An Ohio court has determined that an Amish woman was responsible for the drowning death of her four-year-old son, yet she will not serve time in prison.
Ruth Miller, aged 40, was found guilty of drowning her son, Vincen, on August 23 at Atwood Lake, located roughly 85 miles south of Cleveland.
Earlier that same day, her husband, 45-year-old Marcus Miller, was discovered dead around 8:30 a.m. He had reportedly told his wife he was undertaking a test of faith that involved swimming as far as he could into the lake.
In a separate incident that day, Ruth Miller drove a golf cart carrying her three teenage children into the lake with the alleged intention of causing them harm. Fortunately, the teenagers managed to escape unharmed.
During a session at Tuscarawas County Court on Tuesday, Judge Michael Ernest concluded that while Ruth was responsible for her son’s death, she was not criminally liable due to reasons of insanity.
The case came to light when deputies from the Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a golf cart carrying a woman and three children crashing into the water at a campground in Atwood Lake.
When deputies then arrived on the scene they found Ruth being led by her twin 18-year-old sons, who survived the golf cart incident along with Miller and her 15-year-old daughter.
As soon as the deputies approached, Ruth admitted: ‘I gave him to God. I threw him into the lake and gave him to God.’
Ruth Miller, 40, was ruled to have killed her four-year-old son in court, but she was found not guilty of any crime by reason of insanity
Ruth drowned her four-year-old son, Vincen, in Atwood Lake, Ohio, on August 23. The mother is pictured in court on Tuesday when the not guilty by reason of insanity verdict was read
Ruth’s case began after sheriff’s deputies responded to reports that a golf cart carrying a woman and her three children crashed into the lake. A deputy is pictured speaking to the mother and her adult twin sons as they led her away from the water
She was talking about her young son, Vincen.
‘People are going to tell me that I am crazy, but he is real and he loves you, he really does love you,’ the mother-of-four said as she put her hand on one of the deputy’s shoulders.
She went on to claim that her husband had been swallowed by a fish and asked the deputies to send divers to the bottom of the lake to look for it.
When authorities then tried to get her to talk about the young son she had drowned, Miller said, ‘He’s sweet and I love him.’
Investigators were later told by a family friend that Ruth and her husband had been showing signs of increased instability and anxiety over ‘doomsday’ fears.
The mother told investigators that she wanted to drown her children and ‘allow herself to be swallowed by a fish to prove her worthiness.’
In court in September Miller’s defense attorney, Ian Friedman, said, ‘Based upon the facts… this case would not have happened but for a mental defect that would have prevented Ms Miller from appreciating the wrongfulness of her conduct.’
Judge Ernest concurred with that determination after reviewing two police reports and three mental health evaluations conducted by different doctors.
A family friend told investigators that Ruth and her husband had become increasingly unstable and anxious over ‘doomsday’ fears. Ruth is pictured in court
Ruth drove a golf cart into Lake Atwood with the intention of killing her other three children, but they all escaped on their own unharmed. Debris from the golf cart in the water is pictured
Ruth had been charged with aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, child endangerment and three counts of domestic violence.
She pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in September. The successful plea will keep her out of prison, but the mother’s next court date is scheduled for March 13, when it will be determined where she will be held and receive treatment.
After she was arrested deputies said that Ruth and her husband both believed God was speaking to them and had instructed them to carry out ritualistic tasks to ‘prove their worthiness.’
When asked what their beliefs entailed, Ruth gave them a series of examples, including ‘that God told her to allow herself to be swallowed by a fish, as bizarre as that sounds,’ Tuscarawas County Sheriff Orvis Campbell said.
The sheriff added that Miller also said sometimes she and her husband would participate in ‘swimming exercises.’
‘Things to prove their worthiness to God, to show their faith is complete, and they didn’t do very well in those,’ Campbell said.
The Millers first jumped off the dock around 1am on Saturday, August 23 as part of the apparent test of faith, but later returned to their campsite, believing they failed to complete the task.
The wife later told detectives her husband was upset he failed his task ‘because he didn’t have enough faith’ – leading him to try again on his own.
Tuscarawas County Sheriff Orvis Campbell said that Ruth and her husband had a variety of ‘bizarre’ beliefs, including ‘that God told her to allow herself to be swallowed by a fish’
Ruth’s not guilty by reason of insanity plea will keep her out of prison, but her next court date will determine where she will be held and treated. Ruth is pictured speaking to a deputy on the day she drowned her son
Vincen’s lifeless body was then found in the lake at around 6pm, with his father being found in the same body of water some 12 hours before.
Investigators said that no weapons or evidence of drug use were discovered at the Miller family’s campsite, but an open Bible was found.
In August, the Old Order Amish Church and the extended Miller family issued a statement to WOIO confirming Ruth and her husband were ‘misinterpreting passages of the Bible’ and that their actions do not reflect the church’s teachings.
