GUILTY MO - Betty Hayes, 88, Holliday, 16 Dec 2021 *murder charges*

[PommyMommy]

JUL 31, 2023

Man charged with killing of missing Monroe County woman

Betty Hayes was reported missing nearly 20 months ago. Now, a man is charged with second-degree murder.

www.komu.com

According to the witness, Miller was upset with Hayes because she owned him money for wages for work he had performed for her, court documents said.

New details in murder case: Hayes' remains found on suspect's property, motive revealed

New details have emerged about the arrest of Lyle Miller who's charged with second-degree murder in connection to the death of Betty Hayes, 88, of Holliday.

khqa.com

The witness also told investigators that Miller woke him up the morning after Hayes disappeared to help him put out a brush fire near the pond on his 40-acre property, which is located at 13363 Monroe Road 1114 in Madison.

Investigators say witness interview led to discovery of Betty Hayes remains, arrest of her suspected killer - ABC17NEWS

An interview with a witness led to investigators finding the remains of a Monroe County woman who disappeared more than a year ago, according to court documents.

abc17news.com

Hayes' family describes her as loving, hardworking and caring. She was a nurse for more than 35 years and lived in her farmhouse in Holliday for more than 60 years.

Her son MH said Sunday afternoon that he is thankful for all the help.

"We are thankful for the help of the Monroe County Sheriff's Office and the Missouri State Highway Patrol in finding my mom. At this time we ask that everyone respects our family's privacy as we deal with the emotions this news has brought to us," MH said in a written statement.

 

[PommyMommy]

AUG 9, 2023

Man accused of kiling missing Monroe County woman files for public defender

Lyle Miller is charged with second-degree murder in connection to the December 2021 disappearance of Betty Hayes.

www.komu.com

A man accused of killing a Monroe County woman filed an appeal to be represented by a public defender during an arraignment Wednesday.

[...]

Miller filed an appeal to obtain a public defender after the Missouri State Public Defender Office said he was not eligible for a public defender, online records show.

[...]

Miller continues to be held without bond at the Miller County Jail. A bond review hearing is scheduled for Aug. 15, a counsel status hearing is scheduled for Aug. 28 and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 29.

[...[

 

[PommyMommy]

PC STATEMENT.PDF (mo.gov)
FELONY COMPLAINT REDACTED.PDF (mo.gov)

08/28/2023
	Judge/Clerk - Note Filed By: TALLEY SMITH
	Preliminary Hearing Scheduled Scheduled For: 09/25/2023; 10:00 AM; TALLEY SMITH; Monroe
	Hearing Continued/Rescheduled State by PA Volkert and AAG Loesch. Defendant by Webex and represented by Attorney Hilbrenner. Defendant requests continuance of preliminary hearing with no objection from the State. The Court finds the agreement of the parties, defense counsel's recent entry in the case, and Defendant's waiver of his right to preliminary hearing within 30 days to be good cause to continue the preliminary hearing. Matter scheduled for preliminary hearing on 9/25/23 at 10:00 AM. Defendant's request for bond reduction is scheduled for hearing on 9/12/23 at 11:30 AM. State to notify victims of hearing dates. Defendant to appear by video at bond hearing. Defendant to appear in person at preliminary hearing. TS Associated Entries: 08/09/2023 - Preliminary Hearing Scheduled + Hearing Continued From: 08/29/2023; 10:00 AM Preliminary Hearing

Case.net: 23MN-CR00090 - Case Header (mo.gov)
Defendant: Lyle Miller

 

[janelspoon]

I'm so glad this sweet ol lady was found . It's awful she lived as long as she did just to be taken out by trash. My heart goes out to her family . She's not even my granny and it makes me so mad what was done to her . RIP Miss Betty !

 

[Unalienable Rights]

Murder charge upgraded for man accused of killing missing Monroe County woman

Prosecutors filed an amended criminal complaint Monday for Lyle Miller, 65.

www.komu.com

MONROE COUNTY − A murder charge has been upgraded for a man accused of killing a Monroe County woman, according to online documents filed Monday.

Prosecutors filed an amended criminal complaint Monday for Lyle Miller, 65.

Miller will be arraigned Oct. 5 on charges of first-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence.

In July, authorities arrested Miller in connection to the December 2021 disappearance of 90-year-old Betty Hayes. Her remains were recovered from a pond on Miller's land.

Bond was denied earlier this month after a request for reduction. Miller is currently being held at the Monroe County Jail.

