Sharee Miller

In 2005, a twisted case was featured on the second season of "Snap." This was the first internet murder case. Back in 1999, our department was in the infancy stage of learning about the internet. This captured the nation's attention. It begins with a mysterious shooting. "My brother, he's laying on the floor, you're blind." The money was missing and his wallet was missing. But the investigation unearths a sinister plot, orchestrated by a master manipulator using the internet to lure in victims. The first chats that they had were pretty mundane, but they quickly turned sexual. Her screen names included "Just Hot to See You," "Harnie," "7," "2," "4," "9." It blindsided us. "Marc want a boy. Where did this come from?" That was part of her game, "Playing on His Emotions." Now, nearly 20 years later, there is more to the fascinating story of the internet's first murder case. An investigation that helped usher in the modern age of true crime. "I walked a lot of snap. It was something I thought she was innocent." Her conviction was appealed. The court ruled she should get a new triumph. She had a hook line in sinker, and she just kept up getting away with it. "She died a little ago. She's probably the most evil person I have ever met." It's the fall of 1999, and residents of Flint, Michigan, are hoping the new millennium will bring positive change to the area. Flint was coming out of a recession. There was a lot of people that were struggling at the time. General Motors had just picked up and moved. There was a lot of poverty in our area. There was a lot of drugs. When you have the drugs, it comes to violence and the Rockeries. There was a lot of that at this time in the Flint area. In early November of 1999, the deputies received a call about a man down at the Salva Jard. The 911 call comes in just after 9.30 pm on November 8. A woman named Judy Miller is on the line. There's a lot of drugs going underneath of them, too. When officers arrive, Judy and her husband Chuck rushed them inside. Mying behind the counter in a pool of blood is 48-year-old Bruce Miller. One of the deputies of Louis Xero was a paramedic and he quickly assessed him and determined that he had passed away. He's very cold to the touch. It is obvious that Bruce had been laying there for more than a short period of time. We were talking hours at that point. His chair had been tipped over and actually broke a wheel off. The telephone was sitting next to him where the blood pooled around the head and the chest area. At first, it looked like he might have smacked his head on the smat floor having a heart attack. As officers begin documenting the scene, closer inspection reveals the true cause of his injuries. There was numerous pellet holes in him. It was obvious that it was a gunshot with a shotgun. Chuck and Judy obviously were very upset. At first, they had no inkling of what had occurred. They stayed there that night so they could be interviewed. There were the ones that kind of gave us the background on Bruce Miller. Bruce Miller was a lifelong resident of Flint, Michigan. Born in 1951, his early years were a testament to his blue collar roots. Bruce grew up north of Flint. He married his high school sweetheart in 1970. They had two kids together. They had a good life. Bruce worked at General Motors, which is very common in this town and the people that worked there were card and they're honest decent people and that's what Bruce was. Bruce was quiet, kind, didn't spend a lot of money, didn't need a lot of frills. While Bruce enjoyed success as an auto worker and a father, the same couldn't be said for his marriage. About six years into that, things went sideways. They divorced. Bruce tried again with a second marriage in the 1980s, but that relationship also ended in divorce. By the time he was in his 40s, Bruce had embraced life as a bachelor. He became enamored with NASCAR and wrenching on cars. He was the kind of guy that would buy a joker to fix up and just that would be his hobby. That's why he ended up buying B&D auto salvage. People would want to fix up a car, maybe the auto part store didn't have it, so they would go to salvage yards like Bruce's. Bruce's salvage yard was soon doing well enough for him to take on employees. One of his first hires was 26-year-old bookkeeper Sheri Tribbi. Sheri was well-liked by her group of friends. She was super personable, easy to go along with. She was a go-getter. Sheri was born and raised in the Flint area. She moved out when she was about 16, was on her own. Got married, started having kids, ended up being married once more before she met Bruce Miller. After her second marriage ended in divorce, Sheri was ready to move on. Despite their 20-year-age difference, Bruce and Sheri found they had a lot in common. She was kind of enamored with him. He was the kind of guy that she'd been looking for, something that was steady, stable. The kind of person that would be good to her and her kids. I think Bruce was drawn to Sheri because she's young, she's vivacious, she's charming. Also, she may have complimented him better because she was talkative, he was not. What began as a working relationship quickly grew into something more. They were just like school kids. They were in love. Within a very short period of time, they were talking marriage. He moves her into his house, moves the kids in. Sheri and Bruce started dating in late 1998 and then very quickly thereafter, in April of 1999, they were married in Vegas. Bruce's family was a little bit surprised, but they were going to let him live his life. And they saw that he was pretty happy with her. In addition to bookkeeping, Sheri supplemented their income by selling Mary K. Cosmetics. In early 1999, Sheri turned to chat rooms on the emerging worldwide web to expand her network of customers. Sheri had had a computer Bruce bought for her. She got into it. AOL was really what she was using at that time and she was into it. Computers were not new, but they were just making it to the homes. So it was fairly new technology. Up until that point, we tend to forget, but we didn't have a lot of communication on the internet. Chat rooms were new, so it was a whole different ballgame back then. By late 1999, Bruce and Sheri found themselves doing well enough for Bruce to start making plans for retirement. Bruce was on the end of his general motor's career. He had a small business where he could engage in a hobby that interested him. Yet make some money still be involved. And he had a young, somewhat good-looking wife. Things were looking up for him. But just seven months into their whirlwind marriage, their love story would come to a sudden and violent end. Bruce has been found shot to death at his salvage yard, and Michigan police are at the scene collecting evidence. The crime lamp was called, and the unduty detectives were called and they headed in and started the timeline of everything and the interviews of those people involved so far. The detectives started with Chuck and Judy that were there. Why were you here? How did you get in? What circumstances led you to come here in the first place? They were super cooperative, they opened up everything in their lives that we ask them about. This crime occurred between six and about eight o'clock at night. Chuck Miller had been called by Sheree Miller, saying that Bruce hadn't come home yet. Chuck Miller and Judy Miller got in their car, drove out to the clouds, opened the gate, went back there and Chuck discovers his brother. He instructs Judy's wife to call 911. As detectives take in the scene, they observe tell-tale signs of a potential motive. Just on its face, it had all the airmarks of an armed robbery. The reception desk is right at the front door and they didn't have a chance to