Robert Miller, 62, of Lima, will be sentenced April 10 after pleading guilty on Thursday to a felony charge of inducing panic. Miller was arrested after writing a letter in which he threatened to blow up a Putnam County elementary school and a Catholic priest.
J Swygart | The Lima News
LIMA — Lima resident Robert Miller, who in 2019 was ruled incompetent to stand trial after writing a letter in which he threatened to blow Pandora-Gilboa Elementary School and a Catholic priest to “kingdom come,” on Thursday pleaded guilty to a felony count of inducing panic as part of a negotiated deal with prosecutors.
Miller, who is now just a few days short of his 63rd birthday, was taken into custody May 7, 2019, after writing a letter to his ex-wife which contained rambling threats against the school and an unnamed priest.
He was indicted on a charge of inducing panic, causing the evacuation of a public place or otherwise causing serious public inconvenience or alarm where the public place is a school, a second-degree felony, and a first-degree misdemeanor count of inducing panic by threatening to commit any offense of violence.
The latter charge was dismissed by prosecutors as part of the negotiated settlement.
Under questioning Thursday by Allen County Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey Reed Miller admitted writing the letter, adding he was “not myself” at the time.
He has been a patient at the Northwest Ohio Psychiatric Hospital in Toledo since August of 2019 after he was initially found by doctors at the Psychiatric Center of Northwest Ohio in Dayton to be incompetent to stand trial. Mental health experts expressed the belief that Miller’s competency could be restored over time.
In November Miller was re-examined and doctors at the Dayton facility issued a report to the court stating that the man’s competency and his ability to assist in his own defense had been restored.
Previously-entered pleas of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity were withdrawn by Miller on Thursday, followed by his guilty plea to the second-degree felony charge.
Reed ordered a pre-sentence investigation and set sentencing for April 10.
Miller had written a letter to his ex-wife in which he referenced an unnamed “God damn catholic priest” and stated of Pandora Gilboa Elementary School that “we all will blow that (expletive) elementary school and priest to Kingdom Come,” according to a statement issued by the Allen County Sheriff’s Office following Miller’s arrest.
Miller did not explain why he was upset with the school or the priest other than to state that the priest scares his grandchildren. He reportedly told investigators he did not have any means or real intention to attack the school or anyone else and he was just trying to scare his ex-wife for reasons still unknown.
