Killer of Angela Brosso and Melanie Bernas gets death penalty and I’m fine with that

There are plenty of reasons not to execute Bryan Patrick Miller, sentenced to death after being convicted of the gruesome murders of Angela Brosso and Melanie Bernas 30 years ago.

But I’m okay if we off him.

Miller murdered Brosso and Bernas 10 months apart in 1992 and 1993.

Each was cycling along the canal when they were attacked.

He stabbed them. Mutilated them. Sexually assaulted them.

Haunted by the voice of one victim's mother

Shortly after the Brosso murder I spoke with Angela’s mother, Linda. I’ve never in all the years since talked with anyone so broken.

She told me, “You couldn't hold Angie back. She was a force. One of the things her father said about her was that she changed the nature of a room when she entered it. And it's true, you know? She really did. She was like a light going on. So funny. And witty. That's what we'll miss. That light.''

It took a long, long time for DNA to finally link Miller to the killings.

In the interim we learned a lot about the death penalty. About how arbitrary it can be. About how mistakes are made. About how, in Arizona, we stink at killing killers.

In fact, I learned it the same year Angela Brosso was murdered.

Proof of our incompetence when it comes to killing killers

In 1992, Donald Harding, a triple murderer, became the first person executed in Arizona in 29 years. He convulsed his way to the next life during an 11-minute nightmare in the state’s gas chamber.

I interviewed Harding shortly before his death and he told me, “Is murder the solution to murder? No. It’s not. But, me personally, I’m very tired. To be honest with you, dying here under those circumstances, languishing here and sort of rotting away in a cage is a fate worse than death.”

In 2014, condemned murderer Joseph Wood was injected 15 times with an experimental lethal drug cocktail and spent nearly two hours heaving and gasping before he died.

Then there is the story of Ray Krone. He was convicted of murdering 35-year-old Kim Ancona. Krone was called the “Snaggletooth Killer” owing to dental problems. Prosecutors said a teeth impression on the victim matched Krone. He was convicted and sent to death row. In 2002, however, DNA testing not only proved that Krone wasn’t the killer but it identified who was.

A good reason to pause executions. A better reason to off Miller

Given all that, it makes sense that Gov. Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes decided to pause executions while an appointed independent commissioner could try to figure out a reasonable, less horrific system.

The fact is, it makes sense to keep convicted killers in prison for life.

It’s actually a lot less expensive than going through all the legal appeals before an execution is carried out. And, it has the added bonus of never killing an innocent person. Or killing anyone, which is something that we, as humans, should aspire to.

But all those years ago I spoke to Linda Brosso.

She told me, “I don’t want anyone to ever say anything to me about closure. Never. To normal people like us, this can never make sense. Something like this changes you. You become sad, you know? Just sad. And you know that for the rest of your life it’s going to be that way.”

Miller did that. We know it for sure.

So, yeah, I’m okay if we off him.

Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ‘Canal Killer’ sentenced to death and I’m OK executing him