MIRACLES STILL HAPPEN-THE WILLIAM MILLER STORY: COULD IT REALLY BE A GOOD OL'E BOY'S COUNTRY?

Friday, March 13, 2009

COULD IT REALLY BE A GOOD OL'E BOY'S COUNTRY?

This article was brought to my attention and I was so amazed that I had to contact Ryn to ask her permission to print it. It was as if the words poured out of my mouth, her speculations were right on the money. We need people like her in our corner, the "Good ol'e boy country was certainly in full gear the night of September 16, 1972.

Hayden's Cold Case Hayday
January 04, 2009 by
Ryn Riddle

Setting Bond for Police Chief George Hayden in Jacksonville, NC the Alleged Murderer of Sgt. William Donald Miller
Could it really be a good ole boy's county?

I enjoy reading the Sunday paper, sitting on my couch with a warm cup of coffee in my hand. I enjoy the conversations my husband and I have together. Also, I particularly like when they become a discussion or debate - unfortunately for my husband I became enraged with
one newly solved cold case file.

Back in August of 2008 our local paper The Jacksonville Daily News, ran an article about a young girl who's father was murdered when she was one year old. I was saddened reading her poor story of growing up without her real father. I too grew up without my biological father as he was hit by a train when I was two years old. So I related to everything this poor girl was saying about missing her father. Her fathers body was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery, see her father was a United States Marine.

Now if you have read any of my poems or articles you will know I am married to a United States Marine and believe me when I tell you the military is always close to my heart. The veterans that fought before my time, as well as the active duty of today. So when I am reading this article I find out the victim was a US Marine and he was shot down in cold blood my heart starts hurting. His body being found on a deserted road, - being shot in the back and in the head. Tears started flowing down my cheek while visions of this body were created in my head. Laying in the dirt, alone on a September evening. I wondered did he suffer, did he try to get back to his car? I have a great imagination and my mind really ran with this thirty six year old cold case event.

One month later a breaking news story Former police chief charged in 1972 homicide. What? A Police chief? And then the story thickens. Back in 1972 our victim who was active duty and married to a Marine, they both were stationed here at Camp LeJeune, NC. Our victim "Miller" returned from a deployment in Okinawa only to find his best friend (also an active duty marine) had moved in with his wife while he was deployed. Could you imagine the heart break? Your best friend moving in with your wife and family while you are deployed? I don't' know who to despise the most... the wife or the best friend... both were "Brothers in Arms". What happen to Semper Fi? Always Faithful?

Of course Miller did the correct thing - he kicked his best friend out of his house - amazingly his wife followed her new lover out the door. One month later our victim, a father of three, a United States Marine was found dead. NCIS and Jacksonville Police Department worked the case and had some leads like: Millers body was found shot in the head and back on Western Boulevard, about an hour after he was scheduled to meet with his wife, according to investigative reports. Hmm... something sounds fishy on the home-front however nothing was ever proven and the case went unsolved for 36 years. The little girls' lives where changed for 36 years.

The widowed wife was held up at the funeral by the best friend/lover - doesn't that just disgust you? Millers poor family - what did his Mom think watching the mother of her granddaughter fall and being picked up by the lover/ ex-friend? Little did the family know another shocker was just four months after Millers death. The widow Babbitt and the best friend Hayden were married.

Due to this love triangle the Sheriff's Department, the SBI, the Marine Corps and NCIS investigated the Hayden's for more than a year before Miller's homicide case turned cold. Investigators at the time could not find enough substantial evidence to arrest Hayden, according to the JAG letter. Amazingly when this cold case article was published in the paper – someone’s heart also broke - a witness to the crime.

News crews went crazy and my heart sank even deeper. Hayden (the lover) retired from the military after 20 years of service. He worked as a reserve officer for the Cape Carteret Police Department beginning in 1985 and joined the Carteret County Sheriff's Department shortly after retiring. He returned to Cape Carteret in 1994, all according to Daily News archived reports. Hayden joined the Belhaven Police Department in May 2001. He was fired as police chief in March of this year after an accusation he had been insubordinate to the town's manager, according to WITN-TV.

