Citations:
State v. Miller, 921 P.2d 1151 (1996).

Internet Sources:

Pro Death Penalty.com

NOTE: This inmate has waived further appeals but could change his mind at any time and stop the execution from proceeding on this date.

UPDATE: After hearing emotional testimony from the mother and father of Donald Miller's victim, the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency voted unanimously Tuesday not to stand in the way of Wednesday's scheduled execution. "I wish he would have given Jenny a reprieve," said Ron Geuder, whose daughter, Jennifer, was shot 5 times in the head by Miller in June 1992. "With all due respect to this committee, this is a no-brainer. Don't give him a reprieve. He can do that for himself today or tomorrow." Miller has waived his federal appeals, and he said he wants to die by injection at 3 p.m. today. But because he has not exhausted the appeals available to him, he can change his mind even after his last meal.

Arizona Department of Corrections

On June 13, 1992, a jogger discovered Jennifer Geuder's body lying in a desert area on the east side of Tucson. Ms.Geuder had been shot six times in the head. Jennifer had gone out the previous evening with her boyfriend, Jose Luna, and the defendant, Miller. Unbeknownst to Jennifer, Luna solicited Miller's help in killing her because she was demanding child support payments. Miller and Luna drove Ms. Geuder to Mount Lemmon, where Luna shot her once in the head. Although critically wounded, Jennifer did not die. Miller and Luna drove Jennifer back to a desert area in Tucson. Evidence at trial indicated that Jennifer fought for her life, and tried to hide under her car. Miller shot Jennifer five times in the head. Luna pled guilty to first degree murder and received a life sentence.

PROCEEDINGS
Presiding Judge: Lawrence Fleischman
Prosecutor: Rick Unklesbay
Start of Trial: July 6, 1993
Verdict: July 12, 1993
Sentencing: December 20, 1993
Aggravating Circumstances - Especially cruel, heinous, and depraved
Mitigating Circumstances - None sufficient to call for leniency

Fight the Death Penalty USA

A man convicted of killing an 18-year-old woman after she asked his friend for $50 per month child support was executed by injection Wednesday. It was the 1st of 2 executions scheduled one day after the election. A man convicted of killing his grandmother and uncle was to be put to death in Pennsylvania. Both men declined appeals.

Donald Miller, 36, was convicted in Arizona of shooting Jennifer Geuder at the request of his friend, Jose Anthony Luna, the father of Geuder's then-1-year-old son. The 2 took Geuder to a drive-in movie on June 12, 1992, and afterward stopped to pick up Miller's gun. Later that night, Miller shot Geuder once in the back of the head. She didn't die, and they took her into the desert east of Tucson where Miller shot her 5 more times. Her body was found the following day. Luna pleaded guilty to 1st-degree murder and is serving 39 years to life in prison. Miller was convicted.

Miller declined to pursue federal appeals, saying he would rather die than continue to live in prison. A public defender won a last minute stay late Tuesday after an appeals court said there was evidence Miller might not be competent. But that stay was lifted after the state Attorney General's office appealed. Miller still had an option to stop the execution until the last minute if he reconsidered appealing, corrections officials said Wednesday.

Miller becomes the 3rd condemned inmate to be put to death in Arizona this year and the 22nd overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1992. Miller becomes the 73rd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 671st overall since America resumed executions on January 17, 1977.

(sources: Associated Press & Rick Halperin)