Exclusive Jailhouse Interview with Debra Milke.mp4 — Transcript

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1. 0:0126-year-old Deborah Gene Milky may
2. 0:03become only the third woman ever to
3. 0:04receive a death sentence in Arizona.
4. 0:06Maricopa County Superior Court Judge
5. 0:08Cheryl Hendrickx is expected to sentence
6. 0:10Milky tomorrow for the murder of her
7. 0:12four-year-old son Christopher Milky.
8. 0:15With us now is our private investigator
9. 0:16and reporter Paul Hubil to tell us more
10. 0:18about the case. Yes, Dale. An
11. 0:20unthinkable murder. According to the
12. 0:22motives offered by the prosecutor, the
13. 0:24young victim was neither loved nor
14. 0:26wanted by his mother. He was an
15. 0:28inconvenience. The money from a $5,000
16. 0:30life insurance policy would solve some
17. 0:32short-term financial problems. An
18. 0:35infatuated gunman hoped to win the favor
19. 0:37of the child's mother as a reward for
20. 0:39killing this boy. It was 13 months ago
21. 0:42when little Christopher Milky was
22. 0:44reported missing by his mother's
23. 0:46roommate, James
24. 0:47Styers. Styers fabricated a story
25. 0:50telling police the boy disappeared after
26. 0:52using a Metro Center Mall restroom. We
27. 0:56walked into into Sears, went into the
28. 0:58restroom there. When I came out of the
29. 1:00stall at the restroom, Christopher was
30. 1:02gone and that was it. Police questioned
31. 1:05a boyhood friend of Styers, Roger Scott.
32. 1:08Scott confessed implicating both Styers
33. 1:10and Milky in the murder. He took police
34. 1:13officers to this desert wash near 99th
35. 1:16Avenue and Happy Valley Road. The boy's
36. 1:19body was found in a fetal position with
37. 1:22three gunshot wounds to the back of his
38. 1:24head.
39. 1:25Officers also found the murder weapon
40. 1:28and a pair of sneakers allegedly worn by
41. 1:30Styers. Scott says he only drove the car
42. 1:33and that Styers was the trigger man.
43. 1:36Styers was tried, convicted, and
44. 1:38sentenced to the gas chamber for his
45. 1:41role. In court, however, Styers
46. 1:44testified that Scott was the trigger man
47. 1:46and that he only made the phony missing
48. 1:48report because Scott threatened to kill
49. 1:50him if he didn't. Roger Scott's trial is
50. 1:53now underway in another court and is
51. 1:54expected to last several more weeks.
52. 1:57News Center 10's John Kane and I talked
53. 1:59with Milky for over an hour and a half
54. 2:01in an exclusive jail house interview.
55. 2:04Were you involved in any way or did you
56. 2:07give consent to the murder of your son,
57. 2:10Christopher? No.
58. 2:13Tomorrow night, we will show you this
59. 2:15interview and hear Deborah Milky's
60. 2:16accusation that a Phoenix police
61. 2:18detective made up the confession that
62. 2:20was used against her in court. Wasn't
63. 2:21Milky's confession really the strongest
64. 2:23evidence that was presented to the jury
65. 2:25that convicted her? That's right, Dale.
66. 2:27Other than the confession, very little
67. 2:29evidence was heard by the jury that
68. 2:31linked Milky directly to this crime. All
69. 2:33right, fascinating story. Tragic case,
70. 2:35too. Thanks, Paul.
71. 2:39As we reported earlier, a superior court
72. 2:41judge sentenced Deborah Gene Milky to
73. 2:43the gas chamber. Our private
74. 2:45investigator and reporter Paul Hubble
75. 2:47continues his report now of an exclusive
76. 2:49jail house interview with Deborah Milky.
77. 2:52News Center 10's John Kaine and I
78. 2:54interviewed Deborah Milky at the
79. 2:55Maricopa County Jail for more than an
80. 2:57hour and a half. It's not the first time
81. 2:59I've talked to Milky. I interviewed her
82. 3:01less than 24 hours after her arrest. As
83. 3:04she did in the earlier interview, Milky
84. 3:06still denies any involvement in the
85. 3:08murder of her son. It's been more than a
86. 3:10year since Deborah Milky was put in jail
87. 3:12for a crime she says she didn't commit.
88. 3:15Her defense, she says, Phoenix police
89. 3:18detective Armando Salate made up a
90. 3:21confession he used against her in court.
