Closing arguments in Miller trial set to begin Thursday morning; pathologist says Hayes’ cause of death was cuts to neck

PARIS, Mo. — Closing arguments in the Lyle Miller first-degree murder trial in Monroe County Circuit Court are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Thursday.

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.

Attorneys on both sides then spent much of the rest of the afternoon going over jury instructions in anticipation of the jury beginning deliberations late Thursday morning.

Miller, 66, allegedly admitted to John Moyer, who lived in his home, that he struck Betty Hayes, 88, of Holliday, Mo., in the head and placed her body in a pond on a 40-acre lot he owned on Dec. 16, 2021, according to a probable cause statement filed in July 2023 by Monroe County Sheriff Joe Colston. Miller, who worked as a hired hand on Hayes’ 100-head cattle farm, had repeatedly claimed she owed him money.

Members of the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s dive team and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department conducted a search in a pond on Miller’s property on July 28, 2023, and found Hayes, who had been missing for 589 days. Miller was arrested shortly thereafter and has since been lodged in the Randolph County Jail.

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.

Jurors were shown photographs of Hayes’ badly decomposed body, and some of her family members left the courtroom. Norton said the epidermis on Hayes’ skin had been pulled away, leaving only the dermis. 

“Was she well-preserved?” Miranda Loesch with the Missouri Attorney General’s office asked. 

“All things being considered, yes,” Norton said.

Defense attorney Jeff Hilbrenner asked about two fractures discovered in Hayes’ ribs and if that was the sign of a struggle before her death. Norton said possibly. 

Cpl. Lane Quinn with the Missouri State Highway Patrol talked about an interview with Rick Gunier, who told him that John Moyer had told him that Miller had admitted to killing Hayes. Moyer also had told Gunier that Miller said where the remains of Hayes could likely be found. After interviewing Gunier, a search of the Miller property was ordered.

Quinn then identified several photos taken on Miller’s property and showed the jury the 9-gauge wire and 38-pound cinder block found with Hayes’ body in the pond. During cross examination, Quinn was asked if a single piece of evidence was found connecting Miller to Hayes. 

“That is correct,” Quinn said. 

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. 

“One,” Quinn replied.

Quinn later said he had no evidence to show John Moyer killed Betty Hayes. He said Moyer told him and Sheriff Joe Colston during an interview about his drug use and the potent marijuana he had in his pocket.

When Gunier took the stand, Hilbrenner asked him if he had heard around Madison, Mo., that Moyer was untrustworthy and if he had a reputation for being dishonest. Gunier said yes. 

Hilbrenner asked if Moyer was a liar. Gunier said, “Oh, yes sir.” 

Gunier later said that he told Moyer to take his information to police. 

“If you don’t, I’m going to,” Gunier testified that he told Moyer. 

Shena Latchum, a forensic scientist with the Missouri State Highway Patrol, was next on the stand. She explained how DNA can be destroyed by heat and preserved if it is stored properly.

Latcham said DNA submerged in water for 18 months could be diluted, but it wasn’t impossible to find, either. She said she retrieved DNA from a piece of brain tissue from the body found in the pond on Miller’s property and determined there was a 99.999% chance that it was Betty Hayes.

When asked by Hilbrenner if she had any evidence that connected Miller to Hayes, Latcham said, “I do not.” 

Cpl. Adam Smith with the Missouri State Highway Patrol dive team explained to the jury about the process the dive team used to search two ponds on the property. He said Hayes was found in murky, 50-degree water about 9 feet deep and 30 feet from the shore. Her remains were gathered in a mesh body bag before being removed from the pond and placed inside a black plastic body bag.

The jury was shown photos of Hayes’ remains after they were recovered from the pond. Some members of the Hayes family left the courtroom.

The only defense witness was John Ragsdale, who testified that he exchanged messages with Miller on Dec. 16, 2021, and said Miller asked to get marijuana from him. They met at Rocky Hollow, an area in Monroe County one mile east of Holliday and managed by the Missouri Department of Conversation, at “about a quarter ’til 11,” Ragsdale said. 

He said he didn’t get out of his truck, and Miller didn’t get out of his car. Ragsdale said they talked for a few minutes.

“I don’t even know if any money was exchanged,” he testified.

Hilbrenner asked Ragsdale if he noticed any blood or scrapes or scratches on Miller, or if he noticed any blood on Miller’s car. Ragsdale said no. Under cross-examination by Loesch, Ragsdale said he had no idea where Miller had been or where he was going after they met. 

Hilbrenner finished by asking, “If (Miller) had blood on his face, would you remember?” Ragsdale replied, “I’d think I would.”