 

[PommyMommy]

OCT 6, 2023

Monroe County man pleads Not Guilty to murder charge - WTAD

A Madison, Missouri man, charged with the 2021 death of a Monroe County woman, has pleaded Not Guilty. Lyle…

www.wtad.com

A Madison, Missouri man, charged with the 2021 death of a Monroe County woman, has pleaded Not Guilty.

Lyle Miller entered that plea Thursday at his arraignment in Monroe County Circuit Court. A trial date could be set at a hearing January 4th. ...

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

Change in case # to: 23MN-CR00090-01 - ST V LYLE W MILLER (E-CASE)

Murder 1st Degree
Tampering With Physical Evidence In Felony Prosecution

01/02/2024
	Motion for Disclosure States Supplemental Disclosure to Defendant as of January 2, 2024; Electronic Filing Certificate of Service. Filed By: Associated Entries: 01/02/2024 - CRIFS/Unredacted Document +
	CRIFS/Unredacted Document Confidential Redacted Information Filing Sheet; States Supplemental Disclosure to Defendant as of January 2, 2024- unredacted; Electronic Filing Certificate of Service in associated to Disclosure (motion) filed on 01/02/2024. Filed By: Associated Entries: 01/02/2024 - Motion for Disclosure +
01/04/2024
	Order Filed By:

https://www.courts.mo.gov/cnet/cases/newHeader.do?inputVO.caseNumber=23MN-CR00090-01&inputVO.courtId=SMPDB0004_CT10&inputVO.isTicket=false#docket

 

[PommyMommy]

23MN-CR00090-01 - ST V LYLE W MILLER (E-CASE)
Murder 1st Degree
Tampering With Physical Evidence In Felony Prosecution

01/23/2024
	Case Mgmt Conf Scheduled Matter set for all pending motions and trial setting on 2/20/2024 at 10:00a.m.RT REVISED Event Information: New Event: Case Management Conference; Scheduled For: 02/20/2024; 10:00 AM

Case.net: 23MN-CR00090-01 - Case Header (mo.gov)

 

[PommyMommy]

FEB 20, 2024

Five-day jury trial scheduled for Madison man accused of murdering elderly woman

A jury trial is scheduled for a Monroe County man accused of murdering a woman who paid him to perform odd jobs.

www.kjluradio.com

On Tuesday, a Monroe County judge scheduled Lyle Miller, 65, of Madison, for a five-day jury trial beginning December 2. Miller is charged with first-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence for the 2021 murder of 88-year-old Betty Hayes of Holiday.



Case.net: 23MN-CR00090-01 - Case Header (mo.gov)
Pretrial set for 11/15/2024 at 10:00 a.m.

 

[PommyMommy]

I was looking for recent news when I stumbled across this article. He slit her throat THREE TIMES.

There is a special place in hell...

SEP 23, 2023

Charge against Madison man amended to first-degree murder after autopsy shows cuts to throat on 88-year-old woman in pond – Muddy River News

During a preliminary hearing Monday morning in Monroe County Circuit Court before Judge Talley Smith, prosecutors presented evidence that an autopsy revealed Hayes also suffered three cuts to her throat,

muddyrivernews.com

During a preliminary hearing Monday morning in Monroe County Circuit Court before Judge Talley Smith, prosecutors presented evidence that an autopsy revealed Hayes also suffered three cuts to her throat, which they said shows the act was premeditated, necessitating the first-degree murder charge.

 

[PommyMommy]

SEP 20, 2024

Monroe County murder trial delayed to 2025 - WTAD

A Madison, Missouri man, charged with the 2021 death of a Monroe County woman, has had his trial delayed…

www.wtad.com

• A hearing was held Friday in Monroe County Circuit Court on a motion filed in August by prosecutors ...
• His trial was scheduled to begin Dec 2 but a LE witness set to testify will be out of the country.
• Lyle Miller will now go on trial March 17.