tell anybody what was going on or call 911. So it looks like they came in, shot him and robbed him. The money was missing, his wallet was missing. Bruce was known to carry about $2,000 in his Sheree pocket. He used that to buy parts and whatnot and that was missing. So your client tell for that type of business is usually lower income. So you had people that were of low means financially coming out through on a regular basis. It was an all-cache business and fewer guys that's just scraping by and you know that you can go get 2 or 3 grand in one shot. That's a pretty good what we call lick. But as compelling as the robbery theory sounds, there's a problem. It wasn't like a 7/11 where people can come off the street and rob them of cash. This was off the beaten path. You had to know where this business was at. They start processing a scene and find there was no signs of a struggle. It appeared that the person maybe standing on another side of the corner seemed like they may even have some knowledge of the building. It almost seems that he would have recognized his person robbing them. So we wanted to see if maybe this was someone who had known how the business operates and maybe even had been in there before. We needed to investigate that further. Coming up, a grieving widow provides detectives with a potential suspect. They had dated sexual relationship. You're looking at the wrong person. You're not a little face-up. I've been robbed before. I've been robbed right now. But just when it seems the case is nearly solved, bombshell revelations launch the investigation into cyberspace. There are like teenagers playing, building this relationship, having a ball. They're having online sex. She's frequently coming back. But to separate the truth from the lies, the investigators must root out a duplicitous swindler. She sent photographs of sonograms. She said that he was part of the mafia and was abusive. He did what she wanted him to do and then dropped him like a hot potato. Authorities in Flint, Michigan are investigating the murder of 48-year-old Bruce Miller. They've already spoken to Bruce's brother and sister-in-law. Now police need to pay a visit to his widow. Early November 9th, after midnight, officers went to the house. Shree had family already there. They knew something was wrong because Judy and Chakka told him something was wrong, thinking that it was a heart attack. However, they were informed that the death was a homicide. Upon hearing that news, Shree Miller started screaming, falling on the floor, family rushed in and got around her, but she was uncontrollable. She was very upset, crying. Everyone felt that her reactions were normal if someone had lost a husband to a homicide. Once Shree regains her composure, she agrees to tell detectives everything she remembers before the shooting took place. Shree had bad home with the kids. She had had a friend over Laura E-Wald. They were supposed to have a American cosmetic meeting. Six o'clock, which would be Bruce's normal time of getting off work. She called him. They talked on the phone. She tells him that she's going to order food from Big Brutus, which is a business that would be an easy stop on his way home. But Shree says that in the middle of their conversation, Bruce suddenly cut the call short. Bruce told her that there was a car point in the lot. Bruce thought it was one of his employees returning to work. They might have forgot something. He was going to hurry up and deal with it and told Shree that he would pick up the food. Shree became concerned when two hours passed and Bruce still wasn't home. Shree was in a panic that she couldn't find Bruce. He wouldn't answer the phone. She told Laura that she was going to go check and see if he picked up the food at the restaurant. Laura E-Wald had actually blacked in Shree Miller's car. And so it was just more convenient for Shree to take Laura E-Wald's car. It was a restaurant that he frequented so they knew Bruce. Instead of knowing your order still here, now she's becoming nervous. Shree decided to check on Bruce herself by driving to the auto shop. Less than 10 minutes away. She drives up to the B&D auto parts. Observes that the gate next to Saginaw Road was secure. But she didn't have her keys with her because those were on her car key ring, which was back at the house. The gate was locked when they got there which would indicate that Bruce had probably left the building and locked when he left. Shree gets home with Laura E-Wald's car. Then some more calls were made. She had actually called 911, the local hospitals, local police departments to see if something had happened to Bruce. But she's also calling Chuck Miller at the time, almost demanding that he goes check on him. She knew at that point that something was wrong. Laura confirms Shree's timeline, leading detectives to question who else may have had access to the salvage yard after hours. We started questioning Shree Miller about, is there anybody that had a problem with him? At that point, she started pointing out suspects. Shree worked up the salvage yard. The day of Bruce's murder, she said that a couple fellas come in. She'd never seen before, made some comments about her and about her red ring ring. Looking expensive, to the point that she was very uncomfortable and asked them to leave. She gave us a brief description of them and a description of a van they might have been in. She didn't know who they were and did not get a license plate. The lead fits the theory of a robbery gone wrong. But when investigators suggest that Bruce may have recognized the shooter, Shree offers up a different name. Bruce's former employee, John Hutchinson. There was one other person, John Hutchinson, who had worked with Bruce that Shree Miller had kind of pointed the finger at. Shree told us that her and John Hutchinson had dated and had sexual relationships several years earlier. According to Shree, even though the relationship ended before she got together with Bruce, there was still bad blood between the two men. But her past with John wasn't the only source of tension. Shree mentioned that John had borrowed $2,000 from Bruce and it was slow to pay him back. Shree says Bruce also resented John for jeopardizing his business. The police had been there to the Salvage Area prior to the homicide concerning some stolen parts or stolen vehicles. We actually talked to the auto theft team and they they did advise that there was a van switching investigation going on there. That John Hutchinson was their primary suspect at that time. A van switching scheme is where you go get a car that's wrecked. You pay two or three hundred dollars for it, you get a title and you get the actual van plate with the vehicle. Then you go out and steal a car that's similar, maybe a couple years newer, maybe less miles. You take the van plate off the junk car, you put it on the stolen car, you have a different car. Title to that Vin Plate. And sometimes, these are luxury cars. They take their $70,000 cars, and they can get it for $1,000 bucks. And then they sell it for $40,000. It's all profit. John Hutchinson actually wasn't working for Bruce anymore, but his brother Harold was still there. So the logical place for the auto theft team was to go to the business, start checking the books. We thought maybe Bruce was mad at John Hutchinson, and we say, hey, I'm trying to run a clean business here. I don't need any of this. There was a theory that maybe Bruce was about ready to call the police on him and turn him in. We had to obviously go down that road and see, well, maybe the motive wasn't the $2,000. Maybe he wanted to silence him. So we set out to find John Hutchinson. [MUSIC PLAYING] Less than 24 hours after the murder of Bruce Miller, his wife, Shari, has handed