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Alexis Rasmussen Death: Dea Millerberg Testifies Against Husband In Alleged Utah Babysitter Murder

Posted: 04/10/2012 3:31 pm

Alexis Rasmussen Death
Dea Millerberg took the stand on Monday to testify against her husband in the death of 16-year-old Alexis Rasmussen.

An accused murderer's wife took the stand on Monday to describe how her husband injected their babysitter with a mix of illegal drugs before witnessing the 16-year-old girl's death.

Dea Millerberg, 39, recounted the terror she and husband Eric Millerberg, 36, experienced on the mid-September night in 2011 when Alexis Rasmussen allegedly died in their Utah home.

She said that on the night Rasmussen passed away -- sometime late Sept. 10 or early Sept. 11 -- her husband injected the girl with heroin and methamphetamine. Millerberg say that Rasmussen began "freaking out" and took a bath to warm her body and relax, ABC4 reported.

Rasmussen went to rest on the Millerberg's bed, where the couple found her unresponsive approximately 30 minutes later.

"We decided police were not going to be called," Dea Millerberg said, according to KSL. "I dressed her, wrapped her in a blanket. I had a foot locker-type box [we put her in] and put her in the trunk of the car."

The Millerbergs left their 6-year-old daughter at home, put their infant in the car, and went to dispose of the babysitter's body.

"It really was a panic," she said, according to ABC4. "The idea of it was, we will lose our kids and go to jail, and there was nothing we could do to bring her back."

Prosecutors have characterized the Millerbergs' relationship with Rasmussen as drug-fueled and highly disturbing.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, "At first, the Millerbergs paid Alexis and a friend in Xanax for their services, according to testimony. But eventually the girl began asking about methamphetamine -- another drug the Millerbergs used. Dea Millerberg said her husband showed Alexis how to smoke it using a light bulb."

When authorities eventually found Rasmussen near the Weber River in Morgan County, her body was so badly decomposed that a full autopsy could not be performed, the Associated Press reported.

Dea Millerberg was given immunity that will keep prosecutors from using her testimony against her, but Smith said she would not be given "a walk" on her own cases, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

Eric Millerberg is charged with child abuse, homicide, unlawful sexual activity with a minor and obstructing justice. He is currently detained in Utah State Prison.

Dea Millberberg faces unrelated prescription drug fraud and child endangerment charges.

Both Millerbergs are charged with desecration of a corpse.

