ALEXIS RASMUSSEN - 16 yo (9/2011)/ Convicted: Eric Millerberg, Charged: Dea Millerberg - North Ogden UT

Attorney wants change of venue in case of teenager's death

By Andrew Adams
December 20th, 2012 @ 7:30am



OGDEN — Attorneys want out of Weber County for the trial of a North Ogden man accused in the overdose death of his family's teenage babysitter.

Defense attorney Randy Marshall told the Standard-Examiner he can't think of many cases that have had more publicity than this one. So, he told 2nd District Judge Scott Hadley he will file a motion to move the trial for Eric Millerberg. Marshall is quoted as saying, "Common sense dictates that this case requires a change of venue."

Alexis Rasmussen, 16, disappeared in September 2011 and a large search for her followed. A tip led to Rasmussen's body, which was found in a remote area of Morgan County in October 2011.

Earlier this year, Dea Millerberg testified against her husband. She told the court she was present when Eric injected Rasmussen with the drugs that led to her death. She said she and her husband then dumped the body.

Prosecutors gave her immunity on that issue in exchange for her testimony. The defense plans to attack Dea Millerberg's testimony, saying she had reason to lie about what happened.

Oral arguments on the change of venue are scheduled for February. The trial is tentatively set to begin in late July.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=23463839

Trial Begins for Man Accused of Killing Baby Sitter

Wednesday, February 12 2014, 01:45 PM MST
By: Roxeanne Vainuku

(KUTV) The trial is underway for a North Ogden man accused in his babysitters death.

Prosecutors say Eric Millerberg injected Lexi Rasmussen, 16, with the drugs that killed her, then panicked and dumped the girls body.

Before taking a lunch break, jurors heard opening arguments from both sides.

Lexi's mother, Dawn Miera, was on the stand. She delivered emotional testimony about her daughter and the panic she experienced when she realized Lexi was missing.

A North Ogden police officer also testified, part of the prosecutions effort to lay out a case that Eric Millerberg injected the 16 year old with a fatal mix of heroin and methamphetamine.

Eric Millerberg showed up in court looking very different than he has in previous appearances with his hair closely cropped and he wore a suit.

Prosecutors took the first hour of the hearing to lay out what they called a road map of the case for the jury.

Deputy Weber County Attorney Chris Shaw told the jury that Eric Millerberg injected his 16 year old babysitter, Lexi Rasmussen, three times with drugs and that when the girl started having problems, Shaw said Millerberg did nothing to help.

Shaw says Millerberg panicked when he and his wife found the girl unresponsive, and that the couple stuffed Lexi Rasmussen in the trunk of their car, then dumped her body in a remote area of Morgan County.

The prosecutor says Eric Millerberg got help from a friend to later move the girl's body farther off the road to a spot where Lexi Rasmussen wouldn't be discovered for weeks.

Lexi Rasmussen's family sat in the front row of the courtroom. They sobbed as they heard some of the most graphic details of the case laid out.

At one point, when prosecutors said Lexi Rasmussen's body had 175 times the reporting amount of methamphetamine present, family members let out an audible gasp.

Defense attorneys cautioned the jury. They called Lexi's death a "terrible tragedy," but said the jury should not look at this case as though "someone should pay".

The defense worked to discredit a key witness in the case during opening statements. They said much of the testimony in this case will come from Eric Millerberg's estranged wife Dea, and the defense says she has every reason to lie in this case.

Dea Millerberg has already testified against her husband in previous hearings. She has a trial of her own for desecration of a body charges against her that begins in April.

Meantime, Dea Millerberg's testimony is expected to be a key part of the prosecution's case against Eric Millerberg.

http://www.kutv.com/news/top-stories/stories/vid_9638.shtml

Eric Millerberg found guilty in abuse death of teenage baby sitter

By McKenzie Romero, Deseret News
Published: Friday, Feb. 14 2014 10:20 p.m. MST
Updated: 9 hours ago

OGDEN — It came down to two stories, a husband's and a wife's, in a trial over the death of 16-year-old Alexis Rasmussen.