investigators their first solid lead, a former employee named John Hutchinson. When she started mentioning John Hutchinson on money, and he was a suspect in a vent switch, and we don't know if, at that point, if the murder was robbery, or it was robbery, in addition to silence in our witness. Since the shooting occurred around closing time, detectives need to determine if any of the salvageard employees saw John arrive before they left work. We know who the last person to talk to Bruce was on the phone, but we didn't know who the last person was to see Bruce that night. The last name written on the schedule catches everyone's attention. The last employee that left for the day was Harold Hutchinson. We found out that Harold was John Hutchinson's brother. On November 9, myself and another detective, we went out to Harold's location. We got there, knocked on his house, he let us in. When investigators tell Harold they want to talk about Bruce Miller's death, they get another surprise. When we talked to Harold Hutchinson in early mornings of the 9th of November, which was probably about 10 o'clock in the morning, he already knew. So our first inquiries were, how do you know this happened when it's not been out there? Harold said he had talked to John, and John said that he had taken care of Bruce. And then that's when he starts to go into the story about how his brother disposed of him. He explains that the word disposed to him means homicide. Harold Hutchinson had said that his brother told him something kind of ambiguous, where Harold didn't have to worry about getting his tools or a new job or something like that, and that Bruce wasn't going to be a problem. We're liking what we're hearing, but we had to take all that with a grain of salt. We didn't know what we had at that point. Despite the vagueness of John's wording, Harold tells investigators what he thinks his brother was implying. I mean, that he was gone. And God means what? That did your brother tell you how he killed him? No, he did not. Did he allude to how he killed him? No, he did not. Look, the company had been being investigated for events which in vehicles, right? And your brother was the one actually doing it. And I only wish your brother was working for Bruce. He's also stealing from Bruce. Yeah. Obviously, you know, that ties in with what Sheree told us. It all makes sense, but it wasn't enough to run out and arrest John Hutchinson. It was enough for us to go out and grab him and conduct an interrogation. When police arrive at John's house a little after 12 p.m., he seems unnervingly calm. By the time we get to John Hutchinson, now it's later in the day. It already been on the news. And so he already knew that there had been a murder. His reaction wasn't appropriate. He was a good friend of Bruce's. And he just didn't seem to be that concerned about it. John agrees to talk to detectives and accompanies them back to the station. [MUSIC PLAYING] Once we got him downtown is when we started asking him more poignant questions about the vent switching investigation. What was your bad thought over this? Was Bruce mad at you for it? At you and old, he might have said a few things, but not as far as being physically mad and old. He said he wasn't worth killing Bruce over. John also confirms what Sheree told them about the money he owed Bruce and their past relationship. However, John claims they already cleared the air. Tell him about your fare with Sheree Miller. Oh, I [bleep] true one time. How long ago? Oh, no, no. I always slept together a couple times and then my wife split up. I don't want to eat that. I don't want to tell her. Why did I eat? How long ago was that? [MUSIC PLAYING] You're half before or after she got with Bruce before. Miller's having said she's better with Bruce, no. John's account of the affair continues to line up with what Sheree told police. He was straightforward with his answers. You're right confident. However, John's easy answer seems suspicious to detectives. I think that there was a couple of other detectives that thought this was the guy, you know. This looked real good. Anytime you've been questioned by the police for a murder, you're going to be nervous. And he wasn't. And he had an answer for everything that come along. At that point, we started talking about the murder. We just let him tell us, you know, that he's not involved in everything. And after I took a shower, it was still watching TV. My wife went to the store, came back. So you never let the halls begin, you know? We called it "Lock" and you went to a lie. And now we start hitting them with, hey, Harold said that you called them. First of all, a phone call was in between here, too. Like I talked to BDC, I talked to Harold. You know what Harold told us? I'm going to get a clue. Harold told us that he said that Bruce was taking care of him. So could you have sent something like that at all? Yeah, this was pretty serious stuff. I could have, but I felt like I said, if I did, when I'm not by taking care of those, he's already been paid. Because he wanted me to pay him back here, looking at the wrong person. You know, I don't think so. I've been looking for it my way to the wrong now. His denials were super, super weak. Like you were talking to a six-year-old about stealing a cookie, and there's cookie dough on their face. Week like, oh, I didn't do it. John admitted to morning three shotguns. His home research and those guns were found and taken into evidence. It didn't look good for him with all the other information. It was coming about him. John tells investigators he's willing to do anything to prove his innocence. He said, listen, I'll take a polygraph. We kind of hollered the interview at that point and set up the polygraph for him. You strike why the irons have. That evening, the polygraph operator leads John through a series of questions. They start out with what's your name? How old are you? You know, so they get a baseline of when he's telling the truth. And they ask, did you kill Bruce Miller? Do you know who killed Bruce Miller? Where you there, when Bruce Miller was killed? He's answering them, no, but he's shaking his head, yes. Which sometimes means that the person subconsciously trying to tell you the truth. After an assessment, investigators receive the test results. The operator felt that he failed the polygraph. So I think it was some excitement for the detectives that were working on. Hey, we're on the right track here. We've got the right guy. John Hutchinson was no doubt our number one person, and he was the person we had focused on at that point. Coming up, a funeral becomes the site of a volatile confrontation. Shree went crazy screaming. That's the guy who murdered my husband. And a tragic suicide leads to a stunning piece of evidence. You're telling me if something should happen to me? Look underneath my bed for a briefcase. [MUSIC PLAYING] Less than two days into the investigation of the murder of Bruce Miller, detectives believe they have a prime suspect. However, they fear a rushed arrest might weaken their case against John Hutchinson. Polygraph is gone. maybe one of the last things you want to use in investigation because they're not admissible in court. - The way the business was set up were numerous people coming and going. There wasn't a lot of forensic evidence to take. There was no shell casing left. We have herald statement, and that's it. We have no physical evidence. We can't physically prove that he's there. So, there's just no advantage to law enforcement, to arrest him at that point to we gather more evidence. We end up taking John Hutchinson home. - As investigators continue building their case, Bruce's loved ones gather for his funeral. - There's hundreds of people coming to the funeral home, pay