18 April 16th - April 22nd, 2026 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Catching a Killer New book chronicles the search for Phoenix’s canal killer. BY GERI KOEPPEL A ttention, true crime fans: A new book is out about Bryan Patrick Miller, the infamous Phoenix “Canal Killer.” Miller, who’s now on death row, was often seen at pop culture conventions dressed in campy steampunk garb as the “Zombie Hunter” and posing with his tricked-out former cop car. He brutally murdered and mutilated Angela Brosso in November 1992, followed by Melanie Bernas in September 1993. The cold case was reopened in the fall of 2011, and Miller was arrested in January 2015 and sentenced in the summer of 2023. Troy A. Hillman, the team leader who handpicked the crew of Phoenix Police detectives that solved the murders, has written “Chasing Down the Zombie Hunter: The True Story of a Small-Town Accountant, an Elite Group of Detectives, and Arizona’s Most Terrifying Cold Case.” Instead of focusing on the killer, the story centers on the police work that went into finding him, including heart- breaking false leads and a frustrating bureaucracy that sometimes delayed progress. Hillman describes the book as a sort of “police ride-along,” but instead of being in a squad car, the reader sees the case through the eyes of the investigators. Phoenix New Times met up to talk about the book with Hillman, who retired in 2021 and still lives in Phoenix. Phoenix New Times: Besides the Canal Killer, how many cold cases were eventually solved when you were on the team? Hillman: In 2008, I took over the cold case squad, and we had what they said was around 2,500. And every year, the murder rate is 150 to 200 a year, and they’re solving 50, 60, possibly 70 percent, so those are adding (to it). During my 10-year stint in cold cases, we were eclipsing 100 cases that we solved, back to 1978. It was awesome to knock on those doors and sometimes tell the grandchildren, “Hey, we solved the murder,” because a lot of time had passed. Why were you so deeply connected to solving this one? Every case was important to me and my team, but when I first read this case … I was baffled by the level of brutality on both murders, how horrific these crimes were. We had a beheading, we had the killer that took her bike, took her Walkman, took her head and then threw it back in the canal 10 days later. It was shocking. It was something that wasn’t — for lack of better words — your main- stream murder. It looked like something fantasy-driven out of Hollywood. And then you had a second murder about 10 months after the first murder, where you had a young, female high school student who was viciously murdered, and she had been carved on and left in a canal, re-dressed. The killer had done things that were way over the top, and to me, it reeked of a serial killer. It became a true obsession of mine and my team’s to solve this case, but we didn’t neglect any other case. In the book, you shared a list of questions you had about the murders and Miller’s motiva- tions (such as, “Why did Bryan carve ‘WSC’ between Melanie’s breasts?” and “Why did he leave their shoes and socks on?”). Do you think Miller will ever answer any or all of your questions? I hope so. Other serial killers of his caliber — the profiler deemed him a (Jeffrey) Dahmer or (Ted) Bundy-like individual — they both, I believe, talked later on when they were in jail. I’m hoping that at some point, he clears his conscience because my opinion is — and I think my team shares this — that he’s good for many more murders, and we were not able to piece together his path of destruction. What do you think of “48 Hours” and other shows that depicted the case? “48 Hours,” to be honest, I was a little troubled by, because it made it seem like one of my detectives — who I’m really good friends with and teach with — solved the whole thing by himself. I feel like when we did “Dateline,” it was much more balanced. This was a complete team approach from start to finish, from the original investigators to our team. I took the lead on telling the story because I’m passionate about cold cases and why they matter. What can police departments do better to solve cold cases? Some of these homicide (reports) are hundreds of pages long. Our goal was to review every single case that was unsolved (and develop) a “Cliffs Notes” for the case so we knew the high-level “who, what, where, when, how, why,” and you could talk intelligently from the review (if a family member called). The review system was crucial; we had a great relationship with the lab. They would almost fast-track some of our cold cases. We had a great relationship with the prosecutors. Then enters forensic genetic gene- alogy and (Dr.) Colleen (Fitzpatrick), and that is a game-changer for cases that have been languishing in the CODIS database for years. They’re getting so much better at DNA technology. What I’m hoping is that agencies are beefing up their cold case squads, but I’m kind of discouraged, because as I look around the country and even the state of Arizona, I’m not seeing that being done. (Note: The Canal Killer case hinged on DNA evidence that police collected while undercover using the ruse of meeting Miller at a local Chili’s about a job offer. It was the first instance of using genetic genealogy DNA on a major serial killer case; the Golden State Killer case was later solved using the same method.) What are you doing now? For Parents of Murdered Children, the national organization out of Cincinnati, basically, I’m “ask the expert.” People write in with problems they’re having getting through to detectives. I feel I’m able to (help them) navigate the system. I also am a Silent Witness board member; that’s the anonymous tip (line). I also do consulting. I’m not actually reviewing cold cases from around the country because I don’t have the band- width, but I do hear people out and guide them on the proper channels. Typically, it’s communication with the detectives, how to go about arranging a meeting, getting answers on their family’s cold case. My goal is to draw attention to cold cases. I want to get the message out that cold cases matter and that we have to keep focused on them. Bryan Patrick Miller was known to many pop-culture convention devotees as “The Zombie Hunter” before he was arrested and later convicted of two grisly murders dating from 1992 and 1993. (Maricopa County Court) Serial killer Bryan Patrick Miller drove around in a modified police car with “Zombie Hunter” painted on the back. (Maricopa County Court) ▼ Arts & Culture
