Metro Police
Michael Miller
Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019 | 6:45 p.m.
A suspect accused of killing his live-in landlord after an eviction said he pulled the trigger in self-defense, according to witness statements Metro Police used to arrest him on a murder count.
Michael Miller, 19, who was arrested on Sept. 23, is being held at the Clark County Detention Center on a $250,000 bond, jail logs show.
The suspect’s uncle, Joseph Miller, 48, is accused of helping to dispose of the victim’s body, which was found in a desert area near State Route 147, approaching Lake Mead National Recreation Area on Sept. 20, police said. He is being held on a $20,000 bond on one count of harboring, concealing and aiding a felony offender.
Crews searching for a missing woman instead encountered human remains wrapped and tied using “various household items,” according to Michael Miller’s arrest report. Earlier, police described the items as a sleeping bag.
The Clark County Coroner’s Office said Raul Salazar, 47, died from multiple gunshot wounds. He was shot in his house, police allege.
As a child, Michael Miller suffered burns to most of his body in a blaze that also took his legs and one hand, police said.
Miller, his mother and his two younger siblings lived in a house owned by Salazar, but the homeowner had moved to evict them, police said.
According to Miller’s uncle, the suspect woke up on Sept. 19 to find that his family was gone and that the prosthetics he uses to walk were in another room, police said.
So he crawled to find them, but Salazar — who also had mobility problems — cornered him in the hallway, pinning him against a wall with a walker, police said. Michael Miller felt threatened and opened fire, the suspect’s uncle told police, according to the report.
Joseph Miller received a panicked call from his nephew saying he needed help, police said. The elder Miller told detectives that he arrived to find Salazar lifeless.
“(Joseph Miller) claimed prior to disposing the body, they considered staging the house to look like a home invasion.”
Instead, they drove the body and ditched it in the desert, police said.
Michael Miller’s mother also told police that her son admitted to shooting Salazar, police said. After he was put in handcuffs, the murder suspect didn’t speak to detectives.
