Anna Titje Miller
57 YOA
3531 54th Street
Des Moines, IA
Polk County
Case # 1978-25150
July 8, 1978
When 57-year-old Anna T. Miller failed to report to her job on Monday, July 10, 1978, co-workers phoned her brother Merle.
Merle Miller drove to Anna’s 3531 54th Street residence — a home the Des Moines Register described as “small [and] well-kept” and “in a quiet residential neighborhood.”
Inside, he found a terrible scene.
His sister, fully clothed, lay dead in her own blood on the living room floor. Blood splatters covered the walls and furnishings.
Courtesy photo Google Street ViewThe last person known to have contact with Anna was an employee of a store she phoned at 9:00 p.m. Friday, July 7 to ask about having her air conditioner serviced.
After performing an autopsy, Polk County Medical Examiner Dr. R.C. Wooters stated that Anna Miller was struck on the head with something that could both cut and bludgeon — such as an ax or hammer — and bled to death on Saturday, July 8.
There were 13 wounds on Miller’s head, as well as defensive wounds on her hands; the little finger on her right hand was severed.
There was no indication of sexual assault and no apparent motive.
Police could not determine how the assailant got into the home, which was not ransacked, or what if anything was taken.
Neighbors did not report anything unusual but said that Anna complained to them about Peeping Toms and other suspicious behavior she attributed to prowlers. She had not filed any reports with the police, however.
Anna Titje Miller was born October 28, 1920 in West Point, Iowa, to Olive E. Piper and John H. Miller. She had three siblings — Merle, Harold J., and Edith I. Miller.
At the time of her death, she was a secretary at Pittsburg Des Moines Steel Company and lived alone.
Questions and information about the unsolved 1978 homicide of Anna T. Miller should be directed to the Des Moines Police Department at 515-283-4864 or Iowa Cold Cases through the Contact form.
I have been researching my maternal grandmother who killed a man name Paul Stewart in Des Moines in 1965. She was convicted of manslaughter for that crime. In the trial records a witness to the crime was a person by the name of Anna Miller. I wanted to know more about what happened and started researching the case. I came across this unsolved case and couldn’t help but wonder if this was the same person that witnessed the killing my grandmother was involved with and if this had any link. My grandmother’s name was Arlene Violet Shipley. November 15, 1965 was the date on the docket. I would hope this has nothing to do with my grandmother but need to clear up either way. You can reach me at the email above. I would appreciate any assistance.
Scott
I did not know Anna Miller, but lived in the upstairs apartment in a house behind hers. I was a single 26 year old living alone.
When I arrived home from work on the murder was discovered, A DSM policeman was in my driveway. He was questioning neighbors about any strange happenings over the previous month. He was especially interested in prank or obscene phonecalls, dogs’ night time barking and unusual night time happenings. I reported having received several hang-up calls, all between midnight and 2:00 am. I also reported being unhappy about the incessant barking of the dogs in the yard next to Anna’s, whenever they heard noises.
The door to my apartment swelled in hot weather and would not close tight enough to lock. I remember being very fearful about coming home to and sleeping in an unlocked home. Whenever I left home I would slip a piece of paper between the door and the jamb, so I could tell if the door had been opened while I was away. Each night I put pie pans and other clatterly objects on indside stairs going up to my place. I kept a baseball bat at the top of my stairs.
Once I came home and found the paper fallen into the threashhold. Upstairs I found the book Of Death And Dying out of my bookshelf and in the middle of my living room floor. I assumed that one of friends was playing a trick on me. I did not report the incident
However, maybe I should have called the police about it. Maybe a year or less after the murder, the DSM Register had an article about women living alone on Anna’s street. Some of them were receiving hang-up calls and reporting window peekers. One mother and her college-aged daughter were finding strange and creepy notes. I don’t have the article, but I remember one of the notes saying something like: RIng around the rowdy, axes axes, we all must die. The article also had something about the daughter finding her car with battery cables disconnected in the Grandview College parking lot. When she got home, there was either a note or an anonymous phonecall (I don’t remember the particulars) saying something like “I don’t like it when you go so far from home.”
Gossip around the neighborhood was that Anna’s neighbor with the dogs was possibly responsible for all of this, because he was fed up with people making complaints about his dogs. Supposedly nobody heard the dogs barking the night of the murder. Therefore, the murderer had to be somebody the dogs knew.
These are very interesting details which arouse suspicion. It’s never too late to contact the Des Moines Police again to share them. The phone number 515-283-4864 will connect you to the Crimes Against Persons office of the Detective Division.