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Jerry Cassaday was a former homicide detective whose life took a dark turn after he met Sharee Miller in an AOL chat room in early 1999. As per an ABC News report dated May 13, 2025, Miller wove an elaborate web of lies, claiming physical abuse by her husband, Bruce Miller, false pregnancies, and mafia ties.
This was all to manipulate Jerry Cassaday into traveling over 800 miles from Reno to Flint, Michigan, where he fatally shot Bruce Miller at the family's salvage yard. In February 2000, Cassaday died by suicide in Odessa, Missouri, leaving behind a briefcase filled with chat logs, emails, sonograms, and a confession note that unravelled Sharee's deceit.
Prosecutors later used that material to secure Sharee's conviction for second-degree murder and conspiracy, though her case saw years of appeals over the admissibility of Cassaday's note.
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The upcoming episode of the limited true crime series Bad Romance on ABC revisits this landmark "internet murder" case. It explores how an online affair became a deadly conspiracy and the tragic fallout for everyone involved.
The Bad Romance episode, Love at First Click, is scheduled to air on ABC at 10 pm ET on May 13, 2025, and will be available for streaming on Hulu the following day.
After Sharee Miller cut him off, Jerry Cassaday died by suicide in Odessa, Missouri, on February 11, 2000
Former police officer Jerry Cassaday was found dead by suicide in his Missouri home just three months after murdering Bruce Miller, the husband of his online lover, Sharee Miller. Authorities discovered a briefcase beneath Cassaday's bed containing letters, a suicide note, emails, and printed chats detailing how Sharee had manipulated him into committing the murder.
According to an ABC News report dated May 13, 2025, Miller had convinced Cassaday that her husband was abusive and responsible for the loss of two pregnancies she falsely claimed were his. In a later interview conducted while she was in prison, Sharee stated:
"It was like a video game and each man and each relationship was another level to me, and each level was harder."
Online deception turned deadly
While still married to Bruce Miller, Sharee Miller connected with Jerry Cassaday through an AOL chat room. Their online connection quickly turned intimate, with Sharee sending Cassaday explicit messages and photos.
As Oxygen True Crime reported on May 20, 2024, she told Cassaday she was pregnant with his child, used old sonograms from past pregnancies, and fabricated abuse stories. Cassaday, described as vulnerable due to prior career setbacks and depression, believed he was rescuing Sharee from danger.
In November 1999, Bruce Miller was fatally shot at the auto salvage yard he operated in Flint, Michigan. Cassaday returned to Missouri, but his mental state deteriorated after Sharee distanced herself from him. According to the Dateline NBC report dated March 22, 2010, Cassaday's suicide note stated:
"I drove there and I killed him....Sharee was involved and helped set it up."
Investigators later confirmed that Jerry Cassaday had collected emails, travel documents, and recordings that directly implicated Sharee in the murder. These materials were pivotal in securing her arrest and conviction.
Conviction, appeal, and confession
In December 2000, Sharee Miller was found guilty of conspiracy and second-degree murder. However, in 2009, a federal judge ruled Jerry Cassaday's suicide note inadmissible, leading to her temporary release. Prosecutors appealed, and in 2012, her conviction was reinstated.
As per ABC News, rather than fighting further, Sharee confessed in a letter:
"There’s no way for me to change or undo what I did."
Now incarcerated at Huron Valley Women's Prison, Sharee Miller maintains that she came forward to seek peace.
The Bad Romance on ABC episode re-examines how internet deception, emotional exploitation, and blurred digital boundaries led to one of the first murder cases shaped entirely by online communication.
