Scottsdale murder suspect says voices in his head told him to kill wife
Feb 7, 2019, 2:30 PM
(Scottsdale Police Department Photo)
(Scottsdale Police Department Photo)
PHOENIX – The 72-year-old Valley man who allegedly beat his wife to death with a hammer last month told police he was driven by voices in his head, according to court records.
Jozef Miller said he suffers from schizophrenia and went gambling after killing 73-year-old Hanna Miller.
Miller, who faces a first-degree murder charge, called 911 about 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 25 to report that he’d his killed wife at around 2 p.m. at their north Scottsdale home.
According to the probable cause statement, Miller, a Polish citizen, told officers responding to the house near Scottsdale and Lone Mountain roads what he’d done in chilling detail.
He said that voices started telling him to kill his wife from the time he woke up at 8 a.m. until after they returned from a grocery shopping trip.
Miller admitted to striking his wife with a hammer from behind while she was sitting down for lunch he’d prepared and beating her until he felt she was dead.
He said he then cleaned up, drove to a bank to withdraw cash and proceeded to gamble several hundred dollars at a local casino.
When he returned home, he said he attempted to take his own life by carbon monoxide poisoning in the garage, but after 10 minutes the voices told him he should live so he could pray for his wife.
That’s when he made the 911 call.
Miller said he takes medication daily, but the voices in his head have told him to kill his wife and others on other occasions, too.
The probable cause statement said he’d been arrested in November 2018 after striking his wife in the head with a blunt object, and that case was pending a hearing in Scottsdale City Court.
