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

PARIS, Mo. — The first-degree murder trial for a Madison man accused of killing an 88-year-old woman in 2021 will begin Monday morning in the Monroe County Circuit Courthouse in Paris.

Lyle Miller, 66, allegedly admitted to a witness he struck 88-year-old Betty L. Hayes of Holliday, Mo., in the head and placed her body in a pond on a 40-acre lot he owned, according to a probable cause statement filed in July 2023 in Monroe County Circuit Court.

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 more than 18 months. Miller was arrested shortly thereafter.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. before Judge Rick Tucker of Macon. Miller has been held without bond in the Randolph County Jail in Huntsville since his arrest. He is being represented by Columbia attorney Jeffrey Hilbrenner. Monroe County Prosecuting Attorney Nicole D. Volkert and Miranda Loesch from the Missouri Attorney General’s Office will be co-counsel for the prosecution.

Volkert originally charged Miller with second-degree murder, but she amended the charge to first-degree murder in September 2023. If convicted of the Class A felony, Miller faces either the death penalty or life in prison without parole.

The amended complaint included a second count of tampering with physical evidence, a Class E felony that carries a prison sentence of up to four years and a fine not to exceed $10,000. 

A witness told Monroe County Sheriff Joe Colston that Miller allegedly was upset with Hayes because he believed Hayes owed him money for work he performed for her.

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.

Hayes was reported missing at approximately 4:24 p.m. Dec. 17, 2021. She was believed to have been at her home in Holliday, Mo., at that time.