Pair Specializes In Murders Where Bodies Weren't Found

SALEM, Ore. - Gerald Miller once bragged that he couldn't be prosecuted for killing his two wives because their bodies never were recovered.

That was before he ran into Alan Scharn and Dianne Middle, a prosecutor and investigator who specialize in murder cases minus the body.

The Salem man was sentenced last year to life in prison.

As Scharn and Middle share the lessons learned in the case, investigators across the Northwest are dusting off files on no-body homicides.

The Marion County pair have conducted two seminars in the past eight months, attracting about 135 officers and prosecutors.

Inquiries for assistance have come from as far away as New Jersey and Alaska.

Some of the first students were detectives from Medford, Ore. Last month Medford police arrested a man and charged him with his wife's 7-year-old murder. Her remains finally were found two weeks ago.

The training from Middle and Scharn made the case, said Lt. Ed Moss of the Medford police.

"We would never have done this prosecution without their assistance," Moss said.

Officials say an investigative technique called due diligence is the cornerstone of the training. The method represents efforts to find the victims, showing that there has been an exhaustive search.

In a typical homicide, police know where the victim is. There's a crime scene with the body, blood, fingerprints, weapons and other physical evidence. Often there are witnesses.

In a no-body homicide, investigators have to work backward.

"You disprove the negatives," Middle said. "Everything that's not there points to what must be."

Middle and Scharn looked all over the world for Miller's first wife, Crystal, and his second wife, Carol.

"We had to look for them as if they were alive," Scharn said.

By profiling the lifestyles of the two women, the investigators determined the scope of the search. Carol Miller was well traveled, so the search for her was much wider than for Crystal Miller, who stayed close to home.

The investigators checked Social Security records, driver's licenses in all 50 states and computer data bases that carry public records such as marriages, court records and property deals.

Information about the women also went to Canada, Mexico and Interpol.

About 6,000 missing-person mailings were sent out.

Numerous parallels were established between the women's disappearances. Patterns were established concerning Gerald Miller's actions before, during and after each disappearance.

In an effort to substantiate his lies and Miller's behavior, investigators delved into recollections of friends, family and co-workers.

Investigators spent hundreds of hours corroborating the memories through phone records, journals, calendars, bank records and work schedules.