One the billboards the family posted on Route 104 trying to encourage people with information to come forward. Photo Courtesy of the Family
By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
LACONIA – Before her murder became one of more than 100 New Hampshire cold cases, Roberta “Bobbie” Dionne Miller, 54, of Gilford was in the process of recreating her life.
The 1975 Manchester West High School graduate, who was married to a successful businessman, had two children and immersed herself as a mother in the life of the Wolfeboro community for 26 years.
She went through what friends describe as a contentious divorce, moved to Gilford and was pursuing a business degree, when she and her dog, “Sport,” a yellow Lab, were killed inside her home.
Their bodies were found on Nov. 1, 2010, when Roberta’s son Jonathan Miller, who was then in his early 20s and also has a home in Gilford, found them and called authorities.
Until a few years ago, drivers on Route 104 in New Hampton, coming in and out of the Lakes Region from Interstate 93 were reminded of the mystery through a billboard.
The words “Who Killed Me?” and a photo of Roberta Miller were posted on the billboard and a reminder of the $55,000 reward.
And Roberta’s ex-husband Gary Miller and their son Jonathan Miller were recently in court because of domestic violence restraining petitions Jonathan had filed against his father.
Ex-Husband and Son in Court
Earlier this month, Jonathan Miller was in family court in Laconia seeking a restraining order against his father for allegedly slapping him on the back and saying, “Thanks for everything, Jon” while leaving a previous court hearing.
On Monday, Judge Elizabeth Paine dismissed Jonathan’s domestic violence petition. It was the second such petition filed against his father in recent months.
“None of the evidence at the hearing supported a finding that the defendant represents a credible threat to the plaintiff’s safety…” Paine wrote. That would require “more than a generalized fear for personal safety.”
Jonathan had previously filed a domestic violence petition alleging his father had picked his son up from the bus stop and dropped him and Christmas presents off at Jonathan’s home.
Court Security Officer Steve Waters who was in the courtroom Jan. 18 when the alleged incident occurred took the witness stand during the Feb. 13 hearing.
Waters said he did not consider the incident violent in nature but that Jonathan became quite upset.
Court records indicate Gary Miller is charged with violating a restraining order, a misdemeanor set for trial March 15.
In court on Feb. 13, the younger Miller repeated his contention that he is afraid of his father for himself and his 15-year-old son, claiming Gary Miller is trying to carry on a social relationship with his son behind his back.
Jonathan also said in court documents that his father, Gary believes that he killed his mother.
Both Gary and son Jonathan denied any involvement in Roberta’s death during recent interviews with InDepthNH.org.
“My father blames me. I have been heartbroken,” Jonathan said. “We did everything together,” he said referring to his mother.
Gary Miller said rumors on the street sometimes still point to him as her ex-husband as being behind Roberta’s murder.
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” Gary Miller told InDepthNH.org. “I was very successful. People like to bring down anybody they can.”
Frustrated No Arrest
Father and son both are upset that no one has been held accountable for murdering Roberta.
Family and friends who have pledged the $55,000 reward to find Roberta’s killer, say they have waited for an arrest, but are frustrated by the lack of action by the Attorney General’s Office to solve the case.
The recent finger pointing between father and son comes at a time when some members of the family are reaching out to the media not only to find Roberta’s killer but to shine a negative light on the Cold Case Unit in New Hampshire.
Ken Dionne of New Boston, Roberta Miller’s brother, said he, too, is concerned that Roberta’s murder remains unsolved, just one of 123 other cases involving homicides and missing people on the state’s list of cold cases. He said he has approached ABC’s 20/20 to do a report on the unit. https://www.doj.nh.gov/criminal/cold-case/victim-list/index.htm. He is close to Gary Miller, who he says helped pay for the billboards on Route 104 and continues pushing for action by the state to arrest whoever is responsible for Roberta’s death.
Mike Garrity, spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office, released the following statement:
“The Cold Case Unit’s investigation into the circumstances of the October 2010 homicide of Roberta Miller is still open and pending new investigative leads.
