the capacity for empathy. Wow. When asked if Marilyn and Sherry were his only victims, Miller Chillingly responded, I don't know.

Stephanie: 39:36

Okay.

Dani: 39:37

So 2025 Robert Lee Miller, now 60 years old, resides in the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Boise

Stephanie: 39:49

with many other infamous killers.

Dani: 39:53

I didn't look up his block. I should have, yeah,'cause I mean, he's, he's a DBA too, so he should be getting the same brutal treatment as.

Stephanie: 40:04

Coberg Andree and everyone, so Wow. But what a case of justice that has to like

Dani: 40:14

had to that they actually listen, this is what intrigued me. Like they had a guy and if they would, and he was already a murderer, so they had the guy. but that there was some, like I said, level minded.

Stephanie: 40:33

If that wouldn't have happened and that guy would've gotten convicted, nobody was testing D'cause I feel he could have gotten convicted. Oh, sure. The jury, a murderer that dated her and eyewitnesses, supposedly he's already a

Dani: 40:46

murderer. Yeah,

Stephanie: 40:47

yeah. Supposedly some people thought they saw him and then said they didn't. That wouldn't be. Like that would be enough for some juries Yep. To convict, especially in that nineties. Yeah. And then once someone is convicted to get the state to investigate something else, because that's admitting they're wrong. Mm-hmm. You would be hard pressed to find an avenue, no matter how active and persistent you are, if you believe that something else happened. Which, if you're the family and you think justice has been served, are you even, you know? So thank goodness, like you said, there was a levelheaded voice in it to wait for these technological and DNA advances to get the right person that that pled guilty. So it

Dani: 41:36

is a done deal. Well, these cases serve as a reminder that even when the evidence is thin and justice is delayed, persistence in science. Can finally bring the answers.

Stephanie: 41:49

Yes. They come through a hundred percent. So what a relief. It's we hear, because I thought

Dani: 41:57

I was gonna be Parker like all day long.

Stephanie: 41:59

I did too. I'm like, this guy sounds like a woman beater. You were you dated her. Yeah, sure. Mm-hmm. Easy peasy. What are the chances, like just same. What are the chances of dating two people that could murder? Okay. One of them was a murderer, and then

Dani: 42:20

the other one, who knows there was, but I, I didn't see anything about, for Marilyn. She was hanging out with him. Mm-hmm. But there was, I not sure the connection, For Sherry. Sherry.

Stephanie: 42:37

Okay.

Dani: 42:38

and it could have just been maybe a friend of a friend of a friend. Like, you know, when you're hanging out, running, went to some parties together, you know? Yeah. I, I'm not sure that direct correlation, for that, but anyway, I was, I was intrigued. That they, A, had somebody B said, you don't have enough evidence. And C, they found that guy later. The right guy. Yes. DNA, science. Let's go. Science

Stephanie: 43:08

bitch. Are you breaking bad fans? thank you everyone for joining us yet again, for interacting on our social posts. I wanna know what you think about our TikTok, new segment with the guy that looks like a serial killer.

Dani: 43:29

It's all a good fun. It, I think he's taken it in good fun too, I think. Yeah. it's been fun. So, we enjoy doing that. We enjoy interactions. We enjoy. Emails, any feedback, or any case ideas,

Stephanie: 43:44

super appreciate. Yes. If you especially are in the Idaho area, we try to stick to Idaho or cases that touch Idaho even.'cause some start in one state and go to another. But I mean, if you have a super interesting one, especially that hasn't been covered by a lot of different podcasts, let us know. Yeah. it helps us a lot so. Thank you again for tuning in and all I gotta say is ten four rubber ducky.

Dani: 44:10

Fuck yeah,