their respects. Bruce had all his friends from the shop, from the business he ran. It was a small town, everyone kind of knew Bruce. As the day goes on, John Hutchinson and his wife show up to pay their condolences. - Bruce's widow, Cherie, is none too pleased with the surprise guest. - Cherie went crazy. Screaming, mommy, mommy, daddy, daddy. Screaming in a group of people at her funeral. Screaming it out. - With emotions boiling over, Cherie's brother-in-law asks John and his wife to leave. - His group of friends all knew that we had interrogated him, we'd interviewed him, we'd polygraphed him. So, all these people that were close to Bruce are starting to push John away. After the funeral, thinking that he really is the killer, it's just a matter of time before he's arrested. However, detectives struggle to find any physical evidence to connect Hutchinson to the murder. - It's difficult to do ballistics with a shotgun. You're gonna be able to tell the gauge and that's probably the extent that you're gonna know. - We secured weapons from John Hutchinson's house, none of them were 20 gauges, none of them had been fired. Was a dead end. - Investigators follow up on the alibi, John provided in his initial interview, hoping it might provide a window of opportunity. - Any time you try to validate a alibi and confirm a guy, you gotta go back, track that, and see if you can validate those things, see if he's telling the truth. He, you know, gives an account of what he did that evening, where he had done who he was with, and it was confirmed by his wife, and his alibi checked out. - You can't ever eliminate anyone 100%, but we stop pursuing him at that point, because we knew where he was at at the time of the murder, and we also was able to confirm everything. - When things with John went cold, the whole case kinda went cold for a while. - It becomes frustrating when you know you have a grieving family, and you have no answers. You take it personally when you can't help. That's why you get into police work is to help people through life, and it's like you have a personal failure if a case goes nowhere and you can't solve it. - Three and a half months into the investigation, the only other lead, the two men who harassed Sheree Miller on the day of the murder, has gone nowhere. - There was concern that we may not find out who killed this, especially with some of the information we had about the two men that could've been people passing through town, and when the argument took place, they killed them, gotten a car and drove away, and have no tie to the community we'll never see them again. - For investigators at that point, they were back to square one. They had no leads, no suspect, no, no motive. - Most definitely it's frustrating. We were four months into the case before we actually got a break. - In February of 2000, we get a call from Missouri, an attorney down there, John O'Connor. - He basically called and said, "Did you have a homicide involving Bruce Miller?" And I said, "Yeah, he says, "Well, I've had a suicide here, "and it has some evidence for you." - And once we got the information that we needed, we immediately formulated a plan. We flew detectives down to Kansas City, and that started the whole ball rolling with things starting to fall into place. (upbeat music) - The investigation into the murder of Bruce Miller had seemingly stalled out until a surprise call breathes new life into the case. - John O'Connor was the attorney for a man named Jerry Cassidy. Jerry Cassidy committed suicide and left a note that he should go to authorities with this information. Jerry Cassidy didn't exist to any investigators in Michigan. - There are like one information do you have. He's like, "I have a brief case "that details, directions, and information, "and perhaps a motive for why Jerry "may have driven out and killed Bruce." - On February 18th, 2000, Flint detectives meet with Jerry's family, including his brother Michael, at O'Connor's law office in Kansas City. - We learned that Jerry Cassidy had committed suicide in the basement of a home in Missouri, shouting ahead and with the Bible sitting in his lap. He left this briefcase with a note for John O'Connor to make sure it got through the authorities. And in that briefcase was information about the murder of Bruce Miller. - Jerry Cassidy grew up in a well-loved family in Kansas City. He decided that he wanted to be a policeman, then got hired by the Cass County Sheriff's Department 'cause he was so smart, he was quickly promoted to Lieutenant and Charter of Homicides. - He loved the job. It was what he really wanted to do that was his life's ambition. He was married, he had a child, then life kind of hit him. He fell at work and at that point got addicted to prescription medication. - Then in 1995, 34-year-old Jerry fell on even harder times. - During that time also, he believed his sheriff of the Cass County was committing a fraud in a homicide investigation. The hardest thing in the world is the go-toll honest, powerful sheriff. And he went, told the authorities, stood up to the sheriff, and eventually he loses his job. - That was the job that he always wanted. But he knew that he couldn't go back out because he couldn't guarantee that anyone would have his back. That was kind of his identity. You know, that and being a husband and a father, that, you know, that really defined who he was as a person. And when that part went away, it's like, oh, okay, now what do I do? - He kind of just spirals out of control until he talks to an FBI agent that he knew from working for Cass County. And he was a big-wig at Harris, Cassena. And hired Jerry to do security there. - He'd moved his family to Reno, but his wife didn't find it. As appealing as he did, and she just said, our relationship is done. - Jerry was very lonely. His wife divorced him. You know, he was having a hard time seeing his kids and he just drank, drank, drank, drank. - In 1999, Jerry came back to Missouri seeking the support of his family. But on November 9th, his downward spiral came to a dramatic climax. - Jerry calls his brother, says, listen, I'm going to the hunting cabin. I'm gonna, I just gotta have some time to think. - Jerry told him if something should happen to me, you should look underneath my bed for a briefcase. - Michael Cassie's curiosity was up like, what happened, what, saying what was going on, Jerry tells him at that point I've done something that can't be undone. - On February 11th, 2000, Michael got tragic news that his brother was found dead from an apparent suicide. - After Jerry was found from his suicide, Michael knew to go get that briefcase. There was a note on the outside of the briefcase that he said called John O'Connor. - Michael followed the instructions and called John O'Connor Jerry's lawyer. Nothing could have prepared them for what they found inside. - There were three letters with the briefcase. One was to Jerry's biological statement. son. One was to his ex-wife, and one was to his mother and father. The one to his mother and father detailed why he was doing what he was doing. Jerry Cassie left the suicide note and basically said that he had killed someone in Genesee County named Bruce Miller. Cassie said that he had done it, and he had done it in conjunction with the girl named Sheree Miller. It blindsided us and we're going away. Where did this come from, you know? He was concerned about his own welfare because, you know, foreign police officers are going to prison. What would happen to him when he was there? And it was evident that this is why he had committed suicide. He basically wanted the family to tell the authorities that he believed that there was enough information in that briefcase to convict Sheree. Jerry Cassie knew what he wanted