A graduate in criminal justice from Michigan State University, Don Miller was also diagnosed by court psychiatrists as a paranoid psychotic and a religious fanatic. In 1978, at age 23, he was convicted of raping a teenager in Lansing, attempting to kill both the girl and her brother. The sentence on that rap was 30 to 50 years in state prison, but Miller was not finished, yet. In custody, during July 1979, he confessed to the murders of his fiancee and three other East Lansing women, striking a plea bargain that earned him another fifteen years on charges of voluntary manslaughter. Accepting his sentence on August 29, 1979, Miller told the court, "I'm deeply sorry for what has happened. I wish I could undo what has been done."