Chapter 16 Page 2

I knew that I was stepping on a lot of powerful people's toes. I didn't care what happened to me, but I was deeply concerned for the well being of my wife and daughters. They insisted on standing by me. On the evening of the 14th I called my wife from the Wayne County Amish settlement. I advised her I had a bad feeling about our trip to New York State. I was afraid for our safety. I had her contact every TV station in the State of Ohio, and send them a copy of every document we had in our possession on the Andy Miller case. On June 15,1997, we started out to New York State. We arrived in Hannibal, New York and visited friends until about 11:30 P.M. Then, we decided it would be better for our own safety to show up at the Miller's residence after midnight. That way, almost everybody would be sleeping. 

We arrived in Watertown, New York around 2:00 A.M. And called 20/20 and left a message on Larry's machine, to assure that none of what was happening would be covered up. It was now June 16, 1997, and I wasn't going to take any chances. 

We had ABC affiliate, WWTI, a TV station out of Watertown, up at the Miller residence to let the Miller children speak their piece. This was definitely a day of mixed emotions. On June 16th, we did the interview. The children were glad to see their Uncle Dave and his family. I was thrilled that WWTI TV was able to make it. I also took some pictures and a video.

The Watertown newspaper was not going to run the article, so I informed them that
I would take action against them. They ran our article.

So, three good things took place that Monday. The children now believed that there is someone out there that does care, we were in the newspaper, plus we had a news TV station there.  It was also Fran's and my wedding anniversary we had been married for 20 years. No one involved in the case showed up at the Miller residence, and no one got arrested.

We were waiting for statements from Doctors, stating that Michelle's hip was pulled out of its socket due to abuse, and James's scars were all caused by abuse, and Betty could possibly have mental problems the rest of her life, because of abuse. I also talked to nephew Ervin Miller on the phone. Ervin advised me that his sister Anna's husband is mentally unstable because of this case. Joe, Anna's husband, had threatened to commit suicide on June 15, 1997. He said that when he married into the Miller family, he didn't ask for all these problems. Joe's dad is a Bishop of the Swartzentruber Amish. However, his dad was no help in this case.

On June 17,1997, I talked to my nephew Ervin, his wife, and my family and I had supper at Ervin's place that evening. Ervin said, "Uncle David, I'm not going to shun you. Sit down and let's all eat at the same table. I believe God is concerned with what's in your heart, not the clothes you wear." We had a very enjoyable time there, though we mostly talked about the case and what we could do to turn it around. We stayed at Ervin's place till after midnight. It was around 1:30 A.M. when we got home, and we sent the children to bed. After that Fran and I got back to preparing documents and going over what material we had pertaining to the case. We stayed up till 6:30 that morning, till our bodies were totally exhausted. 

We slept till about 11:30 A.M. When we woke up we didn't even take time to get dressed we just put on our housecoats. Our two daughters got up a little bit before we did and had made themselves breakfast. Fran and I didn't even take time to wash our hands or drink a cup of coffee. We got right to preparing more documents. We also had to make copies of our previous documents, which was going to take us all day. Debra and Becky went to Krogers and ran off a couple of sets of copies. After they got back, Debra said, "Dad, I have an appointment with an Army Recruiter at 2:00 P.M. which is going to take a couple hours. Can Becky come with me?" "Sure," I said. "That's a great idea. Mom and I are going to be busy on this case all day anyhow."

Fran made a phone call to Jack Wayner in New York, who was trying to get the medical records and documents, we'd been promised. Jack Wayner's wife Donna answered the phone, and told Fran, "It's going to take more time than we originally thought." Fran asked how Andy's children were doing. Donna said that she had taken the kids to the local doctor for check ups. She discovered that four year old, Malinda had a heart murmur, and six year old, Catherine had scars up and down her body, caused by beatings. Fran said, "Donna, thank you for what you have done for our nieces and nephews, but we need those documents." Donna said, "We should have them by tomorrow." That was the end of the conversation. Fran thanked her once again and hung up. This was about three o'clock in the afternoon. By this time I had some typing for Fran to do. While she was doing the typing, I looked over every last document we had very carefully. I knew the way to win this case was to make absolutely no errors. By the time the typing was done, and I was done checking the documents, it was five-thirty in the evening. We were trying to get a copy mailed off to ABC 20/20 in New York City, WWTI channel 50 in Watertown, New York and also NBC TV Station out of Columbus, Ohio, but it was too late to be mailed on the eighteenth of June.

 We still hadn't taken time to get dressed, eat, or even have a cup of coffee, and I told Fran we might as well do it. Once we were showered and dressed, we decided to go up to Wayne County, Ohio, and see my nephew Ervin.

