KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar BluffMan who testified in Cape cold case may be free by Christmas

Man who testified in Cape cold case may be free by Christmas

By Heartland News

ST. LOUIS, MO (KFVS) - A former Cape Girardeau man who expected to spend the rest of his life behind bars may finally get the holiday gift he's been asking for.

Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle believes Ross Alan Milburn could be released from prison by Christmas.  Milburn, 62, was sentenced to life in prison without parole in July, 1983, after being convicted of various drug offenses and conspiring to defraud the IRS by not reporting the money he made from drug trafficking. 

However, on Wednesday, acting U.S. Attorney Michael Reap filed a motion to reduce Milburn's sentence based on his cooperation in the case that sent former Stoddard County Deputy Max Ellison to jail.

Ellison died in jail of natural causes in August of this year.  He was 61.  Officers arrested Ellison at his home in Nixa, Missouri, in April, 2009, on charges of first-degree murder and armed robbery in the death of Cape Girardeau businesswoman Debbie Martin.  

Someone found Martin's body inside Mother Earth, her antique business at 605 Broadway, in September, 1979.  Martin also lived inside the building; she was 24 at the time of her death.    

Ellison had pleaded not guilty to the allegations. 

According to Swingle, Milburn was Martin's live-in boyfriend at the time of her death.  Swingle said Milburn kept about $93,000 in drug money inside a safe at their home that only he and Martin knew about.  However, Swingle said Martin was also romantically involved with Ellison and had planned to give him some of the money as part of an investment scheme.

According to paperwork filed on Wednesday, Milburn eventually testified that the $93,000 in cash was missing from the safe after Martin's murder, which, according to Swingle, was key to Ellison's arrest.

Swingle said Milburn was away in Dallas on a drug-related trip during Martin's murder but was not considered a suspect in her death.

Earlier this year, Milburn filed for a reduced sentence on the basis of his cooperation in this case.  He was denied the motion at least one other time, in 1988.

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