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Missouri standoff ends in Pasco suspect's suicide

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By TODD LESKANIC

tleskanic@tampatrib.com

Published: July 3, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY - Douglas Scott Miller Jr. avoided law enforcement for more than a quarter of a century.

He must have realized his streak was about to end Tuesday afternoon when officers with the Missouri Highway Patrol and the Bates County Sheriff's Office showed up at his home near Adrian in west central Missouri.

They had a search warrant.

As officers entered his home, he opened fire. A state trooper was shot, but a vest deflected the bullet. The officers returned fire and Miller fled to a back room. After a five-hour standoff, the lawmen realized Miller wasn't coming out. He was dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Miller's life ended hundreds of miles from Pasco County, but a yellowing court file buried in a storage warehouse explains why he left the county and lived under assumed names for the past 25 years.

In March 1983, Miller was 23 years old and living on Elizabeth Avenue in Holiday. On March 12, 1983, David Dobbins Jr. had friends over to his Golden Nugget Drive house. Included in the group was Miller's half-brother, 17-year-old Phillip Colbert.

Colbert began arguing with others at the gathering. Dobbins told him to leave, but Colbert wouldn't listen. Finally, Dobbins shoved Colbert out the door. When Colbert came back inside the house, he was bleeding from the mouth. He told witnesses he was going to "get his brother."

About 2 a.m., there was a knock. Colbert was at the door. Miller was with him. A witness said Miller had a gun. When the door opened, Miller forced his way in and began looking for Dobbins, who ran to a bedroom to get a revolver. Miller caught up and pointed his gun to Dobbins' head, according to a sheriff's report.

Miller ordered Dobbins to drop his gun. He led Dobbins out of the house at gunpoint, saying, "I'm going to kill you." Once outside, Dobbins turned and knocked the gun away from his head. Miller struck him in the jaw with the weapon. Dobbins ran; Miller aimed and fired an errant shot.

Dobbins wound up with a fractured jaw.

Miller wound up in the Pasco County Jail, charged with attempted first-degree murder, armed burglary, aggravated battery, aggravated assault and grand theft. He faced a life sentence.

Miller posted bail and his trial was set for Sept. 12, 1983. But when the docket was called, Miller wasn't there. A warrant for his arrest was issued.

On Sunday, Bates County sheriff's investigators learned Miller was living in their jurisdiction under an assumed name. They confirmed his identity three days later.

In the meantime, Bruce Haldeman, an investigator with the Pasco-Pinellas State Attorney's Office, found Dobbins in South Carolina. Dobbins told Haldeman he remembered the attack and still wanted Miller prosecuted.

Haldeman tracked down several witnesses to ensure a prosecution was still possible. Missouri authorities went to Miller's home to arrest him and begin extradition proceedings.

Instead, the years-old case ended in gunfire.

Reporter Todd Leskanic can be reached at (813) 731-8098.

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