Murder accused 'lied to police'

Brian Hossack • Published 12 Feb 2010 14:00

THE man accused of murdering a Greenock nurse lied to police after her death, a trial heard.

The High Court trial against John Miller, 46, was played a lengthy police interview recorded after Elizabeth Ann Duncan was found dead in Miller's flat in Wellington Street, Greenock.

A packed courtroom heard Miller claim on tape there had not been any kind of disturbance in his home on the night the auxiliary coronary care nurse died.

But when questioned 24 hours later, under suspicion of murder, sobbing Miller admitted he had lied to police because he was 'scared out of his wits' - and confessed two violent confrontations had taken place.

While being questioned by police shortly after his fiancee's death, Miller had said he summoned his parents to his home after discovering the nurse lying motionless on a bedroom floor with blood coming from her nose.

But under interview by officers from Greenock CID the following day, he confessed to lying and told police how events actually unfolded after an argument following a night out.

He said: "She came in drunk and was bouncing off the walls. We were on the stairs and she was trying to kick me in the groin. The second time I woke in bed to find her swinging punches at me.

"She was in a fit of rage and I used all my strength to throw her off the bed. She was groaning and I said 'Liz, Liz, wake up, please wake up' but she didn't move."

When asked why he didn't call for an ambulance then, Miller added: "I knew something was up. I knew I had done something wrong. I freaked out and rang a taxi to go to my mum and dad's. I've never lifted my hand to a woman ever, I wouldn't harm a fly."

Sobbing to police, Miller, a former labourer at Ferguson's Shipyard, claimed he had suffered mental and physical abuse during the course of the couple's nine-month relationship.

He said: "It didn't take much to set her off. I was scared out of my wits sometimes."

Miller, represented by solicitor Aidan Gallagher and QC Gordon Jackson, is charged with murdering Elizabeth Ann Duncan on 28 May and assaulting her between 1 January and 26 May last year. Miller also appears on two breach of the peace charges spanning 1 November 2008 and 28 May. He maintains not guilty pleas to all four charges.

The trial, before Lord Matthews at Greenock, continues.

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This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 12 Feb 10

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