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An accused murderer's wife took the stand on Monday to describe how her husband injected their babysitter with a mix of illegal drugs before witnessing the 16-year-old girl's death. Dea Millerberg,...
An accused murderer's wife took the stand on Monday to describe how her husband injected their babysitter with a mix of illegal drugs before witnessing the 16-year-old girl's death. Dea Millerberg,...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
lgregory
12:38 PM on 04/17/2012
so this white woman gets away with murder , JUSTICE means Just Us
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Royce09
Freedom is not Free, cost = Blood of our Military
08:02 AM on 04/15/2012
all i can say is their are monsters amongst us
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sasweeney1
Not every story needs a political response.
03:57 PM on 04/13/2012
I wonder where this girls parents were. I would not let my daughter anywhere near someone that looks like this guy.
12:38 AM on 04/13/2012
Why????
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
ruthieriver1
constitution not institution......
11:18 PM on 04/11/2012
This was a child nonetheless, all the adults involved need tobe prosecuted!!!!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Rebekkah Anne
IDGAF *what* you are. Be real. Be you.
08:36 PM on 04/11/2012
If you were so worried over losing your children, then you shouldn't have been doing the actions in the first place.
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stayingsaneinthemadness
The sun's not yellow, it's chicken!!!
08:25 PM on 04/11/2012
These freaks murdered this child. This woman is a child predator just like her husband and needs to be punished with him. They had a s@xual relationship with a kid, the sickos! The guy is a known member of some white supremiscist group, one of his fellow gang members are who told the police what happened. This freak prides himself in getting kids high on drugs, claiming it's better for them to do the drugs with him so they are safe. He gets them high and molests them and his wife goes right along with him. Their own daughters may have been the vcitims of their sick craving for young girls. Lock them both up for good!!!!!!!!!!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
pam0528
Married 17 years to my one and only.
09:52 PM on 04/11/2012
F&F, they both should get the death penalty if you ask me.
10:15 PM on 04/11/2012
He should get the death penalty and she 25 to life. Our Society is filled with sick predators and our politicians are oblivious. You should have to register and checked out thoughly to hire a minor in your home.
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stayingsaneinthemadness
The sun's not yellow, it's chicken!!!
08:21 PM on 04/11/2012
One of their most raucous nights as a group came in August, a month before her death, when Alexis reportedly asked to become sexually involved with the married couple.
'Eric and I started kissing and having sex. Then Alexis jumped in,' Mrs Millerberg told the court.
On the fateful night of September 10, the couple wanted Alexis to babysit because they were going to go shopping for their daughter’s birthday. Neither babysitting nor shopping ended up happening.
As soon as Alexis arrived at the house, Mr Millerberg helped her get high by injecting her with drugs- once with heroin and twice with meth- into her arm and neck.
Then, when she was ‘as high as she had ever been’, she and her husband performed oral sex on one another. Mrs Millerberg says that she was not involved in the encounter.
A short while later, the drugs had a negative effect on the teen and she started ‘freaking out’. She reportedly felt disoriented and cold, so she asked if she could take a warm bath in the couple’s master bathroom.
After leaving her alone in the bath at her request, the Millerbergs checked on her about 45 minutes later to find that she was still cold, so Mrs Millerberg wrapped her in a blanket and told her to lie down in another bedroom.
The couple left her to go smoke some cigarettes, and returned about a half hour later to find her unresponsive.
10:22 PM on 04/11/2012
Who would believe that a teen would approach a married couple to join them for a threesome?? This all is from them and they use drug to lure this poor child. Sure, Mrs. Millerberg is going to give testimony implicating her husband and try to make it seem as if she was not involved. She helped disposed of the body and she didn't call 911 when the young girl seem to be in trouble. There are more sick people out there like these two people and they should both get the full force of the law. Death and life in prison seem appropriate.
03:12 AM on 04/14/2012
Teens are active sexually and there are certainly a lot of teens who would be interested in being in a threesome with older friends. It may not be common, but it's not outside the realm of possibility by any means.
12:13 PM on 04/16/2012
My point that it was hardly likely that the teen would do the approaching for engaging into a threesome, not that they wouldn't do it, just that is is very unlikely that they would initiate it. But then again, you should know more about this subject that me.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
dbrett480
08:16 PM on 04/11/2012
This is why we have the death penalty.
07:59 PM on 04/11/2012
I'd like to know what the husband was in prison for when he got all those tatoos. They show he has very poor judgement. Did he have a job? Who would hire a guy like that?
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stayingsaneinthemadness
The sun's not yellow, it's chicken!!!
08:34 PM on 04/11/2012
Mr Millerberg was on parole at the time for prior burglary and firearm charges, and he was also known to be part of the Silent Aryan Warriors, a white supremacist prison gang.

Can't help but wonder how a kid was allowed to be any where near this trash, let alone in their home.
10:14 AM on 04/13/2012
Easy on the tat's discrimination. I know many people that have a lot of tatoo's that have never been in prison and have professional white collar jobs. Some people see it as art. I have one and i have been fighting the urge to get another one - it's kind of addicting. I've even seen guys with those big 3/4inch round rings in their ear lobes working in different offices - just the sight of that makes my stomach turn but I still do not discriminate them.
07:38 PM on 04/11/2012
Ain't love grand? The couple that stays together murders together.....she should rot in jail too.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Snow Horton
07:05 PM on 04/11/2012
Gingers have no souls.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
mmrdaisley
06:59 PM on 04/11/2012
I think that the husband probably wanted to have sex with the teenager , offered her drugs got her high , had sex with her and killed her.
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stayingsaneinthemadness
The sun's not yellow, it's chicken!!!
08:54 PM on 04/11/2012
He and his wife both had sex with her. They are both guilty of molesting and murdering this child.
10:27 PM on 04/11/2012
The wife is involved in the sex and the drugs. Whatever the husband wants, she does, including disposing of the body. She needs to get life and him the death penalty.
01:55 PM on 04/11/2012
who are these people??
07:05 PM on 04/11/2012
evil !!!!
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
moonflowerjewelry
Buy American made, no excuses.
10:04 AM on 04/11/2012
One of the first services to get cut during state and municipal budget woes (and sometimes long before that) is CPS staffing/enforcement as well as Family Law courts. IF anyone had noticed or reported the drug use of this couple, there was probably no chance of serious follow-up. I'm an anomalous liberal in that I don't believe in the decriminalization of hard drugs. Some addicts should be sterilized, because if the woman ever walks due to the testimony, she'll procreate.
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05:31 PM on 04/11/2012
Bad people do bad things, regardless of the law. What he did is much worse than any kind of possession charge you could charge him with. Compliant or not, it is essentially a poisoning.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
PTerrys
04:06 AM on 04/12/2012
she's 39