Miller gets life

1 week, 6 days ago by Scott Hardy

Lyle Miller sentenced to life in prison for murder of Betty Hayes, 88.

A Monroe County man, convicted of killing a Madison, Missouri woman in late 2021 over a debt, will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Lyle Miller received that sentence Friday at a hearing in Monroe County Circuit Court. A jury deliberated for eight hours over two days in late March before finding him Guilty on counts of 1st Degree Murder and evidence tampering in the death of 88-year-old Betty Hayes in December 2021. Witnesses had testified that Hayes died of several slashes to her throat. She was also hit on the head. Her body was then dumped into a pond, located on land owned by Miller. The jury found that he killed Hayes in December 2021 because she reportedly owed him ten thousand dollars for work he had done for her.

Hayes's body was found in July 2023 at the bottom of a pond located on land owned by Miller.