Joseph Robert Miller: The Illinois Serial Killer Who Murdered Again After Parole
Early Life and Criminal History
Joseph Robert Miller, born Joseph Robert Tarczon on January 15, 1955, became an American serial killer and sexual predator whose known crimes occurred in Illinois. Abandoned at an orphanage during infancy, he was later adopted by a Chicago-area family and given the Miller surname. Accounts of his childhood described an abusive and highly unstable home environment. By adolescence, Miller had begun accumulating a criminal record that included theft, carjacking, robbery and sexual assault.
Miller was arrested numerous times between the late 1960s and 1977. Despite the increasingly violent nature of his behavior, he repeatedly returned to the community after serving relatively short periods in custody or receiving plea agreements. He lived in several places, including Bloomington, Waukegan and Virginia, before settling in Skokie, Illinois. By 1977, he was married and working as a pizza delivery driver, but his outwardly ordinary life concealed his continuing interest in sexually exploiting and attacking women.
The 1977 Chicago-Area Murders
Miller first became the focus of a major murder investigation during the fall of 1977. On October 25, 1977, Martha Ryan, a 31-year-old Chicago woman who was also known as Martha E. Kowalski, disappeared. Witnesses reportedly last saw her with a young man driving an orange Chevrolet Vega. Miller owned a vehicle matching that description and lived near the area where Ryan's body was subsequently discovered.
Ryan's body was found eight days after her disappearance, wrapped in a blanket and abandoned in bushes outside a liquor store in Skokie. Investigators believed that she had been strangled. The circumstances surrounding her disappearance, Miller's vehicle and his proximity to the recovery location caused detectives to question him.
While police were investigating Ryan's death, the body of 22-year-old Ann Iecile Maxham was discovered in the same general region. Maxham had also been involved in prostitution. A woman who knew Maxham told investigators that Miller and his wife had previously associated with women working in prostitution. This information strengthened the developing case against Miller, and he was arrested on November 5, 1977.
Police searching Miller's residence and vehicle reportedly found evidence connecting him with additional offenses, including an armed robbery, a kidnapping and an aggravated battery. Investigators also examined his possible involvement in other killings dating back to 1976. The prosecution, however, encountered evidentiary problems because portions of the searches and interrogation were challenged in court.
Miller eventually admitted responsibility for strangling Ryan and Maxham. In July 1978, he was convicted of their murders and received concurrent prison terms of 15 to 30 years. He also received a separate sentence for armed robbery. Other pending allegations were resolved or dismissed as part of the legal proceedings, leaving unanswered questions about whether he had attacked or killed additional women before his imprisonment.
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