Joseph Daniel Miller

Joseph "Joey" Daniel Miller (born September 2, 1964) is an American serial killer who raped and murdered at least five black women and girls between 1986 and 1990 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In 1993, he was convicted and sentenced to death. After waiving his appeals, Miller was nearly executed on May 4, 2000. However, 30 hours before his scheduled execution, Miller reversed course and allowed his lawyers to file an appeal on his behalf. In 2002, Miller's sentence was commuted to life in prison on the grounds that he was intellectually disabled. The ruling was upheld on appeal by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 2008. Early on, he showed signs of an intellectual disability, was a poor learner and suffered from anterograde amnesia, for which he was bullied by his classmates. As a result of his poor academic performance, he dropped out from school after the 4th grade. Both of Joseph's parents were physically and emotionally abusive towards him, which greatly influenced his psycho-emotional state. During this period, he was sexually harassed by his uncle and, under the influence of his older brother, began to commit petty thefts and drank alcohol. His father was accused of incest, after Joseph's older sister, at the age of 15, gave birth to a daughter in 1970, telling police that her own father was the child's father as well, who had sexually abused her for two years. Although she went to the police, she received death threats from her mother and other relatives, due to which she ran away from home. Her testimony was questioned, and thus, Joseph's father was ultimately not charged. In 1976, at the age of 12, Miller was severely beaten by a group of peers during a street fight, after which he took a shotgun from his father, tracked down the offenders and shot at them, wounding the teenagers. He was quickly apprehended, convicted and sent to an institution for juvenile delinquents. While in custody, Joseph was sexually assaulted by fellow inmates and beaten by the overseers on several occasions, which led to him developing PTSD-like symptoms. He was released in the early 1980s, but soon began to commit crimes again, in addition to using drugs. At one point, he suffered a near-fatal drug overdose, and was arrested several times for theft, assault, arson and illegal firearms possession. In 1984, Miller left Steelton and moved to Harrisburg, where he found housing and married a girl who bore him three children from 1985 to 1993. Due to his lack of education, he had to engage in low-skilled labor, and often changed jobs during this time. On March 25, 1993, Miller was convicted of killing Selina Franklin and Stephanie McDuffey, as well as the kidnapping and rape of Clara Johnson, for which he was sentenced to death. In subsequent years, Miller's lawyers filed multiple appeals to commute his death sentence, even asking for a new trial, but they were all rejected.

In the late 1990s, Joseph confessed to the murder of Kathy Schenk. On February 27, 1990, he picked her up and drove her to Perry County, where he raped and strangled her thereafter. In a follow-up trial, he was convicted of Schenk's killing and received a life imprisonment term. In February 2000, Miller received an execution date of May 4, 2000, after waiving his appeals. However, on May 2, 2000, just 30 hours before he was set to die, however, he reversed course and allowed his lawyers to file an appeal on his behalf. In 2002, Miller's sentence was commuted to life in prison on the grounds that he was intellectually disabled. The ruling was upheld on appeal by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 2008. In June of that same year, 24 years later, Miller was returned to Harrisburg to stand trial. On the basis of his confessions, on June 24, 2016, he was found guilty of the murders, and subsequently sentenced to two more life imprisonment terms.

Miller is currently incarcerated in the State Correctional Institution - Camp Hill.

Victims The following is a list of Miller's victims in chronological order. Kelly Ann Ward, February, 1986 Selina Franklin, 1987 Stephanie McDuffey, 1990 Jeanette Thomas, January, 1990 Kathi Novena Schenck, 1990