Winston Corbett convicted in murder of professor James Miller

ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. - The jury has completed deliberations and has returned a verdict in the trial of Winston Corbett. Corbett was charged in the murder of James Miller and attempted murder of Linda Miller in October 2011.

The jury found Corbett guilty of murdering James and attempting to kill Linda.

The trial lasted eight days.

The state said Corbett entered the Miller home by a window in the office/fourth bedroom, went to the bathroom and attacked and stabbed Linda, then attacked and stabbed James in the bedroom, the foyer, and near the mailbox where James' body was found.

DNA evidence that tied Corbett to the scene was found on James shirt, the wall of the foyer/baseboard, the door handle and the roadway.

The DNA evidence on the shirt, handle and roadway was mixed with James' DNA. However, the blood drop on the baseboard of the foyer was only Corbett's, according to evidence presented at trial.

When the DNA was processed in 2011/2012, the DNA was only identified as unknown male 2. 

A detective with the Elkhart County Homicide Unit testified he learned genetic genealogy had been used in a cold case in another state and tried that to help identify the unknown DNA.

On October 16, 2018, the detective received the genetic genealogy report, which helped identify Corbett.

Investigators then did a "trash pull" and sent items they believed belonged to Corbett for DNA analysis.

Once the DNA was compared, the DNA from Corbett's trash matched the DNA of unknown male 2.

Corbett was arrested on October 28, 2018 and was subsequently charged with murder and attempted murder.

His sentencing is set for December 10.