The Cheerleader Rapes

1981 Cheerleaders at Castelberry High School, River Oaks, Texas 
(River Oaks is a suburb northwest of Fort Worth.) January 23, 1981, 16-year-old Susan Brown (Class of 1982) was getting ready to be a cheerleader at a high school basketball game. She received a call asking if her father, Ed, was home. She said, “no,” and soon saw a masked man standing inside her home. She tried running, but he caught her. He was strong and he hit her to get her to stop screaming. After the struggle she was told to turn over while the man dressed and departed. Susan never arrived to be a cheerleader at the game. She called the police, but they never performed a rape kit on her. As a result, this case would never be prosecuted. 

Another cheerleader, Roxy McDonnell was supposed to pick up Susan. Roxy said she had an argument with her boyfriend Wesley Miller and that’s why she didn’t pick Susan up. 
Wesley Miller, Football Team Captain In November of 1981, a second rape occurred in Saginaw. It started again with a call to the home. They had a fingerprint, but the rapist’s fingerprint was not in AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System).

December 7, 1981 cheerleader Lisa Tickner, (Class of 1981) was staying with her mother who was dying of a degenerative disease. Her mother slept in the living room. Lisa woke up to a man standing in a mask in her bedroom. Lisa asked, “Where’s my mother?” He told her, “I won’t hurt her if you do what I want you to do.” He raped her, told her to turn over and left. When Lisa heard him walking down the steps, she followed to make sure her mother was okay. The man removed his mask as he walked by her mother. She could see from behind that he had long dark hair. Lisa immediately called a friend who brought her to the police. Investigators realized the rapist knew Lisa’s mother wouldn’t be able to identify him.  It was someone she knew.
December 8, 1981, Roxy’s sister was raped in her home. Roxy’s family lived right across the street from Lisa, in the River Oaks area. An investigator wrote in the file, “looks like Wesley Miller,” but Wesley was never interviewed. ​ In December of 1981, former Castleberry High cheerleader, Retha Stratton (Class of 1981) moved in with a friend. When warned about the rapist, Retha told her father, “He’ll have to kill me first.” On January 21, 1982, Retha was found dead in her bedroom closet. The assault had started in her living room and ended in her bedroom. Retha had been stabbed 36 times and the killer left the knife sticking in her chest. Her underwear had been stuffed into her mouth. Retha was 18-years-old. Retha began dating a senior football player, in 8th grade, and maintained the relationship with Dale after high school. Dale was well liked by her family, and he had an alibi. Dale, and Retha’s sister began asking people for any evidence pertaining to Retha’s murder. A friend told Dale, that they drove by Retha’s home and saw a truck similar to the one Wesley Miller drives, at the home about the time of the murder. (Wesley Miller was cheerleader Roxy’s boyfriend.) ​ Wesley Miller Voted Best All ‘Round Senior – 1 year before his arrest At 9:30 p.m. January 21, 1982. The night of Retha’s murder, was Roxy’s birthday. Wesley Miller showed up with bloody clothes and told Roxy he had been playing football. She washed his blue jeans. Her parents called the police and informed them of Wesley’s bloody clothes. Wesley was called in for an interview and claimed he was having an affair with Retha, later proven to be untrue, and they had an argument. He admitted killing her. Wesley acknowledged cutting her wrists, to make sure she was dead. Wesley Miller was found guilty of murder and plead guilty to the Saginaw rape. (They had his fingerprint.) He was sentenced to 25 years for murders and 20 years to be served concurrently for the sexual assault. (A concurrent sentence means that he received no time for the rape. He served his rape sentence at the same time he served his murder sentence.)  Miller was released from prison in 1991 to a halfway house. (10 years after the murder.) He was soon arrested for attempted assault. After serving 5 more years, he was transferred to a county jail, and then placed on a GPS monitoring system. After refusing to wear the monitor, he was incarcerated again. In 2006, Wesley was the 1st person civilly committed under Texas’s Sexually Violent Predator Law. He violated by having a relationship with a female jailer. Between 1992 and 2018 Wesley Miller was released from prison 6 times, and he violated his conditions of release each time. Miller is guilty of murder and was suspected of 4 rapes and 1 attempted rape. Wesley Miller now remains under mandatory supervision at a secure treatment facility in Littlefield, Texas. ​ We are far better at investigating sexual assaults then we were 40 years ago. We are much better at prosecuting sexual assaults. We’re a little better at holding sex offenders accountable. I base the last statement on recent rulings by Hearings and Release units. One ruling didn’t send a sex offender back to prison, even though he violated his rules of supervision by accessing child pornography. A second ruling didn’t send a sex offender back to prison, even though he committed a statutory sexual offense while on probation. The Hearings and Release argument is that we have too many people in prison. If that’s true, we damn well need to make sure we’re releasing the right ones. 

​Thanks for listening,


Frank Upcoming Events:
Thursday, March 3, 2022, Forensic Psychologist, Frank Weber, will be at Lake City Public Library, speak on the writing of True Crime, forensic work and his latest book from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.  Frank has profiled cold case homicides for the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and narrated an investigative show on the Oxygen channel titled Murdered by Morning. His newest True Crime novel, Burning Bridges, examines the life and demise of a psychopath in central Minnesota. Frank will demonstrate a lie detector test (volunteer a friend). Frank will be at the library from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. signing and selling books.  The Lake City Public library is located at 201 South High Street, Lake City, Minnesota, 55401. 
 
Thursday, March 10, 2022, Frank will be at 523 Trading Post, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. speaking on the writing of True Crime, forensic work and his latest book. Burning Bridges examines the life and demise of a psychopath in central Minnesota. Learn about new forensic techniques and find out what they get wrong on crime shows and movies. The 523 Trading Post is located in Dirks’ Furniture Building.  The address is 523 Trading Post, 821 East Lincoln Avenue, Olivia, Minnesota, 56277.
 
Monday, March 21, 2022, Frank will be at Belgrade Great River Regional Library, from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. speaking on the writing of True Crime, forensic work and his latest book. Burning Bridges examines the life and demise of a psychopath in central Minnesota. Frank will demonstrate a lie detector test (volunteer a friend). The  Library is located at 324 Washburn Avenue, Belgrade, Minnesota, 56312. ​
 
Tuesday, March 29, 2022, Frank will be speaking at the Kiwanis 100 year celebration 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. The event will take place from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Broadway Ballroom at 115 30th Avenue East, Alexandria, Minnesota, 56308.  Frank will sign and sell books both prior to speaking and after speaking. He will demonstrate a lie detector test (volunteer a friend), and share what they get right and wrong in shows and movies.
 
Author and forensic psychologist Frank Weber will be the presenting author for a virtual “Brown Bag” author visit on Monday, April 4, 2022, 12 noon to 1 pm. Frank will present on his latest book, Burning Bridges, an incredible true crime mystery centered around a Bemidji State College student’s search for her biological father which leads to the examination of the life and demise of a psychopath in central Minnesota. Frank will also speak about new forensic techniques and the writing of True Crime as a genre, and what they get wrong on crime shows and movies. This will be a virtual event, presented live from the Friends of the Brainerd Public Library Facebook page.

Still waiting to hear the official print date at on Black and Blue.