Jury Hears Opening Statements in Day Two of Lyle Miller Trial in Monroe County

The first day of testimony in the trial of a Madison man accused of murdering an elderly woman for whom he worked for as a farm hand wrapped up on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.

66-year-old Lyle Miller is charged with first-degree murder int he disappearance and the death of 88-year-old Betty Hayes of Holliday.

Monroe County jurors heard opening statements as well as testimony from six witnesses yesterday (Tuesday).

According to reporting from KHQA news, the jury heard about the working relationship between Hayes and Miller, who had been a former farm hand on Hayes’ cattle farm.

Miller quit the job in April 2021 and claimed to be owed nearly $400,000 by Hayes which she had not paid him.

Yesterday (Tuesday), the courtroom was shown bodycam footage of Monroe County Sheriff Joe Colston, interviewing Miller in July 2023, several weeks before Hayes’ remains were located in a pond on land that Miller owned.

Testimony in Miller’s trail will resume on Wednesday, March 19, 2025.