A landlord allegedly killed his 71-year-old tenant and stuffed his body inside a barrel on his Washington property, according to authorities.
Ricky Dean Miller, 67, was arrested after one of his family members told authorities he confessed to killing someone and hiding the body on his property in Woodland, according to the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office.
Cops responded to Miler’s property on Dec. 16 and obtained a search warrant — gruesomely discovering the body of 71-year-old Dennis Eugene Schmitt hidden inside a barrel, cops said.
Miller was reportedly Schmitt’s landlord, and the two had been living in separate homes on Miller’s property, according to police.
An autopsy revealed that Schmitt had died of multiple blunt force injuries to his head, with his body also showing evidence of strangulation, officials said.
Miller was arrested and booked into Cowlitz County Jail on second-degree murder and unlawful disposal of human remains charges.
“It was nuts because we are in the middle of nowhere. We didn’t think anything like that would ever happen,” neighbor Emma Withers told KPTV.
“I just wanna know what drove him to do it… but I also don’t want to because they are our neighbors,” Withers said.
The Cowlitz County Prosecutor’s Office did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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