to do when he ended his life. That was to make sure Sheree Miller didn't get away with this. Still to come, an explicit tape offers a crucial connection. She's masturbating on camera. She just absolutely twisted him up emotionally to the point where he didn't see any other out. And new evidence reveals a mastermind who'll stop at nothing to get what she wants. She said everything is for me and school everybody else. She had thoroughly convinced him and anyone else that she had the money. I want my car and I want to leave because this is not. You guys have completely lost it. Authorities in Flint, Michigan have spent just over three months investigating the murder of junkyard owner Bruce Miller. Bruce had been shot in the chest by a shotgun. This crime occurred on November 8, 1999. Between six and about eight o'clock at night, Sheree Miller gave us two or three suspects right off the bat that made sense in the context that we saw the crime scene. No leads panned out and the case nearly went cold. But now a posthumous confession has led to a stunning revelation. A suicide eight hundred miles away would fall right into their laps as a solution to the unsolved murder. In his suicide note, the self-proclaimed killer Jerry Cassidy implicates Bruce's bereaved wife, Sheree Miller. It basically said that he actually did the killing but Sheree sat him up to do the killing. The note is attached to a briefcase full of evidence. It was full of computer printout messages and hard drives and letters that Jerry had written and apologies that he had written. As a former investigator himself, he had everything laid out perfectly. That briefcase was a treasure trove of information. The contents describe an apparent murder for hire, beginning with an online chat log. The instant message found in the briefcase was probably about three pages long and it was printed out. That instant message kind of stepped out everything that happened on November 7th and November 8th and when he was leaving to come to Flint. It was lined by line how to get to Flint, what rose to bring into the junkyard. She told them where to park, she gave them directions of how to get there. It also said for him to get out of there quickly and about the gunshot and not being too loud. That's a damning. I mean, that's it right there, right in the nutshell of the planning of the murder conspiracy. Once we started getting all this information from the instant message, it's like we've taken something with probably one of the best alibis of a homicide that I've ever had and now making that person our number one suspect. It was crazy to think about that. A person 800 miles away had been talked into coming up here, committing a murder, going back and leaving no evidence, how did she get him to commit this murder? Investigators must now piece together how a former cop could have been convinced to commit such a heinous crime. It was preshawking to the whole group of guys. The information that was in the briefcase was massive, and there was many, many pieces. You know, I understand, no one had a lot of knowledge of how computers worked in 2000. Apparently, yes, the instant message could be faked. If you had some computer knowledge, it wouldn't be that hard. So we had approved that the instant message was true. With such serious claims made against Sheree, investigators must be certain of her involvement before moving forward with an arrest. They get permission to go back and search the residence of where Jared Cassidy killed himself. They find two tapes in the garbage. But then, if you wanted to send somebody a video of yourself, you had to physically make it, put it in the mail, and send it. When detectives play the tape, they find more than they bargained for. One was Sheree Miller, joined Jerry the house, her kids, saying, you know, can you live with these kids, these kids are rumbucked, just that I love you so much. And the other one was called for Jerry's eyes only, and a Sheree masturbating on camera. Now we have a direct connect from this Jerry Cassidy to actually Sheree Miller that's without question, they know each other. We were never able to put this connection together that 800 miles away was our suspect who now is deceased without this briefcase. Coming up, Sheree's true colors emerge. And it turned to her husband, but how abusive he was. She was in a dark place in her life. Police get to the heart of what could make an honest man kill. She said she was pregnant with his child. And in the modern age of online scammers, investigators zero in on a conniving culprit. That is not even right, I do not write that stuff, I do not write that stuff. Every time she bamboozled him, lied to him, manipulated him, it worked. Michigan authorities have discovered evidence that Sheree Miller used the internet to seduce a casino pit boss named Jerry Cassidy and convinced him to kill her husband. Their printed online correspondence reveals how the deadly affair began. When the detectives had gone out to Missouri, they also had seized Jerry's computer and then processed it for information about what could have possibly led to this crime being committed. And what was the connection? As they search the laptop, a digital narrative unfolds through a string of electronic communications and photos. Our department was in the infancy stage of learning about the internet. Back in 1999, there was only about 28% of the people that had a computer. So this was new to us. Chat rooms then were what we have today, texting on our cell phones. It was instant messaging. For somebody that moved to town and knew no one and working graveyard, it's kind of tough to meet someone. What else are you going to do? During the time that AOL and you've got mail and all of this was just starting to be available to people, Jerry had somehow stumbled into some sort of a chat room and had been talking to this woman. From the time stamps on the messages, it appears that Jerry and Sheree began their correspondence and met in the summer of 1999. Just three months after Bruce and Sheree were married and four months before Bruce's murder. Jerry's computer contained all of the discussions that he had with Sheree. The courtship was a fast and furious one. We're talking less than six months. So it contained months and months of daily emails that we had to take to prove that, in fact, these were the two parties communicating with each other over the computer. So we had to do some cross-checking on whether or not the parties were even on the computer at the time. So again, that required search morons, subpoenas, and a lot of investigation. We were cross-referencing what the phone numbers were that they were using. We were looking into whether or not certain phone calls were actually made that were mentioned in those documents. We were able to bring in a representative from ALL, and he was able to say everything matched up that they were on together at the same time. The first chats that they had were pretty mundane, you know, but they quickly turned sexual and the leader and this was Cherie. Cherie's screen names included just "hot to see you". Harnie, 7249, I want to be late, love me slowly, sexy kitten only for you. There was a lot of playfulness between these two that came out of these chats. They were like teenagers playing, building this relationship, having a ball. Cherie would sign off his messages, your fool for life, big daddy. Cherie would sign off, love your brat, Cherie. Before long, they turned their fantasies into reality. Cherie got a message from Cherie that she would fly to Reno under the premise of a Mary Kay cosmetic conference. It was a parent press that she was going out there to see and visit him, not for a Mary Kay conference. It gets to the point where now they're having sex, she's