UNION COUNTY, Pa. — A Pennsylvania woman was found guilty of first-degree murder after poisoning her husband’s coffee when she thought he was about to discover she was stealing from him.
According to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, Myrtle Miller, 78, of Union County, was found guilty of first-degree murder, theft by deception, forgery, insurance fraud, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity and perjury early Monday morning, all in connection with the death of her husband, John Nichols.
Officials said Miller drained all of her husband’s bank accounts in the months before his death. She also forged his signature on checks.
Miller made herself the sole beneficiary on two of her husband’s life insurance policies and got loans against those policies. When the fraud was about to be uncovered, Miller killed Nichols by mixing large amounts of both of their medications into his coffee, the attorney general’s office said.
The investigation also revealed that shortly before her husband’s death, a representative from the Union-Snyder Agency on Aging went to the couple’s house for a report of financial exploitation.
Officials said that, according to testimony, Miller panicked that Nichols would find out about the theft and told her son she would “handle it.”
Miller was also involved in several romantic conversations with men through Facebook in the months leading up to her husband’s death. A former friend testified in court that Miller told her she was in love with at least one of the men, the attorney general’s office said.
“The defendant was systematically emptying her husband’s bank accounts, and upon being found out, made the deliberate and intentional decision to kill him,” Attorney General Michelle Henry said in a press release. “It is hard to fathom acts more cold, calculated, and self-serving, and while we cannot bring back the life of Mr. Nichols, we hope today’s verdict offers a measure of justice to his family and friends.”
Miller faces mandatory lifetime imprisonment when she is sentenced at a later date. She is currently being held in the Union County Prison.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW