If Debra Milke is guilty of any wrongdoing it was by being
smitten as a young adult by this smooth older con man. Mark Milke had that bad boy image and young
Debra was delusional that she could meet the challenge to somehow change and tame
him.
Mark Milke was a sometime carpet installer when he was not
in jail, prison or simply idle because of alcoholism, mental illness or his drug
addiction. Milke has a long documented
history of domestic violence with numerous women. The Orders of Protection, mental commitments
and criminal cases were once all available at the Maricopa County Court Clerks
records. Later the law was changed and
his mental commitments were removed from public viewing. I still have two old case numbers.
Early in their failed marriage Debra, soon learned that Mark
was dangerous and a horrible excuse for a father. He did not support his child and refused to
stop his law breaking and substance abuse.
Mark threatened Debra and Christopher and that sent Debra Milke running
to the courts for protection during their divorce.
Debra Milke had to seek safety from Mark and her sister knew
a sometime church going James Styers who was a single father of a girl Christopher’s age. Styers was a Marine
veteran living on a disability pension.
More importantly Styers had a two-bedroom apartment and offered to rent
one to Debra and her son.
Styers quickly tried to romance Debra but she understandably
rebuffed the older man. Soon Debra got a
better paying job across town and rented her own two bedroom apartment in Tempe
close to her job. It was after Debra’s
announcement to James that he and Roger Scott decided to kill Christopher. Was this because Styers believed Debra would
not move away while her son was missing?
Did Styers somehow think he‘d finally be in line for Debra’s affections
under those circumstances?
Mark Milke took no part in Christopher’s murder but I think
it’s clear that his mental illness, drug addiction and threatening violence
placed little Christopher right into harm's way.
I’m convinced that had Mark Milke been any kind of a father Christopher
would be alive today. Mark Milke is not
without serious guilt here.
When Christopher was murdered Mark Milke quickly became a
self-promoter. He immediately used his
new status and fame to garner sympathy, sex and financial support from gullible
women. Some of the women later got
Orders of Protection and later had to flee from Mark Milke too.
Mark Milke’s new pick-up line was, “My ex-wife murdered my
son to get back at me!” He’d carry
around a little Teddy bear and his son’s ashes in a belt fanny pack. Soon Mark Milke misplaced Christopher’s
ashes and to this day does not know where they may be.
Mark Milke bragged to me after the trial and sentencing of
his ex-wife how he hid the family photo album from her lawyer and trial
court. He actually loaned it to me to
photograph for a future Channel 10 television story. In it there were hundreds of great color
photographs of a very happy Debra and Christopher Milke. A clean apartment, great kids clothes, toys
and there was a wonderful story of motherly love revealed by those pictures.
Mark Milke has capitalized on his son’s murder in every way
he could. His conduct was beyond
disgraceful and despicable. Arizona Mark
Milke has never missed an opportunity to smear his long-suffering ex-wife with
the media. Due perhaps to financial
reasons the media no longer vets their sources. So this troubled ex-con-husband is allowed to
smear Debra Milke relentlessly and unchallenged.
In all of Mr. Milke’s efforts to smear his former wife claiming
he “knows she is guilty” he never once mentions that he was unable to give
police or prosecutors one scintilla of evidence of her involvement in the
crime. Arizona Milke never testified in
any proceeding whatsoever in this case. That alone should scuttle any credibility of
his outrageous and self-serving claims.
As for Debra Milke She has won a new trial for now and will
have to continue the fight for her freedom.
However now the prosecution has been exposed for their outrageous obstruction
of justice, promotion of detective Armando Saldate's perjury and the truth seems to be traveling in the direction of setting
Debra Milke free.