Here is a man, who for more than a year, was under suspicion for murder and he goes on to finish his career as a US Marine and then later become a Police Chief? What kind of world are we living in? Didn't anyone check the records before nominating Hayden to the position? Doesn't anyone do research any more? If you found out a man running for Police Chief had been investigated for over a year as a main suspect in a murder case would you elect him chief of police? Even if there wasn't enough evidence to convict Hayden, would you want him on your police force?

At this point in the cold case I am floored until the next day when I read: Miller's wife at the time of his death, Vickie Miller Hayden Babbitt, is expected to be arrested by Sheriff's Capt. Rick Sutherland and Naval Criminal Investigative Services Special Agent Dan Calin later today, said Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown. She also will be charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder, I knew it!! I knew she was involved. Grieving widow my butt!

WOW!! My heart is elated, they both got what they deserved, locked up - throw away the key. Finally!!! These two took a life needlessly - left a human being they knew and I assumed loved at some point in time to die in the dirt and then they walk around free for 36 years. Good Job CSI. The judge felt the nudge in his heart as well and stated bail was denied. Yes!!! My head is screaming inside, Yes Yes Yes, lock them up and throw away the key. Hurry let's get this trial over with and give them both a life sentence.

No,,, here comes another wrench... Former Cape Carteret and Belhaven Police Chief George Hayden, 57, of Portside Lane in Belhaven, was released on a $350,000 bond Nov. 7 What?? Excuse me? Why?? How?? I am fuming. I am ranting to my husband, I am calling my mother up long distance and hollering about the injustice and I even went so far to bring it up at the family reunion during Thanksgiving. My husband is so tired of hearing about this subject. I continue to fight for the Good Ole Boy rules coming into play. You know someone knew someone and then said - "Let him out" Let him spend a few more months with his family - if we put his house and his grandchildren's house up he won't skip, he is a good guy and will not leave his grandchildren high and dry. How do you know? He left Millers daughter high and dry without her real father. He didn't give Miller a chance to spend the rest of his life with his family - so why should we let him out on bail?? Because he is not a flight risk, we took his passport.

What do you think he could do in 3 months time in the computer age that he couldn't do in one night back in 1972? Then my voice raised and my husbands eyebrows raises at the same time. Now I am pacing in my living room - outraged - why let him bail out? Then ** poof ** the answers is right before me - its a good ole boys network. We live in a town full of retired military members and somehow we never grew out of the Good Ole Boy syndrome? Ohh give me a break.

He's running y'all - bet me - he is leaving - he is plotting - he will not stay here. Heck he doesn't even have to give up his own computer - you know he is plotting for another passport. I am amazed at our local Judge in our town of Jacksonville, NC. How could he do this to our community? To Millers daughter? What about the witness's safety? I thought this only happened on TV - guess I was wrong.

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AS A VICTIM, ALL I WANT IS TO BE TREATED AS GOOD AS THE CRIMINAL

SPIRITS

SPIRITS BY Lisa-
A friend of Tamara wrote the following poem after seeing our blog. She understands the grief, as her father took her mothers life and his own when she was a teen. Bless her.

I believe no one ever really dies, our spirits float to heavenly skies. Within our hearts their life shall dwell, with cherished memories for us to tell. We can see them in the family face, God's chain of life we must embrace. For they are gone but have not truly died, For through our lives their spirits glide.

