John Lawrence Miller

Case record: John Lawrence Miller

Background

John Lawrence Miller was born about 1942 and was a native of Los Angeles. He was the son of Harold A. Miller and Lela Miller of Long Beach. Long Beach juvenile officers called Miller “a lone wolf.”

Miller was confined to a California reform school at age 15. His parents paid a visit to the school on November 11, 1957, and were allowed to take John home for Sunday dinner, but he slipped away from them that night and disappeared.

The offence

At the age of 15, Miller beat to death 22-month-old Laura Wetzel while she lay sleeping in her crib.

Two months after his parole, Miller shot and killed both of his parents. His father survived long enough to reach a neighbor’s house, and Miller was soon arrested and convicted of double murder.

Investigation

Neighbors identified Miller as the boy who threatened them with a gun the previous night, and he was arrested in Reno on November 15 while driving a car stolen from Redondo Beach. Miller confessed to the crime, telling police: “I wanted to know how it would feel... but I'm sorry about it now, of course.”

After the parents’ slayings, Miller stole a neighbor’s car at gunpoint and abandoned it in a parking lot, but he was arrested after a bank robbery in Downey in which he held the manager as a hostage. Deputy Dist. Atty. Allen Field said John told his probation officer that he couldn’t cope with the outside world after being released from prison. He said his parents had mistreated him and blamed his father for being sent to prison in Laura’s death.

Arrest

Miller disappeared after slipping away from his parents on the night of his Sunday dinner visit.

He was arrested in Reno on November 15, driving a car stolen from Redondo Beach.

Trial

Miller was tried as an adult and pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.

Miller showed absolutely no remorse, and The Times said he told reporters he wasn’t sorry. He asked: “Why should I be?” and said: “I don't care what happens to me,” before his trial. He also said: “I'm sick of this life anyway. I hate confinement and I'm not happy anywhere. I don't want to see anybody I know. Not anybody.”

The father of the murdered girl said: “We don't want revenge. We just want to see him put behind bars for the rest of his life. He's a sick soul.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Ted Sten called him “vicious, treacherous and coldblooded. Here is a person devoid of feeling, an ill-tempered wild animal who wanted to kill someone to see how it felt.”

Eighteen years later, after two months of freedom, Miller killed his father and mother who by then were living at 5460 Flagstone St.

On April 19, 1976, Miller told Judge Carroll M. Dunnum that he didn’t have the courage to kill himself and asked to be sent to the gas chamber, which at that point hadn’t been used since 1967.

Sentencing

Miller was convicted of murder and spent 17 years in prison before his parole in August 1975.

He was convicted of double murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. The case indicates a “Sentenced to life in prison in 1976” after the 1975 parents’ killing.

Appeals

No appeal information was provided.

Outcome

Miller was convicted of murder, paroled in August 1975, and then later sentenced to life imprisonment again after the double murder of his parents.

Aftermath

Laura Joan Wetzel was cremated after services at Palos Verdes Neighborhood Church. The Times said: “The tiny white-covered casket was not in the flower-banked room but remained in an alcove,” and that “In it, little Laura was dressed in a simple, light blue frock. Her hands clasped a nosegay of Cecil Brunner roses and she appeared like all the sleeping little children in the world.”

A man by that name, who was about the same age, died in Alameda County on July 12, 1987, at the age of 45, according to California death records.

Other details

Miller’s juvenile history included arrests and admissions described in connection with his earlier conduct:

• His first arrest was said to be Feb. 18, 1955, for burglary.
• In April 1955, he was “picked up for being improperly supervised at home,” The Times said.
• In 1957, he was sent to the Fred C. Nelles School for Boys in Whittier for burglarizing a house and stealing a car in San Bernardino.
• He was “rehabilitated” and released after 17 years.

In the events surrounding Laura Wetzel’s death, Miller was linked to Stafford Thurmond and the address on Dunwood Road:

• Miller ran off after his parents picked him up on a 10-hour pass and headed for the home of Stafford Thurmond at 26467 Dunwood Road.
• Miller’s plan was described as to break in and steal money and a pistol from the Thurmonds’ gun collection.
• When Miller got to the house the next day, the Thurmonds weren’t home, and he found a neighbor’s 22-month-old daughter, Laura Joan Wetzel, playing in the frontyard.
• Miller lured Laura into the house and killed her.

The parents of Laura Wetzel were named as Air Force Capt. Charles W. Wetzel and his wife. Their address was given as 26501 Dunwood Road. Another neighbor couple, Francis King and his wife, joined the search, and the search involved Sheriff's deputies. Carolyn West discovered Laura under a pile of blankets in the children’s bedroom.

Francis King was quoted describing the confrontation: “I went into the yard,” King said. “There was a young man standing in the doorway with a knife and a gun. It was a kitchen knife and the gun looked like a .22-caliber target pistol. He was very agitated and he waved the weapons and ordered me into the house. My wife was right behind me and she yelled for me to get away. "I told the kid to take it easy, that we were just looking for a little girl who was lost. The kid slammed the door in my face. I yelled to Mrs. Wetzel to call the police.”

Regarding Miller’s movements after Laura was killed:

• Miller escaped on a stolen bicycle and rode to Redondo Beach, where he took a car and began driving north.
• A service station attendant in Salinas, Calif., called police and gave them the license number of the stolen car after Miller drove away without paying for a tank of gas.
• San Francisco police found the abandoned car, out of gas and dented from a crash, and a map of California was spread out on the front seat.
• Miller stole another car, backtracked to San Mateo, and took $77 in the robbery of a market.
• He planned on taking the bus, but saw a new Plymouth with the keys in the ignition.
• He hit road, going to Eureka, Calif., Crater Lake and Klamath Falls, Ore.
• In Klamath Falls, Miller picked up hitchhiker Lloyd DeFani.
• Miller planned to go to Boise, Idaho, but the road was covered with snow and Miller didn’t have tire chains.
• Instead, they headed for Reno, where DeFani left Miller and called police after recognizing him from radio broadcasts.
• At 2 a.m., a Reno taxi driver who had been listening to the police radio saw Miller and reported him.
• Miller was arrested and extradited to Los Angeles for the murder.

Miller’s statement at the time of the murder included: “I wanted to know how it would feel...but I'm sorry about it now of course.”

A quote attributed to Miller at a later time connected to his desire to kill was included: “I wanted to know how it would feel...but I'm sorry about it now of course.” Another quote attributed to Miller about his earlier thoughts was: “I always wanted to kill somebody. I was always meeting somebody, some man I didn't like and wanted to kill,” and: “I didn't kill him, though, because there'd be no money coming in.” He also said: “I'm sick of this life anyway. Not anybody.” and: “Why should I be?” and “I don't care what happens to me.”

Addresses and locations mentioned included:

• Rolling Hills (family home where Laura was found beaten to death in her crib)
• 5460 Flagstone St. (parents’ home address given for the parents’ slayings)
• Long Beach (where Miller shot both his parents at their home)
• Downey (bank robbery location where he held the manager as a hostage)
• Reno (arrest location)
• Redondo Beach (car theft location and destination)
• Salinas, Calif. (service station where attendant called police)
• San Francisco (where the abandoned car was found)
• San Mateo (where Miller backtracked)
• Whittier (Fred C. Nelles School for Boys, and a house burglary and car theft in San Bernardino)
• San Bernardino (burglarizing a house and stealing a car)
• Alameda County (where a man by that name died)

The case record also included a narrative statement that the link between the Millers and the Thurmonds is unclear, but it said Miller stated he had known them all his life.