91. 3:24The confession was neither tape recorded
92. 3:26nor written by Milky. Unfortunately,
93. 3:28only the detective and Milky were
94. 3:31present and only they know what was
95. 3:33said. I think that before he even came
96. 3:37down to Florence, you know, to get me or
97. 3:40whatever you want to call it.
98. 3:43I believe that once he
99. 3:45heard my name, because I was implicated
100. 3:48by Roger, I think once he heard my name
101. 3:52and this involved a child and then I was
102. 3:56out of Phoenix, I think he knew
103. 3:58immediately this would become a big
104. 4:01story, you know, and I'm the arresting
105. 4:04officer and I'm going to, you know, you
106. 4:06know, like some kind of hero. Milky also
107. 4:09refuted claims that she was an abusive
108. 4:11mother. It just amazes me how people can
109. 4:14say that I was so abusive. Well, I was
110. 4:16never reported. No one tried to take him
111. 4:19away from
112. 4:20me. You know, I did the best I could
113. 4:25with what I had and that's I mean, I
114. 4:28just did the best I could. Milky
115. 4:31detailed her divorce and custody
116. 4:33proceedings with the boy's father, Mark
117. 4:35Milky. I wanted sole custody and
118. 4:38restricted supervised visitation because
119. 4:40Mark abused drugs and alcohol. I didn't
120. 4:43strip him of his parental rights. I
121. 4:45didn't care about money. All I wanted
122. 4:48was to make sure Christopher was, you
123. 4:51know, protected le, you know, legally.
124. 4:55She explained her reasons for not
125. 4:57searching for Christopher when he was
126. 4:59missing. together. When I talked to Jim,
127. 5:02he said, "Um, I'm here and there's
128. 5:05people here looking and the security
129. 5:07guards were there." And then I didn't
130. 5:10have a way to get
131. 5:11there. That's why I stayed home. The
132. 5:14police officers were there. They told me
133. 5:18that I needed to be with my family. And
134. 5:20I told them, "My family lives out of
135. 5:22Phoenix."
136. 5:24And they said that my phone was tapped
137. 5:27so if they heard anything I'd be the
138. 5:30first to know so that someone
139. 5:32volunteered to stay at my apartment and
140. 5:34listen for my phone so I could go be
141. 5:35with my family. And I left them my dad's
142. 5:38name and address and phone number. And I
143. 5:41told them if you have
144. 5:43any if you've heard anything or need to
145. 5:46get a hold of me, this is where I'll be.
146. 5:48And we left and it was okay. It's not
147. 5:50like I just ran. Milky described the two
148. 5:54tragedies in her life. It's really hard
149. 5:57to explain to people what this is, what
150. 5:59I go through when someone hasn't been
151. 6:02through this. I don't I don't have just
152. 6:04one tragedy. I have two, you know, and
153. 6:07the first one is the loss of Christopher
154. 6:09and the second one is being charged and
155. 6:11going through this legal stuff and being
156. 6:14convicted of it on top of it. Now, her
157. 6:17hopes are in the appeal process. The
158. 6:20only thing really that I have left to
159. 6:22hang on to is the the higher court, a
160. 6:26court of appeals. And I don't just have
161. 6:28one time, I have more, you know, or the
162. 6:31Supreme Court. I feel really
163. 6:34positive and optimistic about it. We
164. 6:38requested an interview with Armando
165. 6:40Salate, who now works as a justice court
166. 6:42constable. Although he declined an on
167. 6:45camera interview, he did say that he
168. 6:47stands by his testimony that he expects
169. 6:50Milky to lie in order to save her own
170. 6:52neck. Is it normal police procedure to
171. 6:54interview a murder suspect without the
172. 6:56use of a tape recorder? No, Dale.
173. 6:58Confessions are often obtained in
174. 7:00writing or are tape recorded by police.
175. 7:03Another alternative is for more than one
176. 7:05officer to be present as a witness. None
177. 7:07of these things were done here. It's
178. 7:09very interesting that in a confession
179. 7:11given earlier the same day by fellow
180. 7:13defendant Roger Scott, police tape
181. 7:16recorded his statements. Why that wasn't
182. 7:18done with Melky, I'm not sure that I
183. 7:21know. Certainly does raise some
184. 7:22interesting questions as to why not.
185. 7:24Thank you, Paul. Interesting story.