Weld County Assistant District Attorney Robb Miller still vividly remembers how the disappearance of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews in 1984 sent waves through a tight-knit Greeley community.
Miller was just 10 years old at the time. He can still recall feeling on edge when he’d catch something in the corner of his eye, afraid that whoever came after Jonelle would come after him or one of his friends next.
Fast forward to 2017. After returning from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children where experts from a number of agencies with different acronyms looked over the case, Miller and Detective Robert Cash of the Greeley Police Department decided to give another call to a man who, up until that point, had only been a fringe piece in the investigation: Steve Pankey.
The man had virtually no connection to Jonelle but for an apparent grudge against the church her family attended and one of the Matthews’ close family friends. Miller immediately felt a sinking feeling in his stomach when he heard Pankey talk about the night Jonelle was kidnapped and murdered.
On Oct. 31, 2022, a jury convicted Pankey and he was sentenced to life without parole. Fittingly, justice was served to one of Greeley’s most notorious criminals on Halloween day.
“From thinking there was a boogeyman after kids in Greeley and then to be able to convict that boogeyman that scared all my friends growing up, that made people in a town where they didn’t lock their doors, start locking their doors. It meant a lot to me to do that,” Miller said.
That case — as well as a couple of others — hold a special place in Miller’s heart.
“I went to Greeley West, Heath Junior High, Maplewood Middle School, Scott Elementary,” Miller said. “I’ve gotten to do some cases that affected me growing up in different ways.”
Miller is about as Weld County as it gets. His father, Bob, was Weld’s first full-time district attorney, moving the family to Greeley after he was hired in 1971. Robb was born three years later.
Aside from a couple of short stints away while earning the degrees that landed him in the position he’s in now, he’s called the Greeley area home ever since.
“It is incredibly beneficial to have Robb as the assistant district attorney, particularly since he grew up in this community,” District Attorney Michael Rourke said. “His historical insight, his familiarity with many of Weld County’s longest-tenured residents and his unique understanding of the community’s values have been of critical importance throughout my time in the office.”
Weld County Assistant District Attorney Robb Miller stands outside of the Weld County Courthouse on Tuesday. Miller has been with the DA’s office for 25 years. (Chris Bolin/Staff reporter)Though Miller was too young to recall many details of his father’s time as the county’s district attorney, he spent many days as a child wandering the halls of the Weld County Courthouse. So once he decided on a career in law, it only made sense that the Weld District Attorney’s Office would be his first stop — a move he said his dad suggested but far from pushed on him.
“He was like, ‘If you want to get some court time, go be a DA for a while,’ ” Miller said.
After 25-plus years, the phrase “a while” is doing some serious heavy lifting.
Miller started as an intern in 1999, working his way up to assistant district attorney in 2015 — a position he’s held since. In the 16 years in between, he wore more than a few hats — from prosecuting basic misdemeanors in county court to spearheading the efforts in reducing Greeley’s gang crime when it was rampant in the early 2000s.
But every position he’s held has had one thing in common: no matter how tough of a day he has, he can go home feeling good about the impact he makes.
“There isn’t another job where you can feel like you did the right thing every day,” Miller said.
Sometimes the right thing means throwing the book at a person who deserves it. Other times, the right thing looks a little more empathetic.
Miller recapped the death of a 7-year-old girl in 2007 in Johnstown, dubbed the “Mortal Kombat case,” as an example of how justice looks different in every situation — even within the same case.
In that case, a 16-year-old girl and her 17-year-old boyfriend were babysitting the girl’s niece, when the boyfriend beat the child to death using moves from the video game “Mortal Kombat.”
After initially hesitating to tell police the full story, the girl eventually cooperated with detectives and aided with their investigation.
The boyfriend received 36 years in prison, while she spent six years in the Youthful Offender System — a program designed to provide physical, emotional and mental class structure for young people charged as adults in felony cases to help them become productive members of society.
When she completed her six years, she wrote a note to Miller and District Judge Todd Taylor — who was her attorney at the time — thanking them for allowing her into the program and detailing all the ways it helped her grow as a person.
“That’s kind of the dichotomy, right?” Miller said. “He went to prison for a long time. She ended up doing the right thing and cooperated with prosecution to hold him accountable, so she went to the Youthful Offender System.”
Miller isn’t yet sure what the future holds. But if we should expect to see him anywhere outside of Weld County, it will be on a beach, somewhere warm. Maybe somewhere he can repay the favor to his wife, Marcy, who has supported him through more than two decades of long hours and extended time away from home.
But until that time comes, he still has plenty left to get done here. Rourke — under whom Miller has been serving as assistant district attorney — just started his final term. In total, the two are entering their 20th year prosecuting together in the county.
“What better partner in fighting crime could I have?” Rourke said.
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