Murderer gets 2 life sentences

Double-murderer Tyler Miller is going to spend the rest of his life in jail.

District Judge Stewart Stadler sentenced Miller to two consecutive life sentences with no possibility of parole in the brutal Christmas 2010 murders of 35-year-old Jaimi Hurlbert and her 15-year-old daughter, Alyssa Burkett.

 Stadler handed down the sentence after nearly three hours of testimony from family and friends of the two victims as well as from several defense witnesses Friday afternoon.

Stadler said the decision to bar any opportunity for parole was based on the fact that it had been “conclusively established” that if Miller was released into the community and failed to stay on his medication or did anything to hinder their effectiveness he would become an “immediate threat” to society. The judge also said it was unfortunate that Miller did not deal with his problems prior to the murders.

“There is no evidence that you would handle [your problems] ... if you were released into the community,” Stadler said, “and we can’t afford another homicide.”

Despite their desire for Miller to be put to death for his crimes, the victims’ family members were pleased with the outcome. Among them was Hurlbert’s father, Butch Hurlbert.

“It means he’s gonna die in prison, he’s never getting out, society never has to worry about him again, and I didn’t get the death penalty but I’m happy, I’m content with what I got,” Butch said after the hearing. “I don’t have to worry about it anymore. Maybe I can go to sleep at night now.”

Hurlbert said the number of people who testified about their suffering and feeling of loss resulting from Jaimi and Alyssa’s deaths, as well as to how special the mother and daughter were, showed how many people appreciated them. A total of 10 people, from high school friends of Alyssa’s to Jaimi’s sister Jennifer Hurlbert and Butch himself, spoke for an hour and a half for the prosecution.

Jennifer said she was not surprised by the turnout.

“There were 1,075 people at their funeral,” she said. “That means that those two girls were and are loved.”

During her own testimony, Jennifer held up her hand toward Miller and pointed at a ring she was wearing, asking him if he remembered it. Jaimi had been wearing the ring when Miller murdered her. Jennifer said it was eventually returned to the family, still caked in her sister’s blood. After cleaning it, she began wearing it every day in memory of her murdered sister.

Other testimony on behalf of the prosecution was equally emotional, with tearful statements common and dry eyes few among those sitting with the family. As person after person came to the stand and lamented the loss of their daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin, friend or co-worker, the common theme was utter disbelief at Miller’s actions and a desire for justice and retribution.

Alyssa’s friend and schoolmate, Kimberly Grosswiler: “Every day I have to live without my best friend. I feel like half of me is missing.”

Alyssa’s friend, Dawn Walker: “Someday we will be smiling down at your [Miller’s] pain.”

Jaimi’s coworker, Brandi McKatee: “There’s no cure for evil, Tyler.”

Jaimi’s aunt, Marion Craig: “Even hardened criminals should not have to be locked up with you.”

Jaimi’s father, Butch Hurlbert: “I’ve never known hate in my life like I hate you.”

MILLER ORIGINALLY had faced the death penalty after Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan filed a motion to seek the punishment, but it was later retracted after Miller changed his plea to guilty for both murders against the advice of his attorney. Corrigan declined to comment at the time, but spoke about his decision after Miller’s sentencing.

The procedure to seek the death penalty for cases in Montana includes participation by the attorney general’s office, because its staff would be in charge of handling death penalty appeals. Because of that, Corrigan and several others visited Helena to speak with members of the office’s committee that deals with the issue after they had determined the death penalty might be appropriate.

“The opinion down there was not unanimous; there was a split opinion as to whether this fell within Montana’s statutory scheme and was eligible as a death penalty case,” Corrigan said. “In fact there was some strong argument that it did not. They were unanimous in their recommendation, however, that we not seek the death penalty.”

Corrigan filed a motion to seek the death penalty anyway because if they were going to seek it, they had to file within 60 days of Miller’s arraignment. He also said he wanted it on the table if Miller went to trial.

At one point, Corrigan approached Miller’s attorney, Noel Larrivee, and told him that if Miller would change his plea to guilty he would withdraw the motion. Miller was not interested.

However, when Miller did eventually change his plea just three days after the one-year anniversary of the murders, Corrigan withdrew the motion.

“It was always my intention that if he pleaded guilty we would not seek the death penalty,” Corrigan said, later adding, “My goal all along was to get him convicted and put in prison for the rest of his life and take away his ability to appeal incessantly.”

Seeking the death penalty would have drawn an immediate appeal that would have left open the possibility of Miller’s conviction being overturned by other judges sometime down the road, and there had already been two appeals to the Montana Supreme Court related to the death penalty aspect of the case. Corrigan said withdrawing the death penalty left Miller with only two rebuttal options.

The first option would be a review of his sentence in which it could be reduced. Corrigan said he believes that is unlikely due to the sheer number of aggravating factors in the case and Stadler’s thorough handling of them.

The other option would be for Miller to argue that his attorney was ineffective.

“And that’s not going to fly,” Corrigan said. “In my opinion, he’s done.”

His other concern was the cost to taxpayers of defending Miller. Corrigan said he was advised that in the last 14 months, approximately $250,000 to $300,000 of the possible $1 million to be spent on the case had been spent.

ACCORDING TO court documents, the chain of events leading to the murders began when Miller and Hurlbert broke up on Sept. 19, 2010. From there, tensions between the two escalated as Miller continued his verbal and psychological abuse of Hurlbert, coming to a head on Dec. 23, 2010, when he began threatening her life.

On Dec. 24, Miller attempted to break down Hurlbert’s door and was reported by her friend Michelle Koffler, who called 911. That was one of several phone calls and complaints made that day regarding Miller’s increasingly troubled behavior.

“I’m going to die soon, next day or two,” Miller said at one point in a phone message left with Butch. “I can’t have a (expletive) family because she has to have her (expletive) crack. I’m going to show this world if I can’t have my (expletive) family then I’m gonna make a mark on your (expletive) crackhead (expletive).”

Miller himself was high on methamphetamine at the time.

That night, he had a brief confrontation with Hurlbert at The Scoreboard, where she worked.

On Christmas Day, Miller convinced his mother to let him come to her house, where Hurlbert would be picking up their infant daughter, and he smuggled a .45-caliber handgun with him. When Hurlbert arrived along with Burkett, Miller was shoved inside by a relative, but he went back outside through the garage.

Hurlbert screamed “Oh my God,” heard by people inside the home, just before Miller shot her twice, once in the face and once in the shoulder, and then shot Burkett once in the center of her chest. He hit Hurlbert in the face with the butt of his gun, splitting her lip completely in two before kicking Burkett in the face as she screamed for her dying mother.

Hurlbert died at the scene and Burkett died later at Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

Miller fled the scene in Hurlbert’s vehicle before abandoning it and stealing another, driving it to a vacant trailer home west of Kalispell where he was later located and arrested.

Reporter Jesse Davis may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at jdavis@dailyinterlake.com.