MARYSVILLE — Two men captured in Missouri last night were charged with murder this morning in the beating death of a 73-year-old Marysville woman who last year told a judge she was afraid of one of the men.
Joshua Gilliam and Ryan L. Miller are accused of brutally beating Shirley Sweeton with a hammer Friday and then stealing her credit cards, the contents of her safe and her 1998 Buick. After the slaying, they allegedly used Sweeton’s debit card to buy cigarettes and clothes at the Lynnwood Wal-Mart and food at the McDonald’s in Monroe, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Janice Albert wrote in court papers.
Gilliam, 25, and Miller, 22, then left the state in Sweeton’s Buick. They drove to Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota. A Missouri State Patrol trooper stopped the Buick Tuesday night because it had been reported stolen. He arrested the men.
Miller allegedly told the trooper “We did something we should not have done…We killed someone, an old lady. He hit her with a hammer seven or eight times and I hit her twice…We were on heroin,” Albert wrote.
The men allegedly dumped the hammer as they drove east along U.S. 2, according to court records.
Gilliam and Miller are charged with second-degree murder.
They are friends, and were living in the men’s shelter in Everett, Albert wrote. Gilliam had lived with Sweeton while he dated her granddaughter. In the past, he had fraudulently used Sweeton’s credit cards and also taken her car without her permission, Albert wrote.
Sweeton asked for a protection order in September against Gilliam on her granddaughter’s behalf. The younger woman has mental health issues and a judge determined that she was incapable of caring for herself and appointed Sweeton as her guardian. Sweeton alleged that Gilliam coerced her granddaughter to steal and give him money to buy drugs, according to court documents. She wrote in the petition that she was afraid of Gilliam.
Sweeton’s granddaughter, 24, and Gilliam had broken up in recent months. The younger woman moved out of her grandmother’s house and has been living in a group home. Police have said they don’t believe that she was involved in the slaying.
Sweeton was found Monday morning. Her sister was worried after she hadn’t heard from her over the weekend and went to her home. The victim was lying face up on a bed. Her face was covered in blood and there was blood on the walls and ceiling, Albert wrote.
Police discovered that Sweeton’s purse was open and her debit and credit cards were missing. Her prescription medicine also was missing.
Her credit cards were used Saturday morning at McDonald’s and Wal-Mart. A surveillance video showed Gilliam driving Sweeton’s Buick with Miller in the passenger seat, Albert wrote.
The men continued to use the cards as they traveled to the Midwest. Miller reportedly called his mother Tuesday night from the road. He said he was with a friend from the Everett shelter, Albert wrote.
Gilliam has been on community custody after convictions for failing to register as a sex offender and heroin possession. Gilliam was charged in 2000 with child molestation for a sexual assault on a young relative. Miller also has a long criminal record.
Both men were patients at Compass Health, Albert wrote. Court documents show that Gilliam and Miller have been treated for mental health problems.
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