Eric Millerberg Charged With Homicide In Death Of Baby Sitter Alexis Rasmussen

OGDEN, Utah -- Prosecutors charged a Utah man Tuesday with child abuse homicide in the overdose death of his teenage baby sitter whose body was found in a shallow grave more than a month after she was reported missing.

Suspect Eric Millerberg also faces charges of having sex with a minor, obstructing justice and desecration of a body, Weber County Attorney Dee Smith said. Millerberg's wife, Dea, was charged with desecration of a body.

Alexis Rasmussen was babysitting for the Millerbergs at their North Ogden home on Sept. 10 – the night she vanished. The 16-year-old's body was found Oct. 18 off a nearby interstate after police received a tip from a confidential informant.

Smith said Rasmussen died of a drug overdose but declined to elaborate.

"We do know what happened to Alexis," Smith said.

Eric Millerberg faces the homicide charge because he provided the drugs that led to the girl's death, the prosecutor said.

The Millerbergs were arrested in October on separate drug charges stemming from the investigation.

Eric Millerberg has since been sent to prison on a probation violation. Dea Millerberg was released on bond pending a May 24 trial on charges of prescription drug fraud and child endangerment.

Dea Millerberg's defense lawyer, Michael Bouwhuis, said his client is "relieved" to have finally been charged.

"She has always maintained that she did not cause the death of Alexis Rasmussen, and this charge bears that out," Bouwhuis said. "She is very sorry about the untimely death of Alexis Rasmussen and sincerely hopes that the Rasmussen family will someday soon find healing and comfort."

A call to a public defender who previously represented Eric Millerberg was not returned Tuesday.

Smith previously said only that Rasmussen died in a house on or around Sept. 11 and that her body was moved to a grave near Interstate 84, about 35 miles from North Ogden.

The Standard-Examiner of Ogden has reported that, according to a now sealed search warrant, Dea Millerberg drove the girl to buy $100 worth of prescription medication and a small amount of marijuana on the night she vanished.

The search warrant cited statements from people interviewed by police who said the Millerbergs had a drug-fueled, salacious sexual relationship with Rasmussen and that the girl was paid in pills the night she disappeared.

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Comments

[BeachSurfer]

09:57 PM on 02/03/2012

BeachSurfer
RIP Alexis Rasmussen Jesus comfort her parents as they mourn the loss of their Beloved Daughter Alexis!!

Jesus be with her Parents as they grieve the loss of their Beloved Precious Angel Alexis comfort them, give them Hope and Peace!! RIP Precious Angel Alexis God Bless you!. Beach Surfer!!

[lithium12]

11:01 PM on 02/04/2012

so where the heck was the J man when she was being killed?

[ibreathe4u]

06:10 AM on 02/06/2012

Statements like the one above always make me want to know the answer as well. Seriously, if my daughter was murdered, no mythical being could ever give me comfort for my loss while having allowed it to happen in the first place. It boggles the mind.

[CWAVvolunteer]

12:58 PM on 02/03/2012

1 in 4 girls is sexually abused before the age of 14. 1 in 6 boys is sexually abused before the age of 16. More than 90% of all sexual abuse victims know their perpetrator. Almost 50% of the offenders are household members and 38% are already acquaintances of the victims. The average serial child molester has between 360-380 victims in his lifetime. Only 12% of all cases of child abuse are reported how much investigated, unclear.... The most common ages of children when sexual abuse occurs are between 8 and 12..... Over the past 10 years, more than 20,000 American children are believed to have been killed in their own homes by family members. That is nearly four times the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's time we do something! www. childrenwithoutavoiceusa. org

[CWAVvolunteer]

12:58 PM on 02/03/2012

I pray she rests in peace.

[lilbree688]

08:41 AM on 02/03/2012

And we worry about who is babysitting our children...hmm...

[Mailman]

08:10 AM on 02/03/2012

This guy is a mess and let's hope life in prison is his next stop.

[Mac88]

08:28 AM on 02/03/2012

The search warrant cited statements from people interviewed by police who said the Millerbergs had a drug-fueled, salacious sexual relationship with Rasmussen.
Ah! both of them! There in an "S" at her end of Millerberg! Where is the sexual assult charge for her!

[Counter Sniper]

04:25 AM on 02/04/2012

Rumors aren't good enough. Unless her husband rolls over and testifies against her or she confesses then they wil never be able to charge her for that because unfortunately the only other person who could testify against her is dead. She'll get hers eventually, Karma is a B/tch!

