A Look Back: 1983 - Supervisor’s son found strangled

Patrick Scott Miller, the son of a former Orange County Supervisor, was found beaten and strangled to death in his Costa Mesa home in June 1983 after a night of partying with two strange men he met at a bar.

When police arrived at the scene, there was a bottle of vodka sitting out and beer cans and records scattered around the home at 253 Hanover St. that 26-year-old Miller, an unemployed landscaper, had shared with his 29-year-old girlfriend.

The couple had a 10-month old son together, the Los Angeles Times reported on June 29, 1983. The woman’s 7-year-old daughter from a previous relationship also was living in the home.

Patrick Miller’s father, Edison Miller, was a retired Marine colonel who spent five years in a prison camp during the Vietnam war.

Edison Miller served one year on the Orange County Board of Supervisors after then Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. appointed him in 1979. He lost his election bid for the seat in 1980.

Patrick Miller’s girlfriend left the home with her children after an argument the night Patrick Miller died, according to historical news accounts.

The two quarreled after Patrick Miller brought home two strangers from a bar. It was she who discovered Patrick Miller’s body when she returned the next morning with her children.

From the beginning, police believed robbery was the motive for the killing.

“The house showed signs someone had ransacked it in search of his possible narcotic stash,” Costa Mesa Lt. Jack Calnon told the Los Angeles Times in an articled dated June 30, 1983.

A 20-gauge shotgun and other items also were missing from the home.

Police quickly arrested Richard James Wetherell, 26, and Arthur George Goldner Jr., 28, in connection with Patrick Miller’s death.

Investigators found stolen goods from Patrick Miller’s home inside a trailer where Wetherell had been living, and he later confessed to the crime.

Wetherell was convicted of murder in the course of a robbery and was sentenced to life without parole, the Los Angeles Times reported May 24, 1984.

Goldner also was found guilty in a separate trial and was sentenced to 25 years to life.

The 4th District Court of Appeal overturned Wetherell’s conviction in 1985 after finding Costa Mesa police used “relentless persistence” to get him to admit to beating and strangling Patrick Miller.

No record of Wetherell’s second trial could immediately be found, but it appears he was convicted in Patrick Miller’s death again from prison records.

As recently as 2008, Wetherell was serving out his life sentence at Calipatria State Prison in Imperial County, according to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation records.