More details emerge from murder scene on county club road

GILFORD — While police remain tight-lipped about the circumstances surrounding the apparent homicide of a 54-year-old Gilford woman, more details about the woman's life are coming to light.

N.H. Attorney General Michael A. Delaney announced on Tuesday morning that Roberta Miller had been discovered dead in her home on Monday. He death was described as "suspicious" and an autopsy was scheduled to confirm the undisclosed manner of death.

Police closed the area around 123 Country Club Drive on Monday night and that portion of the street, across from the Pheasant Ridge Country Club, remained closed to the public all day Tuesday.

Roberta "Bobbie" Miller had just purchased her home in August, according to paperwork filed at the Belknap County Registry of Deeds.

On Oct. 29 at 11:15 a.m. Miller put the property into the JJB Trust and the paperwork indicates she was the trustee.

Miller was recently divorced from Wolfeboro automotive dealer Gary Miller, who for a long time owned Miller Chevrolet.

Miller also owned Miller Ford of Stanford, Maine. He sold the franchise back to Ford Motor Company last year. The N.H. Secretary of State website also lists Gary R. Miller as the owner of Tamworth Tires LLC as of 2009.

A clerk at the Carroll County District Court Family Division confirmed the Miller's divorce was final in August.

Long-time friend and former coworker Tom Beeler of The Granite State News in Wolfeboro said Roberta Miller, who he said preferred to be called Bobbie, was a sales representative with the newspaper until about two years ago.

He said her and Gary Miller had been living apart for about three years and described her divorce a "long and nasty one", largely because of all of Gary Miller's business holdings.

He said the couple had two children, Jonathan who lives in the Lakes Region and may have been staying with his mother occasionally, and Jennifer who is employed by NASA and lives in Pasadena, Calif.

"She was going back to school. Starting over," said Beeler who said Bobbie Miller had stopped in to visit with him about two weeks ago.

Jennifer Haskell is the attorney who handled the recent purchase of Miller's Gilford home. She said she last saw Miller in her Ossipee offices on Oct. 28.

"My personal observation was that she was going to a good (emotional) place," said Haskell who said she was saddened to hear of Miller's death but was prevented by privilege from saying any more.

When asked if she thought Miller was in any danger, Haskell said, "My personal impression was she had reasons to be afraid."

Clerks at both the Belknap and Carroll County Courts confirmed there were no restraining orders against either Roberta or Gary Miller, but a Carroll County Clerk said there had been a restraining order taken out against Gary Miller by Jonathan Miller, his son, that had expired in 2008.

Attorney Benjamin Agati of the N.H. Attorney General's office declined to say when Miller died, saying only that the 9-1-1- call from a relative came to police sometime late Monday afternoon.

Neighbor Roger Ladd said police began coming to the house "in droves" around 4:30 p.m. on Monday and had the entire road shut down by 5 p.m.

Ladd said he had met Bobbie Miller once when she moved in and came over to introduce herself.

"She would wave to us when she walked her dog," said Ladd who noted that Miller had a large white Labrador-type dog. "He was older."

Agati said he knew nothing about a dog.

Ladd said he was home all day Monday except for about a half of an hour when he ran an errand. He said he didn't hear or see anything unusual and couldn't recall the last time he saw Miller.

Ladd said he saw her son Jonathan visit frequently.

When asked if it appeared Bobbie Miller lived alone, Agati said he could not definitely say that no one else was staying there.

The Daily Sun also learned on Tuesday that Gary and Bobbie Miller were the co-owners of a camp in Acton, Maine that burned to the ground last Friday night.

Acton Fire Chief Ed Walsh said the fire was reported to his department at 9:30 p.m. and required mutual aid to extinguish.

He said the house was a camp-style single- story wood structure with a propane tank that was venting.

"Made it a little hard to get to at first," said Walsh.

He said the house was destroyed and his department declared the fire out at 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning. He said two firefighters remained on the scene so it could be turned over to the Maine State Fire Marshal in the morning.

Walsh wouldn't say if the fire was accidental or not but did say the Maine Fire Marshal's Office continues to investigate.

Agati said Miller's body was taken from her Gilford this afternoon and will be autopsied in Concord this morning. He said he expects Country Club Road to reopen sometime around noon.

Anyone who has any information about Bobbie Miller is asked to call the Gilford Police at 527-4737 or the State Police at 223-4381.