Jealousy was motive for slaying of couple, prosecutors allege

Pierce County prosecutors allege that jealousy was the motive behind the slaying of a Pierce County couple allegedly by a 22-year-old female soldier from Fort Lewis.

The 22-year-old woman and the female victim, identified today as Randi Miller, 25, had been dating the same man at the base, according to probable cause documents. When the man spurned the 22-year-old woman in favor of Miller, she became angry, prosecutors allege. The suspect went to the couple's Parkland house last weekend and shot Miller and her husband, Timothy Miller, 27, who were also both soldiers at the base, according to the court documents.

The suspect then tried to destroy the bodies by placing them in a bathtub and pouring acid on them, probable cause documents allege. The suspect took the Millers' seven-month-old baby.

The suspect is scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday. In the meantime, Pierce County sheriff's detectives and the Army will determine who has jurisdiction over the case.

The 22-year-old woman was arrested Sunday night, according to the Pierce County Sheriff's Department.

The 7-month-old girl was found uninjured at Fort Lewis and is in the custody of Child Protective Services.

The Millers were found about 7 p.m. Sunday. Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said it is unknown how long the victims had been dead. The woman was being held in the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of murder and kidnapping, Troyer said.

A Fort Lewis spokesman late Sunday confirmed reports that the suspect is assigned to I Corps and is a member of the honor guard, and that the victims were medics at Madigan Army Medical Center.

The suspect was found at Fort Lewis with the baby, Troyer said. Military police contacted the Sheriff's Department Sunday evening and reported that they had reason to suspect a double homicide had been committed, Troyer said. The exact circumstances that led military police to that conclusion were not disclosed.

Based on the information, sheriff's deputies went to the Parkland home and found the victims' bodies inside, Troyer said. Deputies were seeking search warrants for multiple locations Sunday night, including the suspect's living quarters at Fort Lewis.