Ervin and I are a lot a like, we have one thing in common, both of our wives' maiden names are Swartzentruber, and they're first cousins. I must say he has good taste. By the time we were ready to leave for Wayne County our daughters hadn't came back from the interview yet, so we left them a note and told them where we were going. We got on interstate 77 and headed north toward Strawsburg, Ohio. We hadn't gone ten miles when we looked at each other and realized we'd forgotten to eat anything. Once we got to thinking about food, we discovered we were starved. We stopped at a drive-thru, picked up a few burgers, and continued on our way. Ervin and Ann were glad to see us.

I was hoping that Ervin might say something in the conversation that he had forgotten about, that might be of further help. We didn't stay very long. We were ready to go to work on June 19,1997 and try to get this case particularity out of our minds for twenty-four hours if we could. We got back home around eight thirty that evening. Our two daughters were home, and all excited about the interview that Katie had with the recruiter. We sat up and talked till about ten thirty that night, and then went to bed.

On the morning of June 19,1997, we loaded up the car and went to Cincinnati, Ohio to go to work. Frank and Kelly are the owners of Cross County Trucking, which is who we were working for. They were very supportive of what we are doing. They leased us out to Watkins, so all we do is drop and hook from terminal to terminal. We picked a load up out of Cincinnati, Ohio for Los Angeles, California. I called my nephew Ervin again in the evening of June 19th. He said he had talked to the children's Attorney, Ed Hyde. Ervin said, "Ed Hyde said they are in the process of bringing Emma, the mother of the children back into the home." Ervin talked to his brothers and sisters, and they all agreed they didn't want either of their parents back in the house, that they were afraid for their lives, especially now. My response was, "Oh boy. We can't let this happen. Try not to worry, Ervin. And remember: the TV station, WWTI in Watertown, New York is standing by and waiting for a phone call. If it comes to it, I'll simply give them a call and take them right back up there."

I told Ervin I was under a hot load of freight and that I would talk to him Friday. On Friday of June 20, 1997, I prepared a major document for the children's attorney Ed Hyde. This same document was also faxed to Jerry Wayner, and the Sheriffs' Department. This was a document detailing the inconsistencies of statements made by Ed Hyde, who was talking in favor of bringing Emma Miller back into the home. The children asked for my help, and I had to try to help them fire their attorney.

My niece Michelle had also called Jerry Wayner. He arrived at the farm bright and early. The children told him that they no longer trusted him or their attorney. Jerry was upset and said quite a few cuss words. But the children had a good reason for not trusting him or the attorney. At this time, Mr. Hyde wasn't forthcoming with the children. Detective Jerry Wayner also made mixed statements about their parents. Jerry Wayner left the Andy Miller residence to talk to Ed Hyde. He was sitting in Ed Hyde's office discussing Miller children's complaint when Ed Hyde received a fax notifying him I'd fired him. I couldn't have timed it any better. Less than five minutes after he received the fax Michelle called him up to tell him that he was fired. Forty-five minutes later he was out at the Miller residence trying his best to smooth out the distrust that the Miller children had toward him. The children gave him another chance.

By the time Detective Wayner arrived at his office where I'd sent a copy of the fax, I was getting a phone call from his cousin Jack, who sounded nervous. He said that I had to back off because I was stepping on very important people's toes. He was trying to explain to me how the system worked. He asked me, "Don't you trust me?" I said, "I'm not talking about you." "I know these people and they are very good people," Jack commented. However, I knew Jack was a first cousin to Detective Jerry Wayner. Therefore, I just laughed over the telephone, then said, "Everyone involved in this case have absolutely nothing to worry about as long as they had followed the letter of the law to a T. If they haven't done so in the past or are not doing it at present, they're going to have a major problem. "It's that simple!" I told him to have a nice day and hung up.

Fran had talked to Michelle that morning, and I talked Ervin that evening. Fran and I drove more than 1,000 miles together that day. Sometimes, I wished I could just relax, get some sleep, and go on with my own life. On Saturday of June 21,1997, I tried to stay busy working and concentrating on my job. We tried to run as many miles as we could and get plenty of sleep. I called Ervin to talk more about the case, and called home to talk to my lovely daughters. On Sunday, June 22,1997 it was time to prepare a major document to be faxed to Ed Hyde, Roy Vance and Detective Jerry Wayner and Social Services. This document will be more detailed on a Civil Rights Association. By 10:30 A.M. Monday, June 23,1997, everyone involved had received their fax. That included the F.B.I. and the Bar Association. Also, I talked to my nephew Ervin that evening, again on a hot load of freight. That evening, Ed Hyde arrived at the Miller residence. He talked to Michelle and told her there'd be a Court date on Wednesday concerning her Mother trying to get back into the house, but he did not mention anything about their Father, nor did he give her the time the court started or how long it would last.

