Man gets 30 years for rape conviction

By Ed Runyan

The victim said her attacker is a ‘monster who preys on his victims.’

WARREN — Mike Burnett, an assistant Trumbull County prosecutor, said William Miller, 49, of Niles, “Can’t be characterized as anything but a serial rapist” before a judge sentenced Miller to 30 years in prison.

Burnett said Tuesday in the courtroom of Judge Andrew Logan that the woman Miller raped at knife point Feb. 8 in a remote area of Weathersfield Township was Miller’s fourth rape victim since 1980.

Miller was convicted in 1980 of raping females age 17 and 18 who gave him a ride while he was hitchhiking. He also was convicted of burglary in another 1980 crime that involved the rape of a third victim, Burnett said.

A jury found Miller, of Cherry Avenue, guilty of rape and kidnapping last week in common pleas court for using a knife to threaten a woman who had given him a ride from Blue Magoo’s Tap and Grill on East Market Street in Warren and raping her in her car.

The rape took place in nearly the same location where Miller raped the two teens, officials say.

The victim in the February rape read from a prepared statement before Judge Logan sentenced Miller, saying Miller: “Changed the way I will live the rest of my life. Ten months ago, I was a trusting and compassionate person. Now I am fearful and callous.”

She also called Miller a “monster who preys on his victims, takes their generosity and kindness and turns it into something dark and evil.”

During the trial, Miller’s attorney, Dennis DiMartino, told jurors to closely examine a DVD recording of the 65 minutes Miller and the victim spent at Blue Magoo’s and determine whether the victim had demonstrated an affection for Miller before giving him a ride home.

Miller, who uses a cane and is recovering from a broken foot, told the victim that night he had waited an hour for a cab ride and that it would cost him $20.

She agreed to give him a ride home to save him the money, Burnett said during the trial.

The victim said of the nearly 25 years Miller spent in prison for the 1980 convictions: “He did not learn any lessons, nor was he rehabilitated. It is obvious he cannot be fixed.”

Judge Logan ruled that Miller is a repeat violent-offender and added 10 years to his sentence because of it, but he could have added 20 years. He sentenced Miller to the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the rape and kidnapping.

Miller did not speak at the sentencing.

runyan@vindy.com