MIFFLINBURG, Pa. — A Union County woman is on trial for murdering her former husband by giving him a lethal dose of her heart medication.
Prosecutors say Myrle Miller, 78, had been draining her husband's bank account for years and that once someone started investigating that, she murdered him.
Miller is accused of killing her husband, John Nichols, in April of 2018 at their home near Mifflinburg.
Miller's trial starts nearly two years after she was arrested for Nichols' death.
According to investigators, Miller killed Nichols by giving him a lethal dose of her heart medication after she had been draining his bank accounts for years.
Prosecutor Jennifer Buck said in her opening statement: "The only way out, in her mind, was murder."
The jury heard from Jennifer Williard, an investigator with the Union Snyder Area Agency on Aging. Williard said she started investigating Nichols' finances after receiving a tip that his wife was draining his bank accounts.
Williard said Nichols thought he had hundreds of thousands of dollars in his accounts when in reality, the accounts were either closed or overdrawn. Nine days later, Nichols died.
The jury also heard from Miller's son, who testified that his mother would give him money over the years, telling him not to tell Nichols.
The jury also heard testimony from a state trooper and two paramedics who tried to revive Nichols.
Defense attorney Brian Ulmer said people did not like the way Miller acted when her husband died, and during the trial, we will hear why she is innocent. Ulmer told the jury that Nichols gave Miller permission to sign the checks and his death was an accident.
Ulmer said: "These aren't the actions of someone trying to hide things from her husband."
In 1988, Miller was acquitted of her first husband's attempted murder by a jury in Montour County. She was accused of poisoning his drinks.
Miller is also the grandmother of 2-year-old Corey Edkin, who went missing from his home in Union County in 1986.
Miller's trial is expected to last about nine days.
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