Debra Milke was convicted in October 1990 of the murder of her son Christopher. It was not alleged that she was present, merely that she had wanted the murder to be carried out.
Debra had no history of violence, but she did have an abusive ex-husband, the father of Christopher. Debra had sought protection with Jim Styers, a Vietnam veteran, who had terrible experiences -. shooting women and children in case they were wired with explosives, thrown from a jeep, landing on his head and suffering brain damage that put him in a coma for months. On coming round he’d forgotten not only who he was but also how to walk and talk. Months of rehabilitation had followed before he was able to return to civilian life, permanently psychologically disabled. Debra had apparently become suspicious of Jim Styers, and was about to move to her own home.
Debra was eligible for the death penalty by reason of a $5,000 insurance policy on her son. However, this policy was simply part of a standard benefit package provided by her employer, and there was no evidence that she was aware of it.
The prosecutor evidently knew he had a thin case, he admitted as such, everything depended on an alleged confession, taken with no other officers present, no tape recording (even though interviews of the other suspects were recorded), notes which the officer later destroyed, and no signature. Journalist Paul Hueble interviewed Debra just hours after her alleged confession, and suspected the confession was false, as Debra denied having confessed at all.
On March 14, 2013, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit threw out Debra’s conviction. Her rights had been violated by the failure to turn over Saldate’s personnel file to the defense. That file detailed a long history of misconduct, including eight cases where confessions, indictments or convictions were thrown out because Saldate either lied under oath or violated the suspects’ rights during interrogations. In his concurring opinion, the Chief Judge wrote that he “would set aside the conviction on the separate ground that it relied on an illegally-obtained confession that probably never occurred”.
Today, there will be a Simpson hearing and a hearing on Debra’s motion to suppress this confession at retrial.
In closing prosecutor Noel Levy argued
“Now, as she told Detective Saldate, the reason that she decided to have her son killed
is for this reason: She didn’t want him to grow up to be like Mark Milke. And it isn’t
that she didn’t love the child, it’s that God would take care of the child. She would
simply have this child’s life ended, having prejudged him, have him terminated, and
then he would go up to heaven and God would take care of him..”
Is fear that a 5 year old child might grow up to resemble his father a plausible motive for murder, regardless of religious belief?
Nearly 24 years have passed since Christopher was murdered by Jim Styers, and many months since her conviction was over-turned on March 14, 2013.
Debra remains deprived of her liberty in Estrella Jail, Maricopa County, Arizona.
For more information about the case, please see http://debra-milke.wikispaces.com
Update: on Friday, September 6th, 2013, Debra was released on bail. A pre-trial hearing on the defense’s request to prohibit the prosecution from using the confession during the retrial was scheduled for September 23rd.