The Truro Serial Murders

A Suspect

In May, a woman identifying herself as 'Angela' informed police that she knew of a man who could help them with their investigations.

She said that a distraught James Miller had told her about girls being 'done in' in a conversation at a funeral in February 1977. Miller confessed that he and the man whose funeral they were attending, Christopher Worrell, 'had done something terrible'. He also told 'Angela' "Chris had to die."

It was eventually revealed that the clandestine 'Angela' was in fact Amelia, who was Christopher Worrell's girlfriend at the time that he was killed. Miller allegedly told Amelia that the bodies were buried near Blanchetown and she had not realised that was near where the bodies had been found until she saw a map of the area in a newspaper.

"I only had suspicions but suspicions are not enough to go to the police. I had no facts. I suspected that it was the truth and I didn't want to go to the police", she said. Miller had told her that the murdered girls were just 'rags' and not worth much. He had said that one of them even enjoyed it.

"I did the driving and went along to make sure that nothing went wrong", Miller allegedly told Amelia. "They had to be done in so they would not point the finger at us.

"If you don't believe me I will take you to where they are. It was getting worse lately. It was happening more often. It was perhaps a good thing that Chris died". He also told Amelia that Worrell had 'done away with two in WA.'

The informant said that she had not come forward with this vital information because she did not want to 'dob' anyone in. Besides, there wasn't much point in going to the police as the alleged murderer, Christopher Worrell, was dead. She said that Miller would only be used as a 'scapegoat'.

James Miller in Police custody

Miller wasn't hard to find. Destitute, he was running odd jobs for Adelaide's Central Mission in return for a bed and food at a day centre. Eight plain-clothes detectives were put on around-the-clock surveillance of Miller and he was picked up when he tried to make a run for it when he realised that he was being followed.

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1. Innocent
2. The Horrifying Discoveries
3. A Suspect
4. A Scapegoat
5. More Remains
6. From the Beginning
7. The Killings Begin
8. The Second Murder
9. Living in Terror
10. Four Murders in a Week
11. Buried Alive?
12. Fate Steps In
13. The Trial
14. Epilogue