Suspect in 24-year-old unsolved Boise homicide arrested for cold case homicide in Washington

A Boise man was arrested on a charge of first-degree murder Wednesday night in connection with a homicide in Washington from 1992.

According to a joint release from the Boise and Bremerton, Washington, police departments, Lee R. Miller, 54, was charged in the death of 57-year-old Marilyn Hickey of Bremerton. He is being held in the Ada County Jail and will eventually be extradited to Washington.

The Boise Police Violent Crimes Unit worked with Bremerton Police on the case over the last year, the release said.

According to The Kitsap Sun, Hickey was last seen alive leaving a bar with a man fitting the description of Miller. Hickey was found strangled in her home, the Sun said, and Miller is believed to have lived in the area at the time.

The case “went cold” after a few months, as no arrests were made and a few pieces of evidence were found at the scene.

The case was reopened in 2006, however, when DNA found at the scene of the unsolved murder of 49-year-old Cheryle Barratt in Boise from 1994 matched DNA from the death of Hickey. Miller’s DNA was submitted to the Idaho State Crime Lab and was found to match the DNA at both scenes. Miller is considered a suspect in Barratt’s death.

Barratt’s murder is one of at least 21 unsolved homicide cases in the Treasure Valley since 1980.

“This is a significant achievement for the Boise Police Department and the Bremerton Police Department, as we were able to use advancements in technology and coordinated investigative efforts to make strides in two decades long investigations,” Boise Police Sgt. Justin Kendall said in the release. “Our detectives have worked for years to make progress on these investigations to help find answers for our community and justice for the victims.”