New leads expected to pour in after TV show features Clark County case

Clark County

Related Photos

Discussion

July 9, 2009

‘Most Wanted’ producers interested in murder’s link

By MATT THACKER The News and Tribune Thu Jul 09, 2009, 01:26 PM EDT

Clark County authorities are hopeful that national exposure could help them track down a murder suspect wanted for more than four years.

“America’s Most Wanted” filmed this week in Clark County for a segment about the killing. On Wednesday, they talked to prosecutors and police and planned to talk to family members today.

Charges were filed under the name of Juan Delarosa, also known as Raul Cruz, but Prosecutor Steve Stewart said the man wanted for beating 36-year-old Ronald L. Miller to death in 2005 has at least 12 aliases.

“The show has a high success rate of getting information that allows the arrest warrant to be served, and I expect similar success in this case,” said Stewart who gave an interview for the program Wednesday morning.

According to the probable-cause affidavit, Delarosa beat Miller to death with a wooden bed post at a horse farm in Borden on May 25, 2005. Miller, who was from Pekin, died during a STAT flight to University Hospital in Louisville.

Stewart said investigators described the scene as one of the worst they had ever seen because of the brutality of the beating.

Delarosa reportedly did not go to work the next day, left home and was never heard from again.

Stewart said Delarosa, who was likely in the United States illegally, could be anywhere in this country or in Mexico. His family is in Mexico, and police believe he may have returned there.

Delarosa was originally charged with battery, but that charge was amended to murder last week. Stewart explained that they originally intended to capture Delarosa first and then amend the charges later.

Jenna Griffiths, producer of “America’s Most Wanted,” said the show became interested in the case last fall when a family member of the victim wrote them a letter. She said they were intrigued by the angle of showing what goes on in the horse racing industry.

Delarosa and Miller worked on horse farms in Clark and Floyd counties.

“Horse racing is not something that comes across our desks often,” Griffiths said.

In his interview with the TV show, Stewart said a lot of “unsavory” people work in horse racing. He also said people in the horse racing industry stick together, which makes it difficult to get information.

Even if Delarosa stayed in the Louisville or Southern Indiana area, his horse training experience could allow him to blend in easily.

“There are over 800 horse outlets in this area alone,” Sheriff Danny Rodden said. “That’s why it’s such a needle in a haystack kind of thing.”

Sheriff Danny Rodden said they are “95 percent sure” Delarosa is the murderer. He hopes that, if their suspect is still in the country, the popular TV show will help lead them to his capture.

“Any type of tool we can use to put these types of cases to rest is a good thing,” he said.

Griffiths said the show has an international audience and has had success in capturing fugitives who have fled the country. It just may require more patience if he is in Mexico, she said.

She said tips they receive from the show lead to about one capture per week.

Investigators who worked the case will be flown to the National Museum of Crime and Punishment in Washington, D.C., to answer calls in the phone center the night the show airs. All callers can remain completely anonymous, but some request to speak directly to the investigators, Griffiths said.

“Usually within 10 minutes of a piece airing, investigators start getting a lot of calls,” Griffiths said.

She said the case could air by mid-August, but no date has been set.

SO YOU KNOW

• “America’s Most Wanted” airs each Saturday night at 9 p.m. on FOX.