Woman sentenced to 72 years over failed plot to blame ex for killing

A woman who tried to bluff authorities over a deadly stabbing with neat blame game has instead earned herself more than seven decades behind bars in Muncie, Indianapolis.

Shannon Miller was sentenced to 72 and a half years in prison after being found guilty on December 3 of murder and conspiracy to commit robbery, reports WANE.

Prosecutors said her plan to pin the killing on her ex-boyfriend unravelled almost as quickly as it was told.

“People who perpetrate and participate in these types of violent acts will be held accountable,” said county prosecutor Eric Hoffman.

The case centres on a botched robbery that turned fatal on February 6. Police responded to a call at an East Cornell Avenue block, where they found 42-year-old Ronald David Wright Jr lying in a pool of blood. He later died from his injuries.

Miller initially presented herself as an innocent passer-by. She told officers she had been walking through Morningside Park when she came across Wright’s body, claiming she had nothing to do with the stabbing.

That story soon turned suspicious when Miller appeared unusually keen to point the finger at her ex-boyfriend, insisting that he was responsible for the fatal stabbing, according to police.

Investigators later confirmed the ex-boyfriend did stab Wright, but the circumstances were not what Miller suggested. Police say it was set up by Miller to lure her ex to the park while Wright arrived armed with a gun and attempted to rob him.

During the robbery, the ex-boyfriend stabbed Wright in what he told police was self-defence. Wright later bled to death at the scene.

Investigators said Miller then tried to erase any visible link to the victim by removing Wright as a Facebook friend after the stabbing. Police also said Wright factory-reset his phone before the attempted robbery, apparently to wipe his communications.