Man convicted of Feb. ’09 rape, kidnapping

STAFF report

WARREN — A Niles man who has spent most of his adult life behind bars is going back to prison for up to 30 years for raping a woman in her car along a railroad access road in Weathersfield Township.

A jury of eight men and four women deliberated about six hours Thursday before returning guilty verdicts of rape and kidnapping against William Miller, 49.

At a later hearing, possibly today, Judge Andrew Logan of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court will determine whether Miller is a repeat violent offender, which would add as much as 10 more years to his sentence.

The penalty for rape and kidnapping is up to 20 years in prison.

The victim said she and a girlfriend had gone to Up A Creek Tavern on Feb. 8 and then to Blue Magoo’s Tap and Grill, both on East Market Street.

About an hour after meeting Miller in Blue Magoo’s, the victim agreed to give Miller a ride home, but Miller pulled a knife and forced her to drive to a location off Old Salt Springs Road in Weathersfield Township and raped her, she said.

The woman’s car got stuck in some mud, so Miller and a passerby pushed it out of the mud, and the victim drove off and contacted police.

Miller spent about 25 years in prison for raping females age 17 and 18 inside a car parked on the same road in 1980 after the women picked him up hitchhiking on state Route 46 in Niles. Miller threatened his victims with a knife in those crimes also, one of the two victims testified Wednesday.

Miller did not testify during the trial and showed little emotion when the guilty verdicts were read.