Jurors believed the wife.

Following three days of testimony — half the time the trial was expected to take — the jury deliberated for less than 90 minutes Friday night before finding Eric Millerberg, 38, guilty of child abuse homicide in the teenager's death following a night of drugs, sex and alcohol when she was supposedly baby-sitting at the Millerbergs' North Ogden home on Sept. 10, 2011.

Millerberg was stone faced as the forewoman from the five-man, three-woman jury read the verdict, pausing between each count as sobs erupted from Alexis' family.

Millerberg was also found guilty of obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony, unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and abuse or desecration of a human body, third-degree felonies.

Alexis' mother, Dawn Miera, did not comment as family and friends left the courthouse, alternately weeping and celebrating. She will likely speak at Millerberg's sentencing on March 18.

Defense attorney Randall Marshall, who expressed his disappointment as he hurried from the courthouse, said he expects Millerberg will appeal the decision.

As he excused the jury, 2nd District Judge Scott M. Hadley thanked them for their prompt decision and their willingness to continue working into the evening.

"You can see it in your faces, the hard work you've done," Hadley said. "It's hard work and it's never pleasant, frankly, to judge another human being."

Much of the case against Millerberg came from his wife Dea's testimony, which Weber County Attorney Dee W. Smith called "specific and graphic" as she described her husband shooting Alexis up with methamphetamine and heroin, sex acts between the three of them and later driving around looking for a place to dump Alexis' body after attempts to resuscitate her failed.

"Normal people don't inject little girls with heroin and methamphetamine," Smith told the jurors during closing arguments.

Smith urged jurors to consider that the law defines child abuse as inflicting injuries that impair a child's health, and said that included preparing and administering narcotics to Alexis and her friend, Brenna Cain.

"That's child abuse, and the defendant committed it when he stuck that needle in (Alexis') neck," Smith said, calling the behaviors reckless and dangerous.

Cain testified that she and Alexis often secretly got drugs, alcohol and sex from the Millerbergs, and when Alexis disappeared, they were the first people she approached.

The Millerbergs told Cain — as well as police, family members and almost anyone who asked — that Alexis had left their house around 10 p.m. to go meet a friend at a nearby elementary school, though text messages to Alexis' mother placed her at the Millerberg home until at least 11:30 p.m.

At the time of the disappearance, Eric Millerberg attempted to shift responsibility from himself, saying it wasn't up to him to tell the 16-year-old she couldn't leave his house, Smith said.

It was Eric "Peanut" Smith, an inmate who met Eric Millerberg behind bars who eventually led police to Alexis' body 38 days after she was reported missing. Eric Millerberg had asked for Smith's help moving the body deeper into the trees, hoping snow would cover it before any hunters stumbled upon it.

Another friend and inmate testified that Eric Millerberg had come to him for help moving the body, but he refused.

Alexis' badly decomposed remains still bore evidence of the large amounts of drugs she had taken before she died, though Marshall emphasized a medical examiner could not conclusively identify the drugs as the cause of death.

Millerberg chose not to testify in his defense. His attorney argued in closing statements that the most damning details of Dea Millerberg's testimony were not corroborated. He argued that Alexis likely would have been more comfortable around another woman and told jurors no one could be sure that it wasn't actually Dea Millerberg who injected the girl with drugs.

"Something happened and a little girl got in trouble, and because of that, a big girl got in trouble and she went for help. She went to her husband," Marshall said.

A separate trial for wife Dea Millerberg, 40, who is also charged with abuse or desecration of Alexis' body, a third-degreee felony, is set to begin in April. She received immunity from the state for testifying against her husband, meaning what she said under oath in one courtroom can't be used against her in her own trial.

