Cold Case Files - I SURVIVED A SERIAL KILLER: The Mid-Michigan Killer

Episode Date: April 25, 2026

In August of 1978, 14-year-old Lisa Gilbert and her 13-year-old brother, Randy, were attacked by a stranger in their newly built home in Lansing, Michigan. Their attacker was 23-year-old Don Miller. Miller was also a suspect in multiple local disappearance cases spanning the Lansing/East Lansing area. Lisa and Randy each recount Don Miller’s attacks on them; East Lansing Detective, Rick Westgate offers insight into the investigation; and author, Rod Sadler provides additional commentary. Omaha Steaks: Go to OmahaSteaks.com and use promo code SURVIVED at checkout for $35 off. Minimum purchase may apply.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This program contains subject matter that may be disturbing to some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. 23-year-old Don Miller is suspected of the disappearance and murder of four area women. He was a serial killer, a psychopath. He was a monster. The murders and attacks were vicious, calculated, and tragic. He looked at me right in the eyes and said he wasn't going to hurt me. He lied.

He took my belt and strangled me. He was sawing at my neck. I truly believe that he was going to kill me. Real people who faced death and lived to tell how. This is I survived a serial killer. I'm Lisa Gilbert Asher, and I survived a serial killer. On August 16th, 1978, I was 14 years old, and I lived on Canal Road in Lansing.

Michigan. I was just an average teenage girl on a summer break from high school. That day, my brother Randy was out back and at 3 o'clock in the afternoon we were to call our stepmom to check in for the day. I went outside to call for Randy. When I came back around the house, I saw a brownish tan car parked in our driveway and this gentleman was standing inside. the door that goes into the house. With us just previously building this house, I thought that maybe it was a construction worker coming to repair something.

So it just really didn't phase me. He came walking out, and he says, he's your dad home. And I said, no, he's working right now. So he says, do you have a phone number that I can get a hold of your dad? He said, yeah, I can go get a paper and pencil. So I walked back into the door

that went into the kitchen. I thought he was still out in the garage. And then he was behind me. And he came around the right side. He put his left arm around my neck. And then he had the knife in his right hand and was just holding it right at my throat and said, don't say anything, don't scream.

If you don't say anything, you won't get hurt. Rod Sadler is the author of Killing Women. 20 months before Lisa was attacked, the first Lansing area, woman came up missing Martha Sue Young. Rick Westgate is a retired investigator for the East Lansing Police Department. January 1st, 1977, there was a call to the East Lansing, Michigan Police Department that Martha Sue never came back home. Her former fiancé told the East Lansing police that he had left her on the

front steps of their home just prior to 2 a.m. and that she waved to him as he backed out of the driveway. Investigators had focused on her ex-fiance, but they had no evidence. Without a body, they were hesitant to do anything. This doesn't go on in a university town. Everyone was very on edge. Then on June 27, 1978, a farmer near the town of Okamus, Michigan, discovered the remains of a young female. At first, police did think that there was a possibility that it could be Martha Sue Young, but ultimately the body was identified as being Marita Chilkat. Marita Chilkat was reported missing. She was from the small town of Grand Ledge, Michigan, and that's where she was actually last seen.

The medical examiner determined that Marita Chilkat had been stabbed 17 times. They interviewed friends. They interviewed her ex-boyfriend, but they really were at a loss. He had the knife in his right hand and was just holding it right at my throat. I didn't dare to escape because I figured he would stab me and kill me.

After that, he proceeded to take him. me into my dad and my stepmom's bedroom, which was on the first floor. He told me to face down on the floor. That's the only thing he said to me the whole time. He's opening up the drawers and found the knee highs. And then he proceeded to shove him in my mouth. Took my hands and tied him behind my back, and then proceeded to take off all my clothes.

And then he raped me. It just, like, stunned me. I couldn't move. and my heart was beating really super fast and going hard. I was just basically in the survival mode. After he raped me, he tied my feet. And he took the belt off my shorts and started strangling me with it. And then the belt broke.

That's how hard he was strangling me. After that, he took his hands and he proceeded to strangle me from behind. I truly believe that he was going to kill me when he was strangling me. He broke all the blood vessels in my eyes so all the white parts in my eyes were red. It just seemed like it was an eternity. The killer was literally choking the life out of Lisa. But for the grace of God, Lisa Gilbert could have been the killer's next victim. The same day that Maria Chouquet's body was found, it was reported

that a Wendy Bush, an MSU student, was missing, and no one knew where she was. Less than two months later, another female in the area disappeared. Christine Stewart. Everybody in the police department was searching from bicycles to helicopters, try to see if we could find any signs of her.

When our office, The officers checked the area where she was last seen. The officers found her sunglasses, and we could see tire marks where it appeared that Christine Stewart had been abducted. At this point, police began to believe that there might be a connection between the women's disappearances. He was strangling me.

I thought I was done. Then I could hear the best of the best of her. I could hear the back door open in the garage. At this point, the killer abandons Lisa. 20 seconds, 30 seconds more, I would have been dead. If my brother wouldn't have walked in, I would have been dead. I'm Randy Gilbert, and I survived a serial killer. That day, I was 13 years old, and I was playing around the pond area.

and at some point something said, it's time to go home. And the house was just really, really quiet. I didn't even know Lisa who was in the house. I never saw her. I never heard her. But I saw a guy come out of my father's bedroom. I remember he closed the door behind him. And the guy looked at me, said, hi, how you doing?

