48 Hours - Poison - Archive FM

On December 2, 2000, Eric Miller died in a Raleigh, NC hospital and blood tests revealed that he had been poisoned with arsenic. Police discovered that Eric’s wife, Ann, was having an affair with her co-worker, Derril Willard. Derril killed himself after being questioned by police, but before he died he had a confidential conversation with his attorney. In the spring of 2004, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that Derril's attorney must reveal what Derril had told him about Ann’s role in Eric’s murder. “48 Hours" correspondent Troy Roberts reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 1/1/2011. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays, and stream on demand on Paramount+.

Duration: 41m
Broadcast on: 05 Dec 2024
Audio Format: other

I had very much disliked mysteries. I don't like not knowing answers to questions. I was never going to quit until I knew what happened to Eric Miller. Eric came home that night extremely ill. He keeps getting worse and worse as the night wears on. He realized that he had to go to the hospital. I mean the first thing that crossed my mind, I mean this guy's a scientist. He was a pediatric AIDS researcher. He works in a laboratory, whether in laboratories, a lot of dangerous things. Eric was very agitated. They had to put him in restraints. Eventually my brother, that way, out of control, it was horrible. It was the worst night that I can remember in my life. Test results came back and they showed Eric had received very high doses of a very lethal toxin. Was someone trying to kill Eric Miller? I couldn't believe it, I thought how could this happen? Officer Ford has sent Rex Hospital to speak with Eric Miller. I went into his room, he was laying in the bed, he had a hard time talking, he was an obvious, obvious sign of pain. And he told me he has no enemies, he has a happy family, his life seemed perfect and just could not think of anybody that would want to hurt him. It was a long, terrible death. Eric Miller, we tore his life apart. We shined the light in every recess of his life and we found nothing. But my instincts were crying out, this was not an accident. It was a very carefully planned homicide. My name is Chris Morgan, I don't like people getting away with things. This is my city, my home. And nobody is going to be allowed to get away with murder in my town. Minutes after Eric Miller's heart stopped, his parents' virus indoors arrived at the hospital. He was laid in this bed with a tube in his mouth because they had tried to resuscitate. He was cold and I wanted to take that tube out. I wanted him to cover it up because he was so cold. None of what happened that evening made any sense. Eric sick with flu-like symptoms for weeks seemed to be on the mend, recovering. They were going to take care of Eric, Eric was going to be alright. Six months earlier, their 30-year-old son, a respected young scientist, was the perfect specimen of health. He'd always been that way. Growing up in rural Indiana, Eric was the picture image of the All-American boy. He was a bit mischievous. His older sisters, Pam and Leanne. He would hide behind the couch when your boyfriends were over and, oh, I'm here. But Eric's interest was short. I think Eric truly blossomed when he went to college. He got involved in biology and chemistry and research and he found that that's what he wanted to do. He also fell in love.

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