Smith, who said he felt positive about the verdict when he learned the jury had reached a decision shortly before 7 p.m., will now turn his attention to the case against Dea Millerberg.

"We're going to have to sit down and evaluate the evidence we have against her independent of what she told us here on the stand, and we'll make appropriate decisions," Smith said, adding that so far no plea deals have been discussed.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865596578/Eric-Millerberg-found-guilty-in-abuse-death-of-teenage-baby-sitter.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2584451/Mother-babysitter-16-injected-fatal-dose-meth-heroin-raped-dumped-woods-sobs-white-supremacist-given-maximum-sentence.html

At least some justice. A death penalty would have been better. William

Ogden woman pleads guilty to desecration of a body in death of teen baby sitter

Published June 11, 2014
Associated Press

OGDEN, Utah – A woman accused of helping her husband dump their teenage baby sitter in the woods is pleading guilty to desecration of a human body and other charges as part of a plea deal.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/1s5WQv6) that 41-year-old Dea Millerberg agreed to the deal Wednesday in an Ogden court. She also pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and obtaining a prescription illegally.

Prosecutors say Dea Millerberg and her husband, Eric Millerberg, had a drug-fueled, salacious sexual relationship with 16-year-old Alexis Rasmussen that led to her death from an overdose in 2011.

Eric Millerberg was found guilty by a jury in February of child-abuse homicide and sentenced to up to life in prison — the maximum amount allowed under the state's guidelines.

Dea Millerberg will be sentenced Aug. 21.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/06/11/ogden-woman-pleads-guilty-to-desecration-body-in-death-teen-baby-sitter/

Utah woman accused of helping hide baby sitter’s body sentenced to prison

POSTED 9:29 AM, AUGUST 21, 2014,
BY ASHTON EDWARDS, SCOTT MCKANE AND NINEVEH DINHA,
UPDATED AT 10:04PM, AUGUST 21, 2014

OGDEN, Utah –  A judge has sentenced Dea Millerberg to three concurrent terms of up to five years in the Utah State Prison.

Thursday the judge said prison is the appropriate sentence for Millerberg, calling her acts “depraved.”

Dea walked into court Thursday without making any comments.

She then took her seat at the defense table, periodically weeping throughout the morning while first her attorney, then she herself, asked the judge to show leniency and sentence her to probation.

She also apologized to Lexi’s family.

She said: “I just want to say that I am appalled and disgusted by what I’ve done and for your family, I can’t fix. You’re in my prayers, and one day I hope you’ll be able to forgive me.”

Dea Millerberg also told the judge she accepted responsibility for her actions.

“Your honor I’m not going to make excuses for what I’ve done,” she said.

It was nearly three years ago that Dea and her husband, Eric, shot up drugs with their 16-year-old babysitter Lexi Rasmussen.

When Lexi later overdosed and died, the Millerbergs decided not to call 911; instead they disposed of Lexi’s body in a remote part of northern Utah.

Almost 40 days later, after Lexi’s remains were found and only after she was confronted with hard evidence, Dea finally told the truth and cooperated with police. Her testimony ultimately helped convict her husband Eric and send him to prison.

Despite her pleas for probation, the judge in the case said he could not reconcile the death of a teen and let Dea simply walk away. He called her acts “depraved” and said she needed to go to prison.

Lexi’s mother said she knows that nothing will bring her daughter back but she is relieved this phase of the process is now over.

The judge acknowledged Dea finally did tell the truth and wound up cooperating with police and that her testimony help send Eric Millerberg to prison. However the judge said that a real, live person died as a result of Dea’s drug use and her actions that night.

He also said that Dea was particularly culpable because she was a nurse and a mother herself and if it was up to him, he would like her to serve even more prison time.

Since the terms will run concurrently the maximum time she will serve is five years; she could potentially be out by this time next year.

http://fox13now.com/2014/08/21/utah-woman-accused-of-helping-hide-baby-sitters-body-to-be-sentenced/