Frazier Glenn Miller, the man accused of killing three people at Jewish sites in Kansas City last year, used the Nazi salute "Heil Hitler!" and asked how many Jews he had killed after the attacks, a police officer testified on Monday. At the hearing, Miller's apology to some survivors was rejected.
The presumed gunman is charged with murder in the 13 April 2014 shootings at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City in Overland Park, Kansas, and at a nearby Jewish retirement home. None of the victims was Jewish. Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty.
At a preliminary hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to put Miller, 74, on trial, police officer Marty C. Ingram, who was working off-duty at the Jewish Community Center, testified that he heard shots and saw the doors of the center's theater shatter. He said he took cover as more shots hit the building's facade.
Miller is accused of killing Dr. William Lewis Corporon, 69, and his 14-year-old grandson, Reat Griffin Underwood, who were attending a singing contest audition at the community center. Ingram found Corporon and his grandson, who was barely alive, outside in a truck.
When he heard that a suspect had been arrested nearby, Ingram accompanied some witnesses to the arrest scene to determine if they could identify him. As they approached the patrol car where Miller was detained, he shouted "Heil Hitler!" and asked how many Jews he had killed, according to the officer. Another police officer, Charles Wimsatt, testified that Miller tried to recruit him to his cause, asking him if he was German.
Miller, of Aurora in southwest Missouri, is also accused of killing 53-year-old Terri LaManno, who was visiting her mother at a nearby Jewish retirement home.
Miller, who has emphysema and needs oxygen from a tank to breath, muttered during breaks in the hearing about how Jews "owned Hollywood."
As court adjourned Monday, Miller turned to LaManno's family, apparently assuming they were Reat's relatives, and apologized. The family told Miller they didn't accept the apology.