“Roberta Miller’s body was found inside her home in Gilford, New Hampshire on Monday, November 1, 2010. Her death was ruled to be a homicide due to gunshot wounds.
“While we cannot share specific additional information about the case to preserve the integrity of the investigation, our detectives and prosecutors are always seeking new leads from the public.”
Garrity asked that anyone who may have knowledge of any circumstances surrounding Roberta Miller’s murder to contact the Cold Case Unit at (603) 271-2663 or submit the information through the Attorney General’s Office Cold Case Unit website at https://www.doj.nh.gov/criminal/cold-case/tip-form.htm.
Garrity said even the smallest observation could provide a piece of the puzzle necessary in solving this crime.
“This is especially true for anyone who saw or spoke with her between 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 31, 2010, and 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 1, 2010,” Garrity said.
Cold case investigations are some of the most difficult and demanding investigations for law enforcement agencies, he said.
“Public assistance can make the difference in furthering these investigations. If you have any information, please report it,” Garrity said.
Dionne said he needs to speak out. In an email, he said: “We worked with the team of the New England-based podcast, Murder, She Told, over the past few months. This is the first time we’ve spoken about Bobbie to this extent, and it’s the first time her story was told in an audio documentary format.”
Dionne said he addressed “Our suspicions of who is responsible; our interest in filing a wrongful death suit; criticism of the Attorney General’s Office’s handling of the case; personal memories of Bobbie and her life.”
“…(T)his is the first time we have had the opportunity to tell the whole story. We hope that the episode will inspire somebody who might have information to come forward so our family can get justice.”
He provided a link to the episode: https://www.murdershetold.com/episodes/bobbie-miller”
NO ANSWERS FOR WHY A LIFE WAS CUT SHORT
The Millers were a well-known Wolfeboro family for more than 26 years and raised their two children together in that community.
For many years, Gary Miller owned Miller Chevrolet in Wolfeboro and later Miller Ford in Sanford, Maine, and other automotive related businesses in the region.
Gary and Roberta Miller had two children, Jonathan and Jennifer, and raised them at 82 Haines Hill Road in Wolfeboro. They also had a camp on a lake in Acton, Maine.
In 2007 and 2008 friends said the relationship started to sour and the two had been estranged for about three years before the divorce and Roberta’s death.
Jonathan stayed in the Lakes Region and works on marine engines. Jonathan said he got in trouble at age 17 for breaking and entering and later for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
“I made some bad decisions. I paid dearly,” said Jonathan, who works repairing and servicing boats in the area.
He said he has sole custody of his teenage son and has turned his life around.
Roberta was last seen on a surveillance camera two days before her death at a Lowe’s in Gilford buying materials for window boxes. Dionne said his sister had a term paper or test due on Monday which was never completed, leaving him to believe she died likely on Oct. 31, Halloween.
Dionne became emotional as he spoke outside the courtroom at the Feb. 13 hearing recounting that she was found in the kitchen of her Gilford home. She was shot twice, he said, and her dog was shot twice as well.
Dionne said investigators found large sums of cash at his sister’s house and it is not known if there was more money taken by the assailant or assailants.
The camp on Katy Road in Acton, Maine which Gary Miller received in the divorce settlement, burned to the ground Oct. 28, 2010, just days before Roberta was found dead in Gilford.
Called suspicious at the time in news accounts, the Maine Fire Marshal’s office investigated the cause, but in an email declined to release their findings to InDepthNH.org.
“In the instance of your request, there is a reasonable possibility that public release or inspection of the records responsive to the request would, at a minimum, interfere with criminal law enforcement proceedings,” the email said.
Dionne said his mother, who still lives with him and his wife in New Boston, is still very much involved in the case at age 94 and wants to see a resolution.
Dionne said he is speaking out to hopefully get the investigation re-ignited.
“Of course we want justice,” Dionne said.
“The family is never going to stop. We won’t give up.”