What happened to Melanie Bernas? Suspect dubbed 'Zombie Killer' sentenced to death in 1990's murders of women

Two young women named Melanie Bernas and Angela Brosso were brutally killed in Phoenix by Bryan Miller. Miller was finally convicted of the crimes in April 2023. On Wednesday, June 7, 2023, Judge Cohen handed down two death sentences to 50-year-old Miller. Miller killed Brosso in 1992 and Bernas in 1993 near a canal in Phoenix.

Trigger warning: The article contains references to s*xual assault and graphic details related to death. Readers’ discretion is advised.

According to County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, whatever happened to Melanie Bernas and Angela Brosso is horrific. Mitchell also believes that the sentence announced would bring some peace to the families of the victims.

Bryan Miller wasn’t suspected until 2015, when investigating officers linked him to the crimes using DNA evidence. In January 2021, Miller’s defense lawyers also attempted to get the DNA evidence quashed, but Judge Cohen dismissed it.

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50-year-old Bryan Miller has been given two death sentences in connection to Melanie Bernas and Angela Brosso’s brutal deaths

For the unversed, Miller’s crimes date back as far as the 1990s. On November 8, 1992, 22-year-old Brosso was out on a bike ride near a canal in Phoenix when she mysteriously disappeared. Authorities soon discovered her decapitated body, which was almost severed in half, near 25th Avenue and Cactus Road. They found her head at a different location, and that too after 11 days. The post-mortem report revealed that Brosso was s*xually assaulted.

The Zombie Killer’s second victim, Melanie Bernas, a student at Arcadia High School, was killed in September 1993. Like Brosso, Bernas was also out by the canal on a bike. She was attacked, s*xually assaulted, and then murdered by Miller with a knife. Authorities discovered her body in the Arizona Canal, around 1.5 miles from where they found Angela’s remains.

Police couldn’t link Miller to either of the murders until 2015, when they found DNA evidence. The evidence was obtained by an undercover officer who pretended to be an employee at a security company. The officer met Miller at a restaurant and obtained his DNA from the mug that he used. Authorities then matched the DNA from the mug to the bodily fluids recovered from the crime sites. Miller was found guilty in April in connection to Brosso and Melanie Bernas’ deaths.

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Miller had initially denied having any involvement in the deaths of the young women

Melanie Bernas’ older sister, Jill Canetta, told the court,

“September of this year will mark the 30-year anniversary of the gruesome murder of our beloved little sister, Melanie. Words cannot begin to explain the level of excruciating pain we experience every single day since her murder. We live without her smile, her hugs, her companionship. We live without her love.”

Angela’s mother, Linda, said,

“The defendant stole my angel from the Earth. Angela was my one and only. I will never be able to plan her wedding. I will never have grandchildren. With his actions on that night, he murdered my angel, he ripped my heart, and I will never, ever be the same.”

In April 2023, Miller was convicted of kidnapping, first-degree murder, and attempted s*xual assault. Miller allegedly told police that he was living near the area where the killing took place; however, he refused to be involved in killing either of the women in the 1990s. During the sentencing hearing, the defense attorneys pleaded with the judge to be merciful toward Miller. Judge Cohen, however, said,

“The defendant did not just murder them. He brutalized them and he evaded capture for over 20 years.”

Miller spoke for the first time in court during the sentencing hearing and mentioned that he did not look for mercy and that he has accepted the court’s decision.