Murderer takes own life Murderer takes own life (January 16, 2002)

**He was serving time for killing two local men.

By Pam Smith

Almanac Staff Writer

Marjorie Damante became a widow in 1996, the day Charles Joseph Miller Jr. killed her husband.

But after hearing that Mr. Miller had taken his own life January 6, she expressed only sympathy. "Of course, I felt sorry for [his] family," she said. "That's all I can tell you."

Even Mark Boessenecker, the attorney who unsuccessfully argued that Mr. Miller should receive the death penalty for killing two 71-year-old local men in 1996, displayed no satisfaction at Mr. Miller's death.

"You know you're always saddened when someone takes their own life. That's a normal human reaction," even if it's someone who has committed heinous crimes, he said.

An officer at Salinas Valley State Prison found Mr. Miller in his cell at 8:26 a.m. Sunday, January 6, said prison spokesman Mike Collier. "It was a suicide. He was in the cell by himself. He hung himself with a bed sheet."

Mr. Miller was serving two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for the murders of Vincent Damante of Menlo Park and Edward L. Colley of Atherton. Both men were killed in 1996.

In 1998, a jury convicted Mr. Miller _ who grew up in Menlo Park and attended Laurel and Encinal schools, Hillview School, and Menlo-Atherton High School _ of two counts of first-degree murder, robbery, burglary, and one count of arson.

Mr. Damante, who had Parkinson's disease, was found shot and stabbed in his Menlo Park home on January 11, 1996. Mr. Colley was bludgeoned to death and set on fire, in an apparent attempt to destroy evidence. He was found August 19, 1996, inside Bud and Jean Tinsley's Atherton home, where he served as caretaker.

Prosecutors argued that Mr. Miller killed for money. A diamond ring and $1,500 were stolen from Mr. Damante's home, and jewelry was taken from the Tinsley estate.

"It was really a 'who done it' type of murder," said Det. Pat McTaggart of the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office, a lead investigator on the case. For instance, he said, Mr. Miller used a gun that he had already reported stolen, destroyed evidence with the fire he set, and planted fake evidence at the scene to confuse police.

"He was a pretty creative character," said Det. McTaggart.

Police arrested Mr. Miller on the Golden Gate Bridge about a month later, on September 20. His young daughter was with him, according to police. Mr. Miller had evaded police surveillance that morning, and "we believed he might be en route to the bridge to commit suicide," remembered Det. McTaggart. Suicides 'uncommon'

"We have a lot of people serving life without possibility of parole, but we don't have a lot of suicides," said Mr. Collier, the prison spokesman. "I would say it's uncommon."

"It might be comforting to the victims' families if it were a function of remorse for what he's done," said Mr. Boessenecker.

But Mr. Miller's reasons aren't clear. If he did leave a suicide note, the prison would not release it, said Mr. Collier.

Mr. Miller was undergoing psychiatric treatment at the prison, said Mr. Collier. The spokesman said he could not confirm if Mr. Miller was on medication, or if he had been diagnosed with any disorders.

"He fit in" at the maximum-security facility, where discipline problems are expected, Mr. Collier added.

Within the last few months, Mr. Collier said, Mr. Miller had gotten a discipline report for something related to non-prescription, injectable drugs.