Family members recount events surrounding fatal shooting
The son and parents of accused killer Thomas Miller II testified Wednesday that Charles David Springer and his stepfather, Andrew King, were aggressive toward Miller before he shot and killed Springer. Miller, 32, is charged with criminal homicide in Springer’s shooting death, and with attempted homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment for allegedly shooting King. He opted not to take the stand in his own defense during the trial, and jurors will hear closing arguments this morning in Fayette County Court.
Thomas Miller III, Miller’s 8-year-old son, testified that he was getting ready to go to sleep on his grandparents’ couch in the early morning of May 12, when he heard someone outside yelling.
“They come up our driveway and yelled, ‘If Tom Miller won’t come out of the house right now, we’re going to shoot the house up,'” testified the boy.
The youngster testified his father went outside while his grandfather instructed him and his grandmother to hide in the bathroom. Before he went, however, the boy testified he looked out the front window and saw his father and another man fighting and yelling at one another.
He repeatedly told both defense attorney Mark F. Morrison and District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon that he was very scared while hiding in the bathtub with his grandmother.
After the boy left the courtroom, he could be heard crying outside, and then briefly came back in to say “Bye dad,” to Miller.
Miller’s parents, Thomas and Barbara Miller, offered similar accounts of screamed obscenities and threats to shoot at their Masontown home if their son did not come outside.
Neither, however, specifically told state police of threats to shoot at the house when they were interviewed after Springer’s death, according to testimony.
Jurors also heard testimony from Miller’s optometrist who told the panel that Miller was nearsighted and could only see 1 – 1 1/2 feet in front of his face without glasses. Both of his parents testified he was not wearing his glasses during the 2:30 a.m. confrontation.
In earlier testimony, police testified that Miller told them he fired one warning shot at the men with a 12-gauge shotgun, and when they kept advancing on him, he fired a second shot. It is that second shot that struck Springer, who died at the scene.
King was also hit and spent several days in Ruby Memorial Hospital. He testified he still has the bullet in his chest.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht also took the stand Wednesday, and testified that the bullet that hit Springer did massive internal damage.
“Clinically, he would have died almost immediately because the heart had been almost severed and there would be (no) pumping of blood,” testified Wecht.
He listed Springer’s cause of death as homicide and testified that his blood-alcohol content was .25 percent. That is two and a half times Pennsylvania’s .10 legal limit for drivers.
Responding to Morrison’s questions, Wecht testified that Springer had a “significant level” of alcohol in his system, but said he could not predict how Springer would have reacted without knowing his history with alcohol.
Jurors also heard brief testimony from Cassandra Ross, a bartender at Chuck’s Boat Club in Adah. She told the panel she was bartending about two weeks before the fatal shooting when Eric Springer, Charles Springer’s half brother, attacked Miller.
Testifying as a commonwealth rebuttal witness, Eric Springer said he barely knew the brother with whom he shared a father.
“I’ve only seen my brother a couple times in my life and that’s only because I ran into him,” testified Springer.
Attorneys for both sides are expected to give their closing arguments this morning, followed by the charge of the law from Judge John F. Wagner Jr.
Vernon and First Administrative Assistant District Attorney John A. Kopas III are seeking a first-degree murder conviction. Morrison has told the panel he will ask for an acquittal because Miller was defending himself.