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ADELAIDE - Notorious Truro killer James William Miller has today been transferred from jail to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, close to death.
Miller, previously diagnosed with terminal cancer, was jailed for life in 1980 for his part in the murder of six young women, whose bodies were found
dumped near Truro, north of Adelaide, in 1976 and 1977.
It was the case that sparked South Australia's reputation as the state of bizarre and grizzly murders.
Over a two-month period between 1976 and 1977, seven young women were abducted, raped and killed, their bodies dumped near the small town of Truro.
One man, James William Miller, was convicted over six of the murders and sentenced to six concurrent life sentences.
Now 67 and riddled with terminal cancer, Miller is still at least six years from completing his minimum term of 35 years behind bars.
At the time, the Truro murders shocked the nation.
In April, 1978 the first body was uncovered in a shallow grave. It was later identified as that of Veronica Knight, an 18-year-old who had disappeared from an Adelaide street.
As the investigation into her death continued, more bodies were uncovered, police eventually confirming seven victims of a serial killer who had hardly bothered to conceal his crimes.
After a tip-off, Miller was arrested and while his case went to trial he provided most of the information about the man who actually committed the offences, Christopher Robin Worrell.
A friend of Miller's, Worrell was handsome and charismatic and used his charm to pick up young women for sex.
Miller would drive them to a secluded location, wait outside the car and drive them back.
But as the pick-ups continued, Worrell's behaviour became more violent and he began to first rape the women and then kill them.
While he helped Worrell dispose of the bodies, Miller maintained he had no direct role in the murders.
Worrell was never brought to justice. He died in a car crash in 1977, along with a woman, possibly his next intended victim.
For detectives, the breakthrough in the case came after Miller told a woman about Worrell's fascination for thrill killings and she went to police.
Miller was jailed in 1980 after a jury agreed with prosecution claims that even though Worrell was directly responsible for the deaths, Miller was part of a joint criminal enterprise.
He was found guilty of six murders, but acquitted in relation to one of the killings.
At the time South Australian laws did not allow for the provision of non-parole periods or minimum terms in murder cases.
In 1999, Miller applied to the Supreme Court to have a term set, with Chief Justice John Doyle imposing a 35-year period.
Miller subsequently appealed against the length of the sentence, but the court rejected his pleas not to be forced to die in jail.
At the time, the Crown argued that Miller should never be released, because he had never accepted responsibility for his role in the murders and was not remorseful.
After more than 30 years, the Truro killings remain part of a tapestry of bizarre crimes in South Australia that have led to Adelaide's sometimes disputed reputation as one of the murder capitals of the world.
As the Truro case unfolded, a killing spree which later became known as the family murders, began.
Between 1979 and 1983 five young men met their deaths, thought to be the victims of a group of deviant homosexuals led by Bevan Spencer Von Eimen who is now serving life for murder.
Then in 1999, police found the chopped up remains of eight people, their bodies stuffed inside barrels of acid and hidden in a disused bank vault at Snowtown, north of Adelaide.
- AAP
