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UTAH STATE PRISON — Dea Millerberg still has a lot of family support and she did cooperate with authorities to convict her husband of child abuse homicide, the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole acknowledged Tuesday.
"The problem is I don't know how much weight that carries against the enormity of what happened to Alexis," board member Curt Garner, who conducted Tuesday's hearing, told Millerberg.
While it will now be up to the full five-member board to decide whether to set a parole date for Millerberg, Garner told her that she should prepare for the possibility of serving her entire five-year sentence in prison without an early release.
"I'm so sorry. It does hurt me to know I caused so much pain and anguish and hurt and anger," Millerberg said. "I feel like I do deserve to be here. I struggle daily with what I did. The longer I've been off drugs, the harder it is.
"I hope my being here, somehow, helps in some way," she said while adding that she will accept the parole board's decision to keep her in prison as long as it feels she needs to be.
I feel like I do deserve to be here. I struggle daily with what I did. The longer I've been off drugs, the harder it is. I hope my being here, somehow, helps in some way.
–Dea Millerberg
Millerberg, 41, pleaded guilty in June to obstructing justice, illegally acquiring prescription drugs, and desecration of a dead body in the drug-related death of her baby sitter, 16-year-old Alexis Rasmussen. She was sentenced to up to five years in prison for each charge. A judge ordered all sentences to run concurrently. If she serves her entire time, Millerberg will be released from prison in August of 2019.
Millerberg was convicted of helping her husband, Eric Millerberg, dispose of Alexis' body. She died after he injected her with methamphetamine and heroin on Sept. 10, 2011.
Eric Millerberg, 38, apparently afraid of the possibility of going back to prison, decided to hide Alexis' body rather than call authorities. Dea Millerberg helped load the teen's body into her husband's truck. The body was then driven to Morgan County where it was disposed and it wasn't found until 38 days later.
Eric Millerberg was convicted of child abuse homicide, obstruction of justice, unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, and abuse or desecration of a body. He was sentenced to six years to life in prison.
One of the breaks in the investigation, and a key part in Eric Millerberg's conviction, came in part because of his wife's testimony and information she gave police.
"I didn't feel OK about (what happened). I didn't want to make something so horrible that much worse. I just wanted to give her family some answers," she tearfully told Garner Tuesday.
But Millerberg also acknowledged that by the time she told investigators what had happened, she knew they were already about to arrest her and her husband.
Tuesday's parole hearing lasted only 20 minutes, a relatively quick hearing considering the high profile nature of the case. The room for the hearing was filled with family members of both Dea Millerberg and Alexis Rasmussen.
Even before the hearing began, Millerberg frequently closed her eyes, took deep breaths and kept a box of tissues close by as she tried to collect herself. Likewise, Alexis' mother, Dawn Miera, was crying as she waited for the hearing to begin.
Miera was allowed to speak during the hearing. She said Alexis would have turned 20 over the weekend. She also noted that one of her daughter's best friends just had her first child. Both are events that Alexis cannot enjoy.
Despite Millerberg's apologies and her statement that she went to police because she didn't want to make things worse than they already were, Miera said she isn't sure if she believes her.
"I believe that people make mistakes but I cannot believe (she told police) because she cared about me and my family," a visibly upset Miera said. "She leaves my kid alone to die and then on top of that dumps her off in the mountains? How do I deal with that?
"I don't know if she really feels sorry. I don't know if this is really about her," Miera said. "I don't know if I can believe anything that she says."
Dea Millerberg filed for divorce from Eric Millerberg in 2012. Garner noted that Dea Millerberg received several threats not to testify in court against her estranged husband. It was after her testimony was given in court that officials noted the heavily tattooed Eric Millerberg had a tattoo on his neck altered from "Dea" to "Death" while in prison.
Millerberg, who posted bail pending the outcome of her trial, was allowed to move to Wyoming in 2013. She said when she is released from prison she plans to return there and rebuild her life. Many friends and family members from Wyoming made the drive to Draper to attend her parole hearing.
"I again just want to say that I'm sorry. I'm using this time while in prison to hopefully come out a better person. I'm not using this time to feel sorry for myself," she said.
A decision by the full parole board is expected in two to three weeks.
