Perry Steven Miller

Case record: Perry Steven Miller

Background

Perry Steven Miller admitted to being guilty of the 1990 murder of Christel Helmchen.

Miller was later described as a LaPorte resident and the mastermind behind the crime. At the time of the 1990 killing, he was free on probation from a life sentence for kidnapping. He had also been convicted of rape and sodomy.

Christel Helmchen was the then-17-year-old daughter of Robert and Judy Helmchen. She had been working alone at night at a White Hen Pantry just weeks before she was to begin college.

The offence

Miller, together with his stepson, William Harmon, and friend Rodney Wood, was found guilty of abducting Helmchen from her late-night job at the former White Hen Pantry in Valparaiso in November of 1990. The group took her to a construction site in Jackson Township, where Helmchen was raped and tortured before Harmon killed her by shooting her at close range.

Miller’s plea agreement resolved the matter after years of his maintaining innocence.

Investigation

A three-judge panel of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago had overturned Miller’s murder conviction and death penalty sentence in late June, finding that Miller’s public defender at his county trial 10 years earlier was ineffective.

Trial

Miller was tried in 1991 and was sentenced to death on May 20, 1991 by Porter County Superior Court Judge Roger Bradford.

Miller had maintained his innocence and had unsuccessfully appealed his conviction to former Circuit Court Judge Raymond Kickbush, the Indiana Court of Appeals, the Indiana Supreme Court and U.S. District Judge Allen Sharpe. It was not until his case was presented to the 7th Circuit that an appeal found in his favor.

At trial, Miller, then 43, along with his stepson William Harmon and friend Rodney Wood, was found guilty of abducting Helmchen from her late-night job, taking her to a construction site, and raping and torturing her before Harmon killed her by shooting her at close range.

Sentencing

Miller was sentenced to death on May 20, 1991.

After a plea agreement reached in connection with the Porter County Prosecutor, Miller was presented Tuesday to Porter County Superior Court Judge Roger Bradford. Bradford accepted Miller’s confession and, using the pre-sentence report filed in 1991, sentenced Miller to:

• 60 years for murder,
• 50 years for conspiracy to commit murder,
• 20 years for criminal confinement, and
• eight years for robbery.

The plea agreement spared Miller the death penalty and resulted in a 138-year sentence.

Miller was resentenced to 138 years in prison on August 7, 2001. He would not be considered for release from prison until he was 112 years old. He would be removed from death row and placed into general population.

Miller would have to serve at least one-half of the plea-based sentence before being eligible for release.

Appeals

In late June, a three-judge panel of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago overturned Miller’s murder conviction and death penalty sentence. The panel determined that Miller’s public defender at his county trial was ineffective and held that Miller should either be retried or walk free within 120 days.

Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter had a petition pending for a rehearing before the full, nine-judge 7th Circuit, hoping to reverse the three-judge decision. Carter stated that if that effort failed, he would take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

That effort would be dismissed as a result of the plea agreement and Miller’s new 138-year sentence.

The appeals history also included unsuccessful appeals to former Circuit Court Judge Raymond Kickbush, the Indiana Court of Appeals, the Indiana Supreme Court, and U.S. District Judge Allen Sharpe.

Outcome

Miller admitted he was guilty of the 1990 murder of Christel Helmchen as part of a plea agreement with the Porter County Prosecutor.

The plea agreement prevented Miller from being executed and put an end to the possibility of him being retried and potentially walking free.

Aftermath

The plea agreement gave Robert and Judy Helmchen “closure” to the murder, rape and torture of their daughter.

Robert Helmchen said: “We feel the U.S. justice system is very unfair.” “It’s not just, because he took Christel’s life brutally and joyfully ... and preplanned it in great detail. And he gets away with it.”

Porter County Prosecuting Attorney James Douglas told the Chesterton Tribune that the possibility of a plea agreement was first generally broached by Miller’s attorneys, and that while the 138-year sentence was “a disappointing substitution for the death penalty,” it would “guarantee” that Miller dies in prison. Douglas stated that Miller would be removed from death row and placed into general population.

Douglas also remarked: “the chances are very good we would have won” Miller would “probably” have been sentenced once again to death “anytime you retry a case after a long period of time, there are problems.” Douglas identified concerns including fading memories on the part of witnesses and possibly jurors’ changing attitudes to the death penalty, and the need to secure the testimony of Miller’s accomplices after their own cases were disposed.

Douglas added: “From the very beginning he was the principal player.” “But for him this would not have happened. And I always felt Miller to be the most culpable.”

Robert Helmchen said the 7th Circuit panel did not look at the truth and was ready to allow a murderer to walk free. He said: “They just looked at the nitty gritty details of what went wrong with the trial,” and added: “this is totally unbelievable.”

Robert Helmchen also said: “The victim doesn’t have half as many rights as the criminal.”

Robert Helmchen said he and his family were relieved that the case was over and expressed hope to close the book and heal wounds opened again by the 7th Circuit. He said: “Now hopefully we can close the book and to try heal the wounds that the 7th Circuit tore right open again,” “We will never forget Christel,” “The whole family was killed as a family when she was taken away.”

Helmchen added that it was comfort to the family to read newspaper comments by people who agreed that an injustice had been done and that Miller should never have been given the opportunity to walk free.

Other details

A plea agreement reached following the decision in late June was resolved in the case rather than through retrial.

The prosecution described that even a second conviction and death sentence would have led to the same round of appeals and delays.

Miller’s confession was accepted by Judge Roger Bradford.

Miller’s stepson was William Harmon, and Miller’s friend was Rodney Wood. Miller was considered the principal actor in the crime with Harmon killing Helmchen by shooting her at close range.