In the quiet, early morning hours of December 10, 1977, in the small community of Turpen, Oklahoma, a dedicated public servant's life was tragically cut short. Kenneth Ellsworth Miller, a 50-year-old male, served his community as an Undersheriff with the Beaver County Sheriff's Office. On that fateful Saturday, at approximately 1:00 a.m., a report came in about a man attempting to flag down vehicles on a highway north of the town.
A concerned citizen went to Undersheriff Miller's home to report the strange and unsettling activity.
Putting his duty first, Miller did not hesitate to investigate the situation. The citizen who had alerted him accompanied the undersheriff to the scene. Tragically, this act of civic duty would be his last. When they arrived at the location, both Undersheriff Miller and the citizen, Danny Cambern, were shot and killed. They were found in a ditch, each having been shot in the head with a. 22 caliber pistol. Miller's patrol car was stolen from the scene, and a different stolen vehicle was left behind, signaling a calculated and ruthless crime.
The perpetrators, who were later identified as two men aged 21 and 29, fled the scene in the stolen patrol car. Their escape was short-lived. The following day, after a high-speed chase, the two suspects were apprehended in Utah. The investigation revealed that the two men, James E. Lewis and David Richardson, had escaped from the Wagoner County jail just two weeks prior to the murders.
The two suspects were charged and ultimately convicted of two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Undersheriff Kenneth Ellsworth Miller and Danny Cambern. Both men were sentenced to life in prison for their heinous crimes. The older of the two convicts, at the age of 29 at the time of the offense, later died in prison on March 10, 2004. The senseless act of violence left a void in the community and a deep wound in the hearts of those who knew and loved Undersheriff Miller. He was survived by his wife, Leta Lorene, and their four daughters, who were left to mourn the loss of a devoted husband and father.
