After shocking police with her “in a fish” bodycam confession, Ruth Miller now faces the courts. Charged with drowning her 4-year-old son after her husband walked to his death in Atwood Lake, Miller’s attorneys have entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. But will the court believe she didn’t know right from wrong — or will religious extremism be viewed as no excuse for murder?
In this Hidden Killers Live breakdown, Tony Brueski, Stacy Cole, and Todd Michaels take apart the defense’s strategy and what it means for justice. Attorneys argue Miller’s actions were driven by a severe mental illness, pointing to bodycam footage as proof she was experiencing delusion in real time. Prosecutors, meanwhile, will push the question of whether this was truly psychosis — or simply religious belief taken too far.
The panel compares Ruth Miller’s case to infamous “doomsday mom” Lori Vallow Daybell, asking: does growing up in an isolated Amish community change the way we view accountability? If a person is indoctrinated from birth, do they see murder as sacrifice instead of crime? And how much leeway should the law give when faith collides with reality?
This segment also pulls back the curtain on Amish culture itself — a world often hidden from outsiders, where abuse and mental health issues can go unchecked for years. The hosts debate whether this tragedy was the result of one woman’s breakdown or the natural outcome of a system that discourages outside intervention.
The show ends on a surreal but fitting note — with dark humor, broken fish props, and a Billy Bass tangent that underscores the absurdity of finding levity in the darkest stories.
#RuthMiller #Amish #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers #AtwoodLake #InsanityDefense #LoriVallow #OhioCrime #ReligiousExtremism #FaithAndCrime
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