And I said, I'm fine. At that point, I thought, this isn't right. Something's wrong here. And he kind of swung himself around with one of his arms and grabbed me from behind and put a knife to my throat. He looked to me right in the eyes and said he wasn't going to hurt me. I was scared, shocked. Never dealt with anything like this before. but I wanted to believe him.

He asked where my bedroom was, and I told them where it was. It was up the stairs, and we headed that direction. As we were nearing the top of the stairs, I remember that you've got to save yourself kind of feeling. I started to squirm, struggle, kick a little bit, but he pretty much overpowered me. We entered my bedroom.

He put me down on the floor, sat on my back, held one of my arms behind my back, and I felt him sawing at my neck with a knife. I knew at that point that when he said he wasn't going to hurt me, he lied. So before I discovered Omaha Steaks, my fridge was full of, let's just say, meh proteins. I'd grab whatever looked fine at the store, but I never realized how much flavor I was missing until, I tried Omaha's steaks. The first time I cooked their salmon, it was light, tender, perfectly portioned, and it completely reset my standards.

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Terms applies to site for details. He was a sawing at my neck with a knife. We were at no point of return here. And I fought as much as a 13-year-old boy really could. I was starting to kick and struggle a little bit. But I could feel him cutting my throat. He still had one of my arms behind my back. So I only had one arm that was freed. And act of God, whatever you want to call it,

I was able to just, with my free hand, grab the knife, and somehow it freed it from his hand. I just flung it up across the room. Once I threw the knife away, boom, both hands were on my throat. He was strangling me. I heard my brother scream while Randy was fighting with him.

I thought this could be the time I could get out and get some help. I got my feet on tied and I was still fully naked, the hands tied behind my back, the necktie around my neck. I went to the front. door and I locked the front door and ran out to the street. I didn't know where Lisa was. This guy's hands were on my throat.

I couldn't breathe. I thought to myself, I'm just going to close my eyes. I stopped struggling. I stopped fighting. Just kind of go limp. I wanted him to think I was dead. Well, I did go unconscious. I do recall seeing the bright light, so to speak.

When Randy lost consciousness, the killer retrieved the knife, rolled Randy over, and stabbed him twice in the chest to ensure that he was dead. Meanwhile, I ran like the dickens out to the street, screaming. And it kind of jumped in front of a car, and he stopped. I ran over to the driver's side. I told him somebody's trying to kill my brother. and then he just automatically went and pulled in the driveway. As the witness started toward the door, the killer came out the front door.

The witness asked him if there was a young boy in the house that was hurt. At that point, the killer ran around him and jumped into his own vehicle and escaped. Somebody else stopped and immediately called the police and called the ambulance. All I kept saying is, is my brother going to die? my brother going to die. When he was being put in the ambulance, is when I knew that he was alive. I just remember him laying on the gurney

and just picking his head up and saying, I'm OK, sis. I'm OK, sis. I don't recall that. But it sounds like me. I lost consciousness again a little bit there. One stab wound actually kind of scratched my heart. It was that close.

Lisa saved our lives that day. The intruder had attacked Lisa and Randy and escaped. But what he didn't know was the witness was able to remember his license plate number. And the witness gave that number to the police. And the police did a quick query. And that car came out to Don Miller. The ex-fiance of Martha Sue Young. When Martha Sue Young first was reported missing, he was the prime suspect, but they had no evidence at that point.

He was a graduate of Michigan State University criminal justice. But he didn't fit in. He always seemed out of place. I learned he may be responsible for multiple murders. But I remember feeling that, oh my God, this guy was really, really horrible. I was scared that if he didn't get caught, that he'd come back and get us. He would find us and finish us off. The police were familiar with Don Miller at that point

because he was the prime suspect in Martha Siung's disappearance. So after the information was received about who the license plate had come back to, an area broadcast was put out to the Tri-County area. I heard the broadcast come out. I went over to the house of Don Miller. And when his vehicle pulled up, I pulled my gun and had Don Miller get out of the car. Then the detective placed him under arrest, and Miller was in complete denial. But the police had his license plate.

And when the Michigan State Police Crime Lab came to the Gilbert home, They discovered one of Miller's fingerprints on the front door. There was evidence with the car that tied him to Christine Stewart. We eventually found out that she was abducted from the street and had been strangled in the suspect's car. I remember feeling relief that he was captured. Thank God they got this guy. Less than a year later from his arrest, Don Miller was taken to trial.

Ultimately, he was convicted of the rape and attempted murder of Lisa and the attempted murder of Randy. That was the most wonderful news that I had received in my whole life. It was like a sigh of relief. Don Miller was remanded to the custody of the state of Michigan, and he's been sent. sentence 30 to 50 years. A grand jury also indicted Don Miller for second-degree murder in the missing women cases. Merida Chocat's body was found, but we still had no bodies of Martha Sue Young, Wendy Bush, and Christine Stewart. It wasn't impossible to convict without a body, but it was difficult. The prosecutor eventually worked out a deal. Ultimately, Don Miller confessed to the

murders of the four women and led authorities to the remaining three missing women. And in exchange, he was sentenced to 10 to 15 years and his time was to be served concurrently as the prison sentence for the Gilbert assault. I felt that it wasn't enough. I just, feel that he is just getting a slap on the hand. He will be out of prison in 2013. As a young kid, I didn't think I'd ever have to worry about it. But this is a short time, he'll be free again. I've learned I can't let this get me down.

You have to continue living on with your life. Now I've been married to my husband for 17 years. I transport disabled children to and from school. It just touches me to know that I can make them happy. I remember hearing my father was talking to somebody. They asked my father, why do you suppose this happened to your children? My father's response was because God knows

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