(JTA) — The white supremacist who murdered three people outside Jewish institutions in Overland Park, Kansas, in 2014, died on the same day that the daughter and mother of two of his victims published a book memorializing their lives.
Frazier Glenn Miller, also known as Frazier Glenn Cross, died Monday at the El Dorado Correctional Facility near Wichita, the Kansas City Fox4 affiliate reported. He was 80 and believed to have died of natural causes.
Miller was convicted in 2015 of three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Reat Underwood, 14, and his grandfather, William Corporon, 69, outside the Jewish Community Center of Kansas City in Overland Park, as well as Terri LaManno, 53, outside the Village Shalom assisted-living facility in April 2014. None of the victims were Jewish, but Miller assumed they were when he shot them.
Mindy Corporon, the mother of Underwood and daughter to Corporon, published her account of their lives and her counseling of other families who have been victims of violence. “Healing a Shattered Soul: My Faithful Journey of Courageous Kindness after the Trauma and Grief of Domestic Terrorism” does not mention Miller’s name.
Her publicist released a statement that also omits his name.
“The murderer took the lives of two Methodists and a Catholic while intending to murder Jews,” Corporon said in the statement. “No one should have lost their lives at his hands. We are neither happy nor sad. He stole so much from our family, but he didn’t steal our hearts or our dignity. He did not steal our memories, the love that sustains us or the ability to offer forgiveness and kindness in the face of such tragedy.
Miller was sentenced to death. In March he asked a court to overturn his death sentence, saying the sentencing court should not have allowed him to represent himself.
The Corporon family issued the following statement on Tuesday:
Our family learned in the late evening hours of May 3, 2021, that the convicted murderer who took the lives of our family members, William L Corporon MD and Reat Griffin Underwood as well as the life of Teresa LaManno on April 13, 2014, had died of natural causes. We choose to not use his name ensuring he occupies zero percent of our consciousness.
We offer gratitude to the first responders, Overland Park Regional Medical Center, police, detectives and the Johnson County District Attorney’s office for their assistance with all matters relating to the soulful lives taken and the capture and conviction of the shooter. A jury of his peers convicted him. A judge sentenced him to death row, and this is where he took his last breath.
The murderer took the lives of two Methodists and a Catholic while intending to murder Jews. No one should have lost their lives at his hands.
We are neither happy nor sad. He stole so much from our family, but he didn’t steal our hearts or our dignity. He did not steal our memories, the love that sustains us or the ability to offer forgiveness and kindness in the face of such tragedy.
With sheer grit, determination and faith, our family forgave this murderer his sins against us. In no way does this forgiveness mean that his actions were correct. Our forgiveness releases the hate from our own hearts. Hate comes in all shapes and sizes, all colors and creeds. We pray that our healing journey helps others move forward during their own struggles and challenges. Don’t allow hate to occupy your heart or mind. It will rot you from the inside out. This murderer was rotten to his core. At no time did he ask for our forgiveness or offer regret for his actions. He was taught to hate by his own father from the time he was young. Only knowing how to hate another drove him to murder. This is heartbreaking.
We are sad. We miss our family, Bill (aka Popeye) and Reat. But we don’t carry the weight of hate in our hearts.
As Christians and people of faith we learned the Gospels. The Gospels taught us to forgive.
On May 3, Healing a Shattered Soul, a memoir by Mindy Corporon was published. The fact that this memoir – Mindy’s faithful journey of courageous kindness after the trauma and grief of domestic terrorism was published on the same day the murderer who inflicted horrendous pain into our lives, died, is not lost on us. In fact, we feel even more connected to our family members in Heaven with each passing minute.
Typically, we have answered the question about “closure” to say that there is no closure when you lose a loved one. In the same way, you lose a limb, you learn to live without it. We are thankful that the court system, media and our families no longer have any need to concern themselves with a potential appeal from the convicted.
Thank you for your prayers upon our family and others who suffer at the consequences of hate. We each have a responsibility to love our neighbor. Our family started the Faith Always Wins Foundation to promote dialogue for the betterment of our world through kindness, faith and healing. Our work will continue.
