CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (1010 WINS) – A Long Island man accused of fatally shooting his father—a retired Suffolk County police detective—with a shotgun at their home on Wednesday pleaded "not guilty by insanity."
Christopher Miller, 43, was arraigned in Central Islip on Thursday on a charge of second-degree murder in the killing of John “Jack” Miller, 75, at a home the two of them shared on dead-end Bruno Lane.
In court, Miller took the rare step of telling the judge he didn’t feel comfortable with his court-appointed attorney, Dan Russo.
“I plead not guilty by insanity,” Miller said.
Russo said he couldn’t talk with Miller before the arraignment because Miller “didn’t want to speak to anybody.”
“It’s rare for anybody to say anything at an arraignment,” Russo said.
“I don’t know if it’s psychiatric—he’s certainly going through something,” Russo said.
Suffolk officers responded to a 911 call at 7:25 a.m. Wednesday about a man hiding in a shed on Seaman Neck Road, police said.
The officers found Miller in the shed and escorted him back to the home, where they found his father dead, according to cops.
Police believe the two men were arguing when Miller grabbed a shotgun and shot his father before fleeing down the street to the shed, according to SCPD Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer.
"An argument ensued between him and his father, John, and Christopher shot him multiple times," Beyrer said.
On Wednesday afternoon, detectives from the same police department where Miller had been a detective were investigating his homicide.
The older Miller was a retired Suffolk police detective and a member of the Wyandanch Volunteer Fire Department, having served as both chief and president in the past.
“He was always in the fire chief car,” a stunned neighbor told 1010 WINS, adding the killing was “just a shock” to the “quiet, little street right near the school.”
According to police, the younger Miller was injured in a car crash earlier this week and had recently been released from a hospital. He had been staying with his father because he was in the middle of a divorce.
Following his arrest, he was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries from the earlier crash.