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Judge: Man charged in canal killings mentally fit for trial

Phoenix Canal Killings
Posted at 2:11 PM, Jan 06, 2022
and last updated 2022-01-06 16:11:49-05

PHOENIX — A judge has found a man charged with sexually attacking and fatally stabbing two young women in separate killings nearly 30 years ago near a canal system in metro Phoenix is mentally fit to stand trial.

Judge Suzanne Cohen agreed with two court-appointed experts that Bryan Patrick Miller is psychologically competent to be tried on charges in the deaths of 22-year-old Angela Brosso and 17-year-old Melanie Bernas.

The judge said another expert who was working with Miller's defense team couldn't rule out that Miller was faking a mental disorder.

Cohen hasn't ruled on a request to bar Miller from claiming he was insane at the time the crimes were committed.