Jury trial scheduled for man accused of murder in Monroe County - ABC17NEWS

MONROE COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ) A jury trial has been scheduled for a man accused of killing a woman in Monroe County in 2021. Lyle Miller, 66, of Madison, Missouri, was charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence. He is being held at the Monroe County Jail without bond. A pretrial...

abc17news.com

He is being held at the Monroe County Jail without bond. A pretrial conference is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 14. The jury trial is set to begin 8 a.m. Monday, March 17.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

During a preliminary hearing in September 2023 in Monroe County Circuit Court before Judge Talley Smith, prosecutors presented evidence that an autopsy revealed Hayes also suffered three cuts to her throat, which they said shows the act was premeditated, necessitating the first-degree murder charge

First-degree murder trial for Madison man accused of killing 88-year old woman starts Monday in Monroe County – Muddy River News

Members of the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s dive team and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office conducted a search in a pond in Monroe County on July 28 and found Hayes, who had been missing for

muddyrivernews.com

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 17, 2025

Trial set to begin in Monroe County murder case

Lyle Miller is accused of killing Betty Hayes and dumping her body in a Monroe County pond.

www.komu.com

The trial for a Monroe County man accused of murder is schedule to start Monday and could last all week, according to court records.

Jury selected for Lyle Miller trial, testimony begins Tuesday morning

Nearly 100 jurors were selected to go to the Monroe County Courthouse to potentially be a part of the jury in the murder trial of lyle miller, which took nearly

khqa.com

The selection process took nearly 7 hours for the case to select 12 jurors.

If found guilty, Miller faces the death penalty or life without parole.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 18, 2025

Lyle Miller trial begins with testimonies revealing tense relationship with Betty Hayes

The first day of testimony in the Lyle Miller Trial wrapped up around 3:45 Tuesday, and saw opening statements, as well as testimony from six different witnesse

khqa.com

The jury learned about the working relationship between Betty Hayes and Lyle Miller, in which Miller was a farm hand on Hayes' cattle farm.

Miller quit the job in April 2021, and was said to be owed nearly four thousand dollars by Hayes in which she had not paid him.

Other witnesses included two of Hayes' children talking about the day of her disappearance, as well as officers that investigated the scene of Hayes' home stating the door appeared to have taken excessive force to break down, and how there were no dna samples sent back from the scene.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 19, 2025

Miller's relationship with Hayes, details about her search dominate much of Tuesday's testimony in first-degree murder trial – Muddy River News

Engle said her mother was sometimes a “little hard to get along with” and had a “strong personality.” She said she spoke to her mother by phone about once a week and that her mother "loved her cattle."

muddyrivernews.com

Mike Hayes, Betty Hayes’ son, testified that he visited his mother almost daily. He said he routinely saw Miller carry 50-pound bags of feed or 30-pound buckets on the farm and that he saw him carry a newborn calf on the farm as well. He said Miller also did a lot of fence mending on Hayes’ farm.

He said he spoke with Miller in June 2021 to try to get him some of the money he was owed, but he eventually told Miller that his mother probably wasn’t going to pay him and that his best option would be to go to small claims court.

Medical examiner explains during murder trial how Betty Hayes was killed

A northeast Missouri man is on trial this week in Paris, Missouri, for the murder of Betty Hayes, 88, of Holiday, Missouri.

khqa.com

The first witness to take the stand Wednesday was Missouri State Highway Patrol Criminal Investigator Lane Quinn, who investigated Miller's property and showed the 9-gauge wire and cinderblock found tied to Hayes' remains at the bottom of Miller's pond.

He said he was told to call Rick Gunier on July 26, 2023. During that conversation, Gunier said he was told by John Moyer that Miller admitted to killing Hayes.

'He is reasonable doubt': Defense attorney grills man who claimed Miller told him he killed Hayes – Muddy River News

“I was messing with (Miller). I told him, ‘I think they found Betty Hayes,’” Moyer said. “(Miller said), ‘That’s not where she’s at.’ That kind of smacked me in the head like a sledgehammer.”

muddyrivernews.com

Miranda Loesch with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office told the seven-woman, five-man jury for the Lyle Miller first-degree murder trial that Miller, a hired hand at Betty Hayes’ cattle farm, admitted he wrapped her body in 9-gauge wire, attached it to a cement block and threw her body in a pond on his property in December 2021.

Loesch said during her opening statement on Tuesday morning in Monroe County Circuit Court that Miller allegedly told this to John Moyer, who had been living in a feed shed on his property.

Defense attorney Jeff Hilbrenner quickly tried to switch the focus from Miller to Moyer.

“He is reasonable doubt,” he said about Moyer during his opening statement, calling him a “known liar and a snitch.” Hilbrenner said not a single piece of forensic evidence — DNA, fingerprints or blood — found at Miller’s home ties him with the death of Hayes.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 20, 2025

Closing arguments in Miller trial set to begin Thursday morning; pathologist says Hayes' cause of death was cuts to neck – Muddy River News

Quinn said Moyer talked about having “sharp bloody objects,” but Quinn never collected them and never saw them. “In the investigation of the murder of a woman, how many witnesses told you about sharp bloody objects?” Hilbrenner asked.

muddyrivernews.com

The prosecution rested its case early Wednesday afternoon, and the defense only called one witness before resting. Miller testified before Judge Rick Tucker that he was waiving his right to testify on his own behalf.

