Idaho man gets minimum 42 years for cold-case murders

A 54-year-old Boise man who killed two women in the 1990s in different states has been sentenced to life in prison after DNA evidence connected him to the slayings.

Lee Miller was sentenced in both cases on Wednesday in Idaho with a Washington judge participating via video conference.

Miller previously pleaded guilty in each case to second-degree murder for the 1994 stabbing death of 49-year-old Cheryle Barrett in Boise and the 1992 strangulation death of 57-year-old Marilyn Hickey in Bremerton.

The Idaho sentence is life with a minimum of 25 years, while the Washington sentence is 17 years.

The sentences are to run consecutively, meaning Miller faces a minimum of 42 years in prison.

Miller apologized to the families of the victims in court.