Tears flow as Dea Millerberg attends first parole hearing
Dea Millerberg cries during her parole hearing at the Utah State Prison in Bluffdale Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015. Millerberg is serving time for the death of Alexis Rasmussen. Drugs were exchanged for baby-sitting services leading to Rasmussen's death from an overdose in 2011.
Peggy Noble, mother of Dea Millerberg, blows her a kiss after her parole hearing at the Utah State Prison in Bluffdale Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015. Millerberg is serving time for the death of Alexis Rasmussen. Drugs were exchanged for baby-sitting services leading to Rasmussen's death from an overdose in 2011.
Dea Millerberg's family and friends speak to her after her parole hearing at the Utah State Prison in Bluffdale Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015. Millerberg is serving time for the death of Alexis Rasmussen. Drugs were exchanged for baby-sitting services leading to Rasmussen's death from an overdose in 2011.
Dawn Miera, mother of Alexis Rasmussen, speaks during Dea Millerberg's parole hearing at the Utah State Prison in Bluffdale Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015. Millerberg is serving time for the death of Alexis Rasmussen. Drugs were exchanged for baby-sitting services leading to Rasmussen's death from an overdose in 2011.
Dea Millerberg cries during her parole hearing at the Utah State Prison in Bluffdale Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015. Millerberg is serving time for the death of Alexis Rasmussen. Drugs were exchanged for baby-sitting services leading to Rasmussen's death from an overdose in 2011.
DRAPER — Dea Millerberg, the North Ogden woman who helped her husband hide the body of a 16-year-old girl in 2011, went before a parole board for the first time Tuesday morning.
No decision was made Tuesday about different parole scenarios for Millerberg, who expressed remorse for her crime in front of her family members and those of the teenage victim, Alexis Rasmussen. Members of the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole will issue a ruling on the hearing in the coming weeks.
Millerberg was sentenced to 0 to 5 years at the Utah State Prison for desecration of a human body, obstructing justice and illegally obtaining prescription drugs.
Millerberg and her husband, Eric Millerberg, were injecting drugs with Rasmussen at their North Ogden home in September 2011 when The couple noticed the girl was unresponsive. The two made plans to cover up her death and eventually hid her body in a remote area of Weber County.
Rasmussen baby-sat the couple’s children multiple times and had been previously invited to their home to take drugs and engage in three-way sex.
In February, 2014, Eric Millerberg was found guilty of fatally injecting Rasmussen in the neck with extreme amounts of heroine and meth. He was sentenced to six years to life in the Utah State Prison.
Dea Millerberg told the parole board she was contrite and will accept the full length of her sentence if need be.
She said her guilt drove her to eventually contact authorities about Rasmussen’s death.
“I didn’t feel ok about it. I didn’t want to make something that was already so horrible so much worse. … I wanted to give her family some answers,” Millerberg said, giving into tears.
Dawn Miera, Rasmussen’s mother, cried throughout her testimony to the parole board. She lamented the loss of her daughter, who she said would have turned 20-years-old this month.
“One of her best friends just had her first baby, another thing she won’t be here for,” Miera said.
Miera said she believes in forgiveness but that Dea Millerberg was brazen in the treatment of her daughter and in covering up her death.
“Lexi would not be there if (Dea) had not called her and had not come picked her up (on the day she died),” Miera said.
Not even a mother’s anguish over her missing daughter could sway Millerberg from hiding the truth about what happened, Miera said.
“She saw me looking for (my daughter). … How do I deal with that? She saw me as a mother looking for my child and didn’t even help me. … I don’t even know what to say,” Miera said through tears.
It’s clear Millerberg gave no thought to the well being of Rasmussen’s loved ones, Miera told the parole board.
“I believe that people make mistakes, but I cannot believe she (went to police) because she cared about me and my family and us having a hard time. … I don’t know how sorry she is,” Miera said.
Her family has been on a downward spiral since her daughter died, Miera said.
“I don’t know where it stops.”
The parole board asked Millerberg if it was a fair assessment to say she came forward to police after the evidence against her and her husband was becoming clear and “the gig was almost up.”
“Yeah,” she sobbed.
Several relatives and friends attended the hearing to support Dawn Miera, Alexis’ mother. Nora Farrand drove four hours to the hearing to show solidarity with Miera.
“We’re here to support Dawn, our heart goes out to her,” Farrand said.
Several of Rasmussen’s relatives were tearful but subdued after the hearing. They declined to comment for this story.
Contact reporter Ben Lockhart at 801-625-4221 or blockhart@standard.net. Follow him on Twitter at @SE_Lockhart. Like his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/blockhartSE.