| For Immediate Release Case # 06WF1974
November 5, 2008 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
HUNTINGTON BEACH MAN CONVICTED OF SEXUALLY ASSAULTING 83-YEAR-OLD WIDOW AFTER BREAKING INTO HER HOME
SANTA ANA – An Orange County jury convicted a Huntington Beach man today for violently sexual assaulting an 83-year-old woman after breaking into her Rossmoor home. The jury found Jeffrey Miller, 38, Huntington Beach, guilty of three counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object by force, first degree residential burglary, first degree robbery, and found true the sentencing enhancements for committing a sexual assault during the course of a burglary and committing a crime against a vulnerable victim. He was also convicted of a prior strike conviction for a 2002 residential burglary. Miller faces a minimum sentence of 30 years to life. Miller is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday, Dec. 19, 2008, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-38, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
On July 12, 2006, 83-year-old Jane Doe, a widow who lived alone in Rossmoor, was watching television in the living room of her home of 35 years. At approximately 5:30 p.m., Miller jumped over the fence into Jane Doe’s back yard and broke into her home by crawling through a bathroom window after removing the screen. He threatened to kill Jane Doe if she screamed and demanded money and jewelry. Miller forced the terrified Jane Doe to the floor and hit her in the head and ribs. He instructed Jane Doe not to look at him and sexually assaulted her while wearing gardening gloves.
After sexually assaulting her in the living room, Miller forced Jane Doe onto the floor in a corner of the kitchen and sexually assaulted her using a sink hose. Miller then left Jane Doe on the floor, ransacked her house, and stole jewelry and valuables. The defendant moved the victim from room to room and sexually assaulted her in different rooms of the house.
A neighbor, who knew Jane Doe lived alone, saw Miller jump over the fence into Jane Doe’s yard and called 9-1-1. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) responded with patrol cars and a helicopter. While ransacking Jane Doe’s home, Miller heard the helicopter and attempted to destroy evidence by vacuuming and organizing the house. He then tried to flee the scene by running out the back door of the house, but was arrested by OCSD deputies, who had surrounded the home.
Jane Doe, who lost her family to the Nazis in Czechoslovakia, said that the fear she experienced when Miller broke into her home reminded her of the fear she experienced during World War II.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Kal Kaliban is prosecuting this case.
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