frequently coming back, they're having online sex. We know on this time frame she sends them the video. As detectives continue reviewing the messages, they observe that by the late summer of 1999, Cherie's messages took on a different tone. She attracts him with her looks, she attracts him with her sexuality, with her communications, but then she really needs him to become her savior. And so she feeds him these awful stories about Bruce being abusive and hitting her, bruising her, and sends him the pictures. In August, just one month into their courtship, Cherie dropped a bombshell. She told Cherie that she was pregnant with his child. She went on to tell about how Bruce had find out about it. She tells him the beating caused her to miscarry the child. We found pictures of her, Tommy all bruised up and stuff like that. All of this convinced Cherie that this woman he loved was in deep trouble. He needed to act, and he needed to act now. With Cherie hooked, their conversations turned to plotting Bruce's murder. It was why somebody could be compelled to kill for another person. It was proof of the manipulation in order to draw them in. The thing's adding up that Cherie's involved in this. Police begin to home in on Cherie as suspect number one. When detectives look into her personal life after her husband's death, they find even more suspicious behavior. We continue to talk to Cherie Miller's friends. She was on our radar at that point, but it wasn't clear what we were looking at. We're gathering information. We're being told that within days of the funeral, Cherie Miller is seen at a small bar in Oldesville. We also come to find out she's going to get social security for herself and for them three minor kids, which was quite a bit of money, was close to $3,500 a month, that alone. Then we knew that there was a life insurance policy that she was going to get. Shortly after that, she's already got people coming over, remodeling the house, taking everything a bruises out of the house. Then it's quick that they want to hurry up and sell the business. It's more than enough to bring Cherie in for questioning. But when police go to her home, she is nowhere to be found. She had flown to Reno and we find out when Cherie would be returning home. So we figured we'd just meet her at the airport. In February 22nd, 2000, when Cherie's flight lands, investigators are waiting. They tell Cherie they need to ask her a few questions. She's cool as a cube comber. She's relaxed. Okay, let's go. I've got nothing. I've got nothing to hide, let's go. She voluntarily comes down to the sheriff's department where Captain Comple takes her into the interview room and starts talking to her. She's thrown out softball questions, nothing accusatory at that point. And finally gets to the point, do you know what Cherie has to do? You developed a relationship with Cherie. No. Isn't it true that you and Bruce were having a real difficult time? No, we weren't. Okay. Did Bruce ever get physical work here? Anyway, what's wrong? We learned that she moved in an old boyfriend shortly after his death and turned out to be the swan delivery man, there was delivering food to their home. And that ranes the red flag, too. That quickly moved on to someone new. She denied sending any new pictures to Cherie. She denied that she told him that she was pregnant. She denied that she was beaten. Every question that was asked her, she denied it. So we'll let her do that. And then we brought out each piece of evidence, did you send these chats? She said, "Well, I might have met a Jericast, they meet a lot of people when I'm out from my Marrake Cosmetics. What about masturbation, videotape?" Now she's trying to backtrack, all he was trying to blackmail me. He was trying to do it, but I didn't do it. Do you know Jeric? Yes, I do. I met him out there and talked to him online, along with the rest of the people out there. That is always a turning point, in any case, when you catch someone in a lie and they know they've been had, they've been caught. After admitting that she didn't know Jericast, she went on to say that Cherie became obsessed with her, wouldn't leave her alone, but he very likely could have killed Bruce, but didn't involve her. But Cherie doesn't have an explanation for the messages she sent. The only response that she could give was that someone had manipulated and changed all the sentences and the chat from AOL to make her look guilty. That is not even right. I did not write that stuff. I don't know. Who changed that stuff? But I did not write that stuff. You wrote that stuff? No, I didn't. No. This is crazy. No. I want my car, and I want to leave, because this is not. She has kind of go. She says, no, you're under arrest. She's real angry. She is over the top, almost like she was when she was crying at the house, but now mad at us. The investigation wasn't over yet. We still had a fill in the blanks, but she was charged with murder then. From there, we had to build a case, basically just checking and cross-checking every fact in there to show that she was knowingly lying to Jerry and that her goal in this whole process was to basically just use Jerry and kill her husband. But why would they do it? Why? What is the motive? Investigators have poured through hundreds of pages of emails and instant messages detailing A murder plot between Sheree Miller and But with a confessed gunman dead, they still have their work cut out for them to make the charges stick. "Theri claimed that anybody could have done that and printed it out and faked it, so we had to come up with some more proof." Three weeks after Jerry's death, investigators decide to fly to Reno to speak with his co-workers and learn more about it. And learn more about his relationship with Sheri. Anyone that worked with him closely was aware of her and said that Sheri was saying that it was by sheer happenstance that they met in Reno. That she was there on a Mary Kay convention and just happened to meet him and I'm like, "Oh, uh-uh, no, no, no, no." Jerry's former colleagues at the casino say it all began seven months earlier in the summer of 1999. "His self-esteem was not so good. You know, losing his dream job and then losing his wife and, you know, I think he was just, he was ripe for the picking, in my opinion." Jerry's chats with Sheri seemed to give him a new lease on life. He told us she was just beautiful and she looked like the woman of his dreams and that she was accomplished and she had several businesses. Soon enough, Sheri showed up at the casino for a visit. Jerry was all scrubbed and shined up and had his best suit on and I'm pretty ironed his shirt five times. He was so excited to walk her around the casino floor and introduce her to all of us. She was all dolled up and her hair was perfectly positioned, the makeup was perfect, a ring on every finger. Sheri told us that she was a Mary Kay consultant and that she owned a string of, like, nursing homes for the elderly and that she had quite the cash flow. But we really didn't know who she was. All we knew is what she showed us. Her first trip to Reno was two or three days. She stayed in the hotel, he would have the next two nights off. And we didn't see hide nor hair of Jerry or Sheri. But once she left town, he was back at work, rumors, like quickly in the casino business, we all knew that they had spent the night together and they'd had a wonderful time in bed. I'm not sure they ever left the hotel room. After that, the relationship appeared to heat up even more. She was telling Jerry that, you know, he deserved an upgrade and that she was going to make that happen for him. And she was dangling all these wonderful things in front of him, like options or opportunities or when we get together, we can have this