Testimony complete in F. Glenn Miller Jr.’s death penalty trial

F. Glenn Miller Jr. never denied killing three people last year in Overland Park. All he wanted, he said, was a chance to explain why.

He got that chance, and on Friday, with the testimony of one last witness, all the evidence has been submitted in Miller’s capital murder trial.

It will be up to the Johnson County jury that found him guilty Monday to decide if the 74-year-old Miller should be sentenced to death or spend the rest of his life in prison.

The jury will be back in the courtroom Tuesday for closing arguments before it begins deliberations.

Throughout the two-week trial, Miller, who is acting as his own attorney, has admitted his guilt in the April 13, 2014, rampage.

He testified he was motivated by his belief that Jewish people are engaged in a conspiracy to destroy “the white race.”

Miller drove from his Aurora, Mo., home to Johnson County intent on killing as many Jews as he could while a high school talent competition was taking place at the Jewish Community Center, according to testimony.

Instead, he fatally shot three Christians: William Corporon, 69, and his grandson Reat Underwood, 14, outside the Jewish Community Center, and Terri LaManno, 53, outside the nearby Village Shalom retirement community.

He expressed disappointment that his victims weren’t Jewish and said he wished he had killed more people.

On Friday, Miller said he didn’t much care what sentence the jury imposes. In fact, he said, a death sentence would be doing him a favor.

“I want to be a martyr,” he told District Judge Kelly Ryan after the jury left the courtroom. “The death penalty is very low on my priority list.”

Miller, who has chronic lung disease, testified earlier that he had feared he would die before he got the chance to kill Jews.

On Friday, Miller called his final defense witness, a California doctor who estimated Miller’s life expectancy at about five years.

The prosecution’s case included eyewitnesses who identified Miller as the shooter. Prosecutors also used forensic testing to link evidence from the crime scenes with firearms found in Miller’s car after his arrest.

Jurors watched police dashcam video of Miller asking, “How many did I get?” They heard him confess during a phone conversation with a friend after his arrest.

For his part, Miller, also known as Frazier Glenn Cross Jr., used the trial as a platform to express the anti-Semitic and anti-government beliefs he has harbored for more than four decades.

He repeatedly argued with the judge and received numerous admonitions from him about unsolicited comments during testimony.

On Friday, Ryan once again reminded Miller that he was in a court of law, not in “a public square where you can get up and talk endlessly.”

The Star’s previous trial coverage

Day 1: As the trial opens, F. Glenn Miller Jr. puts himself at the scene of the Jewish center shootings.

Day 2: Jurors view police video of F. Glenn Miller Jr. just after his arrest.

Day 3: Prosecutors are close to finishing the case against F. Glenn Miller Jr.

Day 4: F. Glenn Miller Jr. is to begin his defense case.

Day 5: F. Glenn Miller Jr. tells jurors he regrets not killing more people.

Day 6: Death penalty phase is next after F. Glenn Miller Jr. is found guilty in the Jewish center shootings.

Day 7: Death penalty phase begins in F. Glenn Miller Jr.’s trial for killings outside Jewish centers.

Day 8: F. Glenn Miller Jr.’s son testifies that he loves his dad, but not his hateful beliefs.

Day 9: ‘If I could push a button, every Jew in the world would disappear,’ F. Glenn Miller Jr. says in court.

This story was originally published September 4, 2015 at 10:58 AM.