The last witness for the prosecution was Dr. Keith Norton, an assistant professor at the University of Missouri, a pathologist and the chief medical examiner in Boone County. He conducted the autopsy of Hayes and told jurors that the cause of Hayes’ death was homicide because of multiple cuts to her neck.

After two hours of closing arguments, Miller murder trial goes to the jury – Muddy River News

PARIS, Mo. – The jury in the first-degree murder case of Lyle Miller now has the case for deliberation after about two hours of closing arguments Thursday morning. Miller is accused of the murder of Betty Hayes, whose body was found on a pond on Miller’s property in December 2021. Miranda Loesch...

muddyrivernews.com

Loesch focused on Miller’s contentious relationship with Hayes and that Miller believed Hayes owed her nearly $7,000 and that anger festered and came to a head when Hayes was going to sell her cattle for about $100,000 and he would never get the money he believed he was entitled to. Miller was suffering from financial strain and deteriorating health, but Loesch said he was still strong enough to overpower and kill the frail, 88-year-old Hayes.

Hayes disappeared on Dec. 16, 2021 after she had begun to sell part of her herd.

Jury deliberates after closing arguments in Lyle Miller trial; verdict not reached

The jury in the murder trial of Lyle Miller heard closing statements from both the prosecution and defense, before being dismissed into deliberations in which n

khqa.com

The jury in the murder trial of Lyle Miller heard closing statements from both the prosecution and defense, before being dismissed into deliberations in which no verdict was found after 6 and a half hours.

Co-counsel and member of the Missouri Attorney General's Office Miranda Loesch reminded the jury of the tense relationship between miller and Hayes as farm hand, and how Hayes' death occurred the day before the rest of her cattle were set to be sold.

The court dismissed at 5:50 on Thursday and will return at 8:30 AM Friday morning.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 21, 2025

Monroe County murder suspect found guilty

A Monroe County man accused of killing Betty Hayes, has been found guilty.

www.kmzu.com

The jury reached a verdict at 11 a.m. Friday.

Jury reaches verdict in Lyle Miller murder trial

The jury has reached a verdict in the murder trial of Lyle Miller, 66, of Madison, Missouri.

khqa.com

On Friday morning, a Monroe County jury found Miller guilty of second-degree murder and tampering with evidence.

Monroe County murder suspect found guilty

A Monroe County man accused of killing Betty Hayes, has been found guilty.

www.komu.com

Lyle Miller will be sentenced at 9 a.m. on May 9.

Miller found guilty of second-degree murder, tampering with evidence in connection with death of Betty Hayes – Muddy River News

PARIS, Mo. – A Monroe County jury took a little more than 10 hours to find Lyle Miller guilty of second-degree murder in the 2023 death of Betty Hayes. The seven-women, five-men panel made a couple of requests to review evidence they had seen during the presentation of the case. They had the...

muddyrivernews.com

Monroe County Prosecuting Attorney Nicole Volkert said she believed the testimony of Miller’s prior acts of violence against Hayes helped bring the jury to the guilty verdicts. In her portion of the closing argument, she stressed that Miller had previously “laid hands” on Hayes.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAY 9, 2025

Lyle Miller receives life, four additional years in murder of Betty Hayes

Five hundred eighty-nine days.That’s how long it took from Betty Hayes’ disappearance in December 2021 until July 2023, when her body was found at the bottom of

ktvo.com

Miller was sentenced to life in the Missouri Department of Corrections following his second-degree murder conviction. He received an additional four years for a second count of tampering with evidence.

A jury found Miller guilty on March 21.

‘589 days of sheer sadness’: Miller sentenced to life for murder of Betty Hayes

A Monroe County, Missouri, man was sentenced for the murder of a woman who was missing for over a year.

www.wgem.com

Monroe County Prosecutor Nicole Volkert said Hayes was stripped, wrapped in wire, and attached to a cinder block. Volkert also said Hayes’s neck suffered multiple stab wounds.

“I want there to be no chance that any other family will be traumatized and suffer the way our family has,” the daughter of Hayes said in a victim impact statement. “Lyle terrified mom when he busted in her door. I can’t imagine how terrified mom felt. I can’t imagine the pain.”