fabulous life. When she came back the second time, they were house shopping, you know, three, four, five hundred thousand dollar homes. Well, there's no way that Jerry could afford that. I was like no big deal. When investigators follow up with acquaintances from Sheri's past, they learn that this was a common pattern of behavior for her. Everyone that we talked to said she was attentive to you got along with everybody. In fact, I couldn't find anyone in her personal life other than relatives that she didn't have some type of sexual affair with. All her friends, male or female. When Sheri was first dating Bruce, she tried to portray to him that she had a comfortable life, that she was a business woman, that she owned a nursing home. In reality, that turned out to be fake. Everywhere they look, investigators find further evidence of Sheri's lies. We did check into the claims Sheri made to Jerry. The Bruce was part of the mafia and was abusive and we couldn't find anything to confirm that. The photographs that she sent Jerry showing how she had been beaten were pretty good. I mean, they actually looked like some bruises. But we believe that Cosmetics came into play in this case because we got to have the different shades of green and brown and we figured that she probably used her knowledge of cosmetics to make it look like bruises. And as investigators keep digging, they uncover something even more shocking. She couldn't have kids. She had her tubes tied. That was part of her game playing on Jerry's emotions. To get him to do what she needed and wanted him to do. Her whole life is a lie. She was the master manipulator and she'd been working on this plan for quite a while. It all paints a portrait of a woman willing to do anything to get what she wants. Sheri was poor when she was brought up. So when she meets Bruce Miller, he has the summons of money, stability and she's got a job that she goes to in the morning, she's got a house to go home to at night. That was not enough for her. She wasn't in the spotlight. She was in a salvage yard. She was taking care of three children. She wanted the razzle dazzle. She wanted to mix things up. Bruce was a stepping stone for her. She probably plotted out. I'm going to get this guy. I'm going to kill him. I'm going to get all of his money and go on and live my life without him. Being set for life. In the late 90s, the internet was largely untamed and unregulated and Sheri used that to her advantage. Sheri knew how to push the buttons on the computer. She was a master at chat, but what we saw is she became a master of manipulation in person, reinforcing what she said in the chat. There's a plot that seemed like it was forming with her to suck Jerry in. I don't think for one minute Jerry would ever willingly just go murder someone. She just absolutely twisted him up emotionally. To the point where he didn't see any other out then to defend the woman that he loved. But once Jerry did her bidding, it seemed like Sheri had no further use for him. Jerry came all the way to Flint, Michigan to commit this murder. Everything's to plan. He goes back. She's kind of blowing them off. Now, they went from 50-60 emails a day to talking on the phone, to being in this chat room, to now nothing. He did what she wanted him to do. And then she dropped Jerry like a hot potato. It was like she wouldn't converse with him online. She wouldn't answer the phones. For her to drop him. I think he just, that was the last straw for him. He's completely fell apart. He realized, with more and more intensity, to read plating. And he thought he had only one option at that point, with probably intense humiliation, was to end his life. He left behind to know which led us to the briefcase that had all the information that we were going to need for conviction of Sheri Miller. It's a compelling theory, but prosecutors don't know if it will be enough to get a conviction. While they still have this woman in custody, an amount of evidence against her, they still have to prove it in court. Coming up, the internet's first murder trial. This trial was carried coast to coast on court TV. I was way worried about losing. She didn't pull the trigger. Sheri takes the stand, compromising her own defense. The emails were wrote. And they were exactly as written? Yes, they were. And she sets her sights on a new man. Everything was about money. or sex, hours of smart enough to pick up on it. (dramatic music) - In the fall of 2000, growing fascination with the worldwide web fuels the publicity surrounding Sheree Miller's murder trial. The Sheree Miller case was the first internet murder case. This case caught people's attention because someone actually used the internet to persuade someone else to kill their spouse. - On December 12th, 2000, people across the country tune in to watch the proceedings. - This captured the nation's attention. This was carried coast to coast on court TV. It was so new, so unique. It was kind of a sad tragedy playing out in the courtroom where you had two families. One family was Bruce's family. He was just an innocent guy. They lost a good man, but you can also say that about the shooter, which is unusual. They subject it themselves to their son being portrayed as a killer, but yet he's dead because of Sheree too. They're both victims, in my opinion. - But as public as Sheree's misdeeds have become, prosecutors still have their work cut out for them. - I was way worried about losing. It was a circumstantial case. It was a hard road. - Prosecution had to prove to the jury that this woman sitting in front of them was the real killer. She mastermind plotted the whole thing, and but for her, Bruce would still be alive. - The task is complex because the case hinges on technology unfamiliar to many in the courtroom. - Honestly, when this case started, I had never been on a computer. And so I had to go to AOL. Experience what it was like, emailing, shopping, doing ordinary things. - At the time that I was part of the jury, I didn't know anything about chat rooms. I didn't know anything about meeting people online. And I learned a lot about the internet and how it works by being in that trial. - To connect the dots of her sinister plan, prosecutors carefully walk the jury through months of communication between Cherie and Jerry. Although the legitimacy of the emails is still contested by the defense, the story they tell is scathing. - When you read the emails between the two, she had a hook line and sinker. And every time she bamboozled him, it lied to him, manipulated him, it worked. And she just kept on getting away with it. - When it was all said and done, the most bizarre thing that we saw in this was Cherie's manipulation. We believe that she faked her body as being bruised. How she sent photographs of sonograms with the actual dates on them. But no sonograms were five and six years old. They were from her previous kids. - The most damning messages are the ones sent the night before the murder. - They literally wrote out the exact directions and how they were gonna murder Bruce Miller. They wrote it online. - I think she'd got away with it. As she not dumped her boyfriend a month later. She dumped him and wouldn't talk to him, wouldn't call him back. And that's when he committed suicide. The briefcase was found. - But according to Cherie's defense team, prosecutors have it backwards. They admit the affair took place, but claim Jerry is the one who framed Cherie. - One of the arguments that was brought up by the defense during the trial is that this incident message was made up. - We had an excellent expert and he was like, "Also you've got to do this, do this, that, and the other." - It could be changed. In reality, it's not that hard at all. - In fact, turning a colonel made up an instant message using Sergeant Isaac Petrovka's name just to confuse the jury. - The defense was fleeing stuff up against the wall to see what would stick. 