FOR WENDY, TAMARA AND KIMBERLY

FOR OUR DADDY
Her hair was up in a pony tail, her favorite dress tied with a bow. Today was "Daddy's Day" at school, and she couldn't wait to go. But her mommy tried to tell her, that she probably should stay home. Why the kids might not understand, if she went to school alone. But she was not afraid; she knew just what to say. What to tell her classmates of why he wasn't there today. But still her mother worried, for her to face this day alone. And that was why once again, she tried to keep her daughter home. But the little girl went to school eager to tell them all. About a dad she never sees a dad who never calls. There were daddies along the wall in back, for everyone to meet. Children squirming impatiently anxious in their seats. One by one the teacher called a student from the class. To introduce their daddy as seconds slowly passed. At last the teacher called her name, every child turned to stare. each of them was searching, for a man who wasn't there. "Where's her daddy at?!" she heard a boy call out. "She probably doesn't have one," another student dared to shout. And from somewhere near the back, she heard a daddy say, "Looks like another deadbeat dad, too busy to waste his day." The words did not offend her, as she smiled up at her Mom. and looked back at her teacher, who told her to go on. And with hands behind her back, slowly she began to speak. And out from the mouth of a child, came words incredibly unique. "My Daddy couldn't be here, because he lives so far away. But I know he wishes he could be, Since this is such a special day. And though you cannot meet him, I wanted you to know. All about my daddy, and how much he loves me so. He loved to tell me stories he taught me to ride my bike. He surprised me with pink roses, and taught me to fly a kite. We used to share fudge sundaes, and ice cream in a cone. And though you cannot see him. I'm not standing here alone. Cause my daddy's always with me, even though we are apart I know because he told me, he'll forever be in my heart" With that, her little hand reached up, and lay across her chest. Feeling her own heartbeat, beneath her favorite dress. And from somewhere in the crowd of dads, her mother stood in tears. Proudly watching her daughter, who was wise beyond her years For she stood up for the love of a man not in her life. Doing what was best for her, doing what was right. And when she dropped her hand back down, staring straight into the crowd. She finished with a voice so soft, but its message clear and loud. "I love my daddy very much, he's my shining star. And if he could, he'd be here, but heaven's just too far You see he was a Marine and died just this past year When bad people hurt him and taught my family to fear. But sometimes when I close my eyes, it's like he never went away." And then she closed her eyes, and saw him there that day. And to her mother's amazement, she witnessed with surprise. A room full of daddies and children, all starting to close their eyes. Who knows what they saw before them, who knows what they felt inside. Perhaps for merely a second, they saw him at her side. "I know you're with me Daddy," to the silence she called out. And what happened next made believers, of those once filled with doubt. Not one in that room could explain it, for each of their eyes had been closed.. But there on the desk beside her, was a fragrant long-stemmed pink rose. And a child was blessed, if only for a moment, by the love of her shining star. And given the gift of believing that heaven is never too far They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire lifetime to forget them.

TO ALL WHO ARE VICTIMS OF VIOLENT CRIMES WITH CASES GONE COLD

We welcome all viewers to our blog and invite everyone to leave their thoughts and comments. If you’re leaving a comment on our blog and want to point to a link on your own or someone else’s site that is relevant , then please feel free to do so., This adds to the conversation and improves the blog.

The victims of cold cases are called "The forgotten Victims"
As it is now, agencies do not have the funds or man power to dedicate to these cases. Countless families are experiencing the grief of not knowing where their loved ones are or having a loved one murdered and no one brought to justice for closure.

I am here to beg for these families, my family’s lives were forever changed , as are all families of the victims. I have spent half my life pursuing justice for my brother, when I would call the agencies, they would state that the case was open, but no one working it at the time. Families are struggling for closure, "They are NOT the forgotten victims"

Help me in fighting the fight, Billy’s story is proof that you should never give up, write to your senators and congressmen; ask them to help agencies, to provide more funds and manpower for cold cases, they are in terrible need. Cold cases are put on a back burner - Houston just stated in the news that they have no funds for Cold Cases, this is a disgrace! Continue your fight, don't take no for an answer!
Someone out there saw or heard something, your time will
come, after all, it took us 36 years.

www.ColdCasesGroup.com

A SENSELESS MURDER EFFECTS COUNTLESS INNOCENT VICTIMS

MURDER THE ULTIMATE SIN ONE CAN COMMIT AGAINST THEIR FELLOW MAN

Our family, who has experienced the violent death of a loved one, has been forever changed into a ‘new normal,'" "We can never go back to how things were, we have to integrate this tragic loss into our lives and move on without our loved one.

Do not say we will have closure, closure is a word better suited for roads, for repairs or doors. It applies to factories and retail stores, which there have been too many recently, but it's a bad fit for murders and its victims.

This story proves miracles still happen:36 years after William's death, two people are arrested and sitting in Onslow County jail, thanks to Sherriff Ed Brown, Detective Hardy and NCIS, they all worked together for this result. The person accused of firing the shots was a fellow Marine at the time and a personal friend, who went on to retire from the Marines and become a Police Chief. What a disgrace to Proud Marine brothers, shooting a defenseless man in the back, that really took guts! This marine that he shot, served two tours of Viet Nam, had two brothers David and Charley, also Marines serve in Viet Nam and a dad Bill who served in IwoJima as a Marine. A proud family of Marines. Justice will be carried out for these two cowards.