[Greg Gorelick]

01:41 AM on 02/03/2012

Dang. And I was about to do this to my grandmother.

[Jami134]

02:44 AM on 02/03/2012

You were about to have a drug-fueled, salacious sexual relationship with your grandmother? Yep, nothin' wrong with you.

[Nieschk]

09:41 AM on 02/03/2012

Sounds a little ummm “freaky”.

[Joseph Gordon Holman]

09:32 PM on 02/02/2012

We need the death penalty back, we would have never lost it but the rich people got it abolished in most places because they are afraid one of their children might do something stupid and have to pay with their life so people like this can live on taxpayer money. It costs to much. A eye for a eye. cook him

[Greg Gorelick]

01:42 AM on 02/03/2012

are you seriously this big of an idiot

[Joseph Gordon Holman]

08:07 AM on 02/03/2012

When is the last time a rich person was put to death. Get your head out of your behind, fool

[katgal1232]

12:48 PM on 02/05/2012

After reading the other answers and my own, I have decided your is the best.:)

[NativeNonMormon]

01:20 AM on 02/04/2012

We have the death penalty here in Utah. These 2 unfortunate excuses for human beings are not rich. The death penalty doesn't even apply to this case. So what are you talking about?

[jedime]

08:40 PM on 02/02/2012

there's no way i'd babysit for that creepy man and his wife. it sounds like the girl was a willing participant in the freak show. i wonder who was doing the babysitting while the three of them were doing each other.

[Mac88]

08:29 AM on 02/03/2012

Why no charge of sexual abuse for her! The girl was a minor!

[jedime]

07:13 PM on 02/03/2012

yes, the wife should be charged right along with him. to me their guilt in the whole thing is equal.

[katgal1232]

12:50 PM on 02/05/2012

Who the heck knows, but the worst thing is these sleazes have baby

[stjoshy]

07:14 PM on 02/02/2012

sickening

[Kev Bat]

05:42 PM on 02/02/2012

So he gets a babysitter so his child is safe from harm but supplies drugs that kill someone else's child ......

[ipleathe5thh]

05:23 PM on 02/02/2012

I got a Dose we can overdose him with!! Sure the girl may have wanted to do the drugs but as an adult he should have said no but i think this guy had more intentions with the Babysitter than just watching his child....I'm wondering if he injected the girl than took advantage of her when she was in a "zombie" state this guy is nothing but a coward...He should have called for help he may not have even gotten in trouble if he tried to save the girls life but instead of disgraced her body so i say we do the same to him give him a nice juicy hot cocktail in his arm then drop him in a swallow grave for the dogs to get

[seriously77]

01:50 PM on 02/06/2012

It's possible the pills were accepted by the babysitter, but I'm thinking they were forced on her. I'm thinking the parents didn't have money to pay the sitter. I know it doesn't say any of this but that's my take on the situation.

[SouloAngels]

05:08 PM on 02/02/2012

Dea Millerberg will likely do more time for the prescription fraud than desecrating the child's body and burying it beside a highway, like 2 years, maybe. Her husband will plea down to manslaughter and be out in 7 and they will most likely still raise their children. That's the true tragedy here. The victims parents allowed her to sleep over these people's home at 16, so I'm inclined to think they had very little control of the teen and now she's dead, either raped or she had sex with this animal willingly and we all lose because the Millerburgs will still walk among us to commit new and even more barbaric crimes in the future. Their children surely will too.

[seriously77]

01:54 PM on 02/06/2012

did you read a story about this elsewhere? I don't see anything here that says the sitter's parents allowed her to sleep over. They probably expected her home when the baby's parent's got home from their time out. You can't say that the sitter's parents had no control. She and they were probably very proud of her for taking the initiative of getting a job. The only mistake I can see is maybe the sitter's parents didn't know these people. My daughter also babysits but she's only allowed to do so in the homes of people I know. THen again, maybe the parents did know them and were deceived. Can't really trust anyone these days.

[SuperMoncho]

04:39 PM on 02/02/2012

Nasty People

[Max Shaw]

03:12 PM on 02/02/2012

So youre telling me that is NOT John Glover??? TV movie in the works I'm sure..

[gemini68]

01:32 PM on 02/02/2012

"She is very sorry about the untimely death of Alexis Rasmussen and sincerely hopes that the Rasmussen family will someday soon find healing and comfort.
If Millerberg was so sorry she wouldn't have dumped and desecrated their child's body.