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Thursday, October 12, 2023

Failing to Stop a Murderous Serial Stalker

     Scottye Leon Miller, a violent, sociopathic stalker of ex-girlfriends and other women unfortunate enough to have crossed his path, lived in Burien, Washington, a King County town of 33,000 located south of Seattle. Between 2002 and 2010 Mr. Miller had stalked, harassed, threatened and assaulted several women. His arrest record featured 15 domestic violence related convictions and six court protection order violations. It was just a matter of time before he killed one of his victims.

     In 2008 the violent ex-con started dating Tricia Patricelli, a 30-year-old mother of two daughters who lived in the nearby city of Auburn. In January of the following year Miller forced his way into Patricelli's apartment and assaulted her in front of her children. A local prosecutor charged the 30-year-old subject with burglary and third-degree assault. The defendant pleaded guilty and received a short sentence in the King County Jail. (Because home intrusion is a violent felony the judge should have sentenced Miller, given his criminal record, to twenty years in prison.)

     Miller served less than a year in jail on the Patricelli burglary/assault conviction. In January 2012 Tricia Patricelli called 911 and reported that Miller had threatened to kill her and was chasing her in the parking lot of the apartment complex. "Please hurry, he is going to kill me!" she screamed. The police arrived and took Miller into custody. To the responding officers, Patricelli said, "You don't know who you are dealing with. He is going to kill me."

     Scottye Miller, convicted of fourth-degree assault and harassment, was sentenced to another short stretch in the King County Jail. The fact he was behind bars, however, did not stop this man from continuing to terrorize his victim. While serving his time Miller wrote Patricelli letters in which he promised to kill her when he got out of jail. Apparently in King County, Washington victims of stalking and assault did not get relief even when their offenders were in custody. For a victim of this type of crime this reality must have been frightening.

     Scottye Miller on October 12, 2012 walked out of jail a free man. This meant serious trouble for Tricia Patricelli, the object of this serial stalker's obsession and pathological wrath. The criminal justice system, at this point, had no solution for Patricelli's life-threatening predicament. It didn't take a psychic detective to predict bad things for this vulnerable woman.

     At eight-thirty in the morning of October 30, 2012, just two weeks after Miller's release from the King County Jail, neighbors heard the screams of a woman coming from Tricia Patricelli's apartment. Moments after the woman went silent witnesses saw a man meeting Miller's physical description walk out of the building. Someone called 911.

     Responders to Patricelli's apartment found that Scottye Miller had stabbed Tricia Patricelli to death in the bathroom. He had stabbed her in the face, neck, torso and back--22 times in all. Police arrested him shortly thereafter at a nearby bus stop. Miller denied any knowledge of the stabbing but admitted that he had sent the dead woman text messages in which he had threatened to kill her. Miller told the arresting officers that he had been dating the victim for four years and had lived with her, on and off, during half of that time.

     Shortly after Patricelli's murder investigators found three bloody knives, a pair of blood-stained gloves and the victim's cellphone at the foot of a fence near the apartment complex. During a second interrogation Scottye Miller confessed to the killing. He said that in the midst of a fight in Patricelli's apartment he just "snapped." After "snapping," Miller slipped on a pair of gloves, and using the three knives he had brought with him to Patricelli's dwelling, started stabbing her. The bloody assault ended up in Patricelli's bathroom where she died.

     On November 15, 2012 a King County judge arraigned Scottye Miller on the charge of first-degree murder. The homicidal stalker was back in jail under $1 million bond.

     In December 2013 a jury found Miller guilty of first-degree murder. Two weeks after the verdict the judge sentenced him to 50 years in prison.

     The Scottye Miller case reminds us of a frightening truth about our criminal justice system. The police cannot arrest dangerous people for what they might do. Law enforcement authorities only spring into action after the harm is done. In this case it was too late to protect the victim's life. Our system of criminal justice is designed more for the protection of the criminal than it is for the safety of the victim. Women being stalked, threatened with death and assaulted by pathological criminals like Scottye Miller cannot look to the police or the courts for protection. They either have to flee and hide, hire a contract killer or buy a gun and do the job themselves. None of these options are good, but neither is being hounded, assaulted, then murdered in your own bathroom by some low-life sociopath.  

15 comments:

  1. My daughter was his first victim. We ended up hiding her out and changing her name to get away from him. After all these years she is still afraid and looks over her shoulder when he is out of jail. I hope this is the last we will hear of Scottye Miller being able to terrorize anyone. I am sorry it had to come to a young lady losing her life before anything was done.

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    1. Your daughter was very lucky and outsmarted this nutjob.