On Tuesday, June 24,1997, I contacted WWTI, in Watertown. I talked to them twice and also sent a fax. Jeena from the station wanted to know when court started, when it would be over, and what it was all about. I told her that my sister was trying to get back into the house. Jeena asked me to please let her know if and when I received any new information. Someone would be in the office until 11:00 p.m. that night. At 8:00 P.M. I called Ervin. He didn't know anything more than I knew.

It had just so happened that his brother had gone on a vacation to New York. He arrived in New York late that evening. Ervin and Peter both live in Wayne County, Ohio with less conservative Amish. Therefore, each of them has a telephone right by their house. Ervin called his sister-in-law to tell her if Peter calls home to call Ervin immediately.

Peter called home shortly after and told Ervin that we have to have a time when court starts on Wednesday on this case. Peter called Ed Hyde and luckily, he was in his office. He talked to Mr. Hyde for a while, but he still didn't say anything about their dad being in court. Ed told Peter that he might as well stay in Ohio because it was kind of late anyhow. Peter didn't tell Ed that he was already in New York. I had given the phone number to Ervin for WWTI earlier that day and Ervin gave it to Peter that evening on the phone. Right after Peter hung up the phone with the attorney, Peter called his brother Ervin and gave him the information. Then, after Peter hung up with Ervin, Peter made a call to the TV station. Then Ervin phoned my house and told our daughters what time court started. Then my pager went off.

In the meantime, Ervin made a phone call to Ed Hyde. Ed told Ervin the same thing he told Peter. He again didn't mention anything about his dad being in court. Meanwhile, I was looking for a truck station with a pay phone. I pulled off at the nearest truck stop to call home, and the girls gave me the news and I thanked them. It was about 10:15 p.m. when I made a call to WWTI. The woman who answered the phone advised me that my nephew Peter had called a few minutes earlier. I told her how important it was. She said that she was fully aware of the importance and someone would be at Canton, New York by 7:00. I thanked her and hung up. Then, I called Ervin to talk to him about it. We were laughing and talking about how they thought they were going to out smart us for not informing us that Andy and Emma were going to be in court together.

Still, we couldn't figure out why the attorney wouldn't let the children know that in Ohio and what time and day the court date would be set for. On Wednesday morning, June 25, 1997, the day of the court hearing, Peter Miller was in for a surprise. Andy and Emma were desperately trying to discredit their allegations of extreme child abuse and hoping to convince the judge to let them go home. Both of his parents had a court appearance for trying to get back into the house. Everyone else who showed up for court was surprised. We had the TV cameras up there. All the Amish Preachers of Jacob Miller's church, plus a few members, had shown up to support Emma and Andy Miller for beating their children.

Testifying on behalf of Andy and Emma Miller was Bishop Jacob Miller. While under oath Bishop Jacob Miller stated that he was well aware of the beatings the Miller children had received and furthermore, had Okayed those beatings. Jacob Miller was on the stand for an hour and a half. There at last, the only thing Bishop Jacob Miller said was, "I don't recall." Preacher Norman Miller, my nieces and nephews' Grandfather, he also testified on behalf of his son that his Grandchildren just didn't listen or get their work done.

The only people who arrived to support Michelle were her brother Peter from Wayne County, Ohio, her sister Betty who had the nervous breakdown, and her neighbor Donna Wayner. However, Andy and Emma Miller were refused permission to go home with their children. After they listened to the detailed beatings of abuse, the Judges final statement was that neither one of the parents was allowed to be home with any of their children.  The Amish turned their backs on Andy and Emma Miller. The Amish said there was no way they were going to give either of them a ride home or a place to stay. Their own attorney had to find them a place to stay at a Women's Abuse Center in Madrid, New York.

That evening after court Andy Miller told his attorney, that he was afraid for his life, he thought I was going to kill him. Therefore, the St. Lawrence Sheriff Department was called out and he made a statement to this effect. 

On Thursday, June, 26,1997, I was again under a hot load of freight, trying to concentrate on work and taking care of business. I also contacted WWTI, the Watertown TV station, to do a TV interview on July the 1st in upstate New York.

On Friday June 27,1997, I made arrangements to get home to see my lovely daughters. I also called the TV station to make sure everything was ready to go for July the 1st. Despite everything, we were able to criss-cross the United States and run a little better than 9,000 paid miles in 8 days.