'Cause all he had to do was make sure we could think that anything else could have happened other than Cherie doing this. - And there's a lot of reason for us to have reasonable doubt. She never touched a gun. She wasn't there that night. There was nothing connecting her to that, really, in a physical sense. Other than the internet, the emails. - Several days into the trial, Cherie stuns the courtroom by taking the stand in her own defense. - Against my advice, she took the stand. She was just too stubborn to listen to my advice. And she wanted to roll the dice. She would have a chance. So Cherie went for that chance. - Cherie got on the witness stand. She thought her charm was gonna get her out of it. - The gamble backfires when a slip-up cost the defense their argument. - One of the first questions she was asked under cross-examination are all these exhibits true and accurate. Yes, they are. Okay, including the emails, the emails were wrote. Okay, and they were exactly as written. - Yes, they were. - The mistake was on her. Once again, that suggests her hubris. She thought she could get anybody to believe her. She thought that she was gonna sell that whole jury on her little innocent act. - On December 22nd, after two days of deliberation, the jury finds Cherie guilty. - She was ultimately convicted of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. - She was sentenced to life without parole, just as if she had pulled the trigger herself. - I was very relieved at the verdict. I think we all were. I think we may have lost the case if Cherie had not testified. - However, Cherie's prison sentence does little to curb her behavior. - Cherie started communicating with somebody when she was in prison and this person wanted to marry her. You could have been at the next victim. I mean, that's what you think when you hear something like that. And honestly, I felt like somebody needed to go out and forewarn him, watch her back. (upbeat music) - After four years behind bars, Cherie Miller's story is told again. In 2005, the salacious story is featured on the second season of "Snaped." - Bruce had so many friends, it's unreal. I just couldn't believe like someone would murder my brother. Bruce was just totally blindsided by it all. You know, here he's hot. He'd found somebody, you know, the perfect wife. - Two days after, the death, the murder of her husband that she loved supposedly. She's dancing in a bar in Otisville, Michigan. I mean, that's not a grieving widow. - Cherie Wood, as far as I've understood, do absolutely anything in the bedroom. We found videos of Cherie Miller finally in herself. - They had this briefcase that had a suicide note from Jerry Cassidy in it, explaining that he had killed Bruce Miller. - Cherie Cass, they, in one last desperate act of a life that he had flushed down the toilet, he saw it to take Cherie down with it. - The broadcast forever changes one man's life. I watched a lot of snap, and there's so much for me, Miller came on. It was something in her eyes, her weight. I thought she was innocent. She looked lonely and sad. So I reached out over there. I was in a couple of weeks, she wrote me back. She said, "Do you like to be pen pals?" And, you know, to communicate with somebody on the outside. And maybe I'd go up and visit it from time to time, you know? (dramatic music) - Their jailhouse correspondence quickly turns into a romance. - There's a five, six hour drive from Illinois to Michigan, where the person was. You're going to hold it. And from that spot in, there's a tear for 4-5 hours talk. She was bloody dubby and a person of Owen. Many feel like you're special. You got serious, very quick. So she tried asking for money, by the way. So I sent it to her. On one of his visits, they decide to make it official. I proposed to her. She said, yes. She sent a picture to a Mexican paper announcing it. We talked about where she got out weekly. We get married, and she would move down to Illinois, and had this whole white plan out together. In July 2009, it looks like those plans might come to fruition sooner than expected. Her conviction was appealed on the grounds that the evidence from Jerry and his suicide should not have come in a trial that that was an error by the judge and prejudicial to the jury. That set her free. Then there was another ruling that said she should get a new trial. But as soon as she's released, Sherry drops her new suitor. If she got out, she'd try to tell me how much she couldn't have another relationship because she's still in love with your husband. She never once mentioned Bruce Miller, until she got released. And then it was, I miss him, I love him. Bell's been up in my head. That said, oh my god, she did this. I was wrong. She's guilty. That came to everything. I went back and we read letters before I burnt them. She said, everything's from me in school, everybody else. Are you here? Everything I came from here? And I'll move on to the next portion. With fresh eyes, he sees all the red flags he ignored throughout their courtship. Everything was about money or sex. And now I was smart enough to pick up on it. I would send her, you know, $50, $60. I couldn't tell you how much total. I'm afraid I say how much so. She's diabetical. She's probably the most evil person I have ever met. Within weeks of the release from her nine-year prison incident, investigators discover that Sheree is back to her old tricks. When Sheree got out of prison, she lived with her daughter. And it wasn't a surprise that she started a Facebook page and that concern law enforcement. Was she going to be able to recreate her experience with somebody else? Well, after Sheree won her appeal to set aside the verdict and order a new trial. The Tennessee County Prosecutor's Office immediately appealed that judge's decision. It went to a higher court. That higher court ruled that the lower court aired on the appeal and her conviction was now reinstated and she was sent back to prison. Back behind bars, and with her original sentence reinstated, Sheree finally seems ready to come clean. Her whole life is about getting attention. Her appeals had run out. How do you become relevant again? Emma's will admit I did it. And then again, get the focus on me. She admitted it in a letter to the prosecution Marcie Maybury had been right all along. It was jaw-dropping. Sheree also said she wanted Bruce to be killed because she was afraid he would find out about her online secret relationship. He would divorce her. Leave her high and dry. But some believe the letter is just another one of Sheree's manipulations. There's givers and there's takers. And she is a clasps a taker. And she doesn't care who she destroys to get what she wants. And so, no, it's like crocodile tears. I don't believe it for one second. She's exactly what she could be. I think she should never get all a prison. I think she comes all a prison. She's not-- she's going to be the same as always. She would look for people to use. Even though Sheree Miller is going to spend the rest of her life in prison, I still feel for the victims that she left behind that was unnecessary. The Bruce Miller family, our victims that will never forget this. Jeree Cassidy, she killed two, left behind his family, his kids. And she, ultimately, I believe ruined John Hutchinson's life also because he never was able to get back into the circle of friends that he had made all those years because he was always out there as the pariah that killed Bruce. But if she just would, at some point in her life, told the truth in the beginning, she could have maybe come out a better person than she did.