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  2. Tricia was my best friend for 16 years. He stalked her over and over again at my house, hers, her job. When Scottye was released we were both worried and unfortunately for good reason. Living the rest of our lives without her is painful. I wish we had the death penalty here, i would sit front row and center.

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    1. Why on earth didn't Tricia leave and hide out? What about a gun...IWashington state its legal to have one for protection. This just so sad...when women get involved with psycho losers and then lose their own lives.

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    2. I'm actually tricias daughter. My mom tried so many times to leave, hide, and get away from him. NOTHING would stop him from gettin to her but the police doing their jobs.

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  3. Tricia has been a family friend for to many years to count. She has been my mentor and biggest supporter throughout most of that time. The hole in everyone's heart CANNOT be ever filled. I wish the Washington state criminal justice wheel moved faster, I want him to pay.

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  4. Ity takes two to Tango the saying goes.By no means justifying what happened. However, why did she let him come back? Did she manipulate him and used police calls when mad at him or when she did not get what she wanted? Did sh e enjoy pushing buttons? Why 2nd degree murder and not 1st? Extenuating circumstances exist to lessen the charge? The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. How can it be stalking when she and him lived together? See the contradictions for what they are. Tragedy in the making because of "two" people with poor unhealthy social skills creates a volatile mix. Should have walked away (both). Is there an element of racism involved because he is Black and she is White? The truth is somewhere in the middle.

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    1. I hope to God you did not know Tricia. There is NO middle to this story. She tried many times, with no help from the law to protect herself and her girls. He stalked her when they were not living together. He sent he numerous threats. She had multiple NCO out against him. Why would you bring the race card into this? It is people like YOU who keep the hate going. It has nothing to do with the color of either persons skin. Shame on you for everything you said. Miss you Tricia.

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    2. i cant believe what iam reading how dare you!? u must of not known her or the situation for one when she was murdered by him they was not living together nor was they together she had moved on n was in another relationship long before this took place u have no business speaking upon stuff u know nothin about blaming the victim for what happend to her she didnt do anythin to deserve any of that i was with her some of those times where he was hiding in bushes n in her car when she wasnt even talkn to him been moved on he stalked her life n now its time to pay if i could i would put a gun to his head n blow him away!!! he took sumthin from her girls her family n friends that we cant get back n as far as you go u can go fuck yourself stay in ur own lane n mind ur business!!

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  5. You have not idea how terrifying this man was, he threatned his victims to the point that they had no choice but to let him back in. In fear of their lives (as well as their family, including children, parents, siblings....) there was no other option. Even to the point of moving out of the area, he always managed to find them. He is relentless and does not give up.

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  6. Tricia has been in my life for 15 years and was a wonderful auntie to my daughter!!! She NEVER deserved this! Unfortunately her 15 year old niece will not be able to grow up with her!!! RIP Tricia you will ALWAYS be in our hearts!!!

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  7. THE SYSTEM FAILED HER! REPEATEDLY AND CRIMINALLY FAILED HER! How can a person charged with stalking/harassment or Domestic Violence be allowed to send messages and DEATH THREATS- written, texted, or telephonic to his victims from prison or jail? And to the asshat who posted about dancing? Why? Are you defending your friend Scottye because you sure as hell don't know word one about Tricia and what she suffered at the hands of this sociopathic killer, nor do you have any experience or knowledge about domestic violence victims and the control perpetrators have over their victims and if you read anything after the initial story you would have known the charges were upgraded to 1st Degree Murder before you smeared your shit on this blog. Tricia doesn't deserve your scorn. Society doesn't deserve your attempt at fear mongering by insinuating a racial element. This was murder. First degree murder. One year ago today my niece, Tricia Patricelli, was murdered. Her daughter's were left without a mother. Tricia had a mother and a father, a brother, aunts and ucles, a grandmother, cousins and so many friends- all left with a hole in their hearts. LAWS NEEDS TO CHANGE AND THE SYSTEM NEEDS TO BE FIXED. This should have been preventable but, sadly, was just another statistic. Rest peaceful, sweet Tricia. Gone but not forgotten.

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  8. My heart goes out to Tricia, her babies and family. I just testified against him and I hope it helped put him away for the rest of his life. I looked right at him and told him, I'm not afraid of you and he is sitting there with this somber look on his face but it is just an act for the jury for sympathy. No one is buying it, for those that truly knew him know that he doesn't respect women, he thinks we are beneath him well women found you guilty, a women prosecutor took you to trial and a women judge is going to sentence you to the rest of your life in prison.

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  9. 50 years doesn't begin to cover the many lives he has destroyed. I pray he doesn't get out a day earlier; he deserves to rot in prison!

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  10. Im tricias daughter.I know I'm like, years late but i just read this and wanted to thank you for writing this. Sending live your way always❤

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