‘He is reasonable doubt’: Defense attorney grills man who claimed Miller told him he killed Hayes

PARIS, Mo. — 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.

Moyer’s testimony was the most interesting part of the afternoon.

He said he now lives in a “decrepit camper” at a buddy’s home, then said he lived in a room with no bathroom and no air conditioning on Miller’s property from 2018 to 2023, helping take care of livestock. Moyer said he had little contact with Hayes, but he told the story of going to one of her farms with Miller to take a look at a Dodge truck she owned.

“I tried to look under the truck. I looked under the hood and got down on the ground,” Moyer said. “She kicked me in the foot, and I stopped looking.”

Moyer testified that Miller talked about Hayes “pretty constantly,” saying “daily” that she owed him money.

Loesch then asked about a conversation Moyer said he had with Miller in the middle of the night in Miller’s kitchen during the summer of 2013.  

“When you walked into the kitchen, what does he look like?” Loesch asked.

“He looked distraught, upset,” Moyer said.

“When you saw the defendant teary-eyed, how did you take that?” Loesch asked.

“I wanted to leave. I don’t deal with that,” Moyer said. “I got suckered into a conversation.”

Moyer said Miller confessed that he “messed up” and killed Hayes, tying her with 9-gauge wire to a cement block and throwing her into a pond in a 40-acre lot on his property.

“He changed his whole demeanor,” Moyer said. “A lot of questioned activities became answered.”

Moyer then testified he was at a friend’s house watching TV late on Dec. 16 when he got on his tractor to drive home.

“When I turned at the Casey’s, I saw Lyle turn going east away from his home (toward Hayes’ home),” he said. “(Miller is) never out that time of night.”

Moyer said Miller then woke him up twice that night — to ask about a pair of rubber boots and to ask for his help in extinguishing a fire near the pond on his property.

“He was frantic, nervous,” Moyer said. “He was freaking out.”

Moyer also testified about when he heard a news report about how a local mushroom hunter found pieces of clothing and false teeth near Hayes’ property.

“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.”

He said he spoke with Rick Gunier, a neighbor, “because of all the shenanigans.”

“I was having a moral dilemma about what to do,” Moyer said.

Monroe County Sheriff Joe Colston testified Tuesday morning that Cpl. Lane Quinn with the Missouri State Highway Patrol had talked with Gunier, who said Moyer had told him that Miller had killed Hayes.

During cross-examination, Hilbrenner asking Moyer during a February 2025 interview what day he saw Miller driving toward Hayes’ home. 

“You have no idea what day that was, do you?” Hilbrenner asked.

When Moyer said no, Hilbrenner said, “No clue. I even said, ‘You don’t even know if it was in December, do you?’”

“It was cold,” Moyer replied. He later said, “I have no idea. It could have been November, it could have been January.”

Hilbrenner then claimed Moyer told Gunier that “we did it” and “we know where (Hayes is) at,” but Moyer denied both statements. Hilbrenner said Gunier immediately went to the police, but Moyer did not.

“You then were upset that Rick Gunier might get your reward, weren’t you?” Hilbrenner said. “You said, ‘If Rick Gunier gets any of these rewards, I’m going to burn his church down.’ Didn’t you?” 

Moyer said no.

Hilbrenner then claimed each time Moyer spoke to law enforcement officials or with the Monroe County Prosecutor’s Office that he asked for a reward. Moyer said he asked about a reward “maybe once.”

When Hilbrenner asked if Miller ever charged rent, Moyer said, “No, because I worked my ass off for him.” Hilbrenner then asked if Moyer ever said that Miller owed him $180,000, Moyer said, “My estimation could be wrong.”

Hilbrenner said Moyer admitted to him before an interview in the office of Nicole Volkert, Monroe County prosecuting attorney, that he had used drugs before they met that day. 

“Well, it was earlier, like 1:30 in the morning,” Moyer said. 

When Hilbrenner repeated the question about Moyer using drugs before the interview, Moyer replied, “Well, I slept afterward.”

Hilbrenner then asked Moyer about his memory.

“You admit you have a terrible memory,” he said. “You told the police, ‘I don’t want you guys to use my memory.’ You said, ‘I’ve killed many bottles of whiskey,’ when talking about your memory.”

“Many bottles, yes,” Moyer said.

“When we asked you under oath about why you had a bad memory, you said, ‘I choose not to remember anything,’” Hilbrenner said.

Hilbrenner also said when police came to Miller’s property to search for Hayes’ body (Miller was in a Columbia hospital at the time), Moyer told police about various knives and axes and a tree bark remover that he had with blood on them. Moyer said he made the knives and axes out of scrap metal but “they didn’t work out right.”

Hilbrenner said after Miller was arrested, Moyer started living in his house and driving his truck and his car. Moyer denied that, saying he was trying to leave the premises and his ride didn’t show up. He said he drove Miller’s vehicles so he could care for the animals on the property.

“Your life got a lot better when Lyle got arrested,” Hilbrenner said.

Hilbrenner asked Moyer about hoping for a reward. “It would be nice to have. I’m kind of in a bad spot,” Moyer replied.

During a Feb. 14 interview at the courthouse, Hilbrenner said, “(Attorneys) were asking about this case, right? And you asked them about a bribe, didn’t you?”

“Yes and no,” Moyer said.

“You asked about a bribe to the attorney general and the prosecuting attorney on Feb. 14, 2025, when they met you in this courthouse about a murder case, didn’t you?” Hilbrenner asked again.

“Well, I implied that it would be nice to get a bribe,” Moyer said.

“You said in that meeting that you figured you would have gotten a bribe by now,” Hilbrenner said.

“I was hoping for one,” Moyer said.

When Loesch conducted her redirect of Moyer, she asked why he made the comments about the bribes.

“To set the mood and be kind of comical,” he said.

Loesch wrapped up her questioning when she asked if Moyer could ever forget what Miller told him.

“As soon as I walk out of this courtroom,” he said.

When Judge Rick Tucker excused Moyer to step down from the witness stand, Moyer said, “Permanently, right?”