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In New Philadelphia, Ohio, the trial of Ruth Miller, an Amish mother facing charges of aggravated murder, is set to begin this Tuesday. She stands accused of intentionally drowning her four-year-old son at Atwood Lake during the summer.
The tragic events came to light on August 23, when witnesses observed Miller, aged 40 and hailing from Millersburg, drive a golf cart into the lake while accompanied by her three children — her twin 18-year-old sons and a 15-year-old daughter.
Fortunately, the children managed to escape the water unharmed, and rescuers were able to pull Miller to safety. However, troubling revelations emerged from body camera footage captured by park rangers at the scene. In the footage, Miller made concerning remarks regarding her missing four-year-old son and husband, both of whom were unaccounted for at the time.
The story began to unfold on August 23, when witnesses reported 40-year-old Ruth Miller of Millersburg drove a golf cart into the lake with three of her children in the cart, her twin 18-year-old sons and 15-year-old daughter.
The children were able to climb out of the water on their own, and Ruth Miller was pulled out by rescuers.
Body camera video from park rangers responding to the scene, revealed that Miller then made statements about her four-year-old son and her husband, who were both unaccounted for.
When asked about her son, she allegedly said, “I threw him in the lake and I gave him to God and people are going to tell me I’m crazy, but He is real and He loves you.”
Miller then told rangers that in a test of their faith, her husband went for a late-night swim and never returned.
On the body camera video, a ranger told Miller, “I need to know where your husband is at.”
“He’s at the bottom of the lake in a fish,” Miller responded.
“Ma’am, there’s no fish large enough on Atwood to swallow your husband,” the ranger said.
The bodies of four-year-old Vincen Miller and his father, 45-year-old Marcus Miller, were later recovered by dive teams from the bottom of the lake.
Investigators said it appears that Ruth Miller and her husband were suffering what they call “spiritual delusion,” which led them to believe that the lake was not a danger to the family and that they could walk on water.
In September, Ruth Miller was indicted on charges that include aggravated murder for allegedly causing the drowning death of her four-year-old son, and child endangering and domestic violence for attempting the same ritual with her three older children.
Miller’s defense team entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, and on Monday, Attorney Ian Friedman told affiliate WJW, “It’s so sad, it’s a horrid tragedy that happened and it happened only because of a severe mental disease, a severe mental illness.”
Friedman said based on evidence gathered in the case and the findings of three separate psychiatric examinations, Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Ernest is expected to render a verdict on Tuesday, deciding if Ruth Miller is guilty, not guilty or not guilty by reason of insanity.
“The judge has been presented with the three reports and all of them determined the same thing, that Ruth was unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of her conduct on that day,” Friedman said.
Friedman said the biggest misconception about being found not guilty by reason of insanity is that it somehow excuses illegal conduct and is a free pass from prison.
He said if the judge agrees with the psychiatric reports, Ruth Miller would undergo treatment monitored by the court.
The longtime Cleveland attorney is convinced that Miller would have never harmed her children if not for severe mental illness, and he said in many cases with treatment and reflection, there is a reckoning.
“All of the sudden coming to a place where they realize what they were involved with and just being at an absolute loss as to how they could have been involved in that place. Imagine how painful and terrifying that must be,” he said. “And I certainly think that Ruth would be no exception to that.”
If Ernest agrees that Ruth Miller is not guilty by reason of insanity, there would be another hearing to decide the type